ffected tone.
"I require no reward. My chief and benefactor wishes me to go; and I
desire to obey him."

Pedro was an unusual character. He possessed all the genius and fire of
his Spanish fathers, with the simple education of an Indian
uncontaminated by mixing with the world. The next morning he appeared
habited in the dress of a Spanish farmer's son, which was the character
he was to assume should he be interrogated. He rode a mule similar to
mine. He and I set forward together towards the west at the same time
that Manco started to return to the Indian camp. I found that Manco had
supplied him amply with money to pay our expenses, when we should reach
the territory inhabited by Spaniards; but he told me that we should
require none while we wandered among the Indian villages.

"I thought that all the Indians were poor, and that even a chief like
Manco would have little or no money," I remarked.

He smiled as he answered, "When men are slaves, if they are wise they
conceal their wealth, lest their masters should take it from them.
These mountains are full of rich mines of gold and silver, with which
none but the Indians are acquainted. Many such exist, known only to
particular families, to whom the knowledge has been handed down from
father to son. Perhaps Manco has such a mine; but he is too wise to
speak of it."

I did not think it right to inquire further about the source of Manco's
wealth; but I was satisfied that he could spare what he had provided for
me. My young guide, however, was inclined to be communicative, and he
beguiled the way by a number of interesting anecdotes.

"O yes," he continued; "the Indians are wise to conceal their riches;
for if the Spaniards discovered them, they would no longer be theirs.
Not far from this, there lives a good padre, the curate of the parish.
He is very much liked by all the Indians, though he has his faults like
other men. He is very kind-hearted and generous, and is ready to
administer to the sick in body as well as in mind; but he is sadly
addicted to gambling. He will play all day and night with anybody who
will play with him, till he has lost his last real, and has often, I
know, to go supperless to bed. When the Indians know by his looks and
his staying at home that he is in poverty, they will send him fowls and
eggs, and bread and provisions of all sorts. One day he had just
received his yearly stipend, when the evil spirit came upon him, and he
we