x white figures among
them.

As usual, the victims were decorated with plumes of feathers, to do
honor to their own sacrifice. They were driven along with blows
and, when they reached the summit of the temple, were seized and
thrown, one by one, upon their backs upon the sacrificial stone,
which was convex, so as to give a curve to their bodies. The
principal priest then, with a sharp stone knife, cut through the
skin and flesh between two of the ribs and, plunging his hand into
the orifice, dragged out the heart, which he presented to the
figure of the god.

The sight, distant as it was, excited the Spaniards to the verge of
madness; and if it had not been for their officers, they would have
seized their weapons and rushed forward again to the attack, to
avenge the murder of their comrades.

The feelings of the captives, as they heard the sound of the drums,
the shouts of the natives, and once or twice caught the scream of
agony of their comrades, were terrible. This was the fate that
they, too, were to undergo; and men who had, a hundred times,
looked death in battle in the face, shuddered and trembled at their
approaching doom.

Each day two of their number were taken, and the same terrible
scene was gone through. Roger was rather surprised that he himself
was not one of the first selected, as his height and figure made
him specially conspicuous among his comrades; but he supposed that
he was being one of those reserved for some special festival.
Whatever the famine might be in the city, the captives were well
fed; for it was a point of honor, among the Aztecs, that all
victims offered to the gods should be in good health and condition.

The guards were changed every six hours, and on the third day, in
the officer over the relief, Roger recognized, to his surprise and
delight, his friend Bathalda. The latter, as he entered, made a
significant motion to Roger, as he caught his eye, to make no sign
that he recognized him.

The Aztecs, as usual, sat down in groups, chatting. They had no
fear whatever of the prisoners attempting to escape in the daytime,
and it was only at night that they exercised any special vigilance
in seeing that they did not attempt to unloose their bonds.
Bathalda presently sauntered up into the corner in which Roger was
sitting.

"How are my friends?" the latter asked, in a low voice.

"Well," Bathalda replied. "Cuitcatl explained to the young emperor
the circumstances under which he