t. They sprang to their feet,
and stepped quickly to the couch. There they saw a surprising change in
the countenance of the old woman: her eyes, bright and unclouded as they
had been before, now looked at them recognisingly, although they still
bore the weighty, thoughtful expression; her mouth, now partly open, was
full of resolve, and the lips were just shaping the words she was about
to speak, as the two approached:

"Itatli, I heard the words you have spoken this evening, and I, alone,
understand them. You know not what manner of men were those you saw; you
know not, indeed, whether they be men or angels. I will tell you. They
are men like ourselves, but they come from afar. Listen, my children,"
she continued, her voice growing in power and volume, "I will disclose
to you what I have never revealed to any one of our people. About two
seasons of rain after I had foretold the future of our tribe, when the
last lake should have become entirely dry, I had a revelation of what
was to befall all the Indians of this great land, that far surpassed
anything I had ever before prophesied. I saw, as in a vision, the great
blue sea sparkling in the sun, the little waves rolling softly to the
shore, to break into lines of white foam on the sands of the beach at my
feet. I was alone, but was not afraid, although I had never before seen
the sea, either in my visions or in real life; yet I knew at once what
it was. While I gazed at the water, and watched the waves rushing up to
my feet, I felt, all at once, as though an unseen power was impelling me
to look up. I raised my head and gazed out over the water, and there I
saw, far away, a great white object that looked like an immense bird. I
knew, as I know all things that occur in my visions, this was a ship.

"Presently, the unseen power, as though whispering in my ear, revealed
to me that the ship was full of men from a far country, coming to settle
in our land, and that they would subdue the Indians, killing many,
taking others captive, and making them work for their masters; and that,
later, after many years, the Indians would vanish from the land which
had been theirs since the time when Ouiot was on this earth. Then the
vision faded slowly from my sight, and I seemed to enter a luminous mist
as I felt myself impelled to walk. After what, in my trance, seemed many
hours, I came out of the mist on to a level stretch of land, through
which flowed a large river. There were mounta