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To convince myself that I did not dream, I rose upon my elbow, and
reclined for a moment in that attitude. Gradually I gained my feet, and
then stood confronting the Aztec maiden. The midnight breeze of the
tropics had set in, and by the clear moonlight I distinctly saw the
_panache_ of feathers that she wore upon her head swaying gracefully
upon the air.

Convinced now, beyond all doubt, that the scene was real, the ruling
desire of my life came back in full force upon me, and I spoke, in a
hoarse whisper, the following words:

"Here lies a buried realm; I would be its historian!"

The apparition, without any reply in words, glided toward me, and
approached so close that I could easily have touched her had I dared.
But a sense of propriety subdued all unhallowed curiosity, and I
determined to submit passively to all that my new friend should do. This
state of mind seemed at once known to her, for she smiled approvingly,
and came still nearer to where I stood.

Elevating her beautiful arm, she passed it gently over my face, her hand
just touching my features, and imparting a cool sensation to my skin. I
distinctly remember that the hand felt damp. No sooner was this done
than my nervous system seemed to be restored to its usual tone, and
every sensation of alarm vanished.

My brain began to feel light and swimmy, and my whole frame appeared to
be losing its weight. This peculiar sensation gradually increased in
intensity until full conviction flashed upon me that I could, by an
effort of will, rise into the air, and fly with all the ease and
rapidity of an eagle.

The idea was no sooner fully conceived, than I noticed a wavy, unsteady
motion in the figure of the Aztec Princess, and almost immediately
afterwards, I perceived that she was gradually rising from the broken
pavement upon which she had been standing, and passing slowly upwards
through the branches of the overshadowing trees. What was most
remarkable, the relative distance between us did not seem to increase,
and my amazement was inconceivable, when on casting my eyes toward my
feet, I perceived that I was elevated more than twenty yards from the
pavement where I had slept.

My ascent had been so gradual, that I was entirely unaware of moving,
and now that I became sensible of it, the motion itself was still
imperceptible. Upward, still upward, I was carried, until the tallest
limbs of the loftiest trees h