rds Tizoc that I
had no need to speak; he knew that I had comprehended the situation, and
so answered my look in words.

"Do you wonder that I rejoice over your coming, and over the news which
you bring? The will of the gods no longer is that we shall do the work
for which our lord Chaltzantzin destined us; therefore are we free to
set aside the custom that he decreed by which our weak ones are
condemned to death, and with it the custom, yet more cruel, of our own
devising, by which they are saved from death only that they may be made
slaves. To my boy neither slavery nor death shall come. Through you the
gods have spoken, and he is saved. And now also is fulfilled the
prophecy that of ancient times was spoken, that with the coming into the
Valley of Aztlan of a four-footed beast, bearing upon its back a man,
the power of the Priest Captain should end."

Much more, doubtless, Tizoc would have said to us, for an exalted
emotion stirred him; but at that moment there was the sound of hurrying
feet in the outer enclosure, and then Tizoc's secretary came through the
narrow entrance into the court-yard, followed closely by a detachment of
the guards. The secretary spoke hurriedly to his master, apart from us,
and from his excited manner in speaking, and from the anxious look upon
his master's face as he listened, we inferred that some very stirring
matter was involved in the communication that he brought.

For a few moments Tizoc stood in silence, his head bowed, as though
engaged in earnest thought. Then he turned to us and spoke. "The Priest
Captain has sent his order that you shall be brought before him," he
said, "and that you must go hence without delay." And then he added,
taking me aside and speaking in a low voice: "There is great commotion
already in the city, for the soldiers have noised abroad the news which
you bring. The Council of the Twenty Lords has been called together, and
I am told that a messenger from the Council is on his way hither. That
my order to take you to the city in such haste, and directly to the
Priest Captain, is so stringent, I cannot but think is caused by his
desire to get you hence before the messenger from the Council shall
arrive. His purpose towards you surely is an evil one; but fear not--you
bring a message of freedom and deliverance that has only to be published
to raise around you a host of friends. And now we must go."

In a few moments we had quitted Tizoc's house, passed out t