take it all back," said Young; "he ain't stuffed. I guess he was only
asleep."

As Young spoke there was a slight rustle of draperies, and in a moment
the curtains which had veiled four great windows in the four sides of
the hall were pulled aside, and the darkness vanished in a sudden blaze
of light. While we shaded our eyes for some seconds, Rayburn said, with
great decision: "This settles it. He must have been in the show business
all his life."

But the man whom we now saw clearly did not look like a showman. He was
a very old man, lean and shrivelled; his brown skin so wrinkled that his
face looked like some sort of curiously withered nut. Yet there was a
wonderful sinewiness about him, and a most extraordinary brightness in
his eyes. His face was of the strong, heavy type that is found in the
figures carved on the ruins in Yucatan; a much stronger type than I have
observed anywhere among the Mexican Indians of the present day. His
dress was a long, flowing robe of white cotton cloth, caught over his
left shoulder with a broad gold clasp, and richly embroidered with
shining green feathers; and shining green feathers were bound into his
hair and rose above his head in a tall plume. His sandal-moccasins (for
the covering of his feet was between these two) repeated the sacred
combination of colors, green and white; and on his breast, falling from
his neck, were several richly wrought gold chains. Even apart from his
stately surroundings, his dress--and especially the shining green
feathers which were so conspicuous a part of it--would have informed me
that this man was a priest of very exalted rank; and the conditions of
our presentation to him assured me that he was none other than the
Priest Captain, Itzacoatl. And I may add that if ever a high dignitary
of a heathen religion was in a rage, Itzacoatl was in a rage at that
particular moment. Young's comment lacked reverence, but it was to the
point: "Well, he _has_ got his back up, for sure!"

With an alertness that was astonishing in one of his years, Itzacoatl
rose quietly from the throne; and as he pointed to us with a commanding
gesture, he asked, sharply, why we had been allowed to retain our arms,
and ordered them to be taken away from us; which order troubled us
greatly, and also occasioned us a very lively surprise. As for the
barge-master, he evidently was vastly puzzled by it; for, according to
his notions, we were not armed. He did not venture to reply,