ll kept away from us, even as all the boats which
we had seen during our passage of the lake had given us a wide berth.
That our barge--one of those employed exclusively in the Priest
Captain's service--was thus shunned was due, as I found later, to the
wholesome dread in which the special servitors of the temple and of its
head universally were held; for these very frequently abused the
authority acquired through their semi-sacerdotal functions by using it
as a cloak to cover acts of purely personal oppression, while at all
times they were feared as the executors of their master's wrath. There
was, indeed (though I did not mention this fact to Fray Antonio), a
curiously close resemblance between the officials of this class and the
familiars of the Inquisition, both in the duties which they performed
and in the fear and hatred which they everywhere inspired.

But even dread of entanglement with the Priest Captain's servants could
not restrain the curiosity of the crowd that pressed towards us on the
broad pier upon which we disembarked. It was evident that this crowd was
not made up of the common folk of the city, and also that it was moved
by a purpose far higher than that of a mere idle longing to see
something that was strange. From their dress, and still more from the
beauty of their ornaments and the elegance of the arms which many of
them carried, it was obvious that for the most part these men were
citizens of the highest rank; and this fact was still further attested
by the dignity of their demeanor and by the reverent age to which the
majority of them had attained. So far from manifesting any vulgar
excitement, the crowd maintained an absolute silence; and with this an
exterior air of calm that was the more impressive because the eager,
almost awe-struck expression upon every face showed how strong was the
emotion that thus strongly was restrained. But when El Sabio, after much
coaxing, crossed the gang-plank between the boat and the pier, and so
came to where he could be seen of all plainly, there was a curious low
sound in the air as though all at once every man in the crowd had
heaved a sigh; and the sound swelled into a loud murmur as Pablo, in
obedience to a quick order that I gave him in Spanish, briskly mounted
upon the ass's back. In this murmur only one word was intelligible, and
that I caught again and again: the prophecy!

But Pablo was no more than fairly seated upon El Sabio's back than the
office