arly to make warriors of
them, but for the same reason that the Greeks placed athletics before
all else. Not that they considered athletics superior to the other arts
and sciences, but without physical perfection, they realized there could
be no proper mental poise, no balance between mind and body. When you
see our youth, our young men and women, contest for the honors in our
games and military exercises you'll realize the truth of this. The
entire nation gathers together once a year to witness these sports and
exercises and judge the skill of the contestants. No Olympic games ever
surpassed them. You shall see wonderfully beautiful men and women, the
result of their training. Men and women who grow naturally from the
ground up, like the tree or the flower. Believe me, your people don't
know what it is to really live, to taste of the true joys of life; they
only exist.

"Owing to the terrific loss we sustained during the rebellion, we were
forced to make terms with the Mexican Government and pay an annual
tribute like the rest of her people. It was my first introduction to
battle. I don't think I shall ever forget those terrible days of
slaughter. No quarter was shown, for we knew that defeat meant the
extermination of our race. There ought to be about a hundred thousand of
us left," she continued. "Twenty _pueblos_, in all were destroyed, and
may their ruins long continue to stand as monuments of the folly of
men!"

"But how about your schools and hospitals and asylums and prisons?"
asked the Captain.

"Men who lead natural lives have no need of such things," she answered.
"Nature is all sufficient and has provided all things for man's proper
development. The man or woman who can not instruct a child in the things
that are worth knowing and necessary to meet the demands of life, is a
barbarian and only half civilized. Once a man becomes civilized, the
civilizing process ends. A man's spiritual growth is not dependent upon
his inventions, his sciences or his arts, but is a thing apart from
mental growth. If this were not so, his hope of ultimate deliverance
would be a delusion. Contagious diseases were unknown to us until
introduced among us by white men. As for criminals, they are very rare
among us. When all men have an equal opportunity in life there is no
incentive to commit crime. Acts that are the result of sudden fits of
passion, are not the acts of criminals, but the righting of a supposed
wrong done the in