was just outside of the
entrance to the hall. It was certain, therefore, that we could not
regain our arms without immediately using them in very active fighting;
and no matter how well we fought, under these conditions we must
certainly be defeated in the end. All of which was so just and so
reasonable that Young could not in anywise gainsay its propriety; but he
was in a very ill humor at being restrained from the pleasure of having
it out with them, as he grumblingly declared; and as we passed out into
the court-yard he relieved his mind by swearing most vigorously.

For my part, even the peril that we were in did not suffice to distract
my mind from curious consideration of the strange state of affairs that
existed among the folk dwelling in this hidden valley if our surmise in
regard to the Priest Captain's knowledge of the outer matches, his
acquaintance with fire-arms, and his knowledge of the Spanish tongue.
The implication was unavoidable that this extraordinary man actually had
a more or less complete knowledge of the powers and appliances of the
nineteenth century, and that he was using his nineteenth century
knowledge to maintain his supremacy over a people whose civilization was
about on a par with that of European communities of a thousand years
ago. From the stand-point of the ethnologist, a more interesting
situation than the one time developed could not possibly be devised.
What I most longed for was the establishment of such friendly relations
with Itzacoatl that I could carry out a systematized series of
scientific investigations among the Aztlanecas before the impending
crash of discovery came; and my keenest regret at that moment was caused
by the conviction that the incapacity of Itzacoatl to understand the
value of scientific inquiry into such curious ethnologic facts would
result in his mere vulgar killing of me, whereby a precious store of
knowledge would be withheld from the world at large.

As we came out into the court-yard we heard the sound of voices, which
seemed to be raised in angry altercation, coming from the direction of
the main entrance, with which there was also a slight clinking sound as
of arms being got in readiness; and, much farther away, the sound
seemingly coming from distant quarter of the city, the tapping of a
drum. When we first had crossed the court-yard it had been entirely
deserted; but now many priests and soldiers were standing in groups
about it, and more were co