SCENE OF THE HEETZMEK.
Wondering what a heetzmek was, they followed to a house a few yards away, where a woman was walking around the dwelling carrying a very young child astride her hip. Having completed the circuit, she repeated it again and again, till she had walked five times around the dwelling, carrying the child as before.
"This is a ceremony which corresponds to the christening of infants in other countries," said the gentleman. "The woman that you see is the baby's godmother; the position in which the Yucateos carry their children astride the hip is like that of India and some other Asiatic countries. The heetzmek is performed when the infant is about four months old.
"The natives believe in the magic of the number five. You have seen the woman walk five times around the house as she carries the child. Five eggs have been buried in hot ashes, and as they break they will rouse the five senses of the infant; if they fail to open, it will be of only ordinary intelligence, but their breaking will insure extraordinary mental ability."
"Probably," remarked Frank, "they take good care to have the ashes hot enough to make sure that the eggs will burst."
"If they are as intelligent as they want the child to be, they certainly will," replied Mr. Burbank. "In addition to the egg test there is a further ceremony of putting into the infant's hands the implements it will use when matured. The godmother is held in great respect by the whole family, and especially by the child for whom she has stood sponsor."
The heetzmek over, the journey was continued, the mules having rested sufficiently.
It was nine o'clock in the forenoon, and about twenty-five miles of the journey had been made when the walls of the hacienda of Uayalké came in sight. The appetites of the youths were on a keen edge, and Frank remarked to Fred that he could breakfast off the hind-leg of a donkey, if only that ordinarily unattractive viand were presented.
"I think I scent breakfast," responded Fred. "They are famed for their hospitality in Yucatan, and we'll probably find what we want at this hacienda."
His prediction was verified, for hardly had he ceased speaking when the foremost carriage turned towards the yard of the hacienda, followed very naturally by the other. The drivers unhitched their mules beneath a wide-spreading tree in front of the residence of the manager, and proceeded to make themselves at home. The mayordomo came out and welcomed the strangers, and without waiting for a suggestion from Mr. Burbank, whom he knew, he sent a servant to order breakfast. In a very short time it was ready, and the travellers sat down; tortillas, frijoles, stewed chicken, eggs, and fruit, disappeared in due course, and the keen appetites were keen no longer.