{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42823/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42823","id":"gutenberg_42823","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42823","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","El Dorado -- Legends","Indians of Central America -- Folklore","Indians of North America -- Folklore"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 42823-h.htm or 42823-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/42823/pg42823-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42823/42823-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive. See\n https://archive.org/details/storiesofeldorad00waitrich\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORIES OF EL DORADO\n\n * * * * * *\n\nPrinted and\nEngraved by\nSunset Press\nSan Francisco\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\nTHE STORIES OF EL DORADO\n\nby\n\nFRONA EUNICE WAIT\n\n\n Happiness is found only in El Dorado, which no\n one yet has been able to reach.\n --Spanish Proverb\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCopyrighted 1904, by Frona Eunice Wait\nSan Francisco, California\n\n\n\n\n This book is dedicated to dear little Jack Morgan\n Gillespie, with the most affectionate and sincere regards of\n his devoted friend,\n FRONA EUNICE WAIT\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\n\n\"It has only recently been recognized as a fact,\" says Prof. A. F.\nBandelier, \"_that on the whole American continent_, the mode of life\nof the primitive inhabitants was formed on _one_ sociological\nprinciple, and consequently the culture of these peoples has varied,\nlocally, only in _degree_, not in _kind_. The religious principles\nwere fundamentally the same among the Sioux and the Brazilians, and\nphysical causes more than anything else have been at the bottom of the\nlocal differences.\" Such has been my own experience in studying the\nstories of El Dorado which form the subject of this book, and in\npresenting a man--a culture hero--who came by sea from the East, I am\njustified by a more complete set of records than is known to the\nsuperficial student. As this man's principles of life were the same,\nwe are forced to the conclusion that all the heroes were one\nconception, handed down by oral tradition, but widely separated as to\nlocality, by the lapse of time, by migrations and commercial relations\nof the different tribes.\n\nAs to where these myths originated, or how old they are, I have\nnothing to suggest, since in presenting these simple variants, it is\nno concern of mine. It is sufficient for my purpose to know that they\nexist. To me they lend a dignity to our country by investing it with a\nmisty past, replete with a mythology as rich and sublime as that of\nany of the races of antiquity. Not only will the study of them\ninspire patriotism and make us better acquainted with the inner lives\nof the red men, but it will tend to create an interest in our sister\nrepublics which cannot fail to be of lasting practical benefit. We\nknow much more of Europeans than we do of the peoples of this\ncontinent.\n\nIf mythology is to be taught in the schools at all, surely our own\nshould have consideration, and in familiarizing ourselves with the\ntraditions of El Dorado, we shall have one more incentive for higher\nliving. We shall learn that the great souls of the races that have\npreceded us, in the Americas, have faced the same problems of life,\nwhich are the heritage of our common humanity; that within its dark\nshadows they too have struggled, hoped, and prayed.\n\nNo words incorporated into the English language have been fraught with\nsuch _stupendous consequences_ as El Dorado. When the padres attempted\nto tell the story of the Christ, the natives exclaimed \"El Dorado,\" or\nwhat the imperfect translations have made El Dorado--the golden. As\nthe ignorant sailors and adventurers had been kept from mutiny by\nColumbus' promise of gold, it is no wonder that they seized upon the\nliteral meaning instead of the spiritual one.\n\nThe time, being that of Don Quixote and of the Inquisition, accounts\nfor the childish credulity on one side and the unparalleled ferocity\non the other. The search for El Dorado, whether it was believed to be\na fabulous country of gold, or an inaccessible mountain, or a lake,\nor a city, or a priest who anointed himself with a fragrant oil and\nsprinkled his body with fine gold dust, must always remain one of the\nblackest pages in the history of the white race. The great heart of\nhumanity will ever ache with sympathy for the melancholy and pitiful\nend of the natives, who at the time of the conquest of Mexico were\nconfidently expecting the return of the mild and gentle Quetzalcoatl,\nthe Mexican variant of this universal myth. None of the cruelties\nattributed to the Indian had its origin in resistance to the\nacceptance of a new faith. On the contrary he fought solely in defense\nof his home, and from Patagonia to Alaska was always willing to listen\nto the Christian ideas of God and the hereafter.\n\nI have devoted the first seven variants to the original myth, while\nthe others pertain to the transitions to, and misconceptions of, the\nname El Dorado. A lust for gold acquired by conquest was the\nunderlying motive of the discoveries and explorations made in the\nwestern hemisphere, and is the beginning of all American history. We\nhave unconsciously added some variants to it in California, where the\nmythical kingdom of Quivera became the land of gold of the '49 epoch.\nEl Dorado has long been a household word for anything rich and golden.\n\nI begin by bringing the Golden Hearted from an island in the east, the\nTlapalla, from whence he came, and to which he returned in the legend.\nIn all variants he gave a distinct promise of return. This accounts\nfor the awe inspired by Europeans in the minds of the natives, causing\nthem everywhere to fall easy victims to the unscrupulous adventurers\nswarming into their country. That there should have been confusion\nseems unavoidable under the circumstances, but certainly Fate never\nplayed a more cruel prank than to have one race of men speak and act\nconstantly from the standpoint of tradition and religious belief,\nwhile the other thought solely of material gain.\n\nOnly in Hiawatha and the Pueblo Montezuma have I taken liberty with\nthe original. The former is based on the recent researches into\nAlgonquin and Chippewa myths of Michabo, the great White Hare. In the\nPueblo Montezuma I have followed Prof. Bandelier as to the latest\nconceptions of the Wrathy Chieftain. My authority for making the\nAmazon Queens degenerate priestesses of the sun, is J. A. Von Heuvel,\nthe defender of Sir Walter Raleigh's connection with the South\nAmerican version of the El Dorado legend. To Hubert Howe Bancroft's\nabridgement of Father Sahagan's translation of the Popol Vuh am I much\nindebted.\n\nIn all accessories I have utilized the products or characteristics of\nlocalities visited by the mythical hero, but have avoided investing\nhim with a religious character or surrounding him with supernatural\nphenomena. It will be wise to make a distinction between the purely\nmythical, and that which led to history.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n THE HAPPY ISLAND 11\n\n ZAMNA, THE EYE OF THE SUN 18\n\n VOTAN, THE PEOPLE'S HEART 31\n\n LORD OF THE SACRED TUNKEL 39\n\n THE STARS' BALL 45\n\n THE NATIONAL BOOK 52\n\n MANCO-CAPAC, THE POWERFUL ONE 61\n\n BOCHICA AND THE ZIPA 71\n\n THE SONG OF HIAWATHA 78\n\n MICHABO, THE GREAT WHITE HARE 80\n\n THE BIRTH OF CORN 90\n\n THE WRATHY CHIEFTAIN 99\n\n QUETZALCOATL, THE PLUMED SERPENT 109\n\n CHOLULA, THE SACRED CITY 117\n\n TULLA, THE HIDING NOOK OF THE SNAKE 125\n\n DEPARTURE OF THE GOLDEN HEARTED 132\n\n EL DORADO, THE GOLDEN 140\n\n BIMINI, THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH 151\n\n MONTEZUMA AND THE PABA 161\n\n THE CHILD OF THE SUN 176\n\n THE GILDED MAN 189\n\n THE WHITE SEA OF THE MANOAS 197\n\n THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD 207\n\n THE AMAZON QUEENS 219\n\n THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA 228\n\n THE KINGDOM OF QUIVERA 240\n\n THE LAND OF GOLD 250\n\n THE NEW EL DORADO 262\n\n APPENDIX 271\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n LEAVING THE HAPPY ISLAND (Drawing by Xavier Martinez) 17\n\n \"EACH STITCH MUST BE COUNTED\" (Painting, The Weaver,\n by Amadee Joullin) 21\n\n THE BALL PLAYER (Drawing, Xavier Martinez) 30\n\n \"WHO ART THOU?\" (Painting, Alexander Para, Mexico City) 35\n\n \"AN OLD-FASHIONED ALMANAC\" (Photograph, Calendar\n Stone, Mexico City) 48\n\n \"BEHOLD THE FIRST WORD\" (Painting, The Hieroglyph\n Maker, A. Joullin) 55\n\n THE TAPIR (Tail-piece) 60\n\n A SUSPENSION BRIDGE (Drawing by Xavier Martinez) 64\n\n \"THE PEOPLE SHOUTED 'HAILLE'!\" (Painting, The Sun\n Worshippers, E. Narjot) 69\n\n \"THE FLOWER-LADEN BALSA\" (Tail-piece) 77\n\n \"THE HOUSE OF WUNZH\" (Tail-piece) 89\n\n THE WRESTLING MATCH (Tail-piece) 93\n\n \"THE WRATHY CHIEFTAIN\" (Painting by J. W. Clawson) 104\n\n THE POTTERY MAKER (Drawing, X. Martinez) 107\n\n \"THE HUMMING-BIRD ALIGHTED\" (Drawing, X. Martinez) 111\n\n \"THE SNAKESKIN CANOE\" (Drawing, X. Martinez) 124\n\n \"HERE IS MEDICINE FOR YOU\" (Drawing, X. Martinez) 129\n\n \"A SONG OF FAREWELL\" (Drawing, X. Martinez) 137\n\n THE TORCH BEARERS (Tail-piece) (Drawing, X. Martinez) 139\n\n \"ON, AND ON THE CARAVELS SAILED\" (Official photograph) 147\n\n \"LAND! LAND AHEAD!\" (Official photograph) 148\n\n \"THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH\" (Drawing, X. Martinez) 159\n\n \"THEIR NAKED BODIES HACKED TO PIECES\" (Drawing, X.\n Martinez) 185\n\n DRYING INDIA RUBBER 201\n\n \"THE OLD WITCH, MONELLA\" 214\n\n \"A FLOWER OFFERING\" (Sketch by X. Martinez) 224\n\n \"ONE OF THE SEVEN CITIES\" (Sketch by X. Martinez) 235\n\n \"FRAY MARCOS\" 239\n\n \"AN OLD COMMUNITY HOUSE\" 249\n\n \"DISCOVERY OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY\" (Painting, Arthur\n Matthews, by courtesy of S. F. Art Association) 253\n\n \"A PRAIRIE SCHOONER\" 261\n\n\n\n\nThe Happy Island\n\n\nA long time ago there was a beautiful island close by the place in the\neast where the sun rises. The sea was all around it, and at noonday\nthe sun in the sky seemed to slant just above it. Being near the\nequator and in a tropic clime the winds were soft and warm and full of\nthe odor of sweet flowers. Sometimes the sea was smooth and clear as\nglass and then the goldfish and sea mosses floated near the surface\nand glittered in the sunlight.\n\nAt night the moon came out big and round like a silver ball and the\nstars shone very clear because there was no smoke nor fog in the air.\nIn the moonlight the queer little flying fish would jump up out of the\nwater and dart forth and back in the funniest way as if they were\nplaying some kind of game. Their tiny wet wings glistened like silver\ngauze, and, when everything else was still, made a peculiar whirring\nsound by all flapping at once.\n\nThe beach was strewn with quantities of conch and abalone shells, also\nother species of all shapes and sizes and they were as dainty in color\nas it is possible to imagine. The children of the Happy Island often\nheld the larger ones to their ears to listen to the murmurs and\ncomplaints of the insects and other forms of life living inside them.\nThis was only a fancy, but many sea shells do have a soft musical\ncadence if we care to hear it. Some poets believe that they were the\nfirst musical instruments, and that the inhabitants of the sea send\nmessages ashore in this manner.\n\nThe ferns grew almost as tall as the trees and there were hundreds of\nbirds skimming through the air, or flitting through the branches\nsinging and chattering and having a very happy time. They were not\nafraid because no one threw stones at them or tried to frighten them.\nEverybody was glad to see them put up their little bills and ruffle up\ntheir throats in singing, or else spread out their wings and splash\nwater all over their backs while they stood on a pebble or twig taking\na morning bath. The people said that when the birds were twittering\nand chirping they were talking to each other. When they were singing\nthey were telling God how thankful they were for the warm sunshine and\nplenty to eat.\n\nThere was a wonderful city in the center of the island named the City\nof the Golden Gates because it was surrounded by a high wall of very\nthick stones, with a great number of gates of gold through which the\nanimals and people passed in and out. Here lived the Old Man of the\nSea, as the king was called, and his son was a beautiful youth known\nas the Golden Hearted because he was so gentle and kind. He was a\nswift runner and could shoot well with a bow and arrow and was strong\nenough to wrestle with a big man, but he preferred to make gold\nornaments and vessels for his father and was often permitted to go\ninto the king's treasure house to watch the workmen polish the\nprecious gems which they found in great abundance by digging into the\nmountains near the city.\n\nThe people knew all about white and black pearls and how to get them\nfrom the bed of the ocean. In full sight of the island was a large\nreef of pink and white coral and the young prince went there many\ntimes to see the curious little insects building their graceful, airy\nhouses over some rock hidden by the water. He sometimes imagined that\nhe heard the mermaids calling to him. What he really did hear was the\nwind dashing the waves in and out of the coral chambers as if it were\ndetermined to wash them away. The reef was an excellent place to fish,\nand the Golden Hearted and his companions had many a fine day's sport\nthere while the divers were searching for the pearl oysters. He fished\nwith a drag-net made by himself, and he could let it out and haul it\nin again like a regular sailor. He never killed any of the fish, and\nthe divers would not give him the pearls they found because they were\ncompelled to kill the oysters to get them, and this they said made the\npearls unlucky and was the reason why they are round and shining like\ntear drops. The miners brought him all the emeralds they could find,\nbecause this was the happiness-bringing stone. Its color is like the\nsoft grass in the springtime, and they wanted him to be always young\nand have everything his heart desired.\n\nThe royal gardens were his special care and in them he was allowed to\ncultivate any kind of tree or plant or grain. Then from them he must\nlearn the names and habits of the trees producing the best wood for\nbuilding houses, what plants were good to heal the sick, and all about\nthe grains useful for food either for man or animals. Every flower\nthat had a perfume grew in a separate part of the garden, and those\nshedding their fragrance at night only were in a bed by themselves. He\nwas required to know the difference between single and double species\nand why there is such a difference in the same family of plants.\n\nHoney bees, big-winged butterflies, crickets and beetles hid in the\nflowers or flew above them, and these all taught a lesson to the young\nprince who had no other books. The honey bee was an industrious little\nfellow continually building a piece of comb or else filling it with\nhoney. The butterfly, on the other hand, did not work at all but\nchanged from an ugly grub into a caterpillar and finally into a\ngorgeous butterfly with spotted wings and bright eyes. The king told\nhis son that the butterfly was like a soul--the immortal part of\nourselves--and he wished him to be as busy as the bee, and to do no\nmore harm to other creatures than does the pretty butterfly.\n\nThe cricket was a cheerful, merry chap, usually singing at the top of\nhis voice, and the beetle tried to push all of the dirt out of the\ngarden. If he found anything he did not like he would roll and tumble\nwith it, even if it were much bigger than himself. This amused the\nGolden Hearted very much, and when he grew tired of his own\noccupations he would run out into the garden and watch the beetles.\n\nOne day he went into the splendid throne-room where his father was\ngiving audience to some wise old men who were foretelling what was\ngoing to happen to the king and the people of the Happy Island. They\nurged the king to send some member of his household to the strange\nland over the sea, toward the setting sun, where the people were in\nbarbarism.\n\nThe Golden Hearted was much interested and thought here was an\nopportunity to do some good for the weak and helpless. Springing\nforward he said:\n\n\"Dear father, let me go. I am able to sail the seas and am willing to\ndevote my life to teaching these poor people how to live like\nbrothers.\"\n\nThe king felt proud of the young prince, but he loved him so dearly\nthat it was hard to let him go, and also hard to refuse such a noble,\nmanly request.\n\n\"Do you know, my son, this will entail a great deal of hardship and\nself-denial?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, father, but God intends us to earn all the good things in life;\nHe will not give them to us for nothing. That is His good law, which\nmakes us healthy, happy and wise--three of the most precious\npossessions in the world.\"\n\n\"Go, my Golden Heart, and may God bless and keep you always,\" said the\nking. \"Take a green-throated humming-bird for your guide, and when you\nfind the land, journey on until you come to a place where a cactus\ngrows at the base of a rock and there is a golden eagle soaring in the\nair above it. Halt there and found a city, and name it in honor of the\nsun.\"\n\nThen all the wise men begged to go with him, and for days after there\nwere great preparations made for the departure of the king's son. At\ndaybreak one morning he set sail in a snake-skin boat, and all the\ninhabitants came with the king to throw flowers and emeralds into the\nsea because they wished to show respect to the Golden Hearted. It was\ntheir method of blessing him and wishing him good luck. The whole\nshore line, as far as he could see, was lighted up by bonfires where\nthe people burned resin and perfume to commemorate his going.\n\nAt the water's edge stood the old sea king with his long white hair\nand beard blowing in the wind. By his side was a cream-white horse\nwith three plumes in the top of its bridle reins and a square, red\nblanket edged with deep fringe on its back. Crowns and moons and stars\nof gold and silver were scattered over the blanket to show that the\nhorse belonged to the royal prince. Back of the king was a long line\nof young warrior priests mounted on white horses, with red blankets,\nand carrying reversed spears in their hands. They bowed their heads\nwhen the poor old father leaned over on the horse's neck and cried as\nif his heart would break as the boat with his only son in it pushed\noff from the shore. Snatching a torch from the hand of an attendant,\nthe Golden Hearted waved it on high. Fire with them was a symbol of\nwisdom, and when the king saw it, he answered the signal by waving a\ntorch, and the warrior priests flashed their spears in the bright\nsunlight, and the people sent up a deafening shout.\n\nThis meant that they were willing to sacrifice their future king for\nthe good of a strange race of men who needed a teacher to show them\nhow to cultivate the land and how to build cities and live civilized.\nThe people of the Happy Island would not send a common man for a\nteacher. No, indeed; they gave the best they had--their dearly loved\nprince with the golden heart--to help their less fortunate neighbors.\nAnd he gave up all luxury and comfort because he would rather be\nuseful, than live in ease as a king. The name of the island was\nAtlantis, and the new country was our own--America.\n\n [Illustration: LEAVING THE HAPPY ISLAND]\n\n\n\n\nZamna, the Eye of the Sun\n\n\n\"Ho There! Who comes to us in a canoe?\" cried the people\nin the strange land when the Golden Hearted and the wise men arrived\nfrom the Happy Island. Many of the natives ran away and others hid in\nthe bushes because they were afraid they were going to be killed. None\nof them were ever so badly frightened in their lives, and none had\never seen white men before.\n\n\"Do you come to fight us? Are you warriors?\" they asked.\n\n\"I am your friend, not your foe,\" answered the young prince kindly,\nand holding a white flag high over his head. \"To be a warrior is to\nhave been in many battles, and I never marched a day under the banner\nof the king, my father. I come wholly in peace.\"\n\n\"He is only a lad. Surely we need not fear him,\" said the people\ncoming back to crowd around him on shore and to examine his boat and\nclothes with much curiosity. \"Why, then, are you here?\" they finally\nasked.\n\n\"I am sent by my father to teach you the Good Law.\"\n\n\"We already know how to shoot an arrow through the heart of an eagle.\nWe have taken many captives in battle, and are a scourge to our\nenemies,\" they answered proudly. They were still suspicious of their\nvisitors.\n\n\"You crush a worm without mercy, never thinking it has the same right\nto live as you have, and that in itself it is more wonderful than all\nthese things,\" said the Golden Hearted, reprovingly.\n\nThe natives were greatly astonished. Never had they heard any one\nspeak like this, and they could not imagine what sort of young man he\nwas. If he did not like the chase, and was not a warrior, and did not\nbelieve in killing things, they could not understand him at all.\n\n\"What do you mean by the Good Law? What is it anyhow?\"\n\n\"It is to be gentle and kind to all creatures, and to treat your\nneighbor as if he were your brother. You must be just to the plant, to\nthe bull, to the horse and to the dog. The earth too has a right to be\ncultivated. Neglect it, and it will curse you; fertilize it, and it\nwill show gratitude in a thousand ways. May your fields bring forth\nall that is good to eat, and may your countless villages abound with\nprosperity.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted was so modest and sincere in speech and so well\nmannered that they were pleased with him, and were beginning to feel\nquite friendly. The wise men also said many nice things to them and\ndid all they could to make the situation pleasant.\n\nTo show appreciation and to welcome the young prince, the natives gave\nhim a handful of fireflies, because light with them was a symbol of\norder, peace and virtue. This was a delicate, pretty compliment and so\ndelighted the Golden Hearted that he scattered them all over his head.\nWhen they lit in his soft, wavy, yellow hair, their bulging eyes and\ngauzy wings sparkled like diamonds and they did not try to fly away\nbecause he sang to them:\n\n\"Firefly, firefly! bright little thing, Light me to bed and my song I\nwill sing. Give me your light as you fly o'er my head That I may\nmerrily go to my bed. Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep\nThat I may joyfully go to my sleep. Come little firefly, come little\nbeast, Come and I'll make you tomorrow a feast; Come, little candle,\nthat flies as I sing, Bright little fairy bug--Night's little king.\nCome, and I'll dance as you guide me along, Come, and I'll pay you, my\nbug, with a song.\"\n\nEach fly has four spots, one back of each eye and under each wing\nwhich it can make as bright as candle light when it chooses. Its body\nis about an inch and a half long.\n\n [Illustration: \"EACH STITCH MUST BE COUNTED\"]\n\nWhen the prince put the fireflies in his hair, the natives present\ntouched the ground with their right hands and placed them over\ntheir hearts in token of respect. He, in turn, gave them the white\nflag he carried because it was an emblem of peace, friendship,\nhappiness and prosperity, as well as purity and holiness, and he\nintended to bring them all of these things.\n\n\"What is your wish?\" asked the natives of each of the wise men.\n\n\"We desire to bathe in the warm surf of these shores and then to make\na thank offering for our safe arrival and your kindly greeting,\" they\nanswered.\n\nCriers with shrill trumpets and drums ran up and down the beach to\ncall in the fishing boats.\n\n\"The men wearing skirts are coming into the sea,\" they shouted, and\nthe Golden Hearted and his followers looked at each other with a smile\nwhen they heard what the criers said. The natives wore only breech\nclouts and feather and shell ornaments, much like the Indians of\ntoday. Never before had they seen men wearing long white robes, beards\nand high-crowned hats without rims, and having a square black cloth\nhanging over the shoulders in the back like a veil.\n\n\"Is there something else needed to make you more content and\ncomfortable?\" asked the criers when the fishermen had all come ashore.\n\n\"We need wood and stones to build an altar for our sacrifice,\" replied\nthe Golden Hearted.\n\nWhile the newcomers were splashing in the surf, the porters brought\narms full of wood, and stones large and small and piled them near the\nboat and waited to see what the visitors would do with them.\n\n\"Why do you wear skirts like women?\" they next inquired, as the\nbathers were putting on their robes after a long swim.\n\n\"Because we work for humanity,\" said the young prince. \"No man is\nreally great who has not developed a woman's tenderness in his heart,\nand that our fellows may know that we have this quality, we wear\nskirts and robes.\"\n\nThis is why in our day the king and priest and judge wear long gowns.\nThe king rules men, women and children alike; the judge administers\nthe law for all of them, and the minister prays for the good as well\nas the bad. For this reason we should respect their robes when we see\nthem.\n\nThe natives did not know the name of the young prince but when they\nsaw him take a piece of mica and hold it over a bit of cotton until\nthe sun set it on fire, they exclaimed \"Zamna!\" meaning \"Eye of the\nSun,\" and this was what they called him while he lived in that\ncountry. The wise men had placed some copal on top of the altar they\nhad made of wood and stone and it was not long before the cotton and\ncopal began to burn. As it did so, the Golden Hearted pointed with his\nfinger to a ray of the midday sun. First he and his followers held\ntheir arms high overhead, then they sat in a squatting position and\nrecited all the incidents of their journey. Finally they all\nprostrated themselves on the ground and returned thanks for their\nsafety and good health. Rising to their feet, the wise men began to\nchant with bared heads and faces turned toward the east.\n\nThe natives thought this a very strange performance and debated among\nthemselves whether it could be part of the Good Law they were soon to\nlearn.\n\n\"Do you come to destroy our old faiths, and to bring us a new god?\"\nthey asked as the wood on the altar burned low and the chanting\nceased.\n\n\"To attack any form of worship is like fighting darkness with a stick.\nThe only way to overcome the blackness of night dwelling in men's\nhearts is to kindle a light--and the light of the world is love,\"\nresponded the Golden Hearted as he slipped his arm through that of the\nnative who had asked him the question. \"I did not come to quarrel with\nyou. I want you to think of me as a brother ready and willing to serve\nyou always. In my father's kingdom, the man who serves faithfully in\nany capacity is the one most honored. Take this cross to the chief of\nyour village and say to him that He who is the Dew of Heaven, Lord of\nthe Dawn, and of the Four Winds, sends his only son with a message of\npeace and good will to all his people. Show him the red hand painted\nin the center and tell him that it is not meant to convey strength,\npower and mastery, but that it is raised thus as an act of\nsupplication.\"\n\nAs the swiftest courier in the group was girding a red sash tightly\naround his waist making ready for a quick run, the fishermen came up\nfrom their huts and invited the travelers to come and share their\nhumble noonday meal. The Golden Hearted was glad to accept the\nextended hospitality, not because he had no provisions of his own, but\nbecause he valued their good opinion and was ready to do whatever he\nthought would please them.\n\nThey were a gentle, kindly folk, these simple fishermen. Not only were\nthey industrious, but they were polite and reverential to their\nsuperiors and as happy as a lot of children when they found the\nstrange prince under their roof. In all the after years they would\nhave been willing to die for him.\n\nThe wise men of his company were so strict in their habits that they\nrefused to eat the flesh of any animal, and their simple meal was soon\nfinished. But while every one else was at the table they performed a\nsacred dance in a pompous and solemn style, circling around the Golden\nHearted who sat by himself. They had green palms in their hands and\nevery once in a while they would bow to the prince. In a peculiar\nsing-song way they chanted a long poem telling about the history of\nthe Happy Island.\n\nImagine how funny they must have looked whirling round and round with\ntheir long robes, black veils and wide sleeves filled with the wind.\nThey kept on their high hats and with their long beards and hair\nflying in every direction, it was no wonder that the fishermen and\nother people laughed and thought it was some kind of game. The dancers\nwere not at all offended, and when the natives asked if they knew how\nto play ball, they answered good naturedly:\n\n\"No, but we would like very much to learn.\"\n\n\"Come out here into the alley and we will teach you. By and by you may\ngive us lessons in many things, but we are going to give you the first\none.\"\n\nThen they all laughed, and so did the young prince and the wise old\nmen.\n\nThe alley where they played ball was one hundred feet long and had\nsmooth, white-washed walls about twelve feet high in the center, but\nlower at each end where there was a rectangular nook for the players\nto rest. The walls were quite thick at the base but tapered toward the\ntop which was finished with battlements and turrets.\n\nBefore the game began, the oldest player among them threw the small,\nsolid, India-rubber ball four times around the alley muttering some\nwords to himself all the time. The owner of the ground made the old\nman a trifling present, and then the game began in good earnest.\n\nThe rule was to hit the ball only with the knee, elbow or shoulder,\nnot with the hands nor feet. The wise men with their long gowns and\nveils had a hard time keeping up with the native players, who wore\nvery little clothing and were quick and sure footed. Two on each side\nplayed at a time, and the great point was to send the ball against\nthe opposite wall or else over it as often as possible without\nallowing it to touch the ground. There were two referees; one being\nthe Golden Hearted and the other, the oldest player.\n\nEverybody shouted and laughed at the clumsy playing of the wise men\nwho tried ever so hard to imitate the things they saw the others\ndoing. It was a great effort for them and they panted and blowed as\nthey ran. Very often they tumbled heels over head by stepping on their\nskirts in front. Then they would all go down together in a heap, one\non top of the other, and the referees would have much to do before\nthey could get them all straightened out again. It was jolly good fun,\nbut required considerable time and patience even for an expert player\nto send the ball over the wall with either his elbow, knee or\nshoulder.\n\nIn the center of the wall on each side was a huge stone carved with\nimages, having a hole in the center barely big enough for the ball to\ngo through. Whoever was skilful enough to make a drive through one of\nthem, not only won the game for his side, but was entitled to the\ncloaks of all those present. Of course, this was a very difficult feat\nto accomplish and made quite a hero of the man who succeeded, so every\nplayer tried for the honor.\n\nThis day the young native who first hailed the Golden Hearted when he\nlanded, by a lucky toss of the elbow sent the ball flying through the\nhole on the wise men's side. In a moment the spectators scrambled\ndown from their seats and ran away as fast as they could go. The wise\nmen stood looking after them in wide-eyed astonishment, and before\nthey had time to get out of the alley the victor stripped them of\ntheir veils and then their tall hats looked like a piece of stove pipe\nwith a cover over one end of it.\n\nThe Golden Hearted insisted that each man should give back whatever he\nhad won in a bet on the game, and for each loss of this kind he gave\nboth winner and loser a present, and promised to teach their sons and\ndaughters how to weave cloth having figures in it. In such a way he\ntaught them how to count, and to this day they have no other method of\nreproducing a pattern perfectly. Each stitch must be counted and only\na certain number of each color put in, and all this must be carried in\nthe head. The weavers are not allowed to write it down.\n\nAt nightfall the runners came in breathless with haste to say that the\nchief of the village was sending a councilor and official guide to\nwelcome and escort the strange white men to his dwelling. But the\nGolden Hearted was not in a hurry to leave the fishermen and common\npeople with whom he had spent the day, except for a short visit. When\nhe returned he taught them how to make sun-dried bricks with which to\nbuild houses, also to shape the round water jars of brown pottery and\nhow to ornament them and the gourds they drank from. The wise men\nassisted him in all this, and in time, the natives not only built\ncomfortable houses for themselves but learned how to fashion many\npretty designs of cornices and wall decorations out of stucco which\nthey tinted many colors.\n\nThe first thing he did when he went to the village was to make the\nchief king, and then he ordered some of the wise men who were\narchitects and engineers to lay out a splendid city and help the\nnatives to build it. Before he came there were nothing but trails from\none part of the country to the other and the simple tradesmen did not\nknow how to exchange their wares. The Golden Hearted became the patron\nof the builders and traders and lived many years with the people of\nAztlan.\n\nWhile in that country, he occupied himself with the building of a\nsacred temple dedicated to those who served the Good Law. It had four\nbeautiful halls facing the four cardinal points of the compass. That\non the east was the Hall of Gold and its walls were almost covered\nwith plates of the precious metal having delicately-chased pictures\nover its shining surface. To the west was the Hall of Emeralds and\nTurquoises where many gems were studded into the plaster. The south\nhall was finished in silver while the northern hall was made of jasper\nstuck with colored shells in curious patterns. In each room there was\na tapestry of yellow, blue, white and red feather mosaic that was as\nfine as a painting and in some cases perfectly represented men and\nanimals. In front of the main entrance for many years stood a winged\nlion cut out of granite holding an image of the Golden Hearted in his\nmouth.\n\nThe name of the city was Mayapan and the king who had been merely a\nvillage chief was the celebrated Cocomes of the olden times.\n\n [Illustration: THE BALL PLAYER]\n\n\n\n\nVotan, the People's Heart\n\n\nOne evening the Golden Hearted saw a ball of fire rise in the East\njust about where the Happy Island was located, and it followed the\ncourse of the sun. Then he knew it was time for him to take some of\nthe wise men and go into a new place, so he lay awake long into the\nnight and thought how best to begin to get ready. He knew the people\nloved him very much, but he remembered his oath to his father, the\nking, and though he was sad at heart, he determined to leave the next\nday but one. He had not yet spoken to anybody about his intention, but\nit must have been right else it would not have happened that a whole\nlot more wise men came to the city that very day.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\"Now,\" he said to himself, \"I can leave these wise men to help the\npoor natives, and I will take seven of their families with me.\"\n\nSeeing that it was daybreak and the sun about to rise, the Golden\nHearted sprang out of bed and hastily washing his face and hands,\nthrew the window wide open and lifting his arms high overhead said:\n\n\"Hail! Beauty of the Day! Homage to thee who riseth above the horizon.\nI come near to thee. Thou openest the gates of another day. Great\nIlluminator out of the golden, place thyself as a protector behind me.\nGuide and keep me safe on the journey that I am about to undertake.\"\n\nThen he dressed himself as quickly as possible and went out to find\nthe wise men and tell them what he was going to do. They were willing\nto go with him, but King Cocomes was greatly disappointed, though he\nfelt more contented when the Golden Hearted promised to come back\nagain.\n\n\"Quiet thy heart, great king, and trust in my love,\" was what the\nyoung prince said to him.\n\nThe travelers had to pass through the country of the Quinames who were\na very wild people. They went about naked with long matted hair\nhanging over their shoulders, and they ate raw meat, fruits and herbs.\nThey knew nothing about cooking, but could make pulque, a kind of\nbeer, out of maguey plant, a cousin of the cactus family. On this they\noften got very drunk. Then they were fierce and quarrelsome. At all\ntimes these people were proud of their strength and cunning in battle\nand in hunting the ferocious beasts roaming over the hills and plains.\nThe Quinames were really a dreadful set of men, but the Golden Hearted\nwas not afraid of them. He heard all kinds of stories about their\ncruelty and savage ways of living, but he went quietly among them and\nparceled out the land and showed them how to cultivate it. The\nQuinames lived entirely by hunting and fishing and had no houses. When\none place did not suit them any longer, they moved to another, and\nwould never have learned how to live civilized except for the coming\nof the prince and the wise men.\n\nAnd what a terrible journey it was! It was in a tropic country where\nthere was so much warm rain that everything grew rank and luxuriant.\nFor whole days the Golden Hearted marched in the shadow of ferns as\nbig as trees and the ground was covered with briers and nettles.\nSometimes he had to go around muddy swamps or right through bushes\nfilled with snakes. Then, too, he had to swim across wide rivers and\nclimb steep, rocky mountains. In the tangled leaves and vines hundreds\nof parrots screamed and screeched at them, while on all sides the\nmonkeys threw sticks from the branches of the trees. Gnats and other\npoisonous insects stung his hands and face.\n\nHe traveled like this many days. Whenever he went into camp, the\nGolden Hearted would invite the Quinames to dine with him in order\nthat he might teach them how to eat cooked food out of dishes. They\ncould not understand the use of cups and basins, because they drank\nout of cocoa-nut shells and had never seen a napkin or tablecloth.\nThey had always been in the habit of taking the food in their fingers\nand pulling it apart, and were not very nice about keeping their hands\nclean either.\n\nOf course, all this was very disagreeable to the Golden Hearted, but\nhe was as patient and kind as possible and those fierce Quinames would\nnot have harmed a hair in his head. When they asked him where he was\ngoing he always answered, \"To seek my brothers, the Culebra, of whom\nthou shalt know more by and by.\"\n\n\"And from where comest thou?\"\n\n\"From the mountain of Little Descent, and where I tarry, there will I\nbuild Nachan, the city of Serpents.\"\n\nThe ignorant barbarians did not know that the word serpent meant\nwisdom in the language of the Happy Island, but the wise men were much\npleased because they knew that this city was to be a great seat of\nlearning and that they would have charge of the temples and schools\nwhen it was completed.\n\n\"Who art thou and thy followers?\" was often asked of them on the way.\n\n\"We are Chanes and the sons of Chanes,\" but this did not mean anything\nto the savages either, because they did not know that \"Chane\" was the\nname of the wise men in their own country.\n\nOne day a culprit was brought before the Golden Hearted accused of\nstealing a curious looking stick with yellow grains fastened all\naround it. The Quinames said it was good food and they pulled off its\ngreen wrappings and held it before the fire until it was browned and\nthen ate it. The Golden Hearted and the wise men had never seen this\nplant before and were very much interested in their discovery. But\nthey did not think it well to say so.\n\n [Illustration: \"WHO ART THOU AND THY FOLLOWERS?\"]\n\n\"Dost thou say this man is a thief?\" asked the Golden Hearted.\n\n\"Yes, yes; we knew where the bush grew, but we were waiting until it\nshould be more yellow before giving it to thee,\" said the captors.\n\n\"I will prove thee,\" said the Golden Hearted to the accused. He took a\npiece of finely-polished black stone from his breast pocket and held\nit up before the prisoner saying, \"Look into its shining face and\nbeholding thine own image, swear by the Heart of Heaven to speak the\ntruth.\"\n\nThe poor savage nearly died of fright when he saw himself because he\nthought it was an omen of instant death. He quaked and trembled and\nhis eyes were as big and round as walnuts.\n\n\"From whence came this goodly seed?\" asked the Golden Hearted kindly.\n\n\"From the edge of the wood where a silver band of water rots an old\ntree,\" answered the man, still pallid with fear.\n\n\"Take thy share, and leave me what thy accusers intended for me.\"\n\nThe prisoner stared at him stupidly for a moment then his better\nnature spoke and he took only one grain, and would have fled into the\njungle if the Golden Hearted had not caught him by the mantle.\n\n\"Look again into the mirror of truth.\"\n\nThis time the savage was not so afraid and he gazed curiously at the\nstone for some time. Its surface was perfectly blank.\n\n\"Tell me what thou seest?\"\n\n\"Nothing but its own dark face speaks to the eye of thy servant,\"\nresponded the accused.\n\n\"Then know, my brothers,\" said the Golden Hearted turning to the\nastonished Quinames, \"this man is innocent and must go free.\"\n\n\"Thou art welcome to my life,\" exclaimed the accused joyfully; \"thou\nhast saved it and it is thine to command.\"\n\n\"Use it to perfect the growth of this strange seed so that thy fellows\nand all grain-eating creatures may profit by thy labors.\"\n\nThe grain found in this manner is known to the people of that country\nto-day as maize. We call it Indian corn.\n\nWhen the wise men heard about it, they begged the Golden Hearted to\nlet them build a white house where any one accused of crime would be\nsafe until the judges could decide whether they were guilty or not.\nThe prince thought it was a very good plan and said:\n\n\"I will put the black stone in it and will make a law that no man\nshall be called guilty if the surface of the stone does not change\nwhen he is made to look into it. And to commemorate our safe passage\nthrough this wild country, I will order several white houses built,\nand each one shall be called Refuges Against Fear.\"\n\nIn those days no one seemed to think it was wrong to kill a person who\nwas said to be a thief or had done anything his neighbors did not\nlike, so it was very necessary for the Golden Hearted to teach them to\nbe just to each other. He told the Quinames that they must be sure\nabout a thing before they acted harshly, and he cautioned them to be\ncareful about believing or repeating unkind remarks they heard. It was\nquite a long time before the Quinames would even try to do this, but\nfinally they helped to build the houses and were honorable enough not\nto harm any one once inside the walls. Many a useful life was saved in\nthis manner, but sometimes a poor refugee was overtaken and beaten to\ndeath with clubs before reaching the house.\n\nBecause the Golden Hearted succeeded in persuading the warlike\nQuinames to live peaceably with their neighbors and to treat each\nother well, he was called in that and many other countries, Votan, The\nPeople's Heart, to distinguish him from the Heart of Heaven which was\ntheir name for God. His was truly a great work because it was done\nwithout a selfish motive and for no reward except the good of his\nfellow men.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLord of the Sacred Tunkel\n\n\nNo one living can tell how many years ago it was that the Golden\nHearted built Nachan, the city of wise men, nor how many years it took\nto do the work, but it has always been said to be a very beautiful\nplace. Anyhow, it was after he left the Quinames, and it was in a\ncountry very much more civilized.\n\nThe Golden Hearted had many happy days there.\n\nEven if he was a grown man and a great prince, he was very fond of\nchildren and one day he visited the Temple of the Sun where the pupils\nfrom school were having a holiday. They all had on their best clothes,\nand their faces and hands were clean, but they were shouting, and\nsinging and playing games, very much like the boys and girls we know.\nThey felt sure that the Golden Hearted was their good friend and when\nthey saw him coming they ran out into the courtyard and crowded around\nhim as thick as flies.\n\n\"A story! a story!\" they said; \"Please, good Prince, tell us a story.\"\n\n\"What shall it be about?\" asked the Golden Hearted with a pleasant\nsmile.\n\n\"Something very perfect and beautiful,\" they said.\n\n\"Let me think what we have in the world that is both perfect and\nbeautiful. Which would you prefer, something man has made, or that God\nhas made?\"\n\nThe children were very much puzzled to know which to choose. They\ntried hard to think what man had made that was without any faults and\ncould not be imitated or improved, either in appearance or quality,\nbut they were not satisfied with anything. Then they began to think\nabout the trees, the flowers, the precious stones, the sky and the\nsea, and were getting more and more confused all the time when the\nGolden Hearted laughed and said:\n\n\"I will tell you what we will do. We will send for the wise men and\nask them to choose.\"\n\nThe wise men thought it was great fun, so they hurried as fast as they\ncould and were quite out of breath when they got near enough to speak\nto the Golden Hearted.\n\n\"Tell me something you know in the world that is both perfect and\nbeautiful,\" he said to the wise man who had charge of the Temple of\nthe Sun, and was first to arrive.\n\n\"The great, blazing, glorious sun,\" he replied.\n\n\"None but God could have made it, and we adore it and sacrifice to it\nbecause it is the mask behind which God hides His ever-smiling face.\"\n\nMany of the children shaded their eyes with their hands and took a\nquick look at the sun overhead, and thought that was a good answer.\n\n\"What do you know in the world that is both perfect and beautiful?\"\nasked the prince of the next comer, who was a man wise in the art of\nworking metals. He had not heard the first answer, but, without\nstopping a minute to think, said:\n\n\"Gold; because it is like the substance of the sun and cannot be made\nby putting any metals together nor by any mixture of chemicals.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted knew that was a correct answer but he wanted the\nchildren to be satisfied, and he was not sure that all of them\nunderstood it.\n\n\"Do you know that way down in the earth gold is created, and yet it is\nshining and bright and yellow like the light of the sun? This accounts\nfor its beauty, and it is perfect because it is absolutely pure in\nitself.\"\n\nThe next man that came along was wise, but he looked like a farmer.\n\n\"What have you seen in your life that cannot be improved or made\nprettier?\"\n\n\"Wheat,\" was his quick reply, \"because it is not a blend of any of the\ngrains or grasses but grows out of the ground perfect. It is beautiful\nin every phase of its life whether it waves in the wind like a sea of\nemeralds or ripens into great sheaves of gold, or its plump grains\ntempt you to satisfy hunger. It is the best friend man has, and it\nwould be very hard for him to live without it.\"\n\nThat was such a sensible answer, that the children all clapped their\nhands with delight because they knew at once that it was correct. Just\nthen the Golden Hearted looked up and saw one of his best perfumers in\nthe group of wise men.\n\n\"Will you give us an answer to this question?\" he asked.\n\n\"I should differ from all the others\"--began the man.\n\n\"Never mind, tell us what in your line is the most perfect and\nbeautiful thing you know.\"\n\n\"A jasmine blossom,\" replied the perfumer, \"because its delicate odor\ncannot be imitated no matter what combination of oils or extracts we\nmake. I cannot say that of any other flower in the world.\"\n\nThe children could have answered that question themselves if they had\nonly thought quickly enough. They were quite familiar with the dainty\nlittle white flowers and tender vine of the jasmine as well as its\nsweet smell, because it grew wild in their country.\n\nWhile the perfumer was talking, the Golden Hearted picked up a shining\npebble near his feet.\n\n\"Now, children,\" he said, \"in this small rough stone I find something\nperfect and beautiful. It is an opal, the only one of the precious\ngems I do not know how to counterfeit. Join hands, as many of you as\ncan, and dance around me while I sing you a song about the birth of\nthe opal.\"\n\nOne of the wise men gave him a Sacred Tunkel, a kind of guitar which\nhe brought from the Temple of the Sun, and this was what he sang:\n\nThe Birth of the Opal\n\n A dew drop came with a spark of flame\n He had caught from the sun's last rays\n To a violet's breast, where he lay at rest\n Till the hours brought back the day.\n\n The rose looked down with a blush and a frown\n But she smiled all at once to view\n Her own bright form with its coloring warm\n Reflected back by the dew.\n\n Then the stranger took a stolen look\n At the sky so soft and blue,\n And a leaflet green with its silver sheen\n Was seen by the idler too.\n\n A cold north wind, as he thus reclined,\n Of a sudden raged around,\n And a maiden fair, who was walking there\n Next morning an opal found.\n\nSome of the pupils were inclined to think that the singing of the\nGolden Hearted was the most perfect and beautiful they had ever heard\nand they all liked to listen to the low plaintive notes of the\nTunkel. Those that could not take part in the dance gathered around\ntheir teachers and asked:\n\n\"What shall we do to honor the good prince and show him how much we\nappreciate his efforts to amuse and please us?\"\n\n\"Ask him to allow you to answer your own question,\" they said, \"and\nthen tell him something about your feathered friends. Have you\nforgotten the hermit of the woods with its rainbow plumes three feet\nlong and its gay scarlet breast?\"\n\nThe name of this bird is the Quetzal, and it lives on the high\nmountain tops all alone and is only about the size of a pigeon.\n\nWhen the Golden Hearted finished singing and the dancers were all\nstanding still, a bright-faced boy approached and said, \"We have an\nanswer to our own question, good prince.\"\n\n\"Say on, my little man, I am listening to you.\"\n\n\"It is the Quetzal, the rarest bird in the world, and the most perfect\nand beautiful of all feathered creatures. With its brilliant luster\nplumes I crown you Lord of the Sacred Tunkel, as a reward for your\nsweet singing. May the children of every land know and love you as we\ndo.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted was much surprised and pleased with his new crown\nand ever after wore the feathers of the Quetzal in his head dress. So\nlong as he remained in Nachan, he was called the Lord of the Sacred\nTunkel because he could play so well upon this queerly-shaped guitar.\n\n\n\n\nThe Stars' Ball\n\n\nIt was not so very long after the children had crowned him Lord of the\nSacred Tunkel until the Golden Hearted planned to have them all with\nhim again. He made up his mind to spend his lifetime teaching because\nhe thought that was the most useful thing he could do, but he was\ndetermined to make the lessons for the children as pleasant as\npossible. He and the wise men taught the older people how to divide\nthe days into weeks, months and years, and how to make a calendar, and\nall about the sun and the moon and the stars, but this was too hard\nfor the children. So he decided to take them up on the roof of the\nTemple of the Sun in the moonlight and tell them some simple pretty\nstory about the sky at night.\n\nIn that country, the houses were built with flat roofs covered with\nred tiles, and there was either a ladder or a winding staircase from\nthe ground, so it was not much trouble to get up on the roof. In fact,\nmany of the dwellings had beautiful potted plants up there, and it was\nreally a pleasant place to go of a warm summer evening. This night\nthere was not a breath of air, and the children did not need anything\non their heads nor any wraps. Only around the lower edges of the sky\nwere there clouds and these were soft and white like big piles of\ncotton. The whole heavens looked like a bright blue veil thickly\nsprinkled with diamonds. It was very still and quiet and there were so\nmany flowers in bloom that the very atmosphere was fragrant with them.\nIn the mill pond close by the frogs croaked, and around the eaves of\nthe houses the crickets and katydids were singing an evening hymn.\n\nIt was just a lovely night to go out and nearly every one was in the\nstreet. The doors and windows were wide open, and the people went\nabout bareheaded and laughed and chatted to their heart's content.\n\n\"The goodness of this perfect night be upon my little friends,\" said\nthe prince, when he came up on the roof of the Temple and found a lot\nof children he knew. \"I have invited you to witness the stars' ball\nto-night, but before we begin, I must introduce you to the most\nprominent ones.\"\n\nThen he pointed out the milky way with its millions of stars that\nlooked like little pin heads in a band of light because they were so\nfar away. Below the handle of the big dipper, and off to one side was\nthe north star. Jupiter with his broad dark bands and tiny moons was\nthere, and so was Saturn with his three rings. Over in another place\nwas Mars twinkling and batting his eyes as if he wanted to fight\nsomething. The Dog Star was still lower down and quite by himself.\n\n\"I will first make you acquainted with the big-faced, silver moon,\"\nsaid the prince. \"She is sailing along as if she were in a great\nhurry, but there will be time enough for you to see the man up there\nif you look sharp about it.\"\n\nThe children knew there was not a surely man in the moon so they all\nlaughed and clapped their hands and then threw kisses at the beautiful\nqueen of the night.\n\n\"I cannot show you Mercury, the messenger of the sun, because he is\nsuch a sleepy head he has already gone to bed. He never stays up long\nafter the sun goes down, but he is an industrious little fellow and\noften gets up first in the morning.\"\n\nThe children thought that was a very funny way to speak of a star, but\nthey saw the prince was in a good humor and they enjoyed listening to\nwhat he said.\n\n\"Venus is our evening star,\" he continued, pointing to the brightest\nobject in the western sky, \"and she is winking and smiling at us. Look\nclosely now, and see if you can find her.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"AN OLD-FASHIONED ALMANAC\"]\n\nWhen all the children had seen her, the Golden Hearted turned to\nanother part of the heavens and said, \"Here is old Father Time, who\nfrowns and scowls, and finally grinds the life out of our bodies.\" He\nwas speaking about Saturn because it rolls and tumbles one way while\nits three rings whirl around the other way, and all the people in\nolden times believed that the stars could give good or bad luck and\ncould make our lives long or short. There were a number of this\nkind of fortune tellers among the wise men, so of course the prince\nknew what they thought about the stars. The children understood it\ntoo, and when he pointed out Saturn, they said to each other in a\nwhisper, \"It is the death star; let us hope it will not shine upon us\nnor upon those we love.\"\n\n\"If we have need to fear the Master of Time, we have every reason to\nlove the broad-belted planet with its sturdy little companions. It has\nbeen rightly named 'The Beneficent,'\" said the prince--indicating the\nposition of Jupiter among the stars. \"Its children pop in and out\nbehind it as if they were playing hide and seek.\"\n\nFor ages people thought that Jupiter gave them good luck and made them\nwise, tender and kind. This is why the children said, \"The big, white,\nshining star has a heart like our prince.\"\n\nMars is the nearest planet to us, and he sputters and fumes as if he\nreally had as bad a temper as these people credited him with. All the\nwars and troubles they had came from him, they said, and the children\ndid not care to look at him very long. He gives out a beautiful red\nlight, while Jupiter is bluish white, and the Dog Star has all colors\nlike the rainbow.\n\n\"Now,\" said the prince, \"I will show you the most important group in\nthe sky. It is the Pleiades, directly over our heads at this time.\nThere are seven of these sisters, and the pale, dim one is the center\nof the whole system of stars because all the rest of them circle\naround her.\"\n\nThen he explained to them how each star and planet, as well as the\nearth, turns over and over of its own accord, besides going around the\nsun in a very wide circle. All the stars are wonderful tumblers and\nthey spin around just like tops, and this whirling motion was what\nmade the prince say that they were having a ball. When they twinkled\nand sparkled, he said they were dancing.\n\nAs soon as he sat down, one of the children got the Sacred Tunkel, and\nthen some took hold of his hands, others held on to his mantle and\nstill others put their arms around his neck and begged him to sing for\nthem. He did not wish to refuse them, but he did not know any song\nsuitable for the occasion so he made this up as he went along:\n\n Oh! the stars one and all\n They had a great ball\n One night way up in the sky;\n They invited the earth\n To join in their mirth\n But it feared to go up so high.\n\n No fiddler had they\n Their music to play,\n And the stars were afraid 'twould fail;\n But the man in the moon\n He whistled a tune\n And the comet kept time with his tail.\n\n They danced and they danced,\n And they pranced and they pranced,\n Till the moon said 'twas all he desired,\n For his lips were so sore\n He could whistle no more,\n And the comet began to get tired.\n\n So they faded away\n In the dim light of day\n The moon and the stars from the ball.\n But, sad to relate,\n Next night they were late,\n And came near not shining at all.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe National Book\n\n\nBecause it is possible for persons to do both good and evil in their\nlives, and to think good and bad thoughts, the wise men and the Golden\nHearted studied how to keep these ideas before the people all the\ntime. In those days, the natives of that country had no books and no\nway of writing and it was necessary to select some familiar object to\nrepresent the meaning of many things. Whatever is used for such a\npurpose, is called a symbol.\n\nThe hippopotamus, the crocodile and the tapir are to this day said to\nbe symbols of humanity because they have two natures. They can live in\nthe water or on the land, and search for food either in the day or\nnight time. Of the three animals, the wise men selected the tapir\nbecause it is a shy, inoffensive creature, not much larger than a\nsheep and lives on green grasses and herbs. During the day it sleeps\nquietly in the water or on the bank of a stream and at night comes on\nland to get food. When its coat is dry, it is of a dark brown color,\nbut when wet, it is black and shining. A tapir looks very much like a\nfat donkey except that its ears are not so long and its nose not quite\nso stumpy. At Nachan the wise men raised great herds of them as an\nexample and illustration of our good and bad self.\n\nThe Golden Hearted realized that he must do more than found a large\ncity and teach the children, so he had a Dark House built away under\nground where he could store treasures and all the records of his\njourney. This was a secret passageway, and in its halls and labyrinths\nhe had quantities of statuary and pottery put for safe keeping. While\nthis was being done, he wrote a book called in his language \"The Popol\nVuh\" but we would say it is a national book because it tells all about\nthe beginning of the world and is divided into four parts. It is a\nmost singular story, and has been translated so we can read it for\nourselves. It is said to be the oldest book in America, and the Golden\nHearted kept an order of wise men in the Dark House underground to\nguard it from one generation to another.\n\n\nThe Popul Vuh\n\nThis is the beginning of the history of things which came to pass long\nago; of the division of the earth, the property of all; its origin and\nits foundation, as well as the narrative of our life in the land of\nshadows, and of how we saw the light. It is the first book written in\nthe olden times, but its view is hidden from him who sees and thinks.\n\nBehold the first word and the first discourse. There was as yet no\nman, nor any animal, nor bird, nor fish, nor crawfish, nor any pit,\nnor any ravine, nor green herb, nor any tree.\n\nNothing was but the firmament.\n\nThe face of the earth had not yet appeared--only the peaceful sea and\nall the space of heaven. There was nothing yet joined together,\nnothing that clung to anything else; nothing that balanced itself,\nthat made the least rustling, that made a sound in the heaven. There\nwas nothing that stood up; nothing but silence and darkness and night\ntime.\n\nAlone were those that engender, those that give being; they were upon\nthe waters like a growing light. They consulted together and\nmeditated; they mingled their words and their opinions.\n\n\"Earth!\" they said, and on the instant it was formed; like a cloud of\nfog was its beginning.\n\nThen the mountains rose over the water like great lobsters. In an\ninstant the mountains and plains were visible and the cypress and the\npine trees appeared.\n\nThe Heart of Heaven cried out and said:\n\n\"Blessed be thy coming. Our work and our labor has accomplished its\nend.\"\n\nThe earth and its vegetation having appeared, it was peopled with the\nvarious forms of animal life. And the makers said to the animals,\n\"Speak now our name. Honor Him who begets and Him who gives\nbeing. Speak, call on us, salute us.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"BEHOLD THE FIRST WORD\"]\n\nBut the animals could not answer. They could only cluck and croak,\neach murmuring after its kind in a different manner.\n\nThis displeased the creators, and they said to the animals:\n\n\"Inasmuch as ye cannot praise us, neither call upon our names, your\nflesh shall be humiliated. It shall be broken with teeth. Ye shall be\nkilled and eaten.\"\n\nThe first man was made of clay, but he was watery, had no strength and\ncould not turn his head. His face looked one way all the time. He was\ngiven a language, but he had no intelligence, so he was consumed in\nwater.\n\n\"Let us make an intelligent being who shall adore and invoke us,\" said\nthe Thunderbolt and the Lightning Flash.\n\nIt was decided that a man should be made of wood and a woman of a kind\nof pith. They were made but the result was in no wise satisfactory.\nThey moved about perfectly well it is true; they increased and\nmultiplied and peopled the world with little wooden manikins like\nthemselves, but the heart and intelligence were wanting. They had no\nmemory of their Maker; they lived like the beasts and forgot the Heart\nof Heaven. They had neither blood nor substance, nor moisture nor fat.\nTheir cheeks were shriveled; their feet and hands dried up.\n\nThen was the Heart of Heaven very wroth, and he sent ruin and\ndestruction upon these ingrates. He rained upon them night and day\nwith a thick resin and the earth was all dark.\n\nThe men went mad with terror. They tried to mount up on the roofs, but\nthe houses fell with them. They tried to climb the trees, but the\ntrees shook them from their branches. They tried to hide in the caves\nand dens of the earth, but these closed against them.\n\nThen their heads were cut off, and their bones broken and bruised, and\ntheir eyes picked out by the birds, and their flesh eaten by wild\nbeasts.\n\nThus were they all devoted to chastisement and destruction save only a\nfew who were preserved as memorials of the wooden men. These now exist\nin the forests as little apes.\n\nIn the night the gods counseled together again. \"Of what shall we make\nman?\" they said.\n\nThen the Creator made four perfect men out of white and yellow corn.\nThe name of the first one was The Tiger With the Sweet Smile, the\nsecond one was called The Tiger of the Night, the third one was The\nDistinguished Name, and the fourth was The Tiger of the Moon. They had\nneither father nor mother, but their coming into existence was a\nmiracle wrought by the special intervention of Him who is\npre-eminently the Creator.\n\nAt last were there found men worthy of their origin and their destiny.\nVerily the gods looked on beings who could see with their eyes and\nhandle with their hands and understand with their hearts. Grand of\ncountenance and broad of limb, the four sires of our race stood up\nunder the white rays of the morning star.\n\nTheir great, clear eyes swept rapidly over all. They saw the woods,\nthe rocks, the lakes and the sea; the mountains and the valleys, and\nthey gazed up into heaven not knowing what they had come so far to do.\nTheir hearts were filled with love, obedience and fear. Lifting up\ntheir eyes, they returned thanks saying:\n\n\"Hail! O Creator, Thou that lovest and understandest us! We offer up\nour thanks. We have been created--abandon us not, forsake us not! Give\nus descendants and a posterity as long as the light endures. Give us\nto walk always in an open wood in a path without snares; to lead quiet\nlives free of all reproach.\"\n\nBut the Gods were not wholly pleased with this thing. Heaven, they\nthought, had overshot its mark. These men were too perfect; knew,\nunderstood and saw too much.\n\n\"What shall we do with man now?\" they said. \"This that we see is not\ngood. Let us contract man's sight so he may see only a little of the\nsurface of the earth and be content.\"\n\nThereupon, the Heart of Heaven breathed a cloud over the pupils of the\neyes of the men, and a veil came over each eye as when one breathes on\nthe face of a mirror. Thus was the globe of the eye darkened, nor was\nthat which was far off clear to it any more.\n\nThen they fell asleep and when they woke up, the gods had brought each\none of them a wife. They lived tranquilly together for a long time\nwaiting for the rising of the sun, because they had nothing but the\nmorning star for a light.\n\nBut no sun came, and the four men and their families grew uneasy.\n\n\"We have no one to watch over us, no one to guard our symbols,\" they\nsaid. So they all set out for the Seven Caves.\n\nPoor wanderers. They had a cruel way to go, many forests to penetrate,\nmany high mountains to climb, and a long passage to make through the\nsea. Much hail and cold rain fell on their heads, and when their fires\nall went out they suffered from hunger as well as cold.\n\nAt last they came to a mountain and here they rested. While there they\nwere told that the sun was coming very soon. Then they shook their\nincense pans and danced for very gladness. As the sun commenced to\nadvance, the animals, great and small, were filled with delight. They\nraised themselves to the surface of the waters, they fluttered in the\nravines, and gathering at the edge of the mountains, turned their\nheads together toward that part from which the sun came.\n\nThe lion and the tiger roared, and the first bird that sang was the\nQuetzal. All the animals were beside themselves at the sight. The\neagle and the kite beat their wings, and the men prostrated\nthemselves on the ground.\n\nThe sun and the moon and the stars were all established. Yet was not\nthe sun the same as now. His heat wanted force, and he was but as a\nreflection in a mirror. Nevertheless he dried up and warmed the\nsurface of the earth and answered many good ends.\n\nThere was another wonder when the sun rose. The tribal gods who had\npunished these poor people so were turned into stone. And so were all\nthe mammoth lions, tigers, vipers, and other fierce and dangerous\nanimals.\n\n [Illustration: THE TAPIR]\n\n\n\n\nManco-Capac, the Powerful One\n\n\n\"It is time for us to go away from this place,\" said the wise men to\nthe Golden Hearted one day when they were finishing the Dark House,\nwhere they were going to leave the National Book.\n\n\"Why do you think so?\" asked the prince, laying down an axe made of\ncopper and tin which he was sharpening for one of the workmen.\n\n\"Because we have yet to find the spot where the gold wedge your\nfather, the king, gave you will sink into the earth of its own\naccord.\"\n\n\"That is to be in the Place of Gold, and among the Children of the\nSun.\"\n\n\"Yes; and we are not far from the country known as the \"Four Quarters\nof the World\" where they live. We must go to them at once, and there\nwe will build Cuzco, and make it the navel or center of all their\npossessions. Under the name of Manco-Capac, the powerful one, you will\nbe the first Inca or ruler, and your banner will be a rainbow, to show\nthat you serve the Children of the Sun.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted did not wish to become a ruler but he did not see\nhow he could refuse obedience to the faithful old wise men, so he\nsaid:\n\n\"I will go with you and do as you say, but tell me how you intend to\nbuild this wonderful city of Cuzco?\"\n\n\"You must not feel that we compel you to go,\" said the wise men,\nlooking ready to cry, because they thought the young prince was not\npleased with them. \"It was your father's command, and our promise to\nhim.\"\n\n\"I know that,\" said the prince impatiently, \"but how are you going to\nmake Cuzco the center of everything?\"\n\n\"By building the streets on the four points of the compass, and by\nconnecting it with royal roadways to the four corners of the kingdom.\nWe shall have no trouble doing so, for our reports say that the\nnatives are mild and gentle, and that there are stones in that country\nas broad and long as a room.\"\n\nWhen he and the wise men started to make the journey over the\nmountains, they put all of their belongings on the backs of the\nllamas--a kind of little camel not much larger than a sheep and which\nis used in that country to-day for pack animals, instead of burros or\nmules. They put the load on the llama's back without any girt or pack\nsaddle, and its long, bushy wool holds all the things in place. It has\na sharp-pointed, horny toe like a hook, which it fastens in the steep\nrocks, and then it can climb over rough places without much trouble.\nWhen a llama gets angry he does not spit like an ordinary camel, but\nlies down like a stubborn mule. No matter what you do to him, he will\nnot budge an inch, and then the load has to be taken off, and he must\nbe coaxed and fed before he will go any farther.\n\nOne day the wise men and the Golden Hearted came to a wide rocky chasm\nin the side of the mountain hundreds of feet deep, having a\nswift-running river at the bottom. There were so many sharp rocks\nsticking up and the water dashed over them so fast that it was all in\na white foam, and nothing could have swam across it. The native\nservants and workmen did not know what to do.\n\n\"How are we to cross this deep canyon?\" they asked.\n\n\"We will help you make a suspension bridge,\" said the wise men.\n\n\"But we have no tools\"--they began.\n\n\"You have your two hands and some copper axes and that is sufficient.\"\n\n\"We can fell trees and bring stones, but there are not enough to span\nsuch a dangerous place,\" they said, still doubtful about the outcome.\n\n\"Take your axes and cut all the maguey you can find,\" said the wise\nmen. \"Bring it here and pile it up; then we will tell you what next to\ndo.\"\n\nThe wise men and the Golden Hearted made some heavy clubs out of the\nhard wood they found growing near by. With these in a short time they\nbeat the maguey until its fibers fell apart in coarse strands, which\nthe sun dried. Then they helped the natives braid it into heavy, thick\nropes. When they got enough of these made, they wove them together\ninto a stout cable chain, long enough to stretch across the river.\n\n\"What shall we do with the ends?\" asked the natives. \"We cannot tie\nthem to a tree.\"\n\n\"Certainly not, but you can gather big and little stones for us,\"\nanswered the wise men.\n\n [Illustration: A SUSPENSION BRIDGE]\n\nWith these they built immense buttresses on the bank of the river,\nwide at the bottom and narrow at the top so they would not tumble down\nnor slip into the waters. Of course they had to leave holes in the\nsides to fasten the cables into. It took several strands to make the\nbridge wide enough, and even then the natives were afraid they would\nfall into the water.\n\n\"We need a railing at each side,\" they said.\n\n\"Very well; make one out of the ropes,\" said the wise men. When this\nwas done the natives were still unwilling to try to go across.\n\n\"We cannot take a single step. Our feet get tangled in the meshes of\nthe cable.\"\n\n\"Overcome this by making some rough boards and laying them all the way\nover.\"\n\nIt was indeed a novel suspension bridge, for when the planks were put\nonto the cable it sagged in the middle and swayed forth and back in\nthe wind like a swing. Imagine how frightened the natives must have\nbeen at first, but in that mountainous country they never build any\nother kind of bridges and they use them now all of the time.\n\n\"In this open stretch of valley and plain we will plant sweet-smelling\ntrees and shrubs by the roadside so that travelers may be refreshed by\nthe shade and enjoy the perfume, and we will also teach the Children\nof the Sun to build tambos or post houses,\" said the Golden Hearted,\nwhen once they were over the mountains. This they did at every point\nwhere they stopped to rest, and at each one they left a band of\nchasquis, or runners in charge. The word chasqui means \"one who makes\nan exchange,\" and these men and boys not only carried the news like\nour postmen and messengers, but they traded news with each other and\nwith every one else they met. Before allowing any of the runners to go\nout the Golden Hearted said: \"I will make you keepers of the Quippos,\nor knotted cords. The red ones mean war, or other bad news, while the\nwhite ones are for peace and prosperity. In the springtime if the\ncrops are good, you must carry bands of green cords. If you wish to\nspread the reports of gold and silver use that kind of quippo, so that\nthe people seeing you far off may know the import of your message.\nCount them always by tens and twenties, and use diligence and care to\nbe accurate and quick in your calculations.\"\n\nThis was a queer kind of arithmetic but it was astonishing how soon\nthe boys learned it. In after years there were bands of strolling\nsingers and poets who went about the country, and they used the\nquippos to recall the things they wanted to remember, such as the\nbrave deeds of their ancestors and the names of their heroes. So long\nas the inhabitants of this country were called Children of the Sun,\nthey had no other books and they trained young men to be experts in\nreading them. The language of the Quippos is said to be very correct\nand elegant.\n\nThe first thing the Golden Hearted did when he arrived at the end of\nhis journey was to divide the land into three parts--one for the sun,\none for the king and one for the people. Then he appointed beautiful\nyoung girls to be Virgins of the Sun and placed them in charge of\nelderly women, who taught them how to spin and weave the fine hair of\nthe vicuna into hangings for the Place of Gold which the wise men had\nalready commenced to build. The girls knew how to embroider\nbeautifully, and it was a part of their duty to keep the sacred fires\nalways burning on the altar. The Golden Hearted lighted the fire\nhimself, and it was kept burning night and day for hundreds of years.\nIn the Houses of the Virgins no man, not even the king, could go, and\nif any one ever did, the people not only killed him but tore down his\nhouse. When they did anything of this kind they called it \"sowing the\nground with stones,\" and ever afterward his family and friends wore\nmourning on account of the terrible disgrace.\n\nThe Place of Gold was a temple in the center of Cuzco so named because\nthe gold wedge sunk immediately into the ground when it was tried, and\nthe wise men said it was appropriate because \"gold was the tears wept\nby the sun.\" It is said that no building in the world was ever more\nbeautiful than this wonderful temple. The wise men and the Golden\nHearted did the best work they knew how, and there was plenty of gold\nand precious stones in the mountains, so they could use as much as\nthey liked. In front of the eastern entrance was a huge sunburst made\nlike a human face, with rays of light starting out in every direction.\nEach ray was thickly set with emeralds, and when the sun rose in the\nmorning, the reflection of the shining gold and the sparkle of the\nemeralds lighted up the whole temple. Besides this they had burnished\nplates and cornices and vases and animals and flowers of gold all\naround the walls, and the water urns and incense pans were also of the\nbright yellow metal.\n\n\"We will celebrate a great festival of Rami; the renewal time, when\nthe sun is coaxing the earth back to fertility; when the buds and\nleaves are putting forth, and the birds are beginning to nest,\" said\nthe Golden Hearted, as soon as the temple was completed.\n\n\"Show the Children of the Sun that we honor the soil by turning the\nfirst sod yourself,\" said the wise men, when told about the coming\ncelebration.\n\n\"I will,\" said the prince, who was now called Manco-Capac, and was the\nruler of the kingdom, \"and the Virgins of the Sun shall drop the\nseeds. Let every one come in holiday clothes and with songs and\ndancing and feasting we will commemorate the day.\"\n\nThe next morning all the people came together to watch the sun rise.\nThe Virgins were dressed in white with wreaths of flowers on their\nheads and every one wore ornaments and jewels and was as blithe and\ngay as if he were going to a picnic.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE PEOPLE SHOUTED HAILLE HAILLE!\"]\n\nJust as the sun peeped up over the edge of the horizon and smiled\n\"good morning\" to them, the Golden Hearted poured a libation on the\nground from a golden goblet, and the people all shouted \"Haille!\nHaille!\" meaning triumph. The prince, the wise men and everybody faced\nthe risen sun with bared heads and bowed three times. Then the prince\nsaid:\n\n\"Many think that the Sun is the Maker of all things. But he who makes\nshould abide by what he has done. Now many things happen when the sun\nis absent; therefore he cannot be the universal creator. And that he\nis alive at all is doubtful for his trips do not tire him. Were he a\nliving thing he would grow weary like ourselves. Were he free he would\nvisit other parts of the heavens. He is a tethered beast who makes a\ndaily round under the eye of the Master. He is like an arrow which\nmust go whither it is sent; not whither it wishes. I tell you that he,\nour father and master, the Sun, must have a lord more powerful than\nhimself who constrains him to his daily circuit without pause or\nrest.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted spoke like this because he did not wish the\nChildren of the Sun to believe it was really their father or God\neither.\n\nAll the assemblage took off their sandals and went into the Place of\nGold and prayed; then came out to the court yard and offered up\nsacrifice of perfumes, fruits and flowers. When this was done they\nhurried to the fields and after the Golden Hearted turned the first\nsod every one else began to work. They had no plows, and those who did\nnot break the ground with a dull saber, dropped seeds all day long. As\nthe sun went down they laid aside their toil, and marched home\nshouting and singing, because now they were going to have a feast,\nwith bonfires and dancing as late into the night as they wished.\n\n\n\n\nBochica and the Zipa\n\n\nIn the Cinnamon country not far from Cuzco lived the Muscas, a rich\nand powerful nation who were less civilized than the Children of the\nSun and were so quarrelsome that they constantly disputed among\nthemselves. Finally the Zipa, or king, died and then there was great\ndanger of war breaking out between the different factions as to who\nshould be the new ruler.\n\nAt last the oldest son of the dead Zipa came to Cuzco to ask the\nGolden Hearted to decide who should inherit the kingdom.\n\n\"This is a matter of grave moment,\" said he, \"and I must warn you that\nmy time of ruling the Children of the Sun is near an end. Soon must I\ngo to build the temple of Guatavita, the Good Life, and then must I\nleave this part of the world for another clime where much work awaits\nme.\"\n\n\"Come to us and build the temple of Good Life, and I promise you that\nboth I and my brave Muscas shall be the guardians of your teachings.\nYou shall be a demi-god among us.\"\n\n\"I have no wish to be anything more than an elder brother to you and\nyour people,\" replied the Golden Hearted. \"I am come from my home to\nserve humanity and must go with you if you need me--not because you\nwish to honor me.\"\n\nThe son of the Zipa then offered him many presents of gold, rich\ncloth, and precious stones, but the Golden Hearted refused to accept\nany of them. Finally the young man said:\n\n\"I am greatly disappointed, good prince, and have only this piece of\nbark and a strange kind of fruit to offer you. The bark is royal in my\ncountry because it cures the hated fever and is worthy your best\nconfidence. As to the fruit, taste it for yourself.\"\n\nTo his surprise the Golden Hearted and the wise men were much pleased\nwith the bark which we know to-day as Peruvian and from which quinine\nis made, and the pineapple tastes as sweet to us as it did to the\nGolden Hearted.\n\nThe son of the Zipa and his nobles conducted the wise men and the\nGolden Hearted over one elevated table-land after another until they\ncame to one of the highest lakes in the world, where people can live,\nand its name is Gautavita.\n\n\"These terraced mountain sides show that your example has been well\nprofited by the Children of the Sun,\" said the son of the Zipa, as\nthey trudged along the royal roadway leading from Cuzco to the\ncinnamon country. \"The instruction of the wise men in building canals\nand aqueducts has turned this into a garden spot even though nature\nintended it to be barren.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted thought this would be a good opportunity to let his\nnew friend know that he did not approve of war, and that the adherents\nof the Good Law, must not fight among themselves, so he said gently:\n\n\"All that you see before you is the working out of a fixed principle.\nUniversal kindness is the secret of our success. Treat the earth\ngently and with consideration and she blesses you seven fold. Dig into\nher bosom and she yields her choicest treasures, and the beasts and\nbirds respond to your affectionate touch. The heart of the man is the\nsame, my friend. The obedience and allegiance of your subjects must\ncome from the heart. If when I go among them they tell me they wish\nyou to be their Zipa then will I go to your opponent and persuade him\nto relinquish his claim in your favor.\"\n\n\"And if he does not consent--\"\n\n\"Then must you yield to him peaceably. I will not allow any blood shed\non either side.\"\n\nThe son of the Zipa knew by the firm tone of the Golden Hearted that\nhe meant what he said and his face turned a bright red, because he\nthought his own selfish purpose was known to his guest. Down in his\nheart he was planning to go into the capital city with a grand\nflourish and pretend that the Children of the Sun had sent their ruler\nand wise men to help him capture the throne. Now he knew very well he\nwould not dare do anything of the kind.\n\n\"But you do not know my people, good prince,\" he said. \"They will\nnever obey a Zipa they do not fear.\"\n\n\"I am not familiar with the faces of your subjects, but I know the\nheart of all mankind, and whether he be white or black, young or old,\nthe child of fortune or the opposite, he is amenable to the law of\nlove. Win his affection and he will serve you as faithfully and\nobediently as a dog.\"\n\n\"I am afraid my turbulent warriors would not respect such a policy,\"\nreplied the son of the Zipa, shaking his head.\n\n\"Remember in dealing with either man or animal that fear degrades\nwhile love ennobles.\"\n\nBy this time they were coming in sight of the calm peaceful waters of\nthe lake stretched out like a sheet of glass before them.\n\n\"Water,\" said the Golden Hearted, \"is like a pure mind--limpid and\nclear. It permits us to look into its depths for hidden treasures, or\nto see our own image reflected back from its surface. Let your heart\nand mind be such a mirror, and trust your people to make the right\nselection.\"\n\nWith this he laid his hand upon the shoulder of his young companion\nand as their eyes met, the son of the Zipa felt certain that he had a\nloyal and disinterested friend who would help him in the right way.\n\nThe next morning the prince and the wise men called the nobles and\nwarriors together, and listened patiently to all they had to say for\nand against the two candidates. As he came into the audience chamber\nthe strange one scowled and frowned at the visitors, but to his\nsurprise the Golden Hearted took his hand and said:\n\n\"We have made a long, wearisome journey, my brother, in order to serve\nyour own and your state's best interest. Speak freely that we may be\nable to judge fairly between the two.\"\n\n\"There is nothing to tell that my warriors do not already know,\" was\nthe curt reply. \"I am able to crush opposition and to command respect\nand obedience. I do not need your assistance, sir.\"\n\nFor a moment there was a look of pain on the face of the Golden\nHearted. Then he said gently:\n\n\"You, more than any one else need help, because you are unable to\ngovern yourself much less a rich and prosperous nation.\"\n\nWhen it became known that the representatives of the Children of the\nSun would not compel the people to accept a Zipa they did not like,\nthey came out of their houses where they had been hidden all day for\nfear of violence, and marched up and down the streets playing on shell\ntrumpets, gongs and kettle drums, and shouting the name of the oldest\nson of the Zipa who was in due time crowned as the rightful heir to\nthe throne.\n\nHis first official act was to pierce the upper part of the ear of his\nsubjects and put in gold wheels of fine filigree work, as large around\nas an orange. As he did so he said to each one:\n\n\"Swear by Him who gives and sustains life in the Universe, that you\nwill faithfully keep the Good Law brought to us from the sea, by\n_Bochica, our deliverer_.\"\n\nThis was the name the Zipa gave the Golden Hearted, and as each man\npassed by him he gave them a little cake made of corn meal, and\ncontinued:\n\n\"To-morrow our good friends leave us for many days to come, but\nBochica will return again, and to show him that we will do his bidding\nwillingly let us take balsas or rafts with sails and go out on the\nlake where he may see the intent of our minds reflected in the water.\nPut wreaths of many colored flowers on the balsas, and carry with you\ngold and emeralds which we will cast into the lake in token of our\npledge to him.\"\n\nFor hundreds of years afterwards, the Mucas and their descendants kept\nthis holiday as an anniversary of the departure of the prince and the\nwise men. They knew that he was called the Golden Hearted in the Happy\nIsland, and every year they selected a young priest from the temple of\nGautavita, to impersonate him. After his bath the priest smeared\nhimself all over with a fragrant oil, and then his attendants blew\ngold dust through reeds onto his body until he looked like a solid\nstatue. They put him in the center of the flower-laden raft, and with\nchants and hymns rowed out on the lake and threw emeralds and gold\ndust into it. The young men wore white shirts with a red cross on the\nbreast, and tied a red sash around their waists. On their heads were\ncrowns of flowers and evergreen leaves to show that their virtues\nwould continue as long as they lived, and that they were followers of\nthe teachings of the Golden Hearted. They were always hoping and\npraying for his return.\n\nWe shall hear more of this ceremony and what came of it when we read\nthe story of the Gilded Man.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE FLOWER-LADEN BALSA\"]\n\n\n\n\nSong of Hiawatha\n\n\n Ye who love the haunts of nature,\n Love the sunshine of the meadow,\n Love the shadow of the forest\n Love the wind among the branches,\n And the rain-shower and the snow-storm\n And the rushing of great rivers\n Through their palisades of pine trees,\n And the thunder in the mountains\n Whose innumerable echoes\n Flap like eagles in their eyries;\n Listen to these wild traditions,\n To this song of Hiawatha!\n\n Ye who love a nation's legends,\n Love the ballads of a people,\n That like voices from a far off\n Call to us to pause and listen,\n Speak in tones so plain and child-like,\n Scarcely can the ear distinguish\n Whether they are sung or spoken--\n Listen to this Indian Legend,\n To this song of Hiawatha!\n\n Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple,\n Who have faith in God and nature,\n Who believe that in all ages\n Every human heart is human,\n That in even savage bosoms\n There are longings, yearnings, strivings\n For the good they comprehend not\n That the feeble hands and helpless,\n Groping blindly in the darkness,\n Touch God's right hand in the darkness\n And are lifted up and strengthened\n Listen to this simple story\n To this song of Hiawatha!\n\n Ye, who sometimes in your rambles\n Through the green lanes of the country,\n Where the tangled barbary bushes\n Hang their tufts of crimson berries\n Over stone walls gray with mosses,\n Pause by some neglected grave-yard\n For a while to muse, and ponder\n On a half-effaced inscription,\n Written with little skill of song-craft,\n Homely phrases, but each letter\n Full of hope and yet of heart-break,\n Full of all the tender pathos\n Of the Here and the Hereafter--\n Stay and read this rude inscription,\n Read this song of Hiawatha!\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n\n\n\nMichabo, the Great White Hare\n\n\nUnless you know what river was called the \"Father of Waters\" it will\nbe a secret as to where the Golden Hearted and the wise men went when\nthey took leave of the Zipa. There are many quaint stories told about\nthis river, and also about the queer mounds and earthworks built by a\nstrange race of men who lived ages ago in that part of our country.\nTheir descendants are not very civilized and seem to have forgotten\nmuch that their ancestors knew although they have some very pretty\nideas. For instance, they imagine that they hear voices in the growing\nbranches and whispering leaves of the trees, and they see little\nvanishing men in the cliffs everywhere. They say that the Great Spirit\nmakes the Indian summer by puffing smoke out of his cheeks, from his\ngreat peace pipe.\n\nBefore the Golden Hearted came they built a medicine lodge--a kind of\ntemple facing the sunrise, in a place called the \"Moon of Leaves.\"\nWhen it was finished, Wunzh, a youth of noble character and tender\nheart, summoned the spirits of the four quarters of the world and the\nday maker to come to his fire and disclose the hidden things of the\ndistance and future.\n\nNo one can tell why they named the Golden Hearted, \"Michabo, the Great\nWhite Hare,\" unless it was because he came in the time of the year\nrepresented in their calendar by a rabbit. They kept a record of the\nseasons by crude pictures drawn on the inside bark of trees, and with\nthem the months were called moons.\n\nNo one blames them for saying the wise men were jossakeeds or\nprophets, because they really did look peculiar in their long robes,\nbeards and tall black hats, especially to men who had on buffalo robes\nand feather head dresses.\n\nWunzh and his tribe received the Golden Hearted with solemn faces and\nmuch respect when they heard that he came from the Four Quarters of\nthe World, which we know was the land of the Inca, very far south.\n\n\"Welcome, great white chief,\" they said, \"come and sit by our council\nfire. Our hearts have long been weary waiting for you.\"\n\nWhen they were all seated Wunzh handed the Golden Hearted a peace pipe\nshaped like a tomahawk filled with tobacco and already lighted. Not a\nword was spoken until every one present had taken three whiffs out of\nthe pipe. Then the Golden Hearted said:\n\n\"I come to speak for my brothers, the fish, the animals, the creeping\nthings and the feathered messengers of the air. I often listen to\ntheir complaints and they charge you with slaying them for food when\nthe grains and fruits would serve you better.\"\n\n\"We are not disdainful of the grapes and berries concealed in our\nforests,\" replied Wunzh, \"but we have no grain save rice and this must\nbe carried on our backs for many days. Our snows and chill winds kill\nthe plant before its seeds appear.\"\n\n\"Whatever the reason may be you will never do any real good in the\nworld until you learn how to fast days at a time and can live without\neating so much flesh. Even your vaunted skill with bow and arrow is\nnot genuine. I am a better shot.\"\n\nThe wise men were alarmed for a moment fearing that Wunzh would be\nangry and that his followers would be offended also. Besides they had\nnever heard the Golden Hearted speak boastfully before, and they were\npuzzled to know what would happen next.\n\n\"I am willing to try the bow with my friend,\" said Wunzh, with a flash\nof the eye and a toss of the head, which showed that he was vain and\nhad an uncertain temper.\n\n\"When will it suit you to make the contest,\" quietly asked the Golden\nHearted, as he arose and turned to leave the council fire.\n\n\"To-morrow's sun,\" answered Wunzh, haughtily, \"and when it is so\nhigh,\" indicating a space in the sky that would make it quite early in\nthe morning.\n\n\"Let it take place in the large square surrounded by your lodges,\"\nsaid the Golden Hearted, carelessly as he walked toward the one\nassigned for his use.\n\nTo the wise men he said:\n\n\"Leave me for a little time, I wish to be alone.\"\n\nThey wondered what he could mean by such language and such actions. It\nwas evident that he did not intend to make any explanation to them, so\nthey could only wait to see what the outcome would be.\n\nOnce inside the tent the Golden Hearted began to work on a plaited\ndisc of straw. As soon as it was finished, he drew rings of red, blue,\nblack and white all around the big yellow center, and was propping it\nup to dry when Wunzh appeared at the door of the lodge.\n\n\"I have come to show you the center pole where you may hang up the\ntarget, and we will then step off the distance between the different\nshooting stations,\" he said. \"The rule requires each of us to speed\ntwo dozen arrows from the nearest point, twice that many from the\nmiddle ground, and seventy-two from the outside post.\"\n\nWhile in the Happy Island, the prince had learned all about the use of\nthe bow and arrow, but this was the first time he had an opportunity\nto show his skill, and the wise men were anxious that he should not\nfail, because they knew that the friends of Wunzh would not have much\nrespect for him if he did. They could not understand how he could be\nso smiling and unconcerned.\n\nThe fame of Wunzh as a bowman was known far and wide and the\ndescendants of the Mound Builders were certain he would win. At\ndaybreak the next morning there was a solid line of warriors around\nthe ring where the trial was to be made, and they were as motionless\nand stolid looking as if they had been carved out of wood. No one\ncould tell by their faces what they were thinking and they would not\nhave turned their heads for anything. Some of them made a kind of\nmusic on a tom-tom or Indian drum and Wunzh and the Golden Hearted\nmarched in step like soldiers, and smiled and bowed to everybody as\nthey came into the ring. The Golden Hearted knew all the time that he\nwas the doubtful one, and just for a moment he glanced at the anxious\nfaces of the wise men. Though not sure in their hearts they nodded\nencouragingly and before he had touched a bow every eye in the crowd\nwas upon him.\n\nThe keepers of the bows and arrows were very fair minded, and were\ncareful to see there were no knots or gnarls or cracks in the waxy\nbrown hunting bow made of straight grained mulberry wood. The one to\nbe used was six feet long and its tips were of polished elk horn, and\nthere was a buckskin handhold in the center. The hickory arrows were\nas smooth as glass with very sharp saw-teeth edges on the flint heads.\nAround the notch end there were three vanes of eagle feathers.\n\nThe descendants of the Mound Builders were courteous enough to give\ntheir guest the first shot. As the Golden Hearted pulled a buckskin\nshield over his right hand he looked up at the wise men, and his eyes\nsaid:\n\n\"Trust me! I shall not fail.\"\n\nThen he stooped quickly and raised the bow from the ground and placed\nit against his knee cap to get a good purchase. With an upward body\nmovement he drew the long bow as far as he could, faced the painted\ndisc target and let fly. Like the arrow that sped so swiftly that it\ncaught fire as it flew, this one sang through the air and imbedded\nitself in the blue ring where it rocked and shook violently.\n\n\"The Great White Hare has won five points!\" shouted the tally keepers\nin the Judge's corner.\n\n\"What skill!\" said one pointing to the still quivering arrow. \"What\nstrength!\" said another, while the wise men began to feel very proud\nindeed.\n\nIt was such hard work that the face of Golden Hearted was flushed but\nhe shut his teeth together hard, and was determined to make a still\nbetter effort.\n\nHis second shot sent the arrow into the red ring nearly opposite the\nblue, and this scored him seven points.\n\n\"There is fine aiming!\" said the judges to each other, while the other\npeople leaned over in their seats and watched intently.\n\nThere was just a shadow of a smile on the lips of the Golden Hearted,\nas he made ready for the final shot from the first station.\n\n\"Ping!\" and the third arrow fairly whistled as it hit the exact center\nof the yellow spot.\n\nInstantly the whole crowd were on their feet, all talking at once and\nmaking so much noise that the tally keepers could not be heard.\n\n\"Five--seven--nine are the points; twenty-one for final score,\" they\nshouted.\n\nThe Golden Hearted flung down his bow and stepped to one side to make\nroom for Wunzh. He stood wiping the perspiration off his forehead and\nwas pleased because he saw that every one felt kindly toward him.\n\n\"Now the jossakeeds will learn how to shoot!\" exclaimed the men who\nhad backed Wunzh.\n\n\"He will never equal the first score,\" said others who were skillful\nwith a bow and arrow themselves and knew how hard it was to make such\nfine shots.\n\nWunzh sent his first arrow with a vim and energy that showed he had\nbeen in constant practice, but all three of his darts sped feebly and\nbarely indented the black ring.\n\n\"The jossakeeds hold the first station,\" announced the judges. \"Move\non to the next one.\"\n\nNow came the real test of skill, and every man was interested because\nthey all made use of the bow and arrow, in hunting and in war, and had\nno other kind of weapon except a knife. Hundreds of the spectators\nleft their seats and crowded around the contestants.\n\nThe heavy hunting bow was laid aside now and one made of elastic but\ntough yew was substituted. The arrows had finely-pointed obsidian\nheads, matched and smooth but sharp as a needle.\n\nThe Golden Hearted was careful to see that the yew was properly\nseasoned and when satisfied, he placed the arrow on the left side of\nthe bow with its notch set on the string. He drew the string back to\njust below the chin, aimed over the arrow tip and let fly.\n\nThe spectators were quick to see that his aim, draw, finish and loose\nwas perfect even in speeding the arrows so fast they could scarcely be\nseen. When shooting three at a time he drove all of them into the\nyellow center within a quarter of an inch of each other!\n\nThe friends of Wunzh shouted and screamed:\n\n\"It is not fair! He uses too many arrows. Give us justice!\" until the\njudges were compelled to order the warriors to drive the crowd back\nagain with the points of their spears.\n\nIn the noise, confusion and excitement every one forgot the birds\nperched on a cross bar at the top of the pole supporting the target.\nThere was a blue jay, a raven, a white dove and a green parrot. Each\nhad a string attached to one leg. Now of course they remembered and\ncrowded around to hear what the judges would say.\n\n\"Will the prince of the jossakeeds take a shot at the birds before\nbeing crowned with the Yew wreath of valor?\"\n\nAs soon as the Golden Hearted could make himself heard he said:\n\n\"I am willing to comply with your request, but I hope I shall not hurt\nany of the birds.\"\n\n\"The parrot shall cry your aim, and must remain unharmed. You may kill\nthe blue or the black bird, but you must release the peaceful dove\nuninjured. Will you remember these conditions?\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted came within range and waited for a favorable\nopportunity. By a sudden jerk of the cord coming down the side of the\npole the cross bar was set to whirling rapidly and this frightened the\nbirds until they tried to fly away. The parrot was chained fast and to\nmake the aim more difficult, the other birds were fastened by strings\nof different lengths. The marksman must free each one of them and then\nhit it before it could escape. The first liberated was the blue jay.\nThe Golden Hearted cut the cord neatly and wounded the bird while it\nwas still rising. The arrow fell near the base of the pole bringing\nthe right wing with it.\n\nThis won him the wreath, and he now turned to the wise men for a\nsignal. They could demand the last three shots. Would they do it? He\ninclined his head toward them as one of the number picked up a black\nflag and waved it. There was an answering shout and a cheer, and the\nGolden Hearted prepared to shoot again. This time he aimed at the\nraven and cut the string near the pole. Its weight caused the captive\nto fly in an oblique line downward for a moment. Quick as a flash the\nsecond arrow sped and the raven fell to the ground pierced through the\nheart! Without looking to see what had happened the Golden Hearted\nshot at the dove and as it flew up in a circle everybody saw that it\nwas unharmed.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE HOUSE OF WUNZH\"]\n\nThen they fought and struggled with each other for the privilege of\ncarrying the victor off the grounds, but the Golden Hearted escaped\nthrough a side door and ran away as fast as he could. He did not wish\nto speak to any one nor have them see how unhappy he felt. He really\nwas heartbroken because he had killed the raven.\n\n\n\n\nThe Birth of Corn\n\n\nWunzh was greatly disturbed and downcast over his defeat because he\nthought the Great Spirit had sent the Golden Hearted in answer to his\nsupplications, and he now felt certain that he was in disfavor. He lay\nawake all night thinking what he could do to win a token of good will\nfrom the Great Spirit. He knew better than to ask anything for\nhimself, but begged and implored that it should be something for the\nbenefit of his tribe.\n\n\"Michabo says I eat too much flesh, and that I must learn to fast\nbefore any good will come to me,\" he said over and over to himself.\n\"He shall see that I know how to obey even if my arrows do go wide of\nthe mark.\" There was a great lump in his throat and to tell the truth\nthere were a few tears trickling down his cheeks, but he brushed them\naway quickly as he rose to his feet and shook out the buffalo robes\nwhich had answered for his bed.\n\n\"I will go to a secret place in the forest and build me a lodge, and\nthere I will stay and fast until the Great Spirit grants my wish.\"\n\nHe told no one of his intention and was gone several days before he\nwas missed at the council fires where the wise men were instructing\nthe medicine men in the use of a wampum belt made of different colored\nbeads. The colors were the same as the Quippos and the counting with\nthem was done in the same manner. While the women were weaving a very\nhandsome wampum belt to be used as a council brand of authority, the\nwise men helped build a Long House in the center of the confederation\nof tribes to put it in. Then they ordered four other Long Houses built\non the north, east, south and west corners of the country, so that the\nrunners would have some place to stay when they started with the\nwampum belt to let the outside tribes know the will of the council.\n\nThe Golden Hearted did not seem to take any interest in this work at\nall, but went among the people playing all kinds of pranks. Sometimes\nhe frightened them nearly to death, and then again he would set them\ninto roars of laughter by the funny things he did. He invented so many\ntricks and was so full of mischief that every one was on the lookout\nand attributed all the happenings they could not account for in any\nother way to him whether he did them or not.\n\n\"What has become of Wunzh? Has anybody seen him?\" began to be constant\nqueries, and his family looked very sad indeed. The Golden Hearted\nknew where he was and that he was fasting, so he waited until\nnightfall and then dressed himself in rich garments of green and\nyellow shading into light and dark tints. Putting on his crown with\nthe long green Quetzal plumes he slipped off into the woods to find\nWunzh. Approaching the lodge he said:\n\n\"I am sent to you, my friend, by that Great Spirit who made all things\nin the sky and on the earth. He has seen and known your motives in the\nfasting. He sees that it is from a kind and benevolent wish to do good\nto your people and to procure a benefit for them and not for strength\nin war or the praise of warriors. I come to show you how to do your\nkindred good, but you must rise and wrestle with me.\"\n\nWunzh knew that he was weak from fasting, but felt his courage rising\nin his heart, and he got up immediately determined to die rather than\nfail.\n\nHe instantly clinched with the Golden Hearted and wrestled with him\nuntil nearly exhausted.\n\n\"My friend, this is enough for to-day. I will come again to try you\nto-morrow at the same hour.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted came dressed in the same fashion and wrestled with\nWunzh for three successive evenings. Each day the faster's strength\ngrew less and less, but he was more determined than ever.\n\n [Illustration: THE WRESTLING MATCH]\n\n\"To-morrow will be your last trial. Be strong, my friend, for\nthis is the only way you can overcome me and obtain the boon you\nseek.\"\n\nThe next day the poor youth exerted his utmost power and after awhile\nthe Golden Hearted ceased wrestling.\n\n\"I am conquered,\" he said, and went into the lodge and began to teach\nWunzh. \"You have wrestled manfully and have fasted seven days. Now you\nmust strip off my clothing and throw me down. Clean the earth of roots\nand reeds; make it soft and bury these garments here. When you have\ndone this be careful never to let the grass grow over the spot. Once a\nmonth cover it with fresh earth. If you follow these instructions you\nwill do great good to your fellow creatures.\"\n\nIn the morning the father of Wunzh came with some slight refreshments,\nsaying:\n\n\"My son, you have fasted long enough. If the Great Spirit intends to\nfavor you he will do it now. It is seven days since you tasted food\nand you must not sacrifice your health. That the Master of Life does\nnot require of you.\"\n\n\"Wait, father, until the sun goes down. I have a particular reason for\nextending my fast until that hour.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the father, kindly. \"I will wait until you feel\ninclined to eat.\"\n\nEven though he was hungry the young man felt strangely renewed and\nstrengthened and when it was night he was ready to wrestle with the\nGolden Hearted again. When he thought he had killed the prince he\ntook off his garments and plumes and buried them as he had been told\nto do. Afterwards he returned to his father's lodge and partook\nsparingly of food, but he never for a moment forgot the new-made\ngrave.\n\nBecause he was so full of pranks and tricks, the descendants of the\nMound Builders saw something mysterious and strange in everything the\nGolden Hearted did, and when he built a boat to go down the great\nriver in, they said it was a magic canoe and expected almost anything\nto happen. However before he and the wise men went away, they made him\nthe father and guardian of their nation, and they have considered him\nas such ever since.\n\nWeeks went by and the summer was drawing to a close when Wunzh\nreturned after a long absence in hunting. Going to his father he\ninvited him to come to the quiet lonesome spot where he had fasted so\nlong. There in a circle freed from weeds stood a tall graceful plant\nwith bright colored silken hair surmounted by nodding plumes,\nluxuriant green leaves and clusters of golden grain on each side.\n\n\"It is my friend, and the friend of all mankind. It is Mondamin, the\nspirit of corn. We need no longer rely on hunting alone for so long as\nthis gift is cherished and taken care of the ground itself will give\nus a living. See, my father,\" said Wunzh, pulling off an ear, \"this is\nwhat I fasted for. This is why Michabo put me through so many trials.\nBut the Great Spirit has listened to my voice and sent us something\nnew. Our people need no longer depend upon the chase and the water for\nfood.\"\n\nThen he told his father how he had wrestled with the Golden Hearted,\nand how he had torn off his garments.\n\n\"He said I was to treat the ear in the same manner, and when it was\nstripped I must hold it to the fire until the outer skin becomes brown\nwhile all the milk is retained in the grain.\"\n\nThe whole family of Wunzh joined in a feast on the roasted ears, and\nwere very grateful for such a rich blessing. And this is the way the\nIndians say corn came into the world.\n\nWe learned its use from them, and also to hold the old-fashioned\nhusking bees where all the young people got together and pulled off\nthe husks after the ripe ears of corn had been gathered into the barn.\nIt was always great fun, especially when they found red ears, but let\nus see what the Indians used to say about it:\n\n Then Nokomis, the old woman,\n Spake and said to Minnehaha:\n \"'Tis the moon when leaves are falling\n All the wild rice has been gathered\n And the maize is ripe and ready;\n Let us gather in the harvest,\n Let us wrestle with Mondamin,\n Strip him of his plumes and tassels,\n Of his garments green and yellow.\"\n And the merry Laughing Water\n Went rejoicing from the wigwam,\n With Nokomis old and wrinkled,\n And they called the women round them,\n Called the young men and the maidens,\n To the harvest of the cornfields,\n To the husking of the maize ear.\n On the border of the forest,\n Underneath the fragrant pine-trees,\n Sat the old man and the warriors\n Smoking in the pleasant shadow\n In uninterrupted silence\n Looked they at the gamesome labor\n Of the young men and the women;\n Listened to their noisy talking,\n To their laughter and their singing\n Heard them chattering like the magpies,\n Heard them laughing like the blue-jays,\n Heard them singing like the robins.\n And whene'er some lucky maiden\n Found a red ear in the husking\n Found a maize-ear red as blood is,\n \"Nuska!\" cried they all together,\n \"Nuska! you shall have a sweetheart,\n You shall have a handsome husband!\"\n \"Ugh!\" the old men all responded\n From their seats behind the pine-trees.\n And whene'er a youth or maiden\n Found a crooked ear in husking,\n Found a maize-ear in the husking\n Blighted, mildewed or misshapen,\n Then they laughed and sang together,\n Crept and limped about the cornfields,\n Mimicked in their gait and gestures\n Some old man bent almost double,\n Singing singly or together\n Till the cornfields rang with laughter,\n \"Ugh!\" the old men all responded,\n From their seats behind the pine-trees.\n\nThe Indians have many pretty stories about the birth of corn. When the\ntwo little slender green leaves come up through the ground they say\nthat it is the long green plumes of the crown buried by Wunzh and when\nit is ready for harvest they think the green and gold of the leaves\nand grain are the rest of the garments turned into a plant. They say\nthat if you stand near a cornfield in the moonlight you can hear\nMondamin, the corn spirit, murmuring and complaining of the way we\ntreat him to the wind, the stars, and the little insects hidden in the\nglossy leaves and silken tassels.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Wrathy Chieftain\n\n\nAfter sailing down the great river for many days the Golden Hearted\nand the wise men came into a trackless waste with no means of finding\ntheir way out except by watching where the sun rose and shooting an\narrow ahead of them. This was very slow work and they all grew quite\ndiscouraged over it.\n\n\"It is altogether too bad that for fear of getting lost we must halt\neach time and speed another arrow before we overtake the last one,\"\nsaid the Golden Hearted one day when they were nearly worn out with\nthe heat and dust of a country not much better than a desert. \"I have\na feeling,\" he continued, \"that we will not be well treated by the\npeople we find here. I do so wish we might come to the cactus and the\nrock with a serpent at its base where my father commanded me to found\na city in honor of the sun.\"\n\n\"We are going in the right direction,\" answered the wise men, \"but the\nend of our search is not yet.\"\n\n\"And much as my heart yearns for the Happy Island I will not return to\nmy father until all his wishes have been fulfilled.\"\n\nThrough the murky gray clouds the stars did not make much light, and\nthere was only a thin crescent moon, which gave a sense of utter\nloneliness to the Golden Hearted when he went to bed that night. The\ncoyotes all around him howled and that made it worse, but he finally\nfell asleep. By and by he was awakened by a cold, wet nose touching\nhis hand, and when he raised up on his elbow to see what it was, there\nstood a coyote. They are not very dangerous animals but they are\nsneaking and treacherous. Now we know that the Golden Hearted was\ngentle and kind to all creatures, and the coyote must have known it\ntoo, for it rubbed its head on his hand and did not seem in the least\nafraid.\n\n\"Come, my good fellow, let us be friends,\" said the Golden Hearted. \"I\nwill not hurt you, and you can guide me to my brethren. I have never\nseen their faces, but wish very much to find them.\"\n\nThe coyote wrinkled up his nose and made a funny little sneezing sound\nas if he were talking, and he wagged his tail as friendly as a dog.\nMaybe he did not understand what was said to him, but anyhow he felt\nsafe enough to lie down close to his new friend and go sound asleep.\nWhen the wise men saw him the next morning, they said:\n\n\"It is a good omen and means that we shall soon come to a stopping\nplace where strange events will happen.\"\n\nThis put the Golden Hearted into a better humor because he felt less\ndoubtful and discouraged and he was much interested in the antics of\nthe sagacious little companion that trudged by his side all day long.\nThe coyote was enterprising enough to kill as many birds as it needed\nfor food, without going far out of the way and was not a whit of\ntrouble to anybody. There was not a tree nor a shrub to hide the\nnakedness of the dusty plains, nor was it possible to rest with any\ncomfort until after the sun went down.\n\nAll of a sudden the coyote stopped short, pricked up its ears and\nlistened intently.\n\n\"Yelp! yelp! yelp!\" was what the Golden Hearted heard, and it sounded\nas if there were hundreds of young puppies everywhere. Looking closely\nhe discovered little heaps of earth with a smooth-headed animal\nsitting on all fours beside it and yelping a protest to being\ndisturbed. They were right in the midst of a village of prairie dogs,\nwhich are about the size of a jack-rabbit, but not nearly so\ndestructive.\n\n\"Come and see what I have found,\" called out the Golden Hearted to the\nwise men who were coming up behind him. At the sound of his voice the\nprairie dogs gave a quick, short yelp, their heels twinkled in the air\nfor a second, and they fairly turned a somersault diving into their\nholes. By the time the wise men were ready to look there was not a\nwhisker of an inhabitant to be seen.\n\n\"What is it?\" they said, \"Where! we do not see anything.\"\n\n\"Watch these fresh piles of dirt, and you will see something come out\nof them,\" said the Golden Hearted.\n\n\"Yes;\" said one, \"there are some rattlesnakes.\"\n\n\"And here are some owls,\" said another. \"Is it possible that you have\nnever seen these creatures before?\" and the wise men laughed at the\nGolden Hearted and thought they had a good joke on him.\n\n\"Let us keep quiet for a while. I tell you there is something else in\nthose burrows besides snakes and owls,\" he insisted seriously.\n\nNot hearing any more noise, one after another of the little prairie\ndogs put its head up out of the hole, and then stole forth cautiously\nto talk the matter over with its next door neighbor. There were\nregular beaten pathways or lanes from one burrow to another and they\nwere evidently on very friendly footing with each other.\n\n\"These are indeed curious little animals,\" said the wise men, now much\ninterested. \"They not only live in communities, but keep the peace\nwith their brothers, the snake and the owl. There is certainly no\ngreater source of knowledge than the book of nature. Here God puts\nbefore us the thing He wishes us to learn.\"\n\nAt the very first words of the wise men the prairie dogs scampered\nback into their holes; and before they showed themselves again a party\nof husbandmen came along on their way to a harvest field which they\nsaid was a day's journey ahead.\n\n\"Why do you linger in this desert?\" they asked of the Golden Hearted.\n\"There are habitations farther on where the earth is watered.\"\n\n\"We are seeking those who need our assistance and must only tarry\nwhere we are welcome,\" he answered.\n\n\"Then come to our commune. We have no one to show us how to heal the\nsick nor to coax fertility out of this barren soil,\" they said. \"If\nyou will go, we will remain for the night and lead the way.\"\n\nSo it was arranged and to everybody's comfort and joy it began to rain\nshortly after and then the air was much more cool and pleasant.\n\nThe little prairie dogs were not so well pleased with this\narrangement. They stuck their noses up into the moist air and whined\nand yelped half of the night. There can be no doubt that they were\nholding an indignation meeting, and were having a noisy and windy\ndebate. May be they were comparing notes about the tall hats and veils\nof the wise men, or they may not have thought their long beards\nbecoming. Or who shall say that they were not in their own peculiar\nfashion devising plans for safety, and to vindicate their\noffended dignity? They may have objected seriously to having strange\nmen intruding upon their privacy, and it must not be considered a\nreflection on their courage because they scampered out of sight at the\nsound of a human voice. It was quite enough to frighten inoffensive\nlittle animals like these.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE WRATHY CHIEFTAIN\"]\n\nIt is said that Katzimo, the enchanted Mesa, was the first\nstopping-place of the Golden Hearted, and it is certain that the wise\nmen taught the husbandmen in that part of the world how to make\nirrigating ditches and canals all through their inhospitable country,\nbecause there are many remains of these waterways still to be seen.\nSome say, too, that these people got the idea of living in pueblos or\nvillages from studying the habits of the prairie dogs and to this day\nthe coyote is thought to be a good friend by the descendants of these\nancient husbandmen.\n\n\"The hunters are angry with you for teaching the tillers of the soil\nhow to make the land fertile without making it easier for the men of\nthe chase to get food for themselves and families,\" said an old woman\nto the Golden Hearted, one day as he stood watching her make a water\njar of clay. She would not have spoken had he not shown her how to\nmake a pretty design and also how to ornament it differently from\nanything she had seen before.\n\n\"I am willing to teach them to weave blankets and baskets,\" he\nreplied. \"The Good Law spares the life of every creature and forbids\nour eating its flesh for food. The hunters should give up the chase\nand fighting.\"\n\n\"They say that only women should do these things,\" said the old\npottery maker, \"and they disdain to carry the rocks and mud to make\nour dwellings.\"\n\n\"In this they are wrong,\" said the Golden Hearted, kindly, as he\nturned to greet some of the wise men. \"We must hasten our task for\nalready is discontent showing itself among the tribes,\" he said to\nthem.\n\n\"We must kindle the sacred fires and build the temple at once,\" they\nsaid. \"We have heard murmurings and complaints of late and know your\nwords are true.\"\n\nAs soon as possible they began the work of construction of what is now\nknown as the Casa Grande long since in ruins, of which we shall hear\nmore in the story of the Kingdom of Quivera. The wise men kindled and\nguarded the sacred fires, and when leaving appointed warriors to take\nturns in watching them.\n\n\"You must serve for two successive days and live during that time\nwithout food, drink or sleep,\" they said, and that mandate has been\nkept to this day. In the meantime the Golden Hearted busied himself\nwith teaching them the use of herbs and plants for medicine and had\nthem go into estufas or sweat houses when they were ill or wished to\npurify themselves of a sin or fault.\n\nTradition says that the hunters lured the Golden Hearted away from\nhis comrades and tried to kill him, and that they threw the wise men\nover the edge of the cliff, but it has been so long ago that no one\ncan remember what it was they did that wounded and hurt him. One day\nhe planted a tree upside down and calling all the people about him\nsaid:\n\n\"Many, many years from now a strange nation will oppress you, and\nthere will be no more rain. I charge you to guard the sacred fires\nwell until the tree I have planted falls. Then I will come back and\nbring a white race that will overcome your enemies. After that the\nrain will fall, and the earth will be fertile again.\"\n\n [Illustration: THE POTTERY MAKER]\n\nThe simple, frugal husbandmen and weavers are still looking for his\nreturn and they believe he will descend from the sky by the columns\nof smoke they guard. It has been so long ago that they think he lives\nin the sun now, and build their houses with an opening to the east\nwhich is never closed.\n\n\"We do this that he may find a welcome when he comes,\" they say.\n\nOnce every fifty years they put out all the sacred fires and go up on\nthe high mountain tops just before dawn, and wail and mourn and break\npottery, imploring the shining orb to bring back him\n\n \"Who dwelt up in the yellow sun\n And sorrowing for man's despair\n Slid by his trailing yellow hair\n To earth to rule, by love and bring\n The blessedness of peace.\"\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcoatl\n\n\nFar as the eye could reach stretched the beautiful valley of Anahuac,\nwhere the air was sweet with the breath of flowers, and the earth\nseemed to melt perfectly into the sky.\n\n\"Oh! that mine eyes should see the splendor of this vision,\" said\nMexi, the oldest of the wise men and the most learned, clasping his\nhands in rapture. \"Oh! that I have been spared to see the fruition of\nthy will, great king and brother. Now may I go hence in peace.\"\n\nAs he ceased speaking he tottered and would have fallen had not one of\nthe tamanes or porters, seated on mats under the shade of a giant oak,\nhastily risen, and caught him as his head fell forward on his bosom.\n\n\"The elements have undone thee,\" cried the Golden Hearted, kneeling\nhurriedly by his side and supporting the drooping head on his knee.\n\"Thou art sadly in need of rest,\" he continued, alarmed at the pallor\noverspreading Mexi's finely wrinkled face.\n\nThe old man pushed the thin white locks of hair off his forehead, let\nthe mantle slip back from his throat, and seemed to breathe easier.\n\n\"I am come to my final rest,\" he replied with a feeble smile. \"It is\nnot given me to enter the promised land.\"\n\nThe tawny, broad-shouldered, half-clad tamanes, laid down the thin\ncakes of ground corn they were eating and came near to the stricken\nold man, while the other wise men took off their hats and listened\nwith bowed heads to what their comrade and leader said. They had\nstopped to rest and refresh themselves with food under the cool\ninviting shade of the trees where they could listen to the murmur of\nwaterfalls, and feast, the eyes on the landscape surrounding them.\n\n\"There!\" said Mexi, attracted by the buzzing of tiny wings, \"is the\ngreen-throated humming-bird thou wert to follow as thy guide to the\nspot where a city is to be built in honor of the sun.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted held up his hand with the forefinger extended and\nin a moment the little humming-bird lighted on it and looked at him\ncuriously, as though obeying the will of some one. He did not touch it\nnor attempt to move for a few moments. Then he said:\n\n\"Little brother, spend the remainder of thy days with me. I need thee\nsorely, and have long waited for thy guidance.\"\n\nIn the meantime the wise men had given Mexi a cup of chocolate, not in\na thin liquid like we know it, but thick like a cold custard, and with\nwhipped goat's cream on top.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE HUMMING-BIRD ALIGHTED ON HIS FINGER\"]\n\n\"Thou art kind,\" he said growing weaker and more faint all the\ntime, \"to try to prolong a life already spent.\" Turning his eyes\ntoward the Golden Hearted he continued: \"Lying next my heart thou wilt\nfind a bundle of mystery. Carry it without opening until the time of\nthy departure from this strange land is at hand. Open then and thou\nwilt find directions for thy special work.\"\n\nHe did not speak again and when they tried to rouse him there was a\nsmile of infinite peace on his face, but nothing save the lifeless\nbody was before them. The gentle, sweet spirit of the old man had gone\nback to God.\n\n\"We will neither weep nor mourn for him,\" said the wise men to the\nGolden Hearted. \"It would not be his wish, and we will show our love\nby obeying him.\"\n\nAnd so they left him sleeping in a dell of ferns and mosses, in sight\nof Anahuac, the land by the side of water, as its name indicates, and\ncontinued their journey southward.\n\nOn the way the wise men found a little creature, looking like a black\ncurrant with neither head, legs nor tail, so far as they could see. It\nis fat and dark and round, but if you squeeze him his blood is a\nbrighter color than currant juice, and much more valuable because we\nget cochineal red of one, and currant jelly from the other. It was in\nthe valley of Anahuac that the cochineal bug was first found, and it\nlives on the leaves of the prickly pear, or tuna cactus--the common\nkind with leaves shaped like a ham, and covered with long sharp\nneedles.\n\nThe young cochineal bugs are so stupid that they must be tied on the\nleaves of the prickly pear to keep them from falling off and starving.\nIn this way, too, they keep dry and warm in winter, but as soon as\nthey are grown they are ruthlessly shaken to death and dried in the\nsun. Then the queer, shriveled dead bugs are put up in bags and sold.\n\n\"In the hot lands far to the south, the woods are full of rare orchids\nand other gems of the flower kingdom,\" said the Golden Hearted one day\nafter a search for plants by the wayside, \"but the vanilla bean is the\nonly one fit for food. It will be well worth our while to study this\nstrange branch of husbandry as soon as possible.\"\n\nIt was a long time before they came to a place near the seashore where\na number of women were picking the ripe pods from vanilla vines which\noverran the trees and shrubs completely. The younger women had on\nbright-colored petticoats and gay scarfs over their long black hair,\nand they were storing the bean pods in wide-mouthed baskets strapped\nacross their foreheads.\n\n\"What next do you do with these pods?\" he asked of a young girl\npassing him with a full basket.\n\n\"We carefully assort them and then plunge the packages into hot water,\nbefore laying them out on mats to drain. For a week the beans are\nexposed to the heat of the sun, laid between woolen blankets. After\nthis we pack them in ollas and keep them warm so as to promote\nfermentation while drying. This makes them soft, pliable, free from\nmoisture, and of a dark chocolate color thickly frosted with\nneedle-like crystals of acid.\"\n\nAnd to this day if you buy vanilla beans they come in packages wrapped\nin silver foil, and have a delicious odor.\n\nThe bean is from six to nine inches long, and must be ground fine\nbefore it can be used in making the chocolate we are all so fond of,\nbut it is dried and packed in the same manner as that described to the\nGolden Hearted.\n\nIt was not many days after leaving the wooded plains, that the\ntravelers came in sight of four beautiful lakes with the frowning\ncliffs of Chapultepec outlined against the sky. Always on the alert\nfor a sign the wise men said to each other in awe-stricken whispers:\n\n\"We must be near the place.\"\n\n\"Do you not see the rock with the flowering cactus!\"\n\n\"And an eagle circling in the air with a serpent in its claws!\"\n\n\"Oh! thou seen and unseen powers! search our hearts that thou mayst\nknow all our gratitude,\" cried the Golden Hearted, falling on his\nknees and then prostrating himself on the ground, as did all the wise\nmen.\n\n\"I am Guatamo,\" said a voice, and when the Golden Hearted looked up, a\nman old as Mexi stood blessing him. \"Rise and receive word from thy\nfather, the king from whom I am come. Fear me not; these hands have\nguided thy baby footsteps. Now must thou lend ear to my counsel.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted was overjoyed to see some one from his father's\ncourt, and also glad to know that his wanderings in search of the\nplace to honor the sun was over.\n\n\"This is not a promising outlook,\" said Guatamo, \"but in the parchment\nscroll thou wilt find ample instructions to drain and render this a\ngarden spot of exceeding loveliness. Hasten thy task since thy father\nis no longer living, and thy native land longs to see thee again.\"\n\nActing upon this advice the Golden Hearted and the wise men set to\nwork at once to build the city, and to teach the willing natives to\ncultivate the land, and to make handsome mosaics out of the\nbright-colored feathers of the birds found in the forests in such\nnumbers. Of course the birds were not killed to get their feathers,\nbut in the royal gardens there were thousands of them kept during the\nmoulting season, and then the feathers were picked up and assorted for\nuse. Not only could they make perfect representations of birds and\nanimals with them, but whole landscape scenes, including mountains,\nsea and sky. When finished it was necessary to touch them to know that\nfeathers instead of paint had been used.\n\n\"The Nahuas have come from Aztlan, the white country, and must be\nobeyed,\" was the word carried from one tribe to the other by the\nrunners, and the wise men could only smile when they heard themselves\ncalled Nahuas, or wizards. The simple natives thought them capable of\nperforming miracles because they were wise in the arts and knew how to\nheal the sick. The name of the Golden Hearted became Quetzalcoatl, the\nplumed serpent in their language, but we must remember that he wore\nthe Quetzal plumes in his head-dress, the same as a king wears a gold\nand jeweled crown, and that a serpent in many of the languages of the\nancient people meant a very wise man. In English we would say that the\nGolden Hearted was the wise king, which was not only true but a very\nsimple name for him. The wonderful city he built was called\nTenochtitlan, which signified \"in honor of the sun,\" as his father had\ncommanded him to do, and on the spot where it stood is the City of\nMexico to-day. We shall hear very interesting things about the\nteocalli, or temple he built in Tenochtitlan, when we come to the\nstory of \"Montezuma and the Paba,\" for this is one of the most famous\nplaces in the new world, and no one can afford to be ignorant of its\ntraditions and history.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCholula, the Sacred City\n\n\nIt was in the Tonituah, or great sun age, that the wise men and the\nGolden Hearted built the Memento for Generations, on the plains of\nPuebla. It is not so high, but is twice as long as any other pyramid\nin the world, and is truncated, that is to say, it has four terraces\nwhich are reached by long circular staircases. On top there is an acre\nof ground on which once stood a wonderful teocalli or temple, built by\nthe wise men, and dedicated to the Golden Hearted. Each generation\nadded something to the beauties of the Sacred City, Cholula, which\nsprang up near the pyramid, and for all time it will be one of the\nmost wonderful things ever done by primitive men, who did not have our\nkind of implements to work with.\n\nThe Golden Hearted lived in Cholula twenty years, and during that time\nhe taught so many men how to make fine filigree work in gold and\nsilver that there were whole streets filled with them, and the\nornaments they made were famous for delicacy of design and finish.\n\nThere was also a mountain of outcry, where the laws enacted by him\nwere proclaimed by runners, but it is difficult to say whether this\nwas Orizaba, with her conical snow-capped head far to the east, or\nwhether it was huge Popocatepetl, or his twin sister who stood like\ncolossal sentinels to guard the enchanted regions.\n\n\"It is necessary to construct a calendar stone, so that the people\nwill know when to hold festivals, and what ceremonies to perform,\"\nsaid the son of Guatamo to the Golden Hearted, one day while the long\nline of men were passing bricks by hand from the lower to the upper\nterrace of the pyramid which they were trying to finish.\n\n\"I have been thinking about it,\" he replied, \"and have decided to ask\na certain old woman, and her husband, to help select the signs.\"\n\n\"Be sure to make them plain to the people and appropriate to the\nsubject,\" said the son of Guatamo, who had now become the chief\nadviser of the Golden Hearted. All of the wise men were still called\nNahuas, or wizards, and the Golden Hearted was their plumed serpent,\nor wise king.\n\nIn the evening of that day, the Golden Hearted approached the hut of a\nfamous soothsayer and story-teller--the old woman he wished to consult\nabout the calendar. Standing in front of the door of the hut he said:\n\n\"A humble applicant claims thy assistance in a matter of great import\nto thy fellows now and for all time. Wilt thou kindly hear me?\"\n\n\"Since it is always for thy brothers and never for thyself thou art\nconstrained to invoke aid, I am honored by thy confidence,\" she said.\n\"I have long been expecting thee.\"\n\n\"Then thou knowest that I wish to invent a calendar which can be cut\nin enduring stone?\" he asked, considerably surprised that she should\nalready know his thoughts.\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, \"and so well do I understand thy wishes and needs\nthat I have the first sign ready for thee.\" Motioning him to follow\nher into an inner room, she showed him a water-snake she had painted\non a piece of parchment, and continued:\n\n\"Make it the sign of the serpent, the symbol of wisdom, since thou art\ncome to teach brotherhood to all our tribes.\"\n\nA queer hunchbacked old man sat huddled up in a corner looking over a\nset of parchment leaves lying on a table before him, and muttering to\nhimself in a low tone.\n\n\"My husband must make the next selection,\" said the old crone, going\nup to him and taking a paper out of his hands. \"He makes it two\ncones,\" she continued, examining the design closely.\n\n\"Now it is my turn to choose,\" said the Golden Hearted, \"and I will\nselect the three houses from this pile, and make that the third sign.\"\n\nThey took turns about until twelve signs were chosen, then the Golden\nHearted said:\n\n\"I will make the last design myself, but not until my time of\ndeparture is at hand.\"\n\n\"Before going, do not forget to inscribe the face of the pyramid, and\nalso to explain its import fully,\" said the story-teller as the Golden\nHearted was leaving her hut.\n\n\"Thou art better able than I am to tell the hidden significance of\nthat wonderful pile,\" he answered.\n\n\"But it is thy duty; shirk it not,\" she said with decision.\n\nNot long afterward he called all the workmen and their families\ntogether and said:\n\n\"There has now come a time in my life when I must live in seclusion\naway from the thoughts and occupations of my associates. But before\ngoing up on top of the pyramid to live alone until the altars in its\ntemples are ready to receive the sacred fire, I will tell you why we\nhave tarried so long and made such a wonderful structure. It is really\na pillar of the Cosmos, or world, and is a center of fire which is the\nessence of all life.\"\n\nThe name pyramid means a place of fire or a volcano, and the Goddess\nPele, of the native Hawaiians, is the spirit of the volcano.\n\n\"A pyramid,\" continued the Golden Hearted, \"is the ideal form of the\nprinciple of stability because it cannot be destroyed. An earthquake\nwill not shake it down, nor can it be set on fire. Being so big at the\nbottom and so heavy it is secure from floods of water, nor can the\nwind possibly blow it over. Neither time nor the elements will have\nany influence on this cunningly constructed pile, and for this reason\nit is like a noble character, which no adverse circumstance ever\nchanges.\"\n\nApproaching the front of the pyramid, he pulled down a cloth hanging\nover the inscription cut in symbols on the face of a huge piece of\ngranite.\n\n BEFORE THE LIGHT WAS OBSCURED THIS MEMENTO FOR GENERATIONS\n WAS BUILT BY SERPENT KINGS. THEY WERE SCATTERED OVER THE\n EARTH TO CARRY TRUTH AND WISDOM. THEY WILL COME AGAIN TO\n RECEIVE THE TREASURES HIDDEN IN MY BOWELS. THEN ALL MEN\n WILL SPEAK AND HEAR THE GREAT IMPERISHABLE TRUTH.\n\nThe next morning the Golden Hearted called his little band of wise men\naround him and said:\n\n\"In the Bundle of Wonderful Things given me by Guatamo, I find my\nfather's final command. It imposes seclusion upon me in this spot. The\ntemple requires a central spire and I shall build and cover it with\npure gold. Go thou to the valley and make thy life apart from me. I\nlove thee well, and shall miss thee sadly, but I have need to be\nalone.\"\n\n\"What wilt thou have us do?\" asked the son of Guatamo.\n\n\"Go thou amongst thy fellows and teach them the arts of peace. Show\nthem how to coax fertility anew out of the soil, and strengthen civil\npower until I call thee.\"\n\nIt was several months before the spire was finished, and then it\nrequired several days to make a llama of beaten silver as an emblem of\nsuffering innocence to put on the altar. The llama seated upon the\nback of an eagle was rescuing a rabbit from the fangs of a\nrattlesnake.\n\n\"This quaint symbol shall represent the unequal conflict between the\ngood and bad things in life, but the llama compelling the serpent to\ngive up its prey means that good shall finally triumph,\" said the\nGolden Hearted, to himself, as he put the offering in place on the\naltar.\n\n\"I have only a few days more in this beautiful spot, then must I\nreturn to good King Cocomos, my life-long friend and follower. Well\nindeed has he kept his promise to me, and not only are his subjects\nblessed with all the arts of civilization, but they are a shining\nexample to other less favored races. I must offer a fitting\nsacrifice,\" he continued, \"on this newly erected altar before I go.\"\n\nThere were eight altars in the temple on top of the pyramid, and at\nsunset on the last day of his stay, the Golden Hearted placed the\nllama on the one facing the east. At the same time the son of Guatamo\nheaded a procession of wise men at the base of the pyramid, who slowly\nclimbed to the top. They performed sacrifice on each terrace as they\nascended, and did not reach the temple until midnight.\n\nThe Golden Hearted was alone in the great dark structure intently\nwatching the constellation of the Pleiades directly overhead. As\nAlcyone, the dim star in the center of the group, approached the\nzenith, he sprang forward with a glad cry and vigorously swinging a\ncopper hammer made the sparks fly from a piece of flint. The son of\nvenerable Guatamo held the bit of cotton over it and carefully nursed\nthe fire into a blaze. As the light streamed up toward the heavens\nshouts of joy and triumph burst forth:\n\n\"Once more the children of men receive a direct ray from the\nspiritual sun! Awake! awake! and hear the glad tidings!\"\n\nRunners with torches lighted at the blazing beacon sped in every\ndirection carrying the cheering element to all parts of the country.\nLong before sunrise it was brightening the altars and hearthstones in\nevery house. The Golden Hearted prayed before the eastern altar, and\nthen took an affectionate farewell of the young priest of the Order of\nQuetzalcoatl left in charge, but before descending, he gazed long at\nthe matchless scenery below. Soft spring verdure lay on all sides, and\nhe drew courage and inspiration from that fact. At the foot of the\npyramid he said:\n\n\"Be of good cheer. A long era of peace and prosperity is for thee and\nthine. Let this knowledge be thy secret refuge lest thou be tempted to\ndepart from the way. Grieve not for me, in the fullness of time I will\ncome again.\"\n\nThen he set out for the Kingdom of Tlapalla, accompanied by four\nyouths of noble birth. At the water's edge he took leave of them\nsaying:\n\n\"Guard well the temple and the sacred fires, for when I come again, I\nwill bring disciples with me who shall possess and rule the land.\"\n\nWhen the four youths returned to Cholula and told all their master had\nsaid to them, the people divided their province into four\nprincipalities and gave the government to the four young nobles. Ever\nafter, four of the descendants of these youths continued to rule as\npriests of the Order of Quetzalcoatl in the sacred city until the\nSpaniards came, which we will know all about when we read the story\nof \"El Dorado, the Golden.\"\n\nOne of the first things done by the noble youths when they became\nrulers was to make a statue of the Golden Hearted in a reclining\nposition, because they said that he had gone to sleep in the bosom of\nthe sun. When the wind blew they said he was sweeping the roads, and\nthat he was the god of fertility. Not any place else in the new world\nwas there so much reverence and respect paid to a statue as to this\none of the Golden Hearted which was for ages kept in the temple he\nbuilt on the top of the pyramid. For hundreds of miles around people\ncame to do reverence to it, and even if it did have a black face, the\nancient Aztecs always called him their \"Fair God.\" And to this day the\ncalendar stone and many other wonderful things in Mexico are said to\nhave been made by him.\n\n [Illustration: THE TORCH BEARERS]\n\n\n\n\nTulla, the Hiding Nook of the Snake\n\n\nNo doubt you remember that the wise men built a Dark House in Nachan\nto hold the National Book, and such other treasures as the Golden\nHearted did not wish to carry with him. And you also remember that he\nleft a number of wise men in charge, and that he promised to return.\nThe great pyramid at Cholula was not all finished, but it was far\nenough along so he could leave the son of Guatamo to go on with the\nwork while he paid a visit to his old friends in Nachan.\n\nWhen he arrived there, he found a splendid city having whole houses of\nsilver, others of turquoise, some of white and red shells and some of\nrich feathers. Cotton grew there in all colors, so it was not\nnecessary to dye it, and the people were rich and prosperous. A great\nand mighty king ruled them, but he finally grew jealous because the\npeople seemed to think that all their good fortune came from obeying\nthe commands given them by the Golden Hearted when he visited them as\na mere youth.\n\nThey did everything in their power to honor the good prince. When he\npromulgated a new law, they ran to the mountain tops and proclaimed it\nin a loud voice, and then the swift-footed couriers dashed through the\ncountry with lighted torches and repeated it to every one they met.\nOne day a young man came to him and said:\n\n\"Good prince, be on your guard. The king no longer loves you.\"\n\n\"Why do you say this to me?\" asked the Golden Hearted.\n\n\"Because I know he plots to injure you. He is angry because you are\nhelping the wise men build Tulla. He calls it the Hiding Nook of the\nSnake to show contempt for you.\"\n\n\"Again I ask why do you say such things to me?\" There was so much\nreproach in the tones of the voice of the Golden Hearted that the\nyoung man hung his head and stammered:\n\n\"Forgive me, but I wanted you to know there is danger for you here,\nand I am ready to serve you faithfully.\"\n\nThe Golden Hearted made no reply, but taking a thoroughly-dried cactus\nneedle from a shelf, stuck it through his ears and was beginning to\npierce his tongue when the young man sprang forward and caught his\nhand.\n\n\"Why, good prince,\" he cried in a startled voice, \"do you maltreat\nyour poor ears and tongue? It is I who have spoken evil, not you.\"\n\n\"But I listened, and that is an offense against the Good Law. Do you\nthink I will not punish myself for disobedience?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the young man, with tears streaming down his face, \"the\nsight of blood makes my heart ache, and I, too, will be punished.\" And\nwith that he stuck cactus needles through his ears and tongue.\n\n\"My friend,\" said the Golden Hearted, \"I thank you for your kind\nthought of me, but I must beautify Tulla even if it does displease the\nking, and he is right in calling it the Hiding Nook of the Snake,\nbecause it will be a treasure-house of the wisdom inherited from the\nphilosophers and wise men of your race. You should always bear in mind\nthat a serpent is a symbol of wisdom, and not a thing to despise. The\nking compliments me, even though he knows it not.\"\n\nThe young man went out of the room with the thorns still sticking in\nhis ears, and when he spat blood, his companions said:\n\n\"Why does your mouth bleed?\" and he answered:\n\n\"Because I have been speaking evil of some one.\"\n\n\"Open your mouth and let us see,\" they said.\n\n\"It is only needful to examine the tongue. I have pierced it with the\nsharp needle of the cactus.\"\n\n\"Who gave you leave to do such a thing?\"\n\n\"No one,\" he answered, \"but when the Good Prince inflicted that\npenalty on himself for merely hearing what I said, I could do no less\nthan follow his example.\"\n\n\"And we will do likewise,\" they said, and in after years, every\ndevotee of the teachings of the Golden Hearted punished himself in\nthis manner for evil speaking or listening to others saying unkind\nthings of a fellow creature.\n\nOf course we know that the king really was jealous of the Golden\nHearted, and was determined that he should not stay long in Tulla,\nwhich bade fair to rival his own city with which it was connected by\nthe secret passageway containing the Dark House. During the years of\nhis absence, the wise men left in Nachan had been at work on this\nwonderful city, and it was very beautiful indeed, even before the\nGolden Hearted saw it at all. When he came the inhabitants received\nhim with great rejoicing, and then the king of Nachan began to be\nafraid that he would have too great a following.\n\nThe king had no excuse to fight the Golden Hearted, because he always\nput his fingers in his ears when they talked of war in his presence,\nand under no circumstances would he have been made king himself. He\nonly wanted to teach and help the people in a peaceable and kind way.\n\nThe king knew all this, but he was uneasy and wanted the Golden\nHearted to go away. So he hired a native wizard to play a cunning\ntrick upon the Golden Hearted. Disguising himself as one of the wise\nmen, the wizard went to his house and said to his servant:\n\n\"I wish to see and speak to your master.\"\n\n\"Go away, old man, you cannot see the prince for he is sick. You will\nannoy him and cause him heaviness.\"\n\n\"But I must see him,\" persisted the pretended old man.\n\n\"Wait a moment and I will ask him,\" said the servant, and he went and\ntold the Golden Hearted that a strange old man was determined to see\nhim.\n\n\"Let him come in,\" said the sick man.\n\nTottering up to the bedside as if he were very feeble, the intruder\nsaid with well-feigned sympathy:\n\n\"How are you, my lord? Here is a medicine I have brought for you.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"HERE IS MEDICINE FOR YOU\"]\n\n\"You are welcome; I have been expecting you for many days,\" and the\nGolden Hearted held out his hand in a friendly manner.\n\n\"How is your body, and how is your health?\" again asked the visitor,\nseating himself by the bedside.\n\n\"I am exceedingly sick. All my body is in pain, and I cannot move my\nhands nor my feet.\"\n\n\"The medicine I have is good and wholesome. If you will drink it you\nwill be healed and eased at heart.\" As he said this, the wizard held\nup a small silver cup and put a white powder in it. \"Drink this and\nyou will then have in mind the toils and fatigues of death, and of\nyour departure.\"\n\n\"Where have I to go?\" cried his listener in surprise.\n\n\"To Tlapalla (which was their name for the Happy Island), where The\nOld Man of the Sea is waiting for you. He has much to tell you, and\nwhen you return you will be young and handsome. Indeed you will be a\nmere boy again.\" Seeing that the Golden Hearted merely stared at him,\nhe said: \"Sir, drink this medicine.\"\n\nBut the sick man did not wish to do so.\n\n\"Drink, my lord, or you will be sorry for it hereafter,\" urged the\nwizard.\n\n\"No, no; I will not drink it.\"\n\n\"At least rub some on your brow and taste a sip.\" So the Golden\nHearted drank a little to try it, saying:\n\n\"What is this? It seems to be a thing very good and savory. Already I\nfeel myself healed. I am well.\"\n\n\"Drink some more, my lord, since it is good. The more you drink, the\nbetter you will feel.\"\n\nThe sick man swallowed considerable more and then he was drunk. It was\nnot medicine at all that the wizard gave him, but a white wine made\nfrom the maguey plant and the powder he put in it was to make the\nGolden Hearted believe that he must go away.\n\nFor days after he was very sad and wept continuously, but he began to\nget ready to leave Tulla. No matter what was said to dissuade him, he\ncould never get rid of the idea that he must take all of his followers\nand go as quickly as possible.\n\nThe wise men, seeing that he was determined, gathered up all the\npicture writings they had made as a record of their journeys, and\nputting them into an ark, carried it swung on a pole with them. Before\nleaving, they called the people together and said:\n\n\"Know that the Golden Hearted commands you to remain here in these\nlands of which he makes you master and gives you possession. He goes\nto the place whence he and we came, but he will return to visit you\nwhen it shall be time for the world to come to an end. You must await\nhim in these lands, possessing them and all contained in them since\nfor this purpose came we hither. Remain, therefore, for we go with the\nGolden Hearted.\"\n\n\n\n\nThe Departure of the Golden Hearted\n\n\nThe poisoned wine worked in the brain of the Golden Hearted and caused\nhim to do many singular things. For instance he burned all the\nbeautiful houses built for him by the wise men and ordered much of his\ntreasure to be buried in the mountains and ravines. When he left\nTulla, he took all the bright-plumaged singing birds with him, and\nwould only allow nineteen of the wise men to go with him.\n\nTwo of these knew all about fishing, and two knew about farming, and\none was a weather prophet who studied the clouds and winds, and could\nforetell storms, while all the rest were priests who kindled the\nsacred fires and taught the people the Good Law.\n\nAs soon as the King of Tulla found he was leaving, he took an army and\nfollowed after him, laying the country waste and taking captive as\nmany of the people as he could find.\n\n\"Good prince, why do you not let us make war upon your and our enemy?\"\nthe warriors often asked him, but he always put his fingers in his\nears and replied sadly:\n\n\"You do not understand the Good Law, my friend. The only way to\novercome hate is with love. It is fully time for me to return to\nTlapalla.\"\n\nHe traveled on until he came to a place where there was a great tree,\nhigh and very thick. Here he sat down to rest.\n\n\"Bring me a mirror,\" he said to his servant, and when he saw his face\nreflected in it, he cried out:\n\n\"Take it away. I am already old.\" Then the wise men knew that the drug\nin the wine was making him mad again and they did not try to hinder\nhim when he began throwing stones at the tree.\n\n\"I will make these stones stick into your bark until you look like a\nporcupine and the wind cannot blow them out,\" he said, and for a long,\nlong time, the tree was pointed out to travelers as being enchanted,\nbecause the god of wind had hurled his wrathful breath upon it. From\nall accounts the tree was full of sharp rocks from top to bottom and\nmust have looked very queer indeed.\n\nThe flute players tried to divert his attention as they marched along\nthe wood, but he was very weary and finally sat down to rest on a\nstone by the roadside.\n\n\"O, Thou of infinite mercy and compassion, dry the hot tears that\nflood and burn my face,\" he said brokenly as he looked toward Tulla.\nPeople now say that his tears marked and ate into the stone, and that\nthe print of his hands is still to be found on it.\n\nAfter he had reached a very wide river and had commanded his followers\nto help build a bridge across it, he was met by some men who tried to\nstop him.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" they asked, \"and why do you leave your city? To\nwhose care will you commend it, and who will do penance in it?\" The\nGolden Hearted answered them firmly:\n\n\"You can in no wise hinder me, for I must go.\"\n\n\"But where are you going?\" they insisted.\n\n\"To Tlapalla,\" he answered.\n\n\"For what purpose are you going?\"\n\n\"The sun calls me,\" he said.\n\n\"Go then,\" they replied, \"but leave behind all the mechanical arts,\nthe melting of silver, the working of precious stones and of masonry,\npicture writing, feather work and other crafts.\" And then they would\nhave robbed him, but he threw all his rich jewels into a fountain.\nAmong his tormentors was the pretended old wizard who tried to induce\nhim to drink more wine.\n\n\"No, I can not drink it. I can not even taste it again,\" he said, and\nthat night in his sleep he turned his head from side to side and tore\nhis hair with his hands.\n\nThe next morning in passing between a volcano and the snowy mountain\ntops, all his servants being hunchbacked, died of cold, and he had no\nway to get down the steep mountain side except to slide in a squatting\nposition with his feet close together.\n\nIn one place he stopped and built a square stone court for ball play,\nand taught the people how to play the game. Now it is said that he\ndrew a line through the center of the court, and that made the deep\ngash in the mountains still to be seen.\n\nIn another place he threw a dart at a tree and pierced it in such a\nmanner that it looked like a cross, and after that a cross was called\n\"The Tree of Our Life,\" in memory of this event. Some say that he\nbuilt houses with certain underground passageways where he hid picture\nwriting and records of his teachings, and just before arriving at the\nwater's edge, he set up and balanced a great stone so that it could be\nmoved with one's little finger, but a whole multitude could not\ndisplace it.\n\nNo doubt you remember the village chief where the Golden Hearted went\nwhen he first arrived from the Happy Island, and also that he sent\nthis chief a cross with a hand in the center. Now that he was going\nhome again, the Golden Hearted thought he would visit the chief and\nsee how he and his people were progressing.\n\nImagine his surprise in finding that they had dedicated a temple to\nhim, and that in the middle of the square tower was a terra cotta\nstatue of himself dressed as a warrior holding an arrow in his hand,\nand because the statue was hollow they thought it was an oracle. His\nname in their language was Cukulcan, but the common people called him\n\"The Working Hand,\" and had great respect for a huge stone cross\nerected in the turreted courtyard in front of the temple, which had a\nbig red hand in the center.\n\nWhen the Golden Hearted went among the people, he found that they\nremembered everything he had told them, and that on the anniversary of\nhis coming great crowds of people came on a pilgrimage to the oracle\nstatue in the temple. It did no good for him to tell them that he was\nsimply an elder brother and teacher come to give them aid in a simple,\nkindly way. They believed he was sent by God, and for ages after the\npeople made pilgrimages to this shrine, and held it in very great\nesteem.\n\nRealizing that it was time for him to go down to the sea coast among\nthe fishermen he had first seen, he went to the temple service one\nmorning, and after praying before the altar, picked up a sacred Tunkel\nand sang them a prophetic song of farewell:\n\n \"Ye men of Itza hearken to the tidings\n Listen to the forecast of this cycle's end,\n Four have been the ages of the world's progressing\n Now the fourth is ending and its end is near,\n A mighty lord is coming, see you give him honor,\n A potent lord approaches to whom all must bow\n I, the prophet, warn you, keep in mind my boding,\n Men of Itza mark it, and await your lord.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"A PROPHETIC SONG OF FAREWELL\"]\n\n\"Waste not your time in idle repining,\" he said in farewell, \"I go for\npurification, but will surely come again.\"\n\nHe only spent time enough on the seashore to build and provision a\nbalsa, or boat with sails, and then he said \"good bye\" to the\nfisherfolk, and sailed away toward the east with a few of the wise men\nfor companions. Just before he stepped into the boat he turned to the\nwise men, who were to remain and said:\n\n\"It wrings my heart to part from you, but there is need for you to\nstay here in order to complete the tasks already begun.\" As he\nembraced and kissed each one on the cheek he named their special duty,\nand had no fear that his orders would not be fully carried out.\n\n\"You must go to the son of Guatamo, and tell him my work is finished.\"\n\nTo another he said:\n\n\"You must go about and teach in my stead. I will come again, but at\nanother time.\"\n\nIt was difficult for him to persuade the fisherman not to accompany\nhim.\n\n\"Have no fear. Mine is a staunch bark capable of riding the storm and\nstress of the angry sea. Farewell, beloved, I will return to you, when\nthe time and seasons are propitious.\"\n\nThe people on shore turned again and again to throw kisses to him,\nwhile the fishermen in their little boats put out to sea with him, and\nstrained their vision to catch a last glimpse of his flower-laden\nbalsa.\n\nThe wise men and priests in the temples where-ever he had been, began\nat once to guard the sacred fires and to watch and pray for his safe\nreturn. Lest they should forget his sayings they engraved them on\nstone, and taught them to the people so that his name was a household\nword for generations. His was the only civilization known in the\nAmericas before the advent of the white men.\n\n [Illustration: \"THE SNAKE-SKIN CANOE\"]\n\n\n\n\nEl Dorado, the Golden\n\n\nWe have read somewhere that \"in 1492 Columbus sailed the waters blue,\"\nand we know that the big Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 was to\ncommemorate the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of\nAmerica, but no one can possibly tell how long it was after the Golden\nHearted sailed away, until Columbus came.\n\nAnd nobody knows where the Golden Hearted went.\n\nHe said he was going to Tlapalla, which we know meant the Happy\nIsland, but no one can find it any more, and there are traditions\nwhich say that the island, with all its inhabitants, sank in the\nocean. This may be why the Golden Hearted never came back again. Of\ncourse the wise men and the primitive people in the Americas believed\nthat he would return because he said he would, and they watched and\nwaited all the long years from one generation to another. Many times\nbright and promising young men, just out of the universities, or fresh\nfrom victories on the battle fields, would take the vows of a priest,\nand give up all their hopes and ambitions to serve in the temples\nerected in honor of the Golden Hearted. They did not know anything\nmore about him than we do, but they had faith in him.\n\nThey said:\n\n\"All the good we know comes from him, and when he returns all wrongs\nwill be righted and every heart made to rejoice. He will give us\neverything we wish for.\"\n\nSeveral times during the year whole nations would fast and do severe\npenance to induce him to come quickly. Not one of them could be made\nto believe that he was dead.\n\n\"No, no,\" they said, \"he is asleep in the bosom of the sun. He will\nsurely come again; he promised us he would.\"\n\nThen they would get the idea that he was offended, and the kings would\norder great sacrifice to be made to appease him. In some places I am\nsorry to say they offered the quivering, bleeding hearts of human\nbeings by the hundreds, but still he did not come. In other places\nthey remembered his gentleness and only laid fruit, flowers and\nperfumes on the sacred fire altars which they still kept burning.\nThere were many places where they carefully preserved his sayings by\ncutting them in sign language on the stones of the temples, and every\nchild was taught to imitate his virtues and follow his example.\n\nFor several years before Columbus arrived the priests and wise men had\nbeen prophesying that the Golden Hearted was soon to return, that the\nsun was bringing him back, accompanied by companions like himself, who\nwould rule over them. Not even the great-great-grandfathers of the men\nthen living had seen the Golden Hearted, so they did not know how he\nlooked, but their traditions said that he was a bearded white man, and\nwe shall see by and by what a curious mistake this led them to make\nabout the first white men who came to them after the discovery of\nAmerica.\n\nBefore we can understand how such things could happen, we must\nremember that the people in Europe did not know there was an America,\nand that many of them had very queer ideas about the shape of the\nearth. Some said it was four-cornered and square like a dry goods box,\nand others thought it was round and flat like a plate, surrounded by\nwater which finally changed into vapor and mist, and that whoever\nventured far out into the misty clouds fell through and went--heaven\nknows where!\n\nIn the quaint old Italian city of Genoa was born a little boy named\nChristopher Columbus, who was to change all this, and be the innocent\ncause of much suffering to the descendants of the races who had been\nvisited by the Golden Hearted. When a mere lad at school, he was\ngreatly interested in boats, and he not only studied geography and\nhistory, but read all the books of travel he could find, and dreamed\nnight and day of a great long voyage he was going to make on the ocean\nsome time. He did not waste his time fishing and playing on the beach\nlike other boys, but picked up the chips that washed ashore and\nexamined them very carefully, because he believed that if there was an\nunknown land some where in the west, that the waves would bring\nsomething ashore from there. He was really quite an old man before he\nfound anything, but one day he picked up some strange chips at Cadiz\nthat had been cut by hand, and then he knew he was right.\n\nSailors always do have wonderful tales to tell about the sea, and in\nthose days they were so superstitious that they were sure that there\nwere huge monsters living in the distant waters just waiting to eat up\nany sailor foolish enough to venture near them. There was not one of\nthem willing to listen to Columbus, when he tried to explain that the\nearth is round like an orange, and that we live on the outside of it.\nHe said to them repeatedly:\n\n\"If we sail west steadily, we shall in time arrive back at the place\nfrom which we started.\" Finally, not only the sailors, but the people\nin the streets pointed their fingers at him and said:\n\n\"There goes the crazy old man, who thinks the world is as round as an\napple.\"\n\nThe more he talked and reasoned and argued and even drew maps to prove\nthat he was right, the more everybody shook their heads and called him\ncrazy.\n\nColumbus was about to give up in despair because he was very poor, and\nthere seemed to be no way by which he could demonstrate that his\ntheory of the shape of the earth was correct.\n\nAnd now comes a curious coincidence.\n\nHe was a very devout Christian, and felt certain that the inhabitants\nof this strange country in the west had never heard of our God nor of\nhis beloved son Jesus, and his heart was fired with zeal to reach\nthese poor heathens and tell them the story of the Christ.\n\nAbout this time some influential friend secured an audience for him\nwith the King of Portugal, but it did no good to tell his story to the\nrich monarch, who was neither of a scientific nor a religious turn of\nmind, and he might as well have talked to the wind. Utterly\ndiscouraged Columbus decided to go to Spain, which is a near neighbor\nof Portugal, and see if he could not induce the famous King Ferdinand\nand Isabella, the queen, to give him boats to make his longed-for\nvoyage. The queen especially was very pious and was much interested in\nColumbus' story about the heathens, but the ministers of her court\nlaughed at Columbus and said:\n\n\"It is a foolish dream which can never be carried out.\"\n\nAlmost heart-broken Columbus silently turned his back on the Spanish\ncapital and walked a long way to a seaport called Palos, where there\nwas a queer old convent in which strangers were made welcome by the\nkind monks living in it. Knocking upon the gate, he said to the\nporter:\n\n\"Will you please give me a bit of bread and a drink of water.\"\n\nFortunately, the prior, a learned man and an intimate friend of Queen\nIsabella came along, and was quick to see that Columbus was no common\nbeggar. He invited him in, and after listening quietly and\nthoughtfully to his visitor's plan of crossing the ocean to convert\nthe heathen to Christianity, he borrowed a mule and rode miles across\nthe country to the castle where the Queen was staying and persuaded\nher to help Columbus.\n\n\"It is your duty,\" he said. \"God has given you riches and many\nblessings that you may assist your fellow men, and these strange\npeople know nothing of our God, and they need teachers to help them\nfind the right way of living.\"\n\nQueen Isabella was so impressed with what he said that she immediately\npetitioned the Royal Treasurer to give Columbus money to make his\nvoyage of discovery.\n\n\"Your majesty, there is no money to spare,\" was the polite answer of\nthe Treasurer, who, like all the rest of the court, thought Columbus\nwas a visionary dreamer if not crazy.\n\n\"Very well,\" she said. \"I will pawn my crown jewels,\" and she did.\nThis was a most noble and courageous act on her part, for a queen in\nthose days was scarcely considered dignified or respectable without\nsplendid crown jewels to wear on public occasions, but she was bent\nupon sending the gospel of Christ to the heathen in America. Does it\nnot seem strange that the Golden Hearted and the Queen of Spain should\nbe credited with the same desire to help the people of the Americas,\nand that they lived hundreds of years apart and could never have known\nof each other, and that one incident is a fact of history and the\nother only a legend?\n\nBut as soon as Columbus secured the money another difficulty arose. No\nsailor could be found who would risk his life on an unknown sea with\nsuch a crazy old man. Finally Queen Isabella had to promise liberty\nand full pardon to the convicts in the prisons before Columbus could\nget any one to go with him. It was a terrible thing for him but he had\na brave heart, and the monks from the convent at Palos sent some of\ntheir number with him to teach the natives.\n\nOn and on, the three caravels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and Nina,\nsailed without finding land, until their provisions were getting low\nand the crews of convicts were about to mutiny and kill Columbus. In\norder to keep them quiet he told them wonderful stories of the riches\nof this land they were trying to find.\n\n\"You can have all the gold, and silver, and precious gems you can\ncarry,\" he promised them. In an instant you could see the cunning and\ngreed in their wicked faces. They did not care whether the earth was\nround or flat, nor what became of the natives, if they only had gold,\nand then they would gather around Columbus and question him closely\nabout the size of the nuggets and precious stones. Of course he could\nonly guess at it, but he knew that to save his life he must say\nsomething, so he replied:\n\n\"I firmly believe that there are immense pieces of solid gold to be\nfound there, and that it is abundant.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"ON AND ON THE THREE CARAVELS SAILED.\"]\n\nSome thought they would find it in lumps as big as a house, and they\nall expected to pick up hands full of gems just anywhere. Columbus had\nstrained his eyes looking for the land until he was nearly blind, but\none night he imagined he saw a glimmer of light ahead. Where there was\nlight there must be land, he thought. So he called one of the sailors\nto him and asked him what he saw.\n\n [Illustration: \"LAND! LAND AHEAD!\"]\n\n\"A light! a light!\" cried the sailor joyfully. But it was not until\nnearly two o'clock in the morning that the commander of one of the\nother boats started the cry:\n\n\"Land! Land ahead!\"\n\nYou can imagine what excitement there was on all the caravels, and how\nthankful Columbus was. The padres gathered around him, and as he\nsprang ashore, he dropped on his knees and stooped and kissed the\nground. Even the sailors forgot about the gold while he and the padres\nprayed and thanked God for giving mankind a new world.\n\nImmediately the flag of Spain was planted and the land claimed for\nKing Ferdinand and Isabella, but wonderful indeed were the things\nsurrounding them. Men and women of a bronze color crowded around them\nand offered them strange, but delicious fruits and flowers and brought\nthem food and water. In his first letter to Queen Isabella, Columbus\nsaid of them:\n\n\"There is not in all the world a better people nor a better land.\nTheir converse is ever sweet and gentle, and is accompanied by a\nsmile. They truly love their neighbor as themselves.\"\n\nFinding them docile and kind the padres set about teaching them, and\nthe simple natives were very willing listeners. It was quite a long\ntime before they could understand each other well, but the padres told\nthe story of the Christ the first time they held a service, which was\non a Sunday. Remembering the precepts of the Golden Hearted, the faces\nof the natives lighted up understandingly when they heard the words of\nJesus which bade them be loving and kind to each other, and they\nnodded their heads and exclaimed:\n\n\"El Dorado! El Dorado!\"\n\nAt least that is what the ignorant convict sailors thought they said.\nThe words \"El Dorado\" in Spanish, which was their mother tongue, meant\n\"The Golden,\" or \"The Gilded One.\" We know they were eager and greedy\nto find gold and that they had been told to help themselves freely to\nall they could get, so they immediately began to question the simple\nnatives.\n\n\"Yes, yes; we have plenty of gold,\" the natives said, in surprise,\nbecause they did not value it at all, except for ornaments, and they\nran to fetch some for their visitors. When they saw how glad it made\nthe sailors, they were happy and content as a lot of children, and\nthey not only brought all they had, but told where there was plenty\nmore to be found.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\"Bimini, the Fountain of Youth\"\n\n\nWhen Columbus sailed back to Spain and told the story of his wonderful\ndiscoveries the people did not believe him at first, but when he\nshowed them the gold and silver ornaments, and the strange red men,\nthey were so amazed that they forgot even to ask questions.\n\nThe news was so startling that it simply took their breath away and\nthey stared at each other stupidly. Then they said in awe-stricken\nwhispers:\n\n\"How can such things be? Is the world coming to an end? Are we going\nto die? Or are _we_ crazy? Maybe our ears and eyes are fooling us.\"\n\nBut Columbus only smiled and said:\n\n\"My friends, you see I was right. The earth is round, and I have not\nonly found India with its untold riches, but I have brought some of\nits people home with me.\"\n\nAnd that is why today we call the red men Indians. Columbus did not\nknow that he had discovered a new continent, so it was natural for him\nto speak of the natives as Indians. And I am sure you will pity him\nwhen I tell you that he died without ever knowing the difference.\n\nAll Europe was in a fever of excitement over his voyage, and it was\nnot long before he fitted out other vessels and sailed across the\nocean again to find the northwest passage which he believed would\nshorten the route to India. Rich men, and learned ones, were ready to\ngo with him, and the sailors expected to find gold and precious stones\nscattered all over the ground. Every word that the convicts told them\nabout El Dorado they thought meant gold, and the wildest and most\nexaggerated stories were soon in everybody's mouth.\n\nThe padres, too, were enthusiastic over the prospect of converting the\nheathen, but nobody took the trouble to find out what the Indians\nbelieved about God. Every one misunderstood the meaning of El Dorado\nand never dreamed that there had been such a teacher as the Golden\nHearted, or that the Indians already knew how to be brotherly and\nkind.\n\nEven the most learned men in those days were ready to accept the\nexistence of a mythical city called Cathay as true.\n\nThey thought it was situated somewhere between the island of\nNewfoundland and Florida, where they expected to find the spice\ngroves. Another story very common in Europe said that there was among\nthe beautiful summer isles of the west, one that conferred immortality\nand was spoken of as the Island of Perpetual Youth. Among those whose\nimagination was fired by this romance was a brave knight named Ponce\nde Leon, who was Columbus' companion on his second voyage. He did not\ncare for the gold of the new world, for he was already rich, but he\nwas old, and he wanted to renew his youth. King Ferdinand commissioned\nhim Governor of Porto Rico, but he soon tired of it, and was\ndetermined to discover the magic spring.\n\n\"For what reason should I stay here and lord it over these half-naked\nsavages,\" he said to his relatives and friends when they tried to\ndissuade him from undertaking such a perilous search. \"Let us go where\nwe can bathe in those enchanted waters and be young once more. I need\nit and so will you before very long.\"\n\n\"But how do you know there is such a place?\" they asked.\n\n\"By hearing the full particulars of an old Indian who went there and\nwashed himself and drank from the spring until he was restored to\nyouth and vigor. Let us go and be like him.\"\n\nTo find this new marvel he set sail with three brigantines, and the\nadventurers with him floated over the summer sea, as men bent upon\npleasure, and to whom time was long and burdened with no serious\nduties. They sailed from island to island touching here and there as\nfancy led them. They sought the safest and pleasantest coves, where\nthe shades were deepest in the noonday sun, and the waters coolest;\nwhere the fruits were the sweetest, the Indians most friendly and\ntheir women the loveliest. At last they came to an inlet which led\ninvitingly up among wooded banks and flowering valleys. Here the old\nknight said:\n\n\"Let us disembark and strike inland. My heart tells me that we have\nfound the Fountain of Youth.\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" said his younger kinsman, \"our way lies by water.\"\n\n\"Then leave me here with my men,\" he replied, and after an angry\ndiscussion five men, long past middle age, and who had come with him\nfrom Spain, were left on shore. The first thing they did was to climb\nto the top of a hill and set up a cross which they had brought with\nthem. As soon as it was in place they all removed their helmets and\nprayed before it. One of the men said to him:\n\n\"The ground is pawed up as if cattle ranged here, and this path has\nbeen trod by human feet.\"\n\n\"You are right,\" said Ponce de Leon, \"lead the way and we will\nfollow.\"\n\nTaking the path they met about fifty Indian bowmen, who seemed to\ntheir startled vision like a whole company of giants, but, who proved\nto be of a very friendly disposition.\n\nThe grizzled old knights were anxious to inquire about the fabled\nFountain, so they gave the Indians strings of gay-colored beads, and\nsome little bells. In return they received an arrow, as a token of\ngood will. After a long parley the bowmen turned back to their huts.\n\"We will bring you food in the morning,\" they said, and at daybreak\nthey appeared again bringing plenty of fish, roots and fruits. When\nthey saw that the men were chilly from the cold night air, they said\nto each other:\n\n\"Let us carry our brothers to our homes where they can get warm.\"\n\n\"But they will suffer on the way,\" said the chief. \"Go before us and\nbuild big fires and we will stop at each one to rest our weary arms.\"\n\nThe Spanish knights did not know what to make of this kind of\ntreatment, but they offered no resistance when the stalwart warriors\ntook them on their backs and started through the woods. The Indians\ncarried them very carefully, and at last set them down before the\ndoors of their huts where the women brought them food and drink.\n\n\"I wonder what they intend to do with us,\" said the knights among\nthemselves. On hearing this remark Ponce de Leon replied:\n\n\"It is just possible that they will offer us as a sacrifice, for it is\nquite plain that they think we are supernatural beings.\"\n\n\"Let us get away from them as quickly as we can,\" they said, fearing\nthat something terrible would happen.\n\n\"Before we go we must try to find out about the magic spring we are\nseeking,\" replied Ponce de Leon, unwilling to give up his project. It\nrequired considerable time and patience to make the Indians comprehend\nwhat he wanted, but they stoutly maintained that they knew nothing\nabout it.\n\n\"These redskins are cunning rascals, and will not tell us where to\nfind the Fountain of Youth,\" said Ponce de Leon, in explanation,\nafter his fruitless talk with them, \"but God giving us strength we\nwill find it yet.\"\n\nSo they went slowly and carefully over the whole country, stopping at\neach spring to take off their clothes and jump into it, then they\nwould drink as much of the water as they could, and sit down and wait\nto see if it would make them young again. As they went farther away\nfrom the coast the Indians became more and more friendly, because they\nthought the white men had come from Heaven.\n\n\"We must bring them food, build houses for them and bear all their\nburdens,\" they said among themselves. Some went out on the hills and\nkilled deer with their bows and arrows, while others killed rabbits by\ngoing in a big wide circuit and then gradually closing in on the game.\nWhen near enough they knocked the rabbit on the head with a wooden\nclub as it ran by them.\n\n\"Breathe upon and bless our food,\" they said to the knights, after\ngiving them all they wanted for themselves, \"so that we may feel sure\nin our hearts that you are pleased with us.\"\n\nAt first only the men made these requests, but finally the women\nbrought wild fruits and berries, which they wanted the visitors to see\nand touch before they would eat. All this was very troublesome to the\nknights, but if they refused or acted as if they were offended, the\npoor Indians were terrified, and falling on their faces would cry\nout:\n\n\"We shall die unless we have the favor of our good and wise white\nbrothers.\"\n\nFarther on, the people did not venture to come out in the paths and\ngather round them as the first had done, but stayed meekly in their\nhouses, sitting with their faces turned to the wall, and with all\ntheir property heaped up in the middle of the floor.\n\n\"We could easily plunder and rob these simple folk,\" said Ponce de\nLeon, \"but I charge you on your honor as knights to take nothing you\ndo not pay for.\"\n\nIn spite of this the natives loaded them with valuable skins and other\npresents, and were eager and willing to show all the springs and\ncreeks in their neighborhood.\n\n\"They pretend to know nothing of the miraculous gifts of the Fountain\nof Youth, but their own splendid endurance of heat and cold, and the\nfatigues of travel show how perpetually young and active they are. If\ntheir bodies were pierced through with arrows they would soon recover.\nThey are trying to mislead us and conceal the source of their\nstrength, but we will soon find it,\" the Spanish knights said, and\nPonce de Leon, their leader, heartily agreed with them.\n\nNever in the world had there been such a strange journey undertaken by\ngray and careworn men. On and on they went searching in the heart of\nthe woods for a fountain where they could renew their youth. Yellow\njasmine trailed in festoons above their heads; wild roses grew at\ntheir feet; the air was sweet with the odor of pine, while long gray\nmoss hung from the branches of the live-oaks.\n\nFinally they came to a spring which widened into a natural basin and\nbubbled up in such a cool, delicious manner, that Ponce de Leon\nplunged into it with joy. Coming up on the bank to dress himself, he\nexclaimed:\n\n\"It is enough. I have bathed in the Fountain of Youth. See, I am young\nagain.\"\n\nHis companions hastened to try it, and they too said the same.\n\n\"Hurrah! hurrah! the Fountain of Youth has been found! Let us make\nhaste to tell the world of your discovery.\"\n\nBut they were mistaken and had not counted on what the Indians would\ndo about it. When they found that the white men wanted a boat to go\ndown the river they were eager to get it for them, but when they\nunderstood that they were going away, they wept bitterly, and tried\nevery way to persuade them to stay.\n\n\"No, we will not remain. This is Florida, the land of flowers, and we\nare looking for Bimini, the Fountain of Youth,\" said Ponce de Leon,\nfirmly. \"Your people have misled us continually. Bimini is an island\nand we are going to search until we find it.\"\n\n\"And if you succeed will you return to us,\" asked an Indian chief\neagerly. \"You have the secret of life and death in your hands, and\nhave already saved my wife and child. Stay and we will serve you\nfaithfully.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"HURRAH! HURRAH! THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH\"]\n\n\"Oh! my brothers, stay with us!\" begged and implored the Indians. Some\nof them clung to the garments of the knights, and others were dragged\nout of the boat by the determined natives. Finally Ponce de Leon,\ngrown tired of useless parley, said angrily:\n\n\"I am old and weary and must soon die if I do not find the waters\nwhich will renew my youth and vigor. Your thickets and swamps are\nfilled with alligators and poisonous water snakes; the very air is\nladen with deadly fevers, and never again will I return to it.\"\n\nAs the canoe started down the river the Indians wrung their hands and\nwailed loudly:\n\n\"Come back! come back!\" But Ponce de Leon stood up in the boat and\nshook his head, and made them understand by signs that he would not do\nas they wished. This made them all the more frantic and one of the\nwarriors, snatching up a poisoned arrow, sped it with deadly aim. It\nwent through the thigh of the gallant old knight where he stood, and\nit was not long until death ended his search for the Fountain of\nYouth. Since then no one has ever tried to locate this wonder-working\nfountain, but philosophers say that it is in our own hearts and that\nwe find it when we realize that the soul never dies, and is\nperpetually young because of its immortality.\n\n\n\n\nMontezuma and the Paba\n\n\nColumbus died poor and in prison because nobody was interested in his\neffort to find a northwest passage to India, or cared whether the\nearth was round or flat. They wanted gold, and the stories of El\nDorado told by the ignorant sailors had more influence on the people\nthan anything Columbus said or did.\n\n\"I have merely opened the gates for others to enter,\" he exclaimed\nbitterly, when he found himself thwarted in all his plans, but there\nis more honor accorded his memory than to any of the others who came\nafter him, and made immense fortunes.\n\nThe same year that Queen Isabella died, a young man, but nineteen\nyears old, named Hernando Cortez, sailed from Spain for Cuba. Already\nthere was quite a Spanish settlement on the island, and when the\nGovernor offered him a large tract of land with Indian slaves to\ncultivate it, he answered angrily:\n\n\"I came to get gold, not to till the soil like a peasant.\"\n\nHe expected to find untold wealth locked up in the unexplored regions\nof the new world, and had no patience with any of the slower methods\nof gaining riches. Instead of working he meant to fight for what he\nwanted and we shall find when we know more about him that he broke his\nword to his king, the governor of Cuba, to his wife, to his soldiers,\nand to every friend who served him. Yet he was born a gentleman,\nhandsome and well mannered, but a greedy love of gold rendered him\nbrutal and treacherous to a degree.\n\nIn his company were gallant knights of chivalry, servile retainers of\nthe king, soldiers of fortune, and bearded friars, who left behind\nthem country, home, family, friends and sweethearts, to seek El\nDorado, which to them meant simply gold. When we study the history of\nthe United States we shall be surprised to find men like them in full\narmor of steel, with lance, shield and helmet, mounted on prancing\nsteeds, caparisoned in gay colors, glittering through the untracked\nwilderness of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and even as far west as\nArizona, always in search of El Dorado. And in every case their greed\nfor gold led to such bloodshed and violence, that it makes the heart\nache to think about it.\n\nNot many years after Cortez landed in Cuba, the Governor sent for him\nand said:\n\n\"I have at last secured permission from the king to explore the\ncontinent lying to the west, and I desire you to take ships and\nsoldiers and have command of the expedition.\"\n\nSomething in Cortez' manner excited the suspicion of the Governor, but\nhe said nothing until he was ready to sail. Then he withdrew the\ncommission, and ordered Cortez to remain in Cuba. Instead of obeying\nhe stole away in the night, and did not land until he came to the\ncoast of Mexico, close to the point from which the Golden Hearted had\nsailed. His men were afraid to venture far from shore, but he painted\nglowing pictures of the gold they were to find, and said:\n\n\"I hold out to you a glorious prize, but it is only to be won by\nincessant toil.\"\n\nThen holding up a black velvet standard with a red cross in the\ncenter, surrounded by flames of blue and white, he continued:\n\n\"Comrades, let us follow the cross, and under this sign if we have\nfaith, we shall conquer.\"\n\nThe padres with them, who had come to minister to the spiritual\nwelfare of the cavaliers and soldiers, urged them to go forward,\nsaying:\n\n\"We are in honor bound to carry the gospel to these poor, ignorant\nheathens, and God has given you the privilege of helping in this work.\"\n\nThe Indians were friendly and when asked for gold, answered:\n\n\"We on the sea coast have little, but in Tenochtitlan there is a rich\nand powerful king named Montezuma, who has much gold and other\ntreasures.\"\n\nAround them were parched and sandy plains, but on the march they soon\ncame to \"the land of bread,\" as the Tlascallan country was called, and\nhere they heard of Cholula, the sacred city. When they came in sight\nof it they exclaimed:\n\n\"It is the promised land!\" and were amazed at the splendor of the\ncity, as well as the surrounding country, where there were fields of\nmaize, vanilla, indigo, sugar cane, flowering cacao groves, and banana\ntrees in profusion. The streets of Cholula were filled with a\nconcourse of priests whom Cortez mistook for beggars. They were\nholding a religious festival in honor of Quetzalcoatl, which was their\nname for the Golden Hearted, who had now become the Fair God of\ntradition. Long had they been expecting him to return to Cholula, and\nbecause Cortez had a fair complexion, and was accompanied by other\nwhite men they thought the Golden Hearted had come at last. The people\nlined the streets and roadways and not only wore garlands of flowers\non their heads, but tossed bouquets to the soldiers, while the priests\nmet them with music and swung incense up and down the cleanly-swept\nstreets they passed through.\n\n\"What is the will of Quetzalcoatl?\" they asked eagerly of Cortez.\n\n\"Do you come from Tlapalla?\" they inquired of his followers.\n\n\"No,\" they were answered, \"but we have a disease of the heart which\nonly gold can cure.\"\n\nThen the simple natives brought all the gold-dust and little trinkets\nthey could find and gave to their visitors. Cortez thanked them, but\nsaid:\n\n\"This is not enough. We must have very much more.\"\n\n\"Then you would better ask our friend and ally, the great king,\nMontezuma. He has immense stores of it.\"\n\n\"Where is this great king, and this city of Tenochtitlan?\"\n\n\"Farther to the west,\" they answered.\n\nShortly after this an embassy of nobles from the court of Montezuma\nappeared with rich presents and an invitation to Cortez to visit the\nking. None of them had ever seen a white man before, and they did not\nfor a moment doubt that Cortez was the Golden Hearted, returned to\nclaim his own, and they were very anxious to please him. Touching his\nbrass helmet one of them said timidly:\n\n\"It is very like that worn by Quetzalcoatl, and I would like our king,\nMontezuma, to see it.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" responded Cortez, \"but bring it back filled with gold.\"\nAnd they did. No one knows just why, but something made Cortez\nsuspect the gentle natives of treachery, and one morning at daybreak\nhe fell upon them in the market place, and slew thousands of people,\nand then set fire to the city. His rude soldiers went up on the\npyramid and threw down the statue of the Golden Hearted, and erected a\ncross in its place. History says that the Aztecs had long been\noffering the hearts of human beings in sacrifice to the Golden Hearted\nin Cholula, while in Tenochtitlan they had set up an image of a\nterrible war god, and were worshiping that more than the gentle,\ninoffensive Golden Hearted. It was this disobedience which made\nMontezuma fear that he was returning to take vengeance.\n\nOne morning early the king went to see the Paba, who had charge of the\nsacred fires on the altars built by the Golden Hearted himself. The\nchamber in the temple was square, with the ceiling covered by a\nlattice work of shining white and yellow metal which, at the\nintersections, was carved to represent flowers set with jewels. All\naround the walls were sculptured pictures of men. As the king\napproached the Paba said:\n\n\"The gloomy clouds hanging overhead are not darker than is the mood of\nQuetzalcoatl, but to the poor Paba the voice of the king is ever\nwelcome.\"\n\n\"Why should the mood of Quetzalcoatl be dark? A new teocalli holds his\nimage, and they say he is happy and that he comes from the place of\nsunrise with a canoe filled with blessings.\"\n\n\"Do you remember, O king! that in some of the underground chambers of\nthis temple, besides vast stores of wealth, there are prophecies to be\nread?\"\n\n\"I remember it well,\" said Montezuma.\n\n\"Give me leave, and I will show you the writing from Quetzalcoatl\nhimself.\"\n\nGroping their way through the great underground cavern, but dimly\nlighted, the Paba said:\n\n\"Son of a king, is your heart strong? The writing begins here and\ncontinues around the wall.\"\n\n\"Read it,\" said Montezuma.\n\n\"The first is here on the north and represents the ancient king on the\nmarch. You see him in the midst of warriors who are dancing in honor\nof his victories. Here we have the whole story of our race.\"\n\n\"This was before the coming of Quetzalcoatl and is of the remote\npast,\" said Montezuma, with a frown.\n\n\"On the southern wall, opposite,\" replied the Paba, \"is what you seek.\nObserve the king stands on a rock, and a priest points out to him an\neagle on a cactus holding a serpent in its claws. Beside it the king\nreclines on a couch. Our city has been founded.\"\n\nMontezuma said not a word, but turned to another panel.\n\n\"Look well to this, O king! There is Quetzalcoatl before an altar\noffering a sacrifice of fruit and flowers. _His hands are free from\nblood!_\"\n\nMontezuma's face was deadly pale, because he knew that many orders of\npriests in his kingdom sacrificed human beings by cutting out their\nhearts, and he was afraid that the coming of the strange white men was\non account of this forbidden practice.\n\n\"See! Oh majesty! the fair god is departing from our beloved\nTenochtitlan. Saddest of all days was that for us.\"\n\n\"Show me a prophecy if you would have me believe that this was written\nby Quetzalcoatl. I would know something of the future.\"\n\n\"Be wise, oh my master! Let the future alone; it is sown with sorrows\nfor all you love.\"\n\n\"Until I wrong the gods why should I fear them? Have done, Paba. I,\ntoo, am a priest,\" said Montezuma, earnestly.\n\n\"I, his true servant, tell you never again to look for smile from\nTlapalla. I will show you from Quetzalcoatl himself, that the end of\nyour empire is at hand. Every breeze from the east is filled with woe\nfor you and yours. The writing is on the wall. Look again and\nclosely.\"\n\n\"I see nothing,\" cried the king.\n\n\"All that you have heard about the return of Quetzalcoatl is true. He\nis coming to end the days of the Aztecs forever.\"\n\n\"Forever! It cannot be. Read the next panel.\"\n\n\"There is no other, this is the last,\" answered the Paba sadly.\n\nMontezuma turned quickly to the north wall, but found it without a\nsingle mark. Here indeed was the end.\n\nThat night the Aztec king could neither eat nor sleep. The prophecy\nwas with him all the time. When the morning came he called for his\ncanoe. From the battlements of Chapultepec, the palace and tomb of his\nfathers, he would see the sun rise. If Quetzalcoatl was angered and\nmeant to wreak vengeance, he naturally supposed the sun, his dwelling\nplace, would give some warning.\n\nIn all the heavens around there was not a fleck when suddenly a cloud\nof smoke rushed upward, and across the pathway of the sun, so that\nwhen it crept over the mountain range, it looked like a ball of blood!\nMontezuma drew the hood over his face quickly, and his head dropped on\nhis breast.\n\nThe Paba had spoken the truth. Quetzalcoatl was coming! and next\nevening a runner sped hotly over the causeway and up the street,\nstopping at the gate of the royal palace. He was taken before the king\nand shortly after the news went flying over Tenochtitlan, that\nQuetzalcoatl had arrived in his huge water-house with wings, and\nfilled with thunder and lightning! for that was what the Aztecs called\nthe ships and cannon brought by Cortez.\n\nWhen Montezuma heard of the terrible massacre in Cholula, he called a\ncouncil of wise old men and said:\n\n\"Of what use is it, uncles? The gods are against us and resistance is\nof no avail. I mourn most for the women and children, and the old and\ninfirm who are too feeble to fight or fly. For myself and the brave\nmen around me, we must bare our breasts to the storm and meet it as we\nmay.\"\n\nAs Cortez neared Tenochtitlan he was met by so many chiefs and nobles\nunder Montezuma, that it took them an hour to pass before him, and\nmake their salutation which they did by touching the ground with the\nright hand and then carrying it to the forehead. The four nobles\ncarrying Montezuma on their shoulders, were preceded by three officers\nof state bearing gold wands in their hands to show that they came in\npeace. The royal palanquin, or chair, in which Montezuma was seated,\nblazed with gold, jewels and gaudy feather-work, while the nobles\ncarrying it were barefooted. They walked with slow measured steps and\nkept their eyes bent on the ground. Finally the train of warriors and\nnobles halted, and Montezuma came forward to meet Cortez.\n\nImagine what their feelings must have been as they looked at each\nother! Montezuma thought he was welcoming back the gentle, kind\nQuetzalcoatl, whom we know as the Golden Hearted, while Cortez knew he\nhad found more gold and riches than he ever dreamed existed anywhere.\n\nThe poor misled Aztec king approached the Spanish adventurer and\nputting an exquisitely wrought gold collar around his neck said:\n\n\"This was my father's palace but it belongs to you and your brethren.\nRest here after your fatigues and in a little while I will visit you\nagain.\"\n\nWhen he went out of the palace he sent slaves to wait upon them, and\nhe gave each one new clothes, and a splendid feast. When they had\nfinished eating, the rude soldiers searched all through the palace for\nhidden wealth, and finding the treasure house of the king proceeded to\nhelp themselves. When Montezuma heard of it he said:\n\n\"They are welcome to the gold and silver and other articles, if they\nwill but spare the things belonging to the gods.\"\n\nIn the palace grounds where they were quartered they found an aviary\nfilled with beautiful singing birds; a menagerie full of strange\nanimals, and snakes; ten big tanks stocked with water-fowl and fish;\nfountains playing everywhere, and wonderful floating gardens on the\nlakes, while all around them lay a city filled with temples, market\nplaces, and handsome houses.\n\nTrue to his promise Montezuma returned shortly and in speaking to\nCortez said:\n\n\"I have been expecting you for many days. The wonderful deeds\nattributed to you, your complexion and the quarter from whence you\ncome show me that you are Quetzalcoatl. You and your brethren shall\nshare all things with me,\" and with tears in his eyes he gave them as\nmany costly presents as they could carry. The padres and soldiers\nwere constantly asked:\n\n\"Do you come from Tlapalla?\" while Montezuma did everything he could\nto please Cortez.\n\nOne day he went to the king's palace and after accepting the usual\npresents of gold and silver, Montezuma offered him one of his\ndaughters for a wife. Cortez declined, and seeing that the courtyard\nwas partly filled with his trusted men, he approached Montezuma\nabruptly and said:\n\n\"You have treated me treacherously, and have allowed one of my\nofficers to be killed on the sea coast.\"\n\nMontezuma turned very pale. No one else in his kingdom would have\ndared speak to him in such an insulting manner, and besides that he\nknew nothing of the death of the officer before. In reality the\nofficer had been murdered while torturing the poor natives to make\nthem give him more gold.\n\n\"I demand that you send for the chief and all the notable men in his\ncouncil that I may punish him for the death of my comrade,\" said\nCortez, trying to pick a quarrel with the king.\n\n\"Very well,\" said Montezuma, kindly. \"I will have them brought as you\ndesire.\"\n\n\"I believe in your promise, but you must come to my quarters as\nhostage until the thing is done.\"\n\nPoor Montezuma thinking it was a command of God did not dare refuse,\nand in a short time afterward the chief and his council were brought\nbefore him. He turned them over to Cortez for punishment, and they\nwere burned to death in the public square, where Montezuma could see\nthem from his window. Cortez had the poor creatures tortured to make\nthem accuse Montezuma of telling them to commit the murder, so that he\nwould have an excuse for what he intended to do to the king.\nPretending to believe the confessions, he went before the king and\nordered two common Spanish soldiers to put him in irons. Poor\nMontezuma moaned and groaned like his heart would break, while his\nfaithful attendants, weeping bitterly tried to put their mantles under\nthe irons so they would not touch his flesh.\n\nCortez now demanded that he abdicate his power, and pay tribute to\nSpain, so he compelled the king to assemble all his chiefs, which he\ndid saying to them:\n\n\"You are acquainted with the traditions which say that the good\nQuetzalcoatl is to return and rule over us. That time has come and we\nmust obey our new masters. You have been faithful vassals of mine, and\nI expect you to show me this last act of obedience by acknowledging\nthe great king across the water as your lord also.\" The tears streamed\ndown his face, and his haughty chiefs were very sad at heart, but they\nwere loyal as well as brave men, and they answered:\n\n\"Your will is our law, and if you think the king of the strangers is\nthe ancient lord of our country we are willing to acknowledge him as\nsuch.\"\n\nAs soon as this was done the grasping Spaniards compelled Montezuma to\nsend throughout his kingdom for all the gold, silver, precious stones\nand feather-work that could be found, in the name of the king of\nSpain, but when they got it they divided it among themselves, and then\nquarreled fiercely over who should have the greater part.\n\nHere indeed was their fabled El Dorado!\n\nThere was but one more humiliation awaiting Montezuma, and that was to\nhave his own people revile him. The Spaniards had been so brutal and\ncruel in their dealings with the Aztecs that some of them began to\ndoubt whether they could have come from Tlapalla, and whether Cortez\nwas the Golden Hearted. Knowing this Cortez induced Montezuma to dress\nhimself in his royal robes, and appear on the stone parapet of the\npalace where he was confined, to quiet the mob and induce them to go\nabout their work peaceably. Cortez was beginning to fear for his own\nsafety, but the populace were not to be tricked by him. They did not\nbelieve it was Montezuma before them, and hurling a stone at the royal\npalanquin accidentally hit the unhappy king on the forehead. The blow\nwas not sufficient to kill him, but he took to his bed and refused to\neat until he finally died. History says of him that \"his great heart\nwas burst in twain by the sorrows that oppressed his high courage.\"\nCertain it is that he could not live when he found that both his God\nand his people despised him. It has never been known what became of\nhis body, for a terrible war followed his death.\n\nToday we call his country and city Mexico.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Child of the Sun\n\n\nNone of us have forgotten about the Children of the Sun, and the city\nof Cuzco founded by the Golden Hearted, or of his ruling over them as\nManco-Capac, the powerful one. He went into their country which we\ncall Peru before he had ever seen Mexico, but the Spaniards came to\nthe ancient city of Tenochtitlan before they knew anything about\nCuzco. It was not long after the death of Montezuma until the\nSpaniards heard about the riches of the Children of the Sun, and they\nwere determined to find that country.\n\nThe Aztecs did not help them any because they no longer looked upon\nthem as sent from Heaven but as ruthless destroyers borne along on the\nbacks of fierce animals swift as the wind, and carrying weapons in\ntheir hands that scattered death and destruction everywhere. The\nAztecs learned to hate the Spaniards bitterly, and when we came to\nstudy their history we shall know why. Even their own historians do\nnot pretend to deny that they fell upon the poor Aztecs sword in hand\nand robbed them of all the treasures they had, besides taking their\nlands away from them.\n\nSome say that Francisco Pizarro was a cousin of Hernando Cortez who\nconquered the Aztecs, but all agree that he was an ignorant swineherd,\nwho could neither read nor write, and whose parents were not\nrespectable. While he was not actually a convict he belonged to the\nlow class, and the men going with him to search for the new El Dorado\namong the Children of the Sun, were really no better. Cortez had some\nhidalgoes, cavalliers and knights with him because men of good family\noften came to the Americas on the first voyages after Columbus, but\nPizarro collected a band of cut-throat adventurers who were just as\ngreedy and ignorant as he was. All the exploring they did was simply\nto search for gold, and they did not care what methods they used to\nget it. The simple natives with their naked defenseless bodies, and\nbows and arrows were no match for men covered with steel armor,\nmounted on horseback and armed with guns and cannon. Balboa had\nalready found the Pacific Ocean, and Pizarro knew that the Children of\nthe Sun lived in that direction, so he rigged out a vessel and sailed\nalong the coast trying to find them. At the first place he landed the\nnatives said to him:\n\n\"Why do you not stay at home and till your own land instead of roaming\nabout to rob others who have never harmed you?\"\n\nBut the savages wore some heavy gold ornaments, and Pizarro asked\neagerly:\n\n\"Have you more of this?\"\n\n\"Yes, we have a little more,\" they said, and as they were weighing\nsome of the metal their chief struck the scales with his fist,\nscattering the nuggets all over the floor.\n\n\"If this is what you prize so much that you are willing to risk your\nlives to attain it, I can tell you of a land where they eat and drink\nout of vessels of gold, and where there are great quantities to be had\nfor the asking.\"\n\n\"Where is this rich country?\"\n\n\"It is ten days journey toward the south and is ruled by the Child of\nthe Sun.\"\n\nThe Spaniards were nearly mad with joy because now they said:\n\n\"All our fond dreams are about to be realized.\" They were in such a\ngood humor that they gave the natives some glass beads and some live\nchickens. When they turned the rooster loose, he crowed, and then the\nsimple natives clapped their hands in glee, and asked:\n\n\"What is it saying?\"\n\nIt sounded as if the rooster said:\n\n\"How do you do, sir!\" which the natives thought was very funny indeed.\nThen they wanted to know what the cannon said. One of the men set up a\ntarget and fired at it shivering the board into fine splinters. The\nloud noise, the flash of smoke and powder, frightened the poor\nnatives nearly to death. Some of them fell flat on their faces, and\nothers ran into the woods as fast as they could go, screaming:\n\n\"Our good Manco-Capac is coming back to us angry.\"\n\nThat night the old men huddled the terrified people together and said\nto them:\n\n\"Do you remember when the comet flamed through the sky; when the\nearthquake shook the land, and there was a rainbow around the moon?\"\n\n\"I well remember,\" said one of the old men, \"that a thunderbolt fell\non one of the Incas' royal palaces setting it on fire, and I saw an\neagle chased by several hawks hovering in the air over Cuzco. Our king\nsaw it too, and while he looked at it the eagle fell dead at his\nfeet.\"\n\n\"It is no use to resist these strangers,\" said an envoy from the Inca,\nwho had arrived in time to hear the last statement. \"Seven years ago\nwhen the father of our king died, he called his son to his bedside and\ntold him that white and bearded strangers were coming to overturn the\nEmpire. And as you know, our great oracle has foretold the return of\nManco-Capac at the close of the twelfth dynasty of the Incas. That day\nis at hand, so do not quarrel with the strangers.\"\n\nNo one showed a disposition to disobey him, and in a short time he\nstood before Pizarro saying:\n\n\"I bring you greetings from the Inca, Child of the Sun, who rules this\nland. He wishes me to ask why you come, and from what country.\"\n\n\"Our home is far across the sea,\" responded Pizarro, \"and we serve a\nrich and powerful prince who has heard of the Child of the Sun, and\nsends us to pay our respects to him.\"\n\nThis was not the truth for the King of Spain knew nothing whatever of\nPizarro's wicked intentions, nor did he know about Cortez either until\nlong after poor Montezuma was dead and his country laid waste. But\nwhen men turn out to be wholesale robbers they do not care whether\nthey tell the truth or not.\n\n\"Our Inca is at his favorite baths and wishes to know when you will\narrive, so that he may provide suitable refreshments for you.\"\n\n\"We will come at once,\" said Pizarro.\n\n\"It would be better to wait a few days,\" said the king's messenger.\n\"Our Inca is keeping a sacred fast, and we cannot disturb him until it\nis finished.\" The Spaniards had no respect for the king's wishes or\nhis privacy, so they made ready to follow the messenger. While they\nwere dividing the presents of llamas, sheep and gold goblets among\nthemselves some of the soldiers said:\n\n\"This dog of a king may have thousands of followers. What can a\nhandful of men like we are, do against so many? Suppose they should\ntry to fight us?\"\n\nPizarro happened to overhear them and replied:\n\n\"Let every one of you take heart, and go forward like a good soldier.\nGod ever protects his own, and will humble the pride of the heathen\nand bring him to a knowledge of the true faith--the great end and\nobject of this conquest.\"\n\nIt was the first time he had spoken of conquest, but the soldiers\nremembered the complete success of Cortez in Mexico and only needed to\nbe told that the natives were to be Christianized to make them certain\nthat the home authorities would not interfere with them, so they\nshouted:\n\n\"Lead on! wherever you think best we will follow with good will.\"\n\nThe few padres in the company were sincere in their wish to teach the\nnatives and so was the King of Spain, but neither of them could\ncontrol the actions of such men as Pizarro and his adventurers, now\nready to pounce down on the mild and inoffensive people like a band of\nhungry wolves. When they got up on the top of the mountain and looked\ndown, the landscape had the appearance of a huge checker-board cut\ninto squares by canals and evergreen hedges. A wide river rolled\nthrough the meadows, like a narrow silver ribbon, while across the\nvalley were the famous hot baths with steam and vapor rising from them\nin the clear air. Along the slope of the hills a white cloud of tents\ncovered the ground for several miles, where the Child of the Sun, and\nhis court were encamped.\n\nPizarro with banners streaming and the sparkle of armor glittering in\nthe sun, galloped into the city with blare of trumpets and lances\nfixed. The Inca was in a camp near by, but the rude Spaniards broke\nin upon his fast, and a brother of Pizarro almost rode him down with\nhis horse. Giving the bridle a sudden jerk he brought the horse to his\nhaunches, so close to the Inca, that the horse snorted with fear, but\nthe brave king did not move a muscle, although he had never seen a\nwhite man in armor nor a horse before in his life. Seeing that he\ncould not frighten him Pizarro's brother said haughtily:\n\n\"What is your royal will? My brother desires that you visit him.\"\n\nWithout raising his eyes from the ground where he had kept them as a\nmark of respect to his visitor, the Inca smiled and said:\n\n\"Tell your captain, that I am keeping a fast, which will end tomorrow\nmorning. I will then visit him with my chieftains. In the meantime let\nhim occupy the public buildings on the square till I come, when I will\norder what is to be done.\"\n\nTurning to his attendants he continued:\n\n\"Give our brothers food and drink, and have their quarters made ready\nfor them.\"\n\nThat night Pizarro put all his cannon in place and boldly planned to\ntake the Inca prisoner in his own pleasure garden. He ordered his\nsoldiers to hide in the plaza, and wait until the Inca arrived. As\nsoon as he was in the great square they were suddenly to spring out\nand put the natives to the sword, and capture their king.\n\nIt was late in the day before the Inca got all his court in splendid\narray, and then he sent word to Pizarro that he was coming in state.\n\n\"I am much pleased to hear it,\" said Pizarro. \"Let your king come\nanyway he will; he shall be received as a friend and brother. Let him\nsup with us and sleep in our quarters tonight.\"\n\nWhen once in motion the Inca's retinue had on so many gold ornaments\nthat they blazed like the sun. Some wore showy stuffs in white and red\nwith gold and silver embroidery, while others were dressed in white\nand carried silver maces in their hands. The Inca wore the royal\nborla, or crown on his head, with the Quetzal feathers in the back and\nthe long red fringes across the forehead. Over him was a canopy\nrepresenting a rainbow, to show that he was a Child of the Sun, and a\nfollower of Manco-Capac, who we know was the Golden Hearted. He was\nseated on a gold throne which was placed in a litter and carried by\nfour noble youths, in gorgeous liveries. Around his neck was a\nsplendid gold necklace set with large emeralds. Looking around and not\nseeing any one the Inca asked in surprise:\n\n\"Where are the strangers?\"\n\nAt this moment a padre came forward and demanded that he give up his\npower and become a subject of Spain. He also told the king that he\nmust become a convert to Christianity. The eyes of the Inca flashed\nfire as he replied:\n\n\"I will be no man's tributary. Your prince may be great; I do not\ndoubt it when I see that he has sent his subjects so far across the\nwaters. I am willing to hold him as a brother. As for my faith, I will\nnot change it. My God still lives in the heavens and looks down on his\nchildren. By what authority do you make such demands upon me?\"\n\nThe padre handed the Inca a bible but as the thought of the insult\noffered came over him, the Inca threw it to the ground and said\nangrily:\n\n\"Tell your comrades that they shall give me an account of their doings\nin my country. I will not go from here until they have made me full\nsatisfaction for the wrongs they have committed.\"\n\nA soldier turned to Pizarro and said:\n\n\"Do you not see that while we stand here wasting our breath in talking\nto this dog full of obstinate pride that the fields are filling with\nIndians. Let us set on at once.\"\n\nPizarro saw that the hour had come, and waving a white scarf which was\nthe appointed signal he and his soldiers sprang into the square,\nshouting the old war cry of Cortez:\n\n\"Santiago! and at them!\"\n\nThe poor natives in their holiday dress and fine jewelry were wholly\nunarmed, because they were coming to make a visit, and had no way to\ndefend themselves. When they tried to escape they found they were\nhemmed in on all sides by the stone buildings facing the plaza, and\nnobody knows how many thousands of them were killed. They were stunned\nby the roar of the cannon, choked by the smoke, trampled under\nthe horses' feet, and their naked bodies hacked to pieces with swords.\n\n [Illustration: \"THEIR NAKED BODIES HACKED TO PIECES WITH SWORDS\"]\n\nThe Spaniards seemed bent upon killing the Inca, but his loyal\nsubjects caught hold of the horses' bridles and saddle blankets, and\neven the legs of their riders to prevent them from hitting the Inca.\nSome offered their own bodies to the lances--anything to save the king\nwho was stunned and bewildered. As the men who were carrying him were\nkilled, the litter lurched to one side and he fell to the ground.\nInstantly the imperial borla, or crown, was snatched from his head;\nhis hands were securely tied, and he was hustled, a prisoner, into a\nbuilding nearby. Then the soldiery robbed and pillaged as much as they\npleased, even carrying off the plate from the Inca's table.\n\nRealizing that it was gold that the Spaniards wanted, the Inca began\nat once to try to buy his freedom.\n\n\"I will cover the floor of this room with gold if you will release\nme,\" he said, to Pizarro. Seeing that the soldiers smiled at this, he\nadded:\n\n\"I will fill the room full, as high as I can reach,\" standing on\ntip-toe and stretching his arm against the wall. Pizarro agreed to\naccept that amount of gold, but demanded double that amount of silver,\nand would only allow the Inca two months' time to collect it in. The\nSpaniards kept close watch over him, and as soon as the amount was all\npaid in, Pizarro accused the unhappy captive of trying to stir up an\ninsurrection. The Inca was surprised and indignant; saying:\n\n\"You have me in your power. Is not my life at your disposal? What\nbetter security have you for my fidelity? It is very far to my capital\nat Cuzco, but that you may be satisfied that I am proceeding in good\nfaith, send some of your own people there.\"\n\nThe Spaniards sacked and pillaged Cuzco when they got there, taking\nseven hundred plates of gold from the walls of the temple dedicated to\nthe Golden Hearted. Besides this, there were heavy cornices of gold,\nfountains, birds, fruit, vegetables, tables, statues, slabs, basins\nand panels of pure gold; which, when melted down made millions of\ndollars.\n\nNever before did anybody in the wide world pay such a ransom. But\nPizarro had no intention of setting the Inca free. Pretending to be\nvery suspicious, he suddenly appeared before the Inca, and said:\n\n\"What new treason is this you are meditating against me? _Me_, who has\nbeen so brotherly and kind to you?\"\n\n\"Why do you mock me,\" replied the Inca. \"Am I not a captive in your\nhands? How could I conceive such a design as you speak of when I would\nbe the first victim? You little know my people, if you think they\nwould attempt such a thing against my will.\"\n\nPizarro was determined to get rid of him, so he trumped up twelve\ncharges against him, and, after a mock trial, sentenced the helpless\nInca to be burned at the stake.\n\nWhen told of his fate, the poor king said to Pizarro, with tears\nstreaming down his face:\n\n\"What have I, or my children done, that I should die like this? And\nfrom _your_ hands--you who have received only benefit and kindness\nfrom me and my people.\"\n\nThe doom of the Inca was sounded by trumpet in the same square he had\ninnocently entered to visit his strange white brother, and two hours\nafter sunset he was led out by torch-light and burned to death.\n\nTo make sure that there was no danger of an uprising in the distant\nparts of the country, Pizarro sent an officer to finish collecting the\nransom and find out the actual condition. While he was gone Pizarro\nhad the Inca executed. When the officer returned, he said:\n\n\"I have met with nothing but kindness on the way. There has never been\nany attempt at an uprising.\"\n\nAnd this was the truth.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Gilded Man\n\n\nThere were none willing to say \"God forgive him,\" is what history\ntells us of the end of Pizarro, whose throat was cut by some of the\nmen he quarreled with over the treasures they had taken from the\nChildren of the Sun, and I do not believe that any one was ever sorry\nthat he perished like a wretched outcast. Of course, one of his\nbrothers had heard of El Dorado, and he began to inquire closely of\nthe Indians whether there really was such a person.\n\n\"Yes, there is,\" he was told, \"and this chief smears himself all over\nwith a sweet-smelling gum and sprinkles his body with fine gold-dust\nuntil he looks like a shining statue.\"\n\n\"Where does this chief live?\"\n\n\"Not far from here, and his people are very rich in gold and\nemeralds.\"\n\nThis was what the Spaniards wanted to hear, and the Children of the\nSun hoped by this means to get rid of their hated conquerors. We\nremember the visit of the Golden Hearted to the Zipa of the Muscas,\nand we see, by the unfriendly feeling of their neighbors, that they\nwere still quarrelsome.\n\n\"We will go and find the Valley of the Gilded Man,\" said the brother\nof Pizarro, to his soldiers, who were getting tired of being idle. \"I\nam told that there are wealthy regions to the north, east, and south\nof us, where the people go about covered with gold-dust, and where\nthere are no mountains or woods.\"\n\nThis pleased the greedy adventurers very much, and it was not long\nbefore there was quite an army of them ready to start. But they did\nnot know that they were going into a country where there were\ncannibals--savages ready to kill and eat every one of them, and that\nthey fought with poisoned arrows. The Muscas were obliged to fight\nthese people, but they traded with them, because there was no gold in\ntheir own land, and they prized it highly as an offering in honor of\nthe Golden Hearted. They had quantities of salt which they pressed\ninto little round cakes, like sugar loaves, and carried over beaten\npaths to market. Besides this, they wove beautiful cotton cloth, and\nmanaged to get large quantities of gold and silver and emeralds by\ntrading with the cannibals.\n\nThey had not forgotten what the Golden Hearted taught them about\nhammering the gold, or casting it into tasteful shapes, and they not\nonly wore it for ornaments, but used it to decorate the outside and\ninside of their temples. It was near the anniversary of his departure,\nand there were many pilgrims from neighboring tribes who had come to\ncast emeralds into the lake at Gautavita in his honor. On the\nmountain tops surrounding the lake beacon lights were burning, and the\nsacred fires on the altars in the temples had never been allowed to go\nout. As each band of pilgrims came into the city, the Zipa welcomed\nthem, saying:\n\n\"Tomorrow, comrades, we will go in solemn procession to the lake, and\ncommemorate the departure of Bochica, and his purification afterward.\nWe have made his heart very sad by our misdeeds, but from his home in\nthe sun he can look down upon us, and see that we still adore and\nworship him.\"\n\nThe next day, at noon a solemn procession approached the lake. In the\nlead walked bronze-colored men, without any clothing, but whose bodies\nwere covered with red paint, as a sign of deep mourning, and they\nwailed in a most sorrowful manner. Behind them were warriors decorated\nwith gold and emeralds, wearing bright feathers in their gold\nhead-dresses, and carrying mantles of jaguar skins over their arms.\nSome of them were singing, while others shouted joyfully or blew on\nhorns and pipes, and conch shells. Close to them were priests in black\nrobes, with white crosses on them, and tall black hats, like those\nworn by the wise men. In the rear was the Zipa riding in a kind of\ngilded wheelbarrow hung with disks of gold. His naked body had been\nanointed with a resinous gum, and covered all over with fine\ngold-dust.\n\nArrived at the shore, the Gilded Man and his companions stepped upon\na balsa gay with streamers and loaded with flowers, and rowed out into\nthe middle of the lake. There the Zipa, who was the Gilded Man,\nplunged into the water and washed off all the gold-dust. While he was\ndoing this his companions, with music and singing, threw in the gold\nand emeralds they had brought out on the lake for that purpose. Coming\nback to the shore the Zipa said:\n\n\"Do no more work for this day, but make merry with singing, dancing\nand feasting, as if the gentle, kind Bochica were with you again.\"\n\nAll this time Pizarro's brother, and his greedy soldiers, were\nwandering around in the mountains trying to find the Gilded Man. If\nthey could have seen him covered with gold at the festival, they would\nprobably have tried to skin him alive to get the gold dust on his\nbody. One of the padres, who came to convert and teach the natives,\nwriting to the king of Spain, said:\n\n\"I do not believe that the men taking part in the expeditions in\nsearch of the Gilded Man, would have tried so hard to get into\nParadise.\"\n\nFurther on in his letter the padre describes the terrible hardships\nand suffering the men had to undergo. After telling about their\nfailure to find El Dorado, he says:\n\n\"The men and officers returned to us nearly naked. In the warm rain\ntheir clothes had rotted on their backs, and were torn into shreds by\nthe thickets they had crawled through on their hands and knees. Their\nfeet were bare and wounded by the thorns and roots in the pathways,\nand their swords were not only without sheaths, but were eaten up with\nrust. Hunger compelled them to kill and eat their horses and dogs.\"\n\nWhile this had been going on in Peru, the King of Spain was busy\nsending out men for the same purpose. The story of the Gilded Man was\nknown over all Europe, and other nations, besides Spain, were trying\nto find him. Some German bankers had loaned the king large sums of\nmoney for the privilege of searching for El Dorado, and the first\nwhite men to visit Gautavita was a band of Germans sent out by the\nbanking house. They wanted slaves as well as gold, and were just as\nmerciless and cruel as the Spaniards. In fact, any man having money\nenough to buy boats, or to provision men, stole off into the woods and\nwent in search of the Gilded Man. The country was overrun with armed\nbands of adventurers who were ready to commit any kind of crime for\nthe sake of gain. Whoever offered resistance was killed, and they were\nsuspicious and jealous of each other, as well as of the Indians.\n\nAfter Pizarro's brother made such a miserable failure, and had to\nendure such bitter hardships one would expect his friends and\nassociates to be careful about making another venture, but they knew\nof the German invaders, and then it was a race to see who would get\nhold of the Gilded Man first. Either side would have killed him and\nburned and pillaged the city, so the Indians had learned to distrust\nand hate all white men, and they made war on both the Spaniards and\nGermans whenever they had an opportunity.\n\nA young Spanish lieutenant, named Quesada, was the real conqueror of\nthe Muscas, and, as might have been expected, he murdered the Zipa and\nrobbed Gautavita, and every other village in the kingdom. He was as\nhard-hearted with his men, as he was with the Indians, and after five\nhundred of them had died from exposure on the way, they found\nthemselves surrounded on all sides by overflowing rivers. Weeping and\ndejected they sought Quesada, saying:\n\n\"We beseech you to send us back to Peru. Instead of gold, only hunger,\nmisery and death await us here. The Gilded Man only exists in the\ndistorted fancy of those who believe the lying tales of the Indians.\"\n\nAt this juncture they stumbled on to a path with huts, at intervals,\nby the wayside, filled with the white cakes of salt said to come from\nthe home of the Gilded Man, and they also found some cotton cloth.\n\n\"We are on the right road at last,\" said Quesada, to his dispirited\nsoldiery. \"Prove faithful now, and we shall soon stand face to face\nwith El Dorado.\" With a significant nod of the head, he added: \"You\nknow what that means to fearless men, like yourselves, and you can\ntrust to the generosity of your captain for a rich reward.\"\n\nThe prospect of getting plenty of gold soon caused the men to forget\nall about their troubles, but the Zipa not only fought them\nstubbornly, but when he was finally compelled to abandon Gautavita,\nthere was no treasure to be found. The Muscas had either buried all\ntheir gold and emeralds, or thrown them into the lake. Great, indeed,\nwas the disappointment of the Spaniards, and for his own safety\nQuesada soon planned another expedition against a neighboring tribe of\nIndians. The strange chief was surprised and captured in the Council\nHouse, and with him perished all of the notable men of the tribe. The\nsoldiers found some gold and some very fine emeralds, but when they\nwent to sack the Temple of the Sun, which had a thatched roof, they\ncarelessly set the dry leaves on fire, and burned all the plate and\nother treasures it contained. Bands of armed men rode hither and yon\nlooking for the Zipa, whom they now believed to be the Gilded Man. He\nkept in very close hiding, and no amount of torture, or promises of\nreward could make his followers tell where he was, or where the gold\nornaments and vessels were hidden.\n\n\"He is in the mountain fastnesses, where he has a house made of gold,\"\ndeclared some irresponsible Indians, glad to get rid of the cruel\nSpaniards.\n\n\"Where is the house located?\" Quesada asked, eagerly.\n\n\"Some of the Indians say it is in the north, some say the south, some\nsay near by, and others far away,\" answered his servant.\n\n\"Very well, we will search in all directions until we find the\nmiserable dog, and when we do it shall go hard with him.\"\n\nIt took them several months to hunt him down, and when they did find\nhim he could not be induced to tell anything about the treasures.\n\n\"I have a house of gold in the sun where my master and lord, Bochica\nlives. I go to him, whom I have faithfully served all my life.\"\n\nAfter his death a new governor was sent from Peru, and he undertook to\ndrain the lake to get the treasures of gold and emeralds which had\nbeen thrown into it in honor of the Golden Hearted. The Muscas were\ntold that the new Governor would be kind to them if they would tell\nwhere they had hidden their wealth, but one of their priests said:\n\n\"Do you think a river will run up hill?\"\n\nThe new Governor, hearing the remark, turned to him, and said:\n\n\"No, it is not possible for water to run up hill. Why do you ask such\na foolish question?\"\n\n\"How then, do you expect me to believe in the existence of a white man\nwho will be just to us? One thing is quite as possible as the other.\"\n\nAnd to this day no one knows what became of the riches of the brave\nMuscas, but it is said that they still remember the Golden Hearted,\nand in secret, offer gold and emeralds in his honor.\n\n\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe White Sea of the Manoas\n\n\nThe death of the Zipa and the complete subjugation of the Muscas, did\nnot cause people to forget the story of El Dorado. On the contrary\nother nations soon began to fit out expeditions to search for him, and\nthey went into some dreadful places in South America thinking they\nwould find him.\n\n\"What ails that dog of an Indian?\" asked Aguirre, the tyrant, and the\nworst of all the Spanish adventurers looking for gold.\n\n\"He has fainted from fatigue,\" answered one of his men.\n\n\"Then cut off his head. We have no time to waste on these slaves.\"\n\n\"Let us unfasten the chain around his neck, and then he can drop\nbehind the rest of the gang,\" pleaded some of the Indians, who were\nbeing used to help the horses carry the baggage.\n\n\"It will take too long, and the whole chain-gang of men would have to\nwait until we could unfasten his neckband and put some one else in his\nplace. Chop off his head with this sword, and go on.\"\n\nThe other officers tried to console the terrified Indians by saying:\n\n\"If we were to leave him lying by the roadside, some wild animal would\ncome along and eat him, so it is just as well for him as if we had\ndone as you wished.\"\n\nMany people now say that Aguirre was insane, and to this day the poor\nChristian Indians cross themselves when they hear strange noises at\nnight, and exclaim:\n\n\"It is the soul of the tyrant Aguirre, who plunged a dagger through\nthe heart of his own daughter when the King's officers came to arrest\nand punish him for his cruelties. He is doomed to wander over the\nswamps at night, and wail over his terrible sins. His soul can never\nbe at rest.\"\n\nLike thistle-down scattered by the wind, were the wonderful tales of\nEl Dorado. No matter where white men went they failed to find it, but\nthe cunning Indians always told them that it was still farther away,\nbecause they wanted to get rid of the unwelcome visitors, who tortured\nand enslaved, as well as robbed them.\n\nFinally Sir Walter Raleigh, who helped colonize the state of Virginia,\nand named it for Good Queen Bess of England, heard about the city of\nOmagua, and the White Sea of the Manoas, and he determined to find\nthem, because there, he believed, was El Dorado.\n\nSome English sailors under his command traded some pieces of old iron\nto the Indians for shields of gold.\n\n\"Where did you get this metal?\" was asked of the Indians.\n\n\"In Omagua, where the tiles on the roofs of the houses are made from\nthe same glittering substance, and where we hang crescents of it in\nfront of our doors to keep away evil spirits.\"\n\n\"What they say must be true,\" said the sailors among themselves, \"for\nthey have gold crowns on their heads, and breast-plates and earrings.\"\n\n\"Where is this city of Omagua?\" again asked the men.\n\n\"It is very far south, and is on a lake of gold. Our chief lives in\nthe House of the Sun, and has many green stones in his shield and on\nthe walls of the temples.\"\n\n\"What is the name of your chief?\"\n\n\"El Dorado,\" answered the Indians, anxious that the white men should\nknow that they could speak their language.\n\n\"It is all plain to me,\" said Sir Walter Raleigh, when told of it.\n\"Those Spanish adventurers have failed to find the real El Dorado. We\nwill search for it ourselves.\"\n\n\"The Indians say there are whole streets filled with workers in gold\nand precious stones,\" said one of his officers, \"and I dare say we\nshall make our enterprise quite profitable.\" So they, too, were\nlooking for gold, only their methods were not so barbarous and cruel\nas the others had been.\n\nAs they went farther into the country they found a numerous band of\nIndians with flat heads, and when they examined the babies carried on\nthe backs of their mothers it was seen that they had tied a board\nacross the forehead so that it would sink in and leave the head\npointed and flat in front.\n\n\"Why do you treat your heads in this manner?\" some one asked their\nchief.\n\n\"Because our fathers did so, and we think it makes us beautiful,\" he\nanswered. In that country there are still plenty of flat-headed\nIndians. As the men marched along they came to trees with holes cut\nthrough the bark, and little earthen pots hanging under them to catch\nthe sticky-looking milk that oozed out.\n\n\"Can this be something good to eat?\" the men said. \"Let us taste it\nand see.\"\n\n\"Ugh! it has a nasty, disagreeable, bitter flavor,\" said the speaker,\nlicking his finger after he had stuck it down into the pot. \"It smells\nso badly that it makes me feel sick,\" he continued, spitting it out\nquickly.\n\n\"Here comes an old woman with some nuts from the palm tree she has\nbeen shaking in her hands. Let us ask her what this stuff is good\nfor.\"\n\nBut the old woman evidently did not have a very good opinion of white\nmen, and would not speak to them at all.\n\n\"We can watch her,\" they said, \"and see whether she intends to eat\nit.\"\n\nShe paid no attention to them, but went on making a fire out of the\npalm nuts and some dry leaves, and as soon as they blazed brightly she\nset the little pot near the fire and began stirring the milk with a\nwooden paddle she carried in her hand. As soon as the blaze\nsmouldered, she held the paddle over it until the milk began to get\nthick. Then she dipped it back into the pot and repeated the process\nuntil there was enough coating to scrape off and make a flat cake.\n\n [Illustration: DRYING INDIA RUBBER]\n\n\"Will you please give me the biscuit?\" inquired one of the bystanders.\nWithout a word the old woman threw it at him, and when he caught it in\nhis hands, he exclaimed:\n\n\"It is India rubber! Now we can have a game of ball!\" As it was still\nwarm he rounded it into shape with his hands, and then he and his\ncompanions amused themselves for quite a while throwing the ball\nagainst the trees and catching it as it bounded back. While they were\nengaged in this sport the cooks were preparing them something to eat,\nbut the forest was full of monkeys swinging themselves from one tree\nto another by their long tails and seemingly very much interested in\nwhat the men underneath them were doing.\n\nNow, we all know that a monkey imitates everything it sees, and so the\nwhole band began to go through the motion of throwing. As soon as they\nfound out there was something to eat they bobbed their heads and\nscreeched and chattered in great excitement. Every time the cook's\nback was turned they slid down a limb of the tree and grabbed a dish\nand scampered back again. They had such solemn little faces, and were\nso quick about it, that the men shouted with laughter, but when they\nsat down to eat, the monkeys jumped out of the trees and rushed for\nthe food.\n\nThe old Indian woman, comprehending the situation, approached camp and\nsaid:\n\n\"Will the white chief let me cook something for the monkeys?\"\n\n\"What do you want to feed them?\"\n\n\"A pot of rice,\" she answered, \"such as I know well how to prepare.\"\n\nNo one made any objection, and it was not long before she had a big\npan full of boiled rice, which she had made almost red with pepper.\nTaking a wide, green leaf, she laid it down and poured the rice out to\ncool. No sooner had she done so than the monkeys swarmed around the\npile, and squatting beside it began to eat by the handful. Tears ran\ndown their faces and water poured from their mouths, but they kept on\neating for a few minutes. Then, suddenly seeming to suspect each other\nof being to blame, they commenced fighting with sticks and stones\nuntil they scattered the rice all over the ground. By this time the\npepper was burning their mouths worse than ever, and not knowing what\nwas the matter they set up a doleful howling, and ran pell-mell into\nthe river quite a distance from camp. They tumbled into the water and\nrolled and wallowed in it, but it was some little time before their\nmouths quit smarting, and they were very willing to let the men alone.\n\nThe dogs belonging to the party gave chase, but the monkeys screamed\nso that they awoke the alligators sleeping in the sun on the river\nbank, and then the dogs had to run for their lives. One or two of them\nbarely escaped being caught in the wide open mouths of these monsters.\nIt was very much cooler when the sun went down, but that brought out\nthe mosquitos, and the men were obliged to sit in the smoke to save\nthemselves from being bitten dreadfully. They kept the fire going all\nnight, because they were afraid of the jaguars and panthers hidden in\nthe woods during the day, but ready to kill and eat anything they\nmight find in their night prowls.\n\nIt was considered safer out of doors than in the tents, but it was\nimpossible to sleep on account of the hideous noises made by the\nanimals, monkeys, birds and snakes.\n\n\"Why do these creatures keep up such a terrible din?\" asked the men of\ntheir Indian guides.\n\n\"Because they are keeping the feast of the full moon,\" they replied,\nand this appeared to be a settled belief among them.\n\n\"Men put the jaguar out of humor,\" they explained. \"He is a very\nselfish beast, and if he cannot rule alone he goes to his den and\nsulks. He will follow a man all day through the woods and will not\nspring upon him unless he tries to run or moves his arms. If you think\none is following you do not look back and do not trust anything but\nthe sharp blade of your sword. The noise of a gun only infuriates\nhim.\"\n\nAs the men heard this they imagined they could see the yellow eyes\nglaring at them in the darkness, and some thought they smelled him.\n\n\"He is a ferocious, blood-thirsty beast,\" said the Indians in\nconclusion, \"and you may well think yourselves fortunate when you\nleave these tropic forests and get out into the open plains.\"\n\nThe men would have agreed with him if it had not been for the intense\nheat, and a terrible sandstorm that almost blinded them for days when\nit did not blow so hard that they could make no headway against it.\nFinally, footsore, weary, and almost discouraged, they came to a wide\nand deep river, and here the Indian guides brought them boats, which\nthey called pirogues.\n\n\"We are not far from the lake of gold beside the city of the Manoas,\"\nthey said, and when the delighted soldiers inquired particularly, they\nresponded readily:\n\n\"We have these things from our fathers and other men wise in the\ntraditions and sayings of our people, but we are afraid to go any\nfurther, for the Manoans are a fierce and warlike race.\"\n\nAbout this time Sir Walter Raleigh learned that the Queen was not\npleased with his efforts in search of the El Dorado, and he decided to\nwithdraw his men and abandon the attempt.\n\nBut this did not hinder other men from trying to solve the mystery. It\nwas more than a hundred years before the truth was finally known, and\nthen a scientist discovered that the location itself had shifted and\nwas nearly as much changed as the ideas about El Dorado. He traced the\nlegend to Lake Parima, near the center of South America, and said:\n\n\"This is really the White Sea of the Manoas, which people have long\nbelieved was a lake of gold. The reason the Indians thought so was\nbecause there is some fine gold-dust in the washings of the sand,\nwhich has plenty of mica mixed with it. Then there is a large quantity\nof salt dried on the grass, and when the hot sun shines, it looks at a\ndistance as if it were a great sea of gold.\"\n\n\"Are the houses covered with gold tiles?\" was the next inquiry.\n\n\"No indeed: they are common huts with thatched roofs on which the salt\nand mica glisten and sparkle as they do in the grass and sand.\"\n\n\"Are the natives warlike? and do they eat each other, as we have been\ntold?\"\n\n\"They are armed with javelins, wooden shields, bows and arrows, and a\nshort sword which they make for themselves. We found them very\nfriendly, and as for their being cannibals that is all imagination,\nbut it may have been true in olden times.\"\n\nAnd this is really what people spent millions of money trying to find,\nand for which hundreds of lives were uselessly sacrificed.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Mountain of Gold\n\n\nVery far to the north of Lake Parima, is the celebrated Roraima, the\n\"Mountain of Gold,\" one of the objects sought by the men who were\nlooking for El Dorado.\n\n\"Let us set out on an expedition to see if we cannot solve the mystery\nof this mountain, that is not only rich in gold and precious stones,\nbut grows the Plant of Life in abundance, which keeps one alive for\nhundreds of years,\" said some idle Cavaliers who had become reckless\nin their eagerness to acquire sudden riches.\n\n\"But they say Roraima is inaccessible, so what is the use of\nattempting the impossible?\" said one of the party, who had been out\nhunting.\n\n\"I believe that the flat top of the mountain is inhabited, and that up\nthere is the famous island city of El Dorado,\" responded the first\nspeaker. \"There is almost unlimited wealth to be had by finding it,\nand these cowardly Indians are afraid to go near it.\"\n\n\"It will be a long, tedious journey,\" said the hunter, \"and I doubt if\nwe can persuade the slaves to accompany us.\"\n\n\"They _shall_ go,\" said the other, firmly, \"and if there is any sign\nof rebellion we have a remedy,\" he continued, pointing to his gun\nwith a smile that was not pleasant to see.\n\nIt was as the hunter feared. The Indian porters and servants were\nnearly frantic at the idea of being compelled to approach the dread\nmountain.\n\n\"The whole place is weird and uncanny,\" they declared, \"and the demon\nmountain is surrounded by haunted woods, filled with camoodis and\ndidis.\"\n\nWhen asked what a camoodi was, they explained that it was a gigantic\nsnake with a hood over its head, and whose breath killed whatever it\ntouched, while the didis were man apes, ferocious and terrible to see.\n\n\"It is a foolish superstition,\" said the Spaniards, in derision, \"and\nwe will not listen to such idle tales.\"\n\n\"Roraima is an island, connected underground with the other mountains,\nand the lights you see on the tops are put there by the demons to lure\nus on to destruction.\"\n\n\"If it is inaccessible, how do these demons manage to get up there?\"\nasked the Spaniards.\n\n\"There are huge white eagles, that fly so high we cannot see them; but\nthey have very fine eyesight, and many a poor brave has been seized by\nthem, and carried to the didis on the mountain.\"\n\n\"They must mean the big white birds we call condors, found in the\nhighest peaks of the Andes,\" said the Spaniards, \"but our good weapons\nare proof against any bird, and we need have no fear.\"\n\n\"As soon as it is dark in those terrible woods, blood-sucking vampires\nswoop down from the trees and fasten their long red bills in your\nthroat,\" said the Indians, with a shudder, but no attention was paid\nto anything they told of the hardships to be endured.\n\n\"It is better for us to start at the beginning of the dry season,\"\nsaid Carino, the Indian guide, and in a short time the entire party\nwas voyaging on one of the splendid rivers that span that country. In\ncanoes they passed through untracked forests and grassy savannahs\nfollowing the course of the river. Some places they were in great\ndanger from cataracts and rapids, but finally landed in a place where\nthere was a flock of red flamingos half hidden by tall pampas grass,\nand where there were hundreds of little wild ducks with tiny horns on\ntheir wings. In the trees were some rare and beautiful orchids, and\nwhen some of the party climbed up to pick the big perfumed blossoms,\nthey were much surprised to find that what they thought was a flower\nwas a perfumed butterfly.\n\n\"We must be near the enchanted wood,\" said the Spaniards, but just\nthen they heard a sort of combination of whistle, snort and hiss that\nfrightened them dreadfully:\n\n\"Carino! what is that?\" they all said, huddling up close together, and\nlistening intently.\n\n\"It is the cry of the Lost Souls, who have been slain by the camoodi,\"\nsaid Carino. \"We have already seen their strange shapes flitting\nthrough the deep shadows. They are in league with the didi to guard\nthis spot.\" As he spoke the Indian porters and slaves began a curious\nchant in a singsong tone:\n\n Darkly from sunset to the rising sun,\n A cry as of the pained heart of the wood,\n The long despairing moan of solitude\n And darkness and the absence of all good,\n Startles the traveler with a sound so drear,\n So full of hopeless agony and fear,\n His heart stands still and listens with his ear,\n The guide, as if he heard a death-bell toll,\n Crosses himself and whispers \"A Lost Soul.\"\n\nThe last words seemed to affect Carino deeply and falling on his knees\nbefore the leader of the expedition he said:\n\n\"My heart is heavy at the thought of your undertaking to fight the\ndemons of the mountain. It is not good--this thing you are about to\ndo. The didis may tempt you to enter these fatal woods, but they will\ntrap you by closing the trail and you will never be seen again.\"\n\n\"We will encamp here for the night, and tomorrow at sunrise we will\nhave a look at Roraima,\" said the leader, not feeling very comfortable\nover the doleful noise called the wail of a lost soul. \"It may be that\nthese Indians are not so far wrong,\" he said to himself when their\nbacks were turned. \"At any rate, I do not fancy going into the woods\nso near nightfall.\"\n\nAfter a long parley Carino succeeded in persuading the porters and\nservants to venture a short distance to get some wood for cooking and\nother purposes. They had not been gone long when the Spaniards heard a\nloud roaring bark, almost like a trumpet, quickly followed by several\nmore in the immediate vicinity. Soon the Indians came flying into camp\nterror-stricken.\n\n\"The Warracaba cats!\" they shouted, and before the Spaniards could\nstop them, they had all piled into the canoes and were rowing for the\nmiddle of the river. The white men stood with guns raised as four\nscreaming tigers sprang out of the woods in full pursuit of the\nIndians they had smelled, but not seen. Bang! bang! bang! went the\nguns in rapid succession, and three of the four tigers rolled on the\nground dead or dying, while the other one made off into the woods as\nfast as he could go.\n\n\"That was a narrow escape, my masters,\" said Carino, shaking as if he\nhad ague, \"and the other Warracaba will come back and bring\ncompanions. These tigers hunt in packs like wolves, and are not afraid\nof anything except deep water.\"\n\n\"What are we to do?\" asked the leader, gruffly, pale with fright.\n\"Those dastardly slaves have gone off and left us without a single\nboat. Do you think you can call them back?\" he asked eagerly.\n\n\"I fear to answer that question,\" faltered Carino. \"I have warned you\nthat my people fear these woods, and are never willing to go into\nthem.\"\n\nThen the Cavaliers began very foolishly to blame each other for coming\nto such a place, and were soon in high words--as if quarreling would\nhelp them out of their difficulty.\n\n\"If you had not been so greedy for gold you would never have\nundertaken such a journey,\" said one of them.\n\n\"And if you had been willing to work for an honest living you would\nnot have been so eager to come with me,\" retorted the other angrily.\n\nCarino realizing that something must be done at once, interrupted the\ndispute by saying:\n\n\"There is an old Manoan witch named Monella, who has lived at the edge\nof this wood for hundreds of years, and if you will follow me I will\nconduct you to her hut. The pathway is hung with bell-shaped flowers\nof many hues, and these give a dim light when the sun goes down. If we\nmake haste we may reach it before dark.\"\n\nWithout a word the Spaniards picked up what things they needed for the\nnight, and carrying them on their backs in separate bundles, moodily\nfollowed Carino. None but an Indian could have found the way through\nsuch a tangled mass of undergrowth. Suddenly Carino stopped and called\nout:\n\n\"Beware! here is one of the fierce lords of the wood, mouth open and\nbent upon attack.\" Being an agile, quick fellow, he jumped to one side\nbarely in time to miss the venomous snake as it rushed toward him. The\nwarning made the Spaniards ready, and with unerring aim one of them\nshot the reptile through the head.\n\n\"These are some of the guardians of Roraima,\" said Carino, solemnly.\n\"They are not only poisonous, but show fight, and will not run from\nman.\"\n\nBy this time the Spaniards were beginning to lose heart.\n\n\"If the Holy Mother preserves me through this night I will give up\nthis search for El Dorado,\" said the leader, and the other men agreed\nwith him.\n\n\"The witch Monella has strange tales to tell of Roraima. She has been\nthrough the secret cavern in the side of the mountain, and up to the\ntop,\" said Carino.\n\n\"Does she say that there is gold up there?\" queried one of the\nCavaliers. Before the guide could answer, a large yellow puma stood in\nthe pathway, directly in front of them. A gun was leveled to shoot at\nher, when Carino sprang forward and said:\n\n\"Do not harm the puma. She belongs to Monella, and no red man ever\nkills one of these animals. They are always our friends, and to injure\none is to bring bad luck on yourself and family.\"\n\nThey went forward eagerly now for the thought of a human habitation\nnear by inspired them with courage, and they were soon rewarded by\nseeing a thin column of smoke issuing from an opening in the dense\nfoliage. Nearing the hut they were met by a queer looking old Indian\nwoman, who had no teeth, and whose face was so wrinkled that she\ncould scarcely see out of her eyes. Carino approached her and said:\n\n\"We have come, good mother, to ask shelter and food for the night. We\nare a band of travelers who are left with no servants and must make\nour way the best we can.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"THE OLD WITCH, MONELLA\"]\n\n\"Your strange white masters come on a useless errand,\" said the old\ncrone, blinking at them and grinning in a knowing way. \"You think to\nfind the hidden treasure of Roraima and to unearth its buried secrets,\nbut you will fail. No one living, except myself, knows these things,\nand I will not tell you more than is good for you.\"\n\n\"Do not quarrel with the old hag,\" said the leader to Carino, \"we need\na place to sleep and are very hungry, so give her some gold and tell\nher we will do as she says.\"\n\n\"These are not Mellenda's men,\" said the old crone to Carino, as she\neyed them suspiciously. \"But the White Brotherhood would despise me if\nI refused to shelter them from the dangers of the forest at night.\nThey are welcome to come and sup with me.\"\n\nWhen they had all been given something to eat, and were sitting before\nthe fire of pine knots, one of the Cavaliers said:\n\n\"Tell us, good mother, how you have managed to live so long. Carino\nsays you are very old and very wise.\"\n\n\"Since I was a little child I have drank a tea made from the Plant of\nLife. Its juice is bitter-sweet, and unless one has the Falloa, or\nDon't Care Sickness, he can live always.\"\n\n\"Where did you get this wonderful plant?\"\n\n\"It was given me by Ulama, the beautiful daughter of Mellenda,\"\nanswered the old woman, proudly. \"This is like her smiling face,\" she\ncontinued, going back to a cupboard and getting a curious old\nparchment roll from a shelf. As she unwound the figure the astonished\nSpaniards saw a fair representation of a yellow-haired girl with a\ncirclet of gold set with gems on her head. On the breast of her\nflowing robe there was a golden star, and around the waist there was a\njeweled girdle.\n\n\"Can you read this picture writing?\" asked one of the Spaniards.\n\n\"It is the language of my forefathers, and as a child I could speak it\nwell. Listen, and I will tell you what it says. Long years ago there\nwas a rich and powerful white race living in these lands, and they\nbuilt a wonderful city on the Mountain of Gold. But the Children of\nDarkness captured the city, and they enticed people up there so they\ncould sacrifice them to the Devil-tree. There is never any thunder or\nlightning on top of Roraima, and its crest is a flat tableland edged\nwith a high forest and guarded by white eagles. The mountains\nsurrounding it were once islands in a great lake, and Mellenda was the\nancient king of the Children of Light who lived there. The King was a\nman of peace and very great wisdom, and he had a wife and four\nbeautiful children whom his enemies, the Children of Darkness,\nsacrificed to the Devil-tree while he was away in a distant part of\nthe kingdom. He had a great fleet and could have punished the Children\nof Darkness.\"\n\nThe old crone ceased speaking, and seemed lost in deep study. Finally\nCarino roused her by asking:\n\n\"Did Mellenda do nothing for revenge?\"\n\n\"No; he went away, but he promised he would come back again, and he\nwill. Not long after his departure came the great sinking of the\nwaters, and the lake of Parima has disappeared into another region of\nour country. For centuries after this the surrounding land was but a\nchaos of swamp and mud. By degrees vegetation grew up, and in time the\ntrees became the thick tangled forest that cannot now be penetrated.\"\n\n\"Did this Mellenda take with him all the gold and silver?\" asked a\nCavalier, intent upon finding something worth carrying away.\n\n\"In the city on top of the mountain is kept a full suit of his gold\narmor, bright and ready, waiting to receive him.\"\n\n\"We will get it and take it home with us,\" said the Spaniards, now all\neagerness.\n\n\"We, of Mellenda's race, firmly believe that he will come again, and\nnone of us would dare touch any of his belongings,\" said the crone,\nearnestly.\n\n\"You need not touch it,\" began one of the Cavaliers. \"We will bring it\ndown the trail ourselves.\"\n\n\"There is no trail up the sides of Roraima. The entrance to its hidden\npassageway is guarded by a giant Devil-tree.\"\n\n\"Did you ever see this Devil-tree?\" asked her visitors.\n\n\"Yes; a few years ago, I took my two pumas and went to the cave for a\ncertain purpose. As we stood looking at the monstrous thing one of its\nlong, horny branches crept toward us, and one of the pumas sprang\nforward to bite it. Instantly it curled around the body of the poor\ncreature, dragging it until they came to the trunk of the tree. Here\nshorter and thicker limbs knotted together over the struggling puma,\nand finally all rose in the air and almost disappeared in the hollow\ntrunk.\"\n\n\"Did you make no effort to rescue your pet?\"\n\n\"I hacked the first branch with an axe until it bled a dark, crimson\nliquid that smelled so badly I was deathly sick. Every inch of the\nbark is covered with small mouths that pierce the flesh and suck the\nblood of its victims. I kept watch until the moon came out, and then\nthe knots of limbs unrolled and out fell something. Each branch tossed\nit before it reached the ground, when I saw it was the crushed and\nlifeless puma. Out of a slimy pool near by rushed huge alligators, and\nin a few minutes they were eating what the Devil-tree left of the\npuma.\"\n\n\"Let us go away from here,\" said the Spaniards among themselves.\n\"Instead of being an earthly paradise, this is an infernal region.\"\n\nWhen they were bidding the old crone good-bye the next morning, she\nlooked at them sharply and said:\n\n\"You came here searching for gold, and expected to find it ready for\nyour use. My friends, the great blessings of life must be worked for\nand earned. You cannot cheat your way into Heaven, nor will you or\nyour people ever find any more hidden treasures belonging to other\nraces. You will earn all the fortunes you get after this adventure.\"\n\n\n\n\nThe Amazon Queens\n\n\nWe should all get very tired I am sure if we tried to follow the\nSpaniards into every nook and corner of the New World where they went\nin search of El Dorado, but we are interested in knowing that the name\nCosta Rica means the rich coast, because it was one of the El Dorado\nregions, and in Panama, the little narrow strip of land which unites\nNorth and South America, they expected to find a Castle of Gold, while\nthe Island of Porto Rico is also one of the homes of El Dorado. It\nmade no difference to the Spaniards whether the natives in these\nplaces had heard of the Golden Hearted or not. They only wanted to\nfind the riches of the country, and would not have listened to any\nteaching other than that brought by the padres. So for years and years\nthey kept on making mistakes and undergoing the most terrible\nhardships trying to acquire sudden wealth.\n\nOne of the stories that is very queer was that about the Amazon\nQueens. Columbus wrote of them, and this is what he said:\n\n\"On the first island discovered on the voyage from Spain to the\nIndies, no men are allowed to live. The female warriors do not follow\nany womanly occupations, but use bows and arrows of cane, and cover as\nwell as arm themselves with brazen plates, of which they have many.\"\n\nHe says nothing of their having great wealth, but Cortez also heard of\nthem, and wrote to the King of Spain that the island was ten days\ndistance from a province in Mexico, and that many persons had gone\nthere and seen the women warriors. He concludes his letter by saying:\n\n\"I am told that these fighting women are rich in pearls and gold.\"\n\nThis news was quite enough to start the Spaniards on a search for the\nisland, and, as usual, the Indians gave them much contradictory\ninformation about its location. Some said it was north and some said\nit was south, so exploring parties were sent in both directions. A man\nby the name of Guzman came up into Mexico as far north as Sinaloa,\nlooking for this wonderful island, and his march was one of\ndevastation and murder. He not only compelled the Indians to accompany\nhim as slaves to do all the drudgery, but tortured such chiefs as he\nthought had gold, and in many cases killed them because they either\ndid not give it to him quickly enough, or in as large quantities as\nhe wanted. The farther north he went the poorer the natives were.\n\n\"Instead of a rich island inhabited by soldierly women,\" he exclaimed,\nin disgust, \"I find a few insignificant villages occupied by women and\nchildren, because the men have all fled to the mountains. In the whole\ncountry there is not a trace of gold, pearls or treasures of any\nkind.\"\n\nAlong the way he found very scant supplies of gold, and this made him\nfurious, for he returned to the city of Mexico poorer than when he\nleft it.\n\nPizarro and his followers in Peru heard of the Amazon Queens, and so\ndid Sir Walter Raleigh and the German adventurers, but their country\nwas said to be along the banks of a very wide river in South America.\nThe Indians called them the Great Ladies, and the river has since been\nnamed the Amazon in their honor.\n\n\"If the Great Ladies do not invite you to visit them, it is a very\ndangerous thing to attempt,\" said the Indian guides to Orellana, the\nman who discovered the Amazon river, and was the first to sail its\nentire length.\n\n\"Why do you say that?\" asked Orellana.\n\n\"Because they are tall, strong-limbed and fair, and are great\nfighters. They wind their long hair across their foreheads in thick\nbands, and defend themselves well.\"\n\n\"What kind of weapons do they use?\" queried the Spanish soldiers, when\nthey could stop laughing at the Indians for being afraid of a lot of\nwomen.\n\n\"They shoot with blow-pipes, bows and arrows, and have a war-club that\nthey wield with great vigor,\" answered the Indians, with serious\nfaces.\n\n\"Are they always so hostile to men?\"\n\n\"Only the grandfathers of this generation have seen them, and none\nsave the Kings of the Borderers ever venture near their habitation.\"\n\n\"How are the Kings of the Borderers received by these strange women?\"\n\n\"They meet them at the frontier of their possessions with bows and\narrows in their hands, but after an exchange of pledges the Great\nLadies invite the men to come and feast and dance with them. Sometimes\nthey stay a month, and then the Queens escort them to the edge of\ntheir land, and send them home loaded with presents.\"\n\n\"What kind of presents do they give?\" asked the Spaniards, suddenly\ntaking a great interest in what was being said.\n\n\"There are gold ornaments in plenty, and emeralds and pearls, besides\nthe grains of gold carried in eagle quills.\"\n\n\"We will capture these Great Ladies,\" interrupted the Spaniards,\nexcitedly. \"We will teach them their proper places when we get hold of\nthem. Why do you Indians allow them to live in such a manner?\"\n\n\"Our forefathers have taught us to hold them in great veneration,\nbecause they live in a Mansion of the Sun. Long years ago they were\nVirgins of the Sun, but in the wars between the different tribes they\nwere allowed to separate from the rest and live in a community by\nthemselves.\"\n\n\"Do they build houses?\"\n\n\"They have temples, and keep the sacred fires burning on the altars,\nas was done in olden times.\"\n\n\"Who rules them, and what do they do with their boy babies?\"\n\n\"They select their own queen, and the boy babies are given to the\nKings of the Borderers; they only keep girl babies in their tribe, and\nwhen they grow up they become either warriors or priestesses.\"\n\n\"How do they support themselves?\"\n\n\"By hunting, fishing, weaving cloth and trading with their neighbors.\"\n\n\"Where do they get their riches?\"\n\n\"From the mountains of Parima, where they have secret storehouses\nfilled with treasures they have been hoarding for ages.\"\n\nThis pleased the Spaniards very much, and quite decided them to make a\nraid upon that country. Even after they had talked the matter over\nfully among themselves they recalled the Indians and questioned them\nstill further.\n\n\"Would you be afraid to undertake to fight these strange women?\" they\nasked, when they saw that the guides were unwilling to accompany them.\n\n\"No, we are not afraid, but we are enjoined to let them alone. None of\nus would ever think of disturbing them. They are very fierce, and will\nkill any man that they do not like.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"A FLOWER OFFERING\"]\n\n\"But you could easily conquer women warriors,\" urged the Spaniards,\nnow eager to commence the journey.\n\n\"It would not be so easily done as you imagine,\" said the guides,\nshaking their heads doubtfully. \"The Great Ladies wear thick shields\nand cover their clothes with metal discs which turn away an arrow\npoint.\"\n\n\"We can easily overcome that protection with our guns, and we are not\ncommanded to respect them,\" replied the Spaniards.\n\n\"You will find that they have deep underground retreats to which they\nfly in times of danger, and they are known to be excellent shots.\"\n\nJust then a party of prospectors returned from the mountains where\nthey had been looking for gold. Among the things they brought was a\nnumber of thin, flat green stones with holes pierced in each end,\nshowing that they had been used for ornaments. The Indian guides said\nat once they were the same kind of emerald as that worn by the Amazon\nQueens for an amulet against disease.\n\n\"How did you succeed in getting them?\" they asked.\n\n\"From some Indian pedlars we met with packs on their backs. They said\nthe stones would cure the spleen, and we have been wearing them ever\nsince.\"\n\n\"Did you have any difficulty in persuading the pedlars to part with\nthem?\"\n\n\"No; they said they got them from a tribe of women warriors many\nleagues to the south, but we did not believe them.\"\n\n\"It is all true,\" said the guides, \"and these Great Ladies have been\nin that land a very long time.\"\n\n\"If we can find enough of these spleen stones to make our trip\nprofitable we do not care whether we meet the Great Ladies or not,\"\nsaid the prospectors, when told of the proposed trip in search of the\nAmazon Queens.\n\nAs the party pushed forward into the tangled thickets, they found\ncocoanuts, and plantains, ripe and ready to eat, and they also found\nsome very juicy little canteloupes growing on a vine, but none of the\nIndians living on, or near the Amazon river, could tell them where to\nfind the Queens. They searched up and down the banks for a hidden\npassageway which was said to guard the entrance to their mountain\nhome, but to all questions the river made no answer. To the\ndisappointed Spaniards it looked angry, sullen and relentless in the\nuntamed might of its turbid waters.\n\n\"It seems to be always summer here,\" said the weary soldiers, \"but one\nwould die of malarial poisoning if compelled to stay long.\"\n\nSome of the guides felt sorry for the sick men, and went into the\nwoods and brought them sarsaparilla bark, and made them a tea of it.\n\n\"Drink this,\" they said, \"because it will cure your sickness which\ncomes from the head. If your heart was strong with love for your\nbrothers you would find blessings in this land. As it is you seek to\nplunder and rob the Great Ladies, but the Sun is their father, and he\nwill make the mountains, trees and rocks hide them and their\ntreasures.\"\n\n\"It is no use to look for these women any longer. We shall all die\nbefore we can reach them,\" said the leader, wearily.\n\nAnd no one to this day knows just where the Amazon Queens lived.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Seven Cities of Cibola\n\n\nThe Nahuas in Mexico were really a sect of wise men descended from\nthose that came with the Golden Hearted. They believed that they\noriginated in Seven Caves, which were not locations at all, but was\nonly a way of saying that human beings have seven wonderful qualities.\nThey might have thought so because we can see, feel, taste, hear and\nsmell, and have instinct and are able to reason, or it may have been\nsomething else. At any rate, it did not mean actual caves, but was a\nsymbol. In later times when people were not so wise, they said it was\nseven tribes instead of caves, and when the Spaniards heard about it\nthey managed to twist it into seven cities, and immediately conceived\nthe idea that great riches and gold could be found in them. When\nquestioned on the subject the Indians said:\n\n\"To the far north there are seven wonderful cities where the people\nmake arrow-heads of emeralds and take the sweat off their bodies with\nscrapers of pure gold, and have jeweled gates, and turquoise ornaments\nover their doors.\"\n\n\"Do these men know how to work precious stones and metals?\" asked the\nSpaniards eagerly.\n\n\"There are long streets filled with jewelers who make rings for the\nears, nose and arms,\" they said. \"Forty days must you journey to reach\nthis land, and you must travel through a desert where there is neither\nwater nor food to be had.\"\n\nThe first Spaniard to attempt the search for the Seven Cities was the\ncruel Guzman, who looked north for the Amazons. He had with him quite\nan army, and his men were so excited over the stories they heard that\nthey scarcely took time to eat or sleep on the way. They hoped every\nday to find the cities, but instead of this the country grew more\ndesolate, the road more difficult, and the cities still farther to the\nnorth. Then the Spaniards began to complain, and said:\n\n\"We have been deceived, and shall all die in this bleak land. Let us\nreturn to Mexico.\" And they did. For six years no one had the courage\nto seek the Seven Cities.\n\nThen something very strange happened.\n\nInto a little seaport where Cortez had ordered some ships built to\nexplore the western coast, came wandering four strange men. They were\nbarefooted, and had no clothing except some old, dirty skins with the\nhair worn off in spots. Their heads were a perfect mass of tangles,\nand their beards reached almost to the knees. Falling flat on their\nfaces before the first white man they saw, they cried out in a loud\nvoice:\n\n\"Thank God! We are safe at last!\" When the astonished Spaniard turned\nto look at them, they seized his hands and kissed them, and springing\nto their feet danced and shouted for joy.\n\n\"These are escaped maniacs,\" said the people, gathering around to look\nat them. \"Whatever shall we do with mad men?\"\n\n\"No, no! You do not understand. We are poor wanderers who have been\nlost for years among the Indians.\"\n\n\"Let us take them to our Captain. There is something very strange\nabout this,\" said the Spaniards, and they started at once.\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the Captain, rudely, looking with disgust at\ntheir dirt and rags.\n\n\"I am a noble of Castile who came to help conquer Florida, and my name\nis De Vaca,\" said the oldest man. \"The fleet was wrecked and all were\nlost except my companions here, and me. All the years since we have\nbeen with the Indians.\"\n\n\"I do not believe a word of it,\" said the Captain. \"Put these fellows\nin prison until we find out about them. They may be criminals.\"\n\nFor three months they lay in prison, and then the Alcalde came and\nreleased them.\n\n\"Tell me your story,\" he said.\n\n\"When the ships were lost,\" responded De Vaca, \"we swam to the\nmainland, and were captured by the Indians. They were a poor, starved\ntribe who lived on roots and berries, and often went days without a\nmouthful. We had with us a rattle, and this, with our beards, made\nthem think we came from Heaven, and were great medicine men. They fell\non their faces before us and gave us all they had. We asked them to\ntake us where the sun sets, but they refused, and we pretended to be\nvery angry, until they finally let us go. After months of wandering we\ncame to a land of plenty, where the people were wealthy, and wore\nbeautiful plumes in their head-dresses. They brought us five emeralds\ncut into arrow-heads, and many fine turquoises, and beads made of\ncoral. When I asked where they got these stones, they pointed to some\nlofty mountains toward the north and told us the gems came from there,\nand that near them were large cities, with houses three or four\nstories high. I did not go there because I heard that toward the\nsunset were other men of my kind, and I longed once more to look upon\nthe face of a Spaniard.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" said the people, as they talked the matter over, \"these\nare the same cities Guzman tried to find. He did not go in the right\ndirection, but we know where they are,\" and many were eager to set out\nat once. But the Viceroy was a quiet and careful man.\n\n\"There have been many lives lost already,\" he said, \"and it will be\nbest not to hurry. I shall not send an army there until I am sure.\"\n\nThen he thought of a padre, named Fray Marcos, who had lived much\namong the Indians of the north, and he sent for him, and said:\n\n\"Perhaps there lies to the north as rich a nation as Mexico or Peru.\nIf so it must be conquered for the Church and the King of Spain. You\nknow how to speak to the Indians, and it might be that they would let\nyou come among them and learn the truth. Will you undertake to do so?\"\n\n\"God giving me strength I will,\" said Fray Marcos, with enthusiasm.\n\n\"Very well. The negro Stephen, who was with De Vaca is here, and is\nwilling to be your guide. If you come to any great city do not send\nback word, but return yourself and tell me about it. Make all your\nplans and set out as soon as possible.\"\n\nFray Marcos did as he was told, but it was several months before\nanything was heard of him. One day a traveler, in a monk's gown, came\nwalking into the same seaport that De Vaca had visited.\n\n\"It is Fray Marcos, who went in search of the Seven Cities! Did you\nfind them! Are they full of wealth? Where is the negro Stephen?\"\n\nFray Marcos would not answer their questions.\n\n\"I have much to tell, but my news is for the Viceroy himself,\" said\nthe padre, and he started for the city of Mexico. When there he said\nto the Viceroy:\n\n\"The Indians came out to meet and welcome me everywhere. They had food\nready for me, and where there were no houses, they built bowers of\ntrees and flowers that I might rest safe from the sun. I spent four\ndays journeying through a desert, and then I found some Indians who\nmarveled much to see me. They thought, because I was white and wore a\ngown, that I must have come from Heaven. I asked them if they knew of\nany great kingdom where there were seven large cities, and they told\nme that farther on were high mountains with wide plains at the foot\nwhere the people lived in cities and clothed themselves in cotton. I\nsent Stephen ahead three-score leagues, and charged him to send back\nIndians to bring me news of his success. If the country was poor and\nmean, he was to send me a cross no longer than my hand; if it were a\ngoodly place the cross was to be two lengths of a hand, and if he\nfound what he sought he was to send me a large cross. In four days a\nmessenger came from Stephen bearing a cross as high as a man. He\nbrought news of a mighty province called Cibola, thirty days journey\nnorthward from the town where Stephen was. In this province there are\nseven great cities governed by one Prince.\"\n\n\"You should have followed at once to make sure that all these things\nwere true,\" said the Viceroy, now very much interested.\n\n\"I did,\" responded Fray Marcos. \"Each day messengers came to me\ncarrying large crosses and giving more particulars concerning Cibola.\nFinally I entered a valley where there were many people, and all of\nthem had turquoises hanging from their noses, and ears, and collars of\nthe same three or four times double around their necks. Then I had to\ngo through another desert, and was beginning to get very tired when\none day there came running to me, an Indian in great fright--his body\ncovered with sweat and dust, and his face showing extreme sadness. He\nsaid that the day before Stephen had reached Cibola, and had sent\nguides into the city with presents for the chief, and to let them know\nhe came in peace. But the great Lord of the City flew into a rage and\ndashed the presents to the ground. He drove the messengers out in\nfury, and said he would kill them if they came back again. He said,\ntoo, that he would kill Stephen. But the negro was not afraid, and\nwent directly into the city. Instantly they were seized and cast into\na prison, where they were kept all night without anything to eat or\ndrink. The next morning Stephen and his guides tried to escape, but\nthe people killed all of them except one other and the messenger who\ncame to me. These two were struck down and left for dead, but were\nonly stunned, and when the angry people went away they crept out in\nthe night, and made their escape.\"\n\n\"What did you do then, Fray Marcos?\" asked the Viceroy.\n\n [Illustration: \"ONE OF THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA\"]\n\n\"So great was my grief that it seemed for a moment as if I\nshould die, but when my guides began to weep and lament I gave them\nthe presents I intended for the Lord of Cibola, and resolved to go and\nsee the city, even if I could not enter it. I traveled one day and\ncame to a round hill, which I climbed. Looking down I saw the\nbeautiful city of Cibola.\"\n\n\"And the houses, were they as the Indians told you?\"\n\n\"Yes, my lord; they were built of stone four stories high, and\nglistened in the bright sunshine. The people were fair and dressed in\nwhite. Greatly was I tempted to risk my life and go down to them, but\nI contented myself with planting a cross and hurrying here to tell you\nwhat I had done.\"\n\n\"That was right, Fray Marcos,\" said the Viceroy, \"and now it is time\nto send an army.\"\n\nThe first person the Viceroy thought of to lead the soldiers was a\nbrave nobleman, named Coronado, who sat by his side. He had been\nlistening eagerly to all that Fray Marcos had to tell. Turning to him\nthe Viceroy said:\n\n\"It is my wish that you should command my forces and conquer this\nKingdom of Cibola. I desire you to make ready at once.\"\n\n\"Fray Marcos simply confirms what Guzman and De Vaca have already told\nus,\" replied Coronado, \"and I accept your commission with one\nproviso.\"\n\n\"And what may that be?\" asked the Viceroy, with a smile.\n\n\"That you allow me to bear the expenses of the entire expedition.\"\n\n\"Very well, and when you find Cibola I will make you its governor and\ngive you all the treasures you find except what justly belongs to the\nKing of Spain, and his representatives and soldiers taking part in the\nenterprise.\"\n\nSo great was the excitement over Fray Marcos' story of the new El\nDorado, that Coronado scarcely knew what to do with the volunteers of\nall classes who came flocking into camp determined to go with him. He\nnot only spent all his own money, but borrowed all he could get and\nprovided for every one in splendid style. They marched out in\nglittering armor, on prancing horses with lances gleaming in the\nsunshine and banners flying gayly. They were all in high spirits\nbecause they expected to return in a short time loaded with gold and\njewels.\n\nBut it was very different when they reached the desert and mountains,\nfor they did not know how to bear the fatigue of such a journey, nor\nhow to care for their horses, cattle and sheep. The animals died\nrapidly, and the soldiers got into many fights with the Indians who\nresented being robbed and badly treated. On they went through what we\nnow call Arizona, over almost the same road that Fray Marcos had\ntraveled, and found, instead of the fine, glittering city they\nexpected, only a few houses of one of the Zuni Indian villages.\n\nThe hearts of the Spaniards sunk as they gazed upon it. Calling some\nof the men, Coronado said:\n\n\"Go in to the people of the city, and say that we come to defend and\njoin with them in friendship.\"\n\nThey went and delivered Coronado's greeting, but were received with\nscorn.\n\n\"We did not ask you to come, and your chief had no right to send you.\nThis is our land, and we can defend it. If you attempt to stay here we\nwill kill every one of you.\" Even as the soldiers, carrying the\nmessage, turned to go away the people of Cibola began firing arrows at\nthem. Coronado quickly gave the command to attack, which the Indians\nanswered by a shower of arrows and stones which they sent down from\ntheir high-walled houses. They seemed bent upon killing Coronado;\ntwice they felled him to the ground, but he recovered and led the\ncharge with an arrow sticking through his foot.\n\n\"Santiago! and at them!\" he shouted, as he rode forward in the last\nassault.\n\n\"Santiago,\" echoed his soldiers, close at his heels. When the Indians\nsaw the horses coming at full speed into their village, they threw\ndown their bows and arrows, and fled in every direction.\n\nThen the Spaniards almost cried with anger and disappointment. The\nhouses were really made of stone, but there were no jewels, no gold,\nno treasures of any kind--nothing, in fact, but a poor, miserable\nIndian pueblo, or village, built upon a high ledge of rocks, miles\naway from the fields of corn, beans and squashes, upon which they\nlived. All the Indians in that part of the United States built their\nhouses in pueblos, or villages, but not one of them had any treasures.\nThey irrigated the dry, sandy soil and tilled their fields, and were a\nsimple, kindly people, until the greedy Spanish soldiers drove them\ninto rebellion which has left their country bare and desolate, even to\nthis day.\n\n [Illustration: \"FRAY MARCOS\"]\n\n\n\n\nThe Kingdom of Quivera\n\n\nThe air was full of the chill and blast of winter, and with the first\nsnow-flakes great discontent broke out in camp, and Coronado realized\nthat he must find a place to make his men more comfortable.\n\n\"There are ten big community houses on top of that spider-shaped\nrock,\" he said, one morning to a squad of soldiers who had been\ndrilling on parade ground, \"and I want possession of it for the\ntroops. Some one must go ahead first and report the situation.\"\n\n\"The rock is so high that our bullets scarcely reach to the top,\" said\nthe scout, who had galloped over to the pueblo to spy out a way of\ndoing what Coronado commanded. \"But there are four winding paths\nleading up the sides, and we can ascend in single file.\"\n\n\"Have you tried it?\" asked Coronado.\n\n\"Yes, and found it quite an easy task. I spent last night there, and\nas the rays of the sun took leave of the lofty Sierras, I felt\nforsaken, and as if I were about to float away into the darkness.\"\n\n\"Did the Indians suspect your purpose in coming?\"\n\n\"Certainly not, and all my gloomy feelings passed away as soon as the\nfires began to blaze on the roofs at different heights of the same\nbuilding. Inside the houses laughing voices greeted me, and I was glad\nto be the guest of such simple people.\"\n\n\"Do you think we would be safe from attacks and surprises at night?\"\n\n\"Perfectly. And when once up there it would be almost impossible to\ncome down at night. The narrow paths are really unsafe except in\ndaylight.\"\n\nIt was not long until the Spaniards had forcible possession of the\nvillage, and during the long, dreary winter months they went about in\nrusty helmets, battered cuirasses, ragged doublets and worn-out boots,\nwhile the Indians wrapped themselves in thick coverings made of rabbit\nskins. Every morning the bell called them to mass, and then the criers\nwent up and down announcing the day's duty to every one in the camp.\nOn the plains below was heard the neighing of horses, the lowing of\ncattle and the bleating of sheep.\n\nIn the pueblos near by the Indians danced, and gathered around the\nfires to listen to the old men's stories of their past, and as the\nwinter drew to a close the Spaniards were no longer homesick and\ndespondent, but ready and willing to test the truth of some of the\nthings the Indians had told them of the Wrathy Chieftain and the\nKingdom of Quivera.\n\nAt Pecos the scouts were received with music and presents of cotton\ncloth and handfuls of turquoises, because the inhabitants were not\nsure but that the white men came from the sun, and were sent by the\nGolden Hearted, whom they revered and honored as the Wrathy Chieftain.\n\nIn this village they met a strange-looking Indian.\n\nWe will name this fellow the \"Turk,\" because he looks so like one, and\nfind out, if we can, where he lives. \"May be his people have gold,\"\nsaid the soldiers, as soon as they arrived at Pecos.\n\n\"My home is very far to the east,\" said the Turk, when questioned,\n\"and we have plenty of gold.\"\n\n\"What is the name of your country!\"\n\n\"Quivera, and my king's name is Tatarax. He wears a long beard, and\nworships a golden cross and an image of the Queen of Heaven.\"\n\nHad the Spaniards been at all cautious and shrewd they would have\ntaken pains to find out how true this statement was, but they were so\ntired of being in camp, that they were glad of an opportunity to go on\nanother expedition in search of an El Dorado, which they always hoped\nto find.\n\n\"The chiefs of the Pecos have taken a gold arm band of mine,\" said\nthe Turk, wishing to make trouble between them and the Spaniards. \"No\nmatter what I say to them, they will not give it back to me.\"\n\nHe described the band as being so wide and heavy that Coronado was\ninduced to seize the chiefs and carry them off to another pueblo in\nthe hope of compelling the Pecos Indians to pay a big ransom for them.\nIn addition the Spaniards demanded cotton clothes and provisions for\ntheir journey. The Indians refused, and fought two weeks before\nCoronado became satisfied that the Turk never had such a thing as an\narm band, and that there was no gold in the village.\n\n\"It is no use to waste time looking for treasures in this part of the\nworld,\" he finally told his men, and they immediately began to\nquestion the Turk.\n\n\"I know a country,\" he declared, \"where there is a very wide river\nthat has fish in it as big as a horse. The people tip their canoes\nwith gold, and sometimes there are forty rowers in a boat. Every\nvessel they use is made of gold and silver.\"\n\nAll the time he was talking he watched the faces of the soldiers with\nkeen craftiness, and when he saw how delighted they were, he made the\nstory just as big as he could.\n\n\"There are plenty of such places,\" he said, with a toss of his head,\n\"but my country of Quivera is the most important of them all, and I\nwill take you there first.\"\n\nWhen any one gets lost on the plains where there are no hills or trees\nto mark the way, they wander around in a circle, and finally get into\na perfect frenzy by coming back to the same place over and over again.\n\nThis was what happened to the Spaniards under Coronado. They returned\nin a wide bend to Pecos, after marching for months on the desolate\nplains.\n\n\"Led around in a circle,\" he said, \"as if by some evil spirit.\nEverywhere we went we found ourselves surrounded by herds of\nmisshapen, crinkly-wooled cows. Some of them had calves, and the bulls\nhad beards of sunburnt hair. Our horses took fright and ran away,\nwhile some of them plunged and threw their riders over their heads.\"\n\n\"Were these woolly cows ferocious?\" asked the good padre, who had\nremained at Pecos to teach the Indians, and had never seen a buffalo.\n\n\"They are very terrible when they stampede. If they catch sight of a\nwhite man, they lower their heads and with a quick, short bellow set\noff at full tilt in a heavy, rolling gallop. On they come, like a mad\nrush of waters, tails high in the air and their big eyes gleaming with\nfright. We had much ado to keep out of their way, for they would run\nover and trample all to death.\"\n\n\"No wonder your horses ran away,\" said the padre. \"It was quite enough\nto frighten anything.\"\n\n\"Finally we met some of the people who go around the country with the\ncows. They make tents of the hides and wear them for blankets, and\nkeep huge dogs to carry their food and baggage. They were friendly to\nus, but knew nothing of Quivera and its treasures.\"\n\nBut the feeling of helplessness and desolation of the plains gradually\nleft the Spaniards, and then they were ready to follow the Turk's lead\nagain. This time they got lost in the desert, and many of them\nwandered off and died from thirst, and their bodies were eaten by\nwolves and coyotes. They kept going round and round in a circle until\ntheir tongues hung out of their mouths and they were delirious. In the\nhot, quivering air they imagined they saw cities, and lakes and\nsprings of water, and they laughed and cried, and sung and danced in a\nraging fever. At last they began to suspect the Turk.\n\n\"He is purposely leading us astray,\" they said. \"He is trying to lose\nus on these desolate plains where we will starve to death. He intends\nto desert and leave us here.\"\n\nThey put the Turk in chains, and then he confessed that he had never\nseen the big stone houses he said were in Quivera, but stoutly\ninsisted that the country was rich in gold and silver.\n\nThe Prairie Indians begged Coronado to turn back.\n\n\"The land of Quivera is forty days' journey toward the north,\" they\nsaid, \"and you will suffer from hunger long before you reach other\ntribes.\"\n\nBut Coronado had spent all his money and was in debt deeply, so he\ndetermined to take twenty-nine picked horsemen and go forward. Leaving\nthe rest of the company to find their way back to Pecos, he engaged\nsome new guides among the Prairie Indians and pushed on determined to\nfind Quivera. They rode directly north until they came to a place in\nKansas near where the city of Leavenworth is now located.\n\nIn the meantime the Pecos Indians went on the warpath and refused to\nreceive or aid the Spaniards who left Coronado and went back to them.\nHe found them encamped before the pueblo when he returned months\nafter, weary, empty-handed, and disappointed.\n\n\"I have found Quivera and explored it well,\" he said, \"but it has no\npermanent settlement, and no gold and silver. I was expecting to see\nhouses several stories high, made of stone. Instead of that they are\nsimple huts and the inhabitants are perfectly savage.\"\n\nThe Turk tried to secure his freedom by saying that the Pecos Indians\nhad hired him to lose the Spaniards on the plains, but no one paid any\nattention to him. In revenge he said to the people of Quivera:\n\n\"Do not let one of these white men escape alive. They will bring\nothers of their kind and rob you of all your possessions and ill\ntreat your women and children. They have already killed many of the\nPecos.\"\n\nSome one told Coronado what was being said, and he ordered his\nsoldiers to take the Turk out and hang him to the first tree they\nfound, which they did.\n\nCoronado spoke the truth about Quivera, but even the men who went with\nhim believed that there was a land near by where they would find great\nriches, and they kept repeating all the stories about El Dorado until\nCoronado was obliged to promise them that he would make another effort\nto find it.\n\n\"If we go north again we can be certain of good food for the soil is\nthe best that can be found for all kinds of crops. In Quivera we were\ngiven plums, nuts, very fine grapes, mulberries and flax. I really\nbelieve we shall make some important discoveries very soon.\"\n\nOne day at Pecos after he had made friends with the Indians, he was\ntilting with an officer in his command when his saddle girth broke\nwhile his horse was running at full speed. He fell on his head and was\nrun over and so badly hurt that for days it was thought he would die.\nBefore he got well news came from Mexico that the Indians behind him\nwere on the warpath, and then he knew he must retreat as quickly as\npossible. So instead of going in quest of the roving band of Quivera\nIndians, he was obliged to return to the city of Mexico. Here the\nViceroy received him coldly and upbraided him, saying:\n\n \"It is a source of keen disappointment and regret to me,\n that you, my trusted friend and favorite officer, should\n abandon the rich treasures of the north. I wish you to go\n to your estate and live in retirement for the remaining\n years of your life. I will try to find some one more worthy\n of my confidence for future work.\"\n\nReduced to poverty, with many debts unpaid, and disgraced by the\nViceroy, the poor unfortunate nobleman lived only a few years on his\nestate in Mexico and died heartbroken over his failures.\n\nEverybody in Mexico believed that he was mistaken, and several other\nexpeditions set out to find the Kingdom of Quivera. More than a\ncentury afterward the legend settled around one of the missions\nfounded by the padres, and for years people thought this was the Grand\nQuivera. Great treasures were supposed to be buried there by the\nmissionaries when the insurrection of 1680 came. That year all the\nIndians in the region of Arizona and New Mexico organized a general\nuprising and they not only killed all the whites they could find but\nsacked and burned the missions. And that is the last ever heard of the\none known as the Grand Quivera. No treasures were ever found in or\nnear its ruins. There are ten curious maps of that time and each one\nlocates the kingdom of Quivera in a different place. One of them\nbrings it as far north as the Sacramento Valley in California.\n\nReally Quivera is a will-o'-the-wisp, and from a roving band of\nIndians, has become a wandering treasure city, and a land of vague and\nmysterious proportions.\n\n [Illustration: \"AN OLD COMMUNITY HOUSE\"]\n\n\n\n\nThe Land of Gold\n\n\nIf any of the boys and girls born in the United States were asked\n\"Where is the land of gold?\" they would answer \"It is California,\" and\nif any of the children born in California were asked \"What is El\nDorado?\" they would say \"Why, that means the land of gold.\"\n\nSo it does and for two reasons.\n\nCortez named it California after the heroine of a romance of chivalry\nhe had read when he was in Spain. The book said there was an island on\nthe right hand of the Indies very near the terrestrial Paradise,\npeopled with black women, who were Amazons, and wore gold ornaments in\ngreat profusion. Down in his heart Cortez cherished the hope that he\nmight find the northwest passage to India, not because he cared very\nmuch for science, but because he believed the most extravagant stories\nabout the silks, spices, sweet-smelling gums and rare gems to be found\nthere. His ill-gotten Mexican gold did him very little good, and was\nsoon all expended, and he was anxious to find some other country to\nconquer. The very next year after the death of Montezuma, Cortez heard\nof the Land of Gold, and came over to a cove on the Pacific Coast of\nMexico where he laid out a town and built some ships for the purpose\nof finding the new wonderland. All he ever discovered was the\npeninsula of Lower California, where the Indians already knew about\nthe pearl fisheries. This was what he thought was an island, and what\nhe named California.\n\nOne of his officers sailed around the island of St. Thomas, and on a\nSunday morning he said he saw a merman swimming close to his ship.\n\n\"It came alongside the vessel,\" he declared, \"and raised its head and\nlooked at us two or three times. It was as full of antics as a monkey.\nSometimes it would dive, and then raise up out of the water and wash\nits face with its hands. Finally a sea bird drove it away.\"\n\nOf course he was mistaken, for what he really did see was either a\nwalrus or a big seal as both animals abound in the Pacific Ocean.\n\nIt was more than three hundred years after Cabrillo sailed into the\nGate of Palms at the entrance to the bay of San Diego, before gold was\ndiscovered in California. The country had been settled by Spanish\nCavaliers and padres and there were missions for the teaching of the\nIndians. Mexico had rebelled against the King of Spain and the United\nStates had made war on Mexico and won. Then a man by the name of\nMarshall found some free gold. It was in the sand at the bottom of a\nditch he was digging to get water to run a sawmill he was building. He\nknew at once that the bright yellow pebbles he held in his hands were\ngold, so he hurried to the men at work on the watershed and said:\n\n\"I have found it!\" and that is what the motto, _Eureka!_ on the state\nshield of California really means.\n\n\"What is it you have found, Mr. Marshall?\" asked the men.\n\n\"Gold!\" he exclaimed, excitedly. The men threw down their tools and\ngathered about him to examine the new find.\n\n\"No, no; you are mistaken,\" they said, when they had turned the\npebbles over, and held them to the light, and hammered them with a\nstone.\n\n\"I am certain that it is,\" he stoutly maintained, but they only\nlaughed at him. He paid no attention to them but turned on the water\nthe next night. Then he picked up all the yellow lumps he found in the\nsand, and putting them into a little bag hastened to the man for whom\nhe was building the mill, and said:\n\n\"I have found gold at the sawmill, and want you to come and see for\nyourself.\"\n\nHis employer tested and weighed the shining mass carefully, and\nfinally said:\n\n\"You are right. It is real gold. Go back to the mill, but say\nnothing until we get it finished. If you do the men will quit work and\nwe shall have no one to take their places.\"\n\n [Illustration: \"THE DISCOVERY OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY\"]\n\nBut the secret was too good to keep, and in a few days the whole\ncountry raised the same sordid cry of \"gold, gold, gold,\" which had\nbrought the Spaniards to the coast. In less than a year eighty\nthousand people came to California looking for gold. From an\nindependent republic, California became a state and with its admission\ninto the Union the search for El Dorado passed from Spanish into\nAmerican hands. Both the padres and Cavaliers in California as\nelsewhere in the Americas enslaved the Indians in a system of peonage\nwhich thinned out their ranks, and led to many hostile outbreaks\nbefore they were finally subdued. The gold seekers had to do some of\nthe fighting, but they did not rob and pillage the country, nor were\nthey allowed to be unnecessarily cruel. One of our great writers has\nsaid of the Indian:\n\n\"The red man of America has something peculiarly sensitive in his\nnature. He shrinks instinctively from the rude touch of a foreign\nhand. Like some of the dumb creatures he pines and dies in captivity.\nIf today we see them with their energies broken we simply learn from\nthat what a terrible thing is slavery. In their faltering steps and\nmeek and melancholy aspect we read the sad characteristics of a\n_conquered_ race.\"\n\nHis faith in the traditions of his forefathers, the belief that the\nGolden Hearted would come again to bring him all that his heart\ndesired finally enslaved and ruined him.\n\nIf we pity the Indian we must also feel sorry for the miserable ending\nof all the Spanish leaders who searched for El Dorado. Columbus spent\nthe last years of his life in prison; Balboa, who discovered the\nPacific Ocean, was treacherously executed and lies in an unknown grave\nnear Panama; Pizarro was assassinated and buried in Peru; Magellan was\nkilled by the natives in the Philippine Islands; Cortez was accused of\nstrangling his wife to death, and finally deprived of all honors and\nwealth; Guzman died in poverty and distress while Coronado was said to\nbe insane after his return to Mexico. For the crime and violence done\nby Spain in these expeditions she has not only lost all the revenues,\nbut no longer owns a foot of land in any part of the new world.\n\nLet us be thankful that the wisdom and liberty of our own government\nhas saved us from making such terrible mistakes, and doing such\ngrievous wrongs in our attempts to find El Dorado. The brave men and\nwomen who crossed the plains long before we had a railroad were\nwilling to work for the riches they wanted. They did not come with the\nidea of robbing anybody, and when they found the gold they were\ngenerous and kind to less fortunate neighbors and friends.\n\n\"In this land of sunshine and flowers,\" they said, \"we find gold in\nthe crops of the chickens we have for our Sunday dinners, and our\nchildren build doll-houses with the odd-shaped nuggets given to them\nby the big-hearted miners.\"\n\nIt is hard to imagine the stirring times that followed. Everybody had\nthe gold fever, and in crossing the plains they heard the name El\nDorado as soon as they came near where Coronado had been. Some of them\nmade up a song about it, which was for many years very popular among\nthe men in the mining camps. This is one verse of it:\n\n We'll rock the cradle around Pike's Peak\n In search of the gold dust that we seek,\n The Indians ask us why we're here\n We tell them we're born as free as the air,\n And oh!\n Boys ho!\n To the mountains we will go\n For there is plenty of gold\n Out West we are told\n In the new El Dorado.\n\nMany of the emigrants sickened and died on the way; others were killed\nby the hostile Indians, and all were subjected to a life of hardship\nand toil, because they were the builders of a new commonwealth. Once\nin California they found many trying situations, not the least of\nwhich was an occasional fight with the huge grizzly bears that roamed\nthrough the forests. Many times the men were obliged to organize a\nhunt for the purpose of ridding a district of a nest of grizzlies.\nNot only would the bears fight ferociously, but they did not hesitate\nto go into a corral and carry off calves, hogs and sheep under the\nvery eyes of the owner.\n\n\"Never for a moment imagine that a grizzly bear will run from you,\"\nsaid the leader of a hunting party filling his powder horn and putting\na box of caps into his pocket. \"Take good aim at the center of his\nforehead. Otherwise one shot will not kill him, and remember that he\ncannot climb. If you get into close quarters, try to get up a tree as\nfast as you can.\"\n\n\"We know his trail and we are going to send our dogs in to start him\nout of his den.\"\n\n\"Unless your dogs know how to attack him it is very unsafe to let them\ngo near. One blow from a grizzly's paw will kill any dog, and we\ncannot afford to lose any of yours,\" said the leader, doubtfully.\n\n\"My dogs know all about bear hunting. They will keep well behind him,\nand after we have crippled him, they will snap at his heels and worry\nhim so he cannot chase the last man who shoots at him.\"\n\n\"Will a grizzly do that?\" asked a man who had never been in a bear\nhunt before.\n\n\"Indeed he will. If you watch closely you can tell how many times he\nis hit for he will fall down, roll over and slap himself wherever the\nbullet strikes him.\"\n\n\"I would not advise you to waste any time trying to find out who fired\nthe last shot, for the bear will never make a mistake about it. He\nknows, and is always after the last one.\"\n\n\"Separate into pairs,\" said the leader, when he had finished examining\nthe bear tracks in the path they were following. \"Take your stations\nabout a hundred yards apart, and when you hear the grizzly coming, aim\nas I have already told you, and then look out for trouble.\"\n\n\"Do you think we are likely to find him soon?\" asked the newcomer,\nnervously.\n\n\"He is in that thicket where the dogs are keeping up such a loud\nbarking. You will hear him snapping and growling in a few minutes.\"\n\n\"The grass and underbrush are so high I am afraid I will not be able\nto see him,\" said the timid, inexperienced hunter.\n\n\"You can tell by the way the dogs bark when he is coming, and you can\neasily hear the click of his sharp claws before he gets too near for\ncomfort,\" said the leader, with a smile. \"Make sure that the trigger\nof your gun is properly set, and you will be all right.\"\n\nHe had stationed other men farther up the ravine, and in a few minutes\nthe dogs yelped warningly, and the man at the upper station shouted:\n\n\"Look out! here he comes!\"\n\n\"Bang!\" went the gun, and then the dogs rushed by in a solid pack with\na huge she bear at their heels.\n\n\"There are two of them,\" somebody said, and in a moment everything was\nin the wildest confusion.\n\n\"Man alive! don't you see that wounded grizzly rolling in the grass.\nHe is not badly hurt, but he will be after you in a second. Give him\nanother dose, and run,\" said the leader excitedly, to the new hunter\nwho was standing stock still and gazing around him helplessly. He did\nnot seem to hear what was said, and before he recovered from his\nparalyzing fright, the bear grabbed him.\n\n\"Help! help! help! For God's sake come here! I am being killed!\" he\nscreamed.\n\n\"Lie perfectly still and pretend you are dead,\" said the leader. \"Make\nno sound when I shoot, and crawl behind that big rock as soon as you\nget up.\"\n\nThe knowing dogs barked and raged around the bear until he could not\ntear the prostrate man. They kept him turning round and round, and the\ndaring hunter coolly waited until his head was away from the wounded\nman's, and then he shot him through the fore leg. Down he fell and\nkicked and scratched the fallen hunter, but true to his instinct got\nup and gave chase to the leader, with the dogs in full cry behind him.\nThe wounded man managed to reach the rock, and by scrambling up on its\njagged sides was comparatively safe. From his height he could see what\nthe other men were doing.\n\n\"I am all right,\" called the leader from a neighboring tree, \"but how\nis it with you?\"\n\n\"My powder-horn is crushed and broken and my arm is bitten through.\nThere is blood running down my face too, but I think that is only\nscratches.\"\n\n\"Bang!\" went a gun near by, and turning to look both men saw one of\nthe party standing up in the saddle, on the horse brought along to\ncarry the game.\n\n\"Get out of that thicket! You will be killed if you try to stay\nthere,\" shouted the leader.\n\n\"My only chance is to shoot as I stand,\" answered the man, busy\nloading his gun. \"I can not make this horse move. But for the Mexican\nstiff-bit in his mouth and a vigorous use of my big spurs he would lie\ndown with me.\"\n\n\"I am coming to help you,\" said the leader, sliding down the limb of\nthe tree to the ground. \"I will ham-string the grizzly and then you\ncan finish him.\"\n\nHe was an excellent shot, and soon the bear was dragging his hind\nquarters and showing signs of weakness from loss of blood. The man in\nthe saddle deliberately aimed at his heart, and after a few convulsive\nstruggles the grizzly lay dead.\n\nThe barking of the dogs and the reports of the guns brought the whole\nparty together, and after bandaging the wounds of their companion, and\nsending him home on the horse the remaining men went in search of the\nshe bear. They had wounded her and it was not hard to track her to a\nsmall stream, where they found her sitting on her haunches and\ngroaning like a human being.\n\n\"That sounds too much like a woman's moans,\" said the men, \"and we\nwill slip away without being seen and let her alone.\"\n\nAs they walked home they took turns in carrying the skin of the\ngrizzly they had killed.\n\n\"He would weigh two thousand pounds and could jump fully twenty feet,\"\nthey said.\n\n [Illustration: \"A PRAIRIE-SCHOONER\"]\n\n\n\n\nThe New El Dorado\n\n\nOne day long after the gold excitement in California had subsided, a\nstrange craft sailed into San Francisco bay flying a flag different\nfrom any other ship in the harbor. It was a yellow satin banner\nshowing the imperial double eagles of the Russian Czar, and the guns\nat the forts fired a royal salute as the vessel passed by on its way\nto the wharf. On board was a man empowered by the Czar to sell Alaska\nto the United States, and waiting on shore to greet him was a Senator\nwho was appointed to make an offer for the territory.\n\n\"You are very welcome, my friend,\" said the Senator, grasping the hand\nof the Diplomat, as he came ashore. \"Your arrival gives my countrymen\nmuch pleasure, and I earnestly hope that we may be able to make the\nties of friendship between your people and mine very much stronger.\"\n\n\"His Majesty, the Czar, charged me to make plain to you his sentiments\nof good will and his desire to render your government a service.\"\n\nThe two men pushed their way through the crowd and were soon being\ndriven rapidly toward the Senator's residence. After dinner that\nevening, while sitting by the fire the Diplomat said:\n\n\"Do you know the Russian story of the discovery of Alaska, the Great\nLand, as we called it?\"\n\n\"No,\" replied the Senator, \"I do not. I only know that it was a\ncurious freak of fortune that your people should be the ones to\ndiscover the fabled 'Straits of Anian' so long sought by the\nSpaniards, Portuguese and English navigators. Bering's Sea is very far\nfrom India, but it is the famous northwest passage, that separates\nAsia from America.\" The Diplomat said:\n\n\"While Europe was exploring and settling the Americas my countrymen\nwere throwing off the yoke that made them subjects of the Khans of\nTartary. Even at that time we had a great caravan trade with China and\nPersia, but our merchants suffered severely from the depredations of\nthe Cossack freebooters roaming over the steppes of Siberia. These\nreckless horsemen would charge down on a caravan and rob it of all its\nsilks, spices, teas and perfumes.\"\n\n\"Then you can sympathize with the galleons of Spain that were harassed\nby the buccaneers and pirates infesting the high seas ready to scuttle\nand sink any ship that fell into their hands,\" said the Senator,\ngreatly interested.\n\n\"Our merchants had no redress and they complained bitterly to Peter\nthe Great, who immediately undertook to chastise the unruly Cossacks.\nThey fled into Siberia, and it was not long before they found rich\nsilver mines on the Amoor river, and began to traffic in the ivory and\nsable skins which make that vicinity notable. As they advanced toward\nthe Pacific Ocean they were able to slaughter herds of musk oxen, and\nbefore many years the fame of the ivory deposits brought hundreds of\nadventurers into that barren region. Diligent inquiry among the\nnatives disclosed the fact that there was a Great Land toward the\nNorth Pole where remains of the hairy elephant were plentiful, and its\nbeautiful tusks were heaped up in huge mounds.\"\n\n\"It was a desire for gold that brought the first white men to\nCalifornia,\" said the Senator, \"and the building of the railroad\nacross the continent is the result of having found it.\"\n\n\"Ivory and furs were the lure that nerved the Russian freebooter to\nbrave the frozen sea and six months of night,\" said the Diplomat.\n\"They went to sea in open boats made of planks tied together with\nrawhide straps and thongs. Their sails were of soft dressed reindeer\nskins, and in place of rope they used elk skin strips. The anchors\nwere pieces of wood weighted with stones. They had no beds, and\ncarried a wooden plate and spoon tied to the sash around their\nwaists.\"\n\n\"They must have suffered very much from cold and hunger,\" said the\nSenator.\n\n\"They did; and many of them died with scurvy. They were greatly\nhindered by glaciers and icebergs, and would never have been able to\nmake the journey at all except for the sleds and dogs furnished by the\nnatives.\"\n\n\"Were the Eskimos and Aleuts always friendly?\" asked the Senator. The\nDiplomat hesitated for a moment, then said with a smile:\n\n\"The freebooters found it necessary to fight after they had once\nill-treated the natives. At first the white men were supposed to be\nsuperior beings, but they proved themselves unworthy of confidence and\nthen there was serious trouble.\"\n\n\"We have had a somewhat similar experience in dealing with the Indians\nin this country,\" replied the Senator.\n\n\"In one of the numerous attempts made by the freebooters to reach the\nGreat Land, they fell in with some Japanese castaways who claimed to\nhave found gold and silver there in abundance. When this was reported\nto Peter the Great he organized a scientific and military expedition\nunder Bering to find Alaska, with the hope that it would lead to\ncommercial relations with America and Japan.\"\n\n\"It seems a hard fate that Bering should die of scurvy in the winter\nwhen all was dark as night and exceedingly cold,\" said the Senator.\n\n\"Yes,\" answered the Diplomat, \"especially after he had survived the\nsix weary years of hardship and toil necessary to march across\nSiberia. It is possible that he would have failed at last had he not\nnoted the flight of the land birds and known that there must be a\nshore-line not far away.\"\n\n\"Did he or his family profit by the discoveries he made?\"\n\n\"Very little. It has been the fate of all the Russian explorers in\nAmerica to die poor,\" responded the Diplomat. \"It has cost my\ngovernment vast sums of money and more than two hundred years have\nelapsed since the first efforts were made. We have profited greatly by\nthe seal fisheries and so will your people when once Alaska becomes a\nterritory of the United States.\"\n\n\"It has always been a puzzle to me why the Czar recalled the Russian\ncolonists living in peace and prosperity in California under Spanish\nrule,\" said the Senator, after a pause.\n\n\"It was because he wished to maintain friendly relations with the\nUnited States and he was far-sighted enough to see that California\nwould some day come under the American flag. It is to increase that\nfeeling that he now offers to sell Alaska to you. He does not wish to\nhave any possessions on this continent. The destiny of Russia lies in\nanother direction.\"\n\nBoth the Senator and Diplomat went to see the President and it was not\nvery long until the purchase was made. When the Senator came back from\nWashington he said:\n\n\"We have paid exactly two cents an acre for Alaska, and its seal\nfisheries are well worth that amount. We will not have to fight for\nits possession, and I am certain that we have made a good bargain.\"\n\nSince then many men have sailed into the northern waters and come back\nwith cargoes of whale oil, or seal skins or canned salmon, but no one\npaid any particular attention to them. A party of scientific men\nexplored the Yukon river which is as long and as wide as the\nMississippi and made the ascent of Mount St. Elias, one of the\nloftiest peaks in North America, but nobody was interested in Alaska\nexcept as a place where the sun shines for six months and then leaves\nthe whole country in partial darkness for another six months.\n\nImagine the sun apparently traveling around in a little circle all the\ntime. There are no sunrises and no sunsets, and no need of lights at\nnight. Then when it goes down, lamps or candles must be burned all the\ntime. When the extreme cold comes the aurora borealis sends out\nsplendid rays of many colored lights to burnish up the vault of heaven\nand make a grand electrical display.\n\nThe Eskimos are a dwarfed race of men and women with flat noses, and\neyes wide apart, and they dress themselves in heavy furs with the hair\nturned next to the body. They live on fish and whale blubber, and are\nexperts in throwing a spear or managing a skin canoe. In front of\ntheir homes they have curious totem poles to show what tribes they\nbelong to, and they are quite ingenious in weaving fish-nets, baskets,\nand in the carving of silver and ivory.\n\nFor many years no news came from Alaska, except by ship, and on a\nwarm, sunny day in autumn not long ago, some sailors set up the cry:\n\n\"Gold has been found in Alaska! It is the new El Dorado! It is richer\nthan California!\"\n\nAt first people did not believe them, but when the experts passed upon\nthe findings everybody said:\n\n\"Let us go to the Klondike! We can get rich in a few months.\"\n\nThe excitement was so great that it did no good to point out the\nhardships and dangers of such an undertaking.\n\n\"We will take the chances of freezing,\" they said, carelessly. \"We can\nwalk over the mountain passes and we do not care about the\ndiscomforts.\"\n\n\"But only a few can find the gold. It was the same in California. Not\none in a thousand can possibly bring away as much gold as he takes\nwith him to live on, for food will be very scarce and high priced,\"\nurged the prudent ones.\n\n\"You will freeze,\" said others, \"or will die with scurvy, or be eaten\nby those terrible white polar bears and wolves.\"\n\n\"No matter what you say to us we are going,\" was the reply, and every\nship that could be found was loaded with eager men, and some\nventuresome women bent upon wresting the gold from the frozen north.\nMany of them had never seen an iceberg or a glacier, and had no idea\nwhat misery awaited them.\n\n\"Write us as soon as you can,\" said the wives and mothers tearfully,\nas they stood on the wharf in some seaport of the Pacific saying good\nby to some loved one, going to seek a fortune.\n\n\"It will be six months before this ship can return,\" said the captain\nof one of the first ships that carried gold seekers to Alaska in\nanswer to an anxious inquiry as to how long it will be before the\npromised letters could arrive.\n\n\"Why will you be so long?\" asks some little boy or girl whose heart is\nsad at parting with their beloved father.\n\n\"Because the great ice-floes will close in on our vessel and we will\nnot be able to move until the weather moderates.\"\n\n\"Then will you bring my father back to me?\" asks the simple child.\n\n\"I hope so, my dear,\" and then the kindly face of the captain looks\nserious and he mutters to himself, \"God forbid that it should be a\ngrave instead of a fortune that awaits this child's father.\"\n\nThe first season many a brave man sailed away, full of hope and\nexpectancy, but the next year returned haggard, worn and in some\ninstances a hopeless invalid.\n\n\"What do you think of the gold fields of Alaska?\" asks his old friends\nas they shake his hand.\n\n\"It is a place to suffer and grow old in; a place to lose the earnings\nof a lifetime, and your health with them. In the long, dreary, dark\nnights the stoutest heart loses courage, and next to longing for home\nis the longing for death.\"\n\nIf he were one of the fortunate few who found the grains of free gold\ndeposited in the frozen sands, he had a sobered, prematurely old look\nand said:\n\n\"Yes, I have made money in the gold fields of Alaska, but I hope I may\nnever be obliged to go back and live in the mines.\"\n\nStrewn along the trail and over the Chilkoot Pass are the bleaching\nbones of those who sacrificed their lives in the effort to reach the\nnew El Dorado. The simple Eskimos looked on in wonder at the frantic\nenergy of their white brothers, and were content in their own\nsecurity.\n\nThe Ice Queen is their guardian and she punishes those who venture\ninto her frigid realm to unearth and carry away the hidden treasures.\nIn Alaska, as everywhere else, one must work hard and build up the\ncountry instead of robbing it, if money is really to be made. The late\ncomers have already learned this lesson, by experience, and are\nbeginning to build railroads, good houses, schools and churches in the\nwarmest and most fertile part of the country surrounding the seaports.\n\nAnd we know at last that El Dorado exists solely in the hearts and\nminds of men, and not in the everlasting snows of Alaska.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\nThe following is a partial list of the books consulted by the author\nin the preparation of the \"Stories of El Dorado.\"\n\n Aubrey, Frank The Devil Tree of El Dorado.\n Baldwin, J. D. Ancient America.\n Bandelier, A. F. The Gilded Man.\n Bancroft, H. H. History of the Central American States.\n Bancroft, H. H. History of California.\n Bancroft, H. H. History of Alaska.\n Bancroft, H. H. Native Races, Vols. III and V.\n Brinton, D. G. Myths of the New World.\n Brinton, D. G. American Hero-Myths.\n Donnelly, Ignatius Atlantis.\n Harrison, Elizabeth Story of Christopher Columbus.\n Heuvel, J. A. Von El Dorado, a narrative of a rich and\n splendid city in South America.\n Higginson, T. W. Tales of the Enchanted Island of the\n Atlantic.\n Hittell, T. H. History of California.\n Hood, Margaret G. Tales of Discovery on the Pacific Slope.\n Longfellow, H. W. The Song of Hiawatha.\n Markham, C. R. History of Peru.\n Payne, E. J. History of the New World called\n America.\n Prescott, W. H. History of the Conquest of Mexico.\n Prescott, W. H. History of the Conquest of Peru.\n Plongeon, A. Le Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and\n Quiches.\n Plongeon, A. Le Queen Moo.\n Stephens, J. L. Incidents of Travel in Central America.\n Stephens, J. L. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 2 Vols.\n Simon, Pedro Expeditions in search of El Dorado and\n Omagua.\n Schoolcraft, H. R. The Myth of Hiawatha.\n Wallace, Gen. Lew The Fair God.\n\n\n\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have\n been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n On page 44, \"there was not a surely man in the moon\" might be a\n typographical error.\n\n On page 68, \"as if he were going to a picnic\" should possibly be\n \"as if she were going to a picnic\".","title":"The Stories of El Dorado","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":58607}