not from
ill-will on his part, but because he himself knew nothing of the Priest
Captain's plans. This man, though a priest, was not unkindly disposed
towards us, and he even listened to the words which Fray Antonio
addressed to him touching Christian doctrine; but while he
listened--being made of a sterner stuff than the priest who previously
had been Fray Antonio's jailer--he gave no sign of assent. The only
other person whom we had a chance to speak with, and this but rarely,
was the old man who had shown kindness to Pablo, the guardian of the
archives--who, by right of his official position, had free access to
that portion of the Treasure-house from which the second grating cut us
off. At the grating he and I had some very interesting conversations
together upon archaeological matters; but Fray Antonio took but little
interest in him when he found how slight was the impression made upon
him by the most serious of doctrinal talk. In truth, this old
fellow--wherefore my own heart warmed to him--was wholly given to the
study of antiquities; and so full was his mind of this delightful
subject that there was no room left in it for thoughts about religions
of any sort. He was entirely catholic in this matter, for his unconcern
respecting Christianity was neither more marked nor less marked than was
his unconcern toward his own avowed faith.

Many curious things this old man told me touching the history of his
people; and he showed me, also, the manner in which their annals were
kept--an obvious evolution from the picture-writing of the Aztecs that
had advanced to a stage closely resembling the cross between ideaographs
and an alphabet that the Coreans use--all of which I have dealt with
exhaustively in my larger work. And he told me also, with a wonder that
did not seem uncalled for, that several times in each year the Priest
Captain retired to the very place in which we then were imprisoned, and
remained there sometimes for as much as a whole month cut off from his
people, without food or drink, while he communed with the gods.

But what seemed strange to me, and also bitterly disheartening, was that
this old man, notwithstanding the office that he held and his hungry
love for ancient things, could tell me nothing of the treasure that King
Chaltzantzin had stored away. He knew of this treasure, he said, only
as a vague tradition; and although, at one time or another, he had
explored every chamber in the Treasure-house,