Juan found gold in such
abundance that he thought he would go out of his mind. Dust of gold!
Grains of gold! Pebbles of gold! Rocks of gold! He was rich beyond all
dreams. He remembered the Virgin and her words. He must return to his
people and build their church, and the great city that would bear his
name.
"But Juan tarried. Always he was going manana. He loved the dark-eyed
Apache girl so well that he could not leave her. He hated himself for
his infidelity to his Virgin, to his people. He was weak and false,
a sinner. But he could not go, and he gave himself up to love of the
Indian maiden.
"The old Apache chief discovered the secret love of his daughter and the
padre. And, fierce in his anger, he took her up into the mountains and
burned her alive and cast her ashes upon the wind. He did not kill Padre
Juan. He was too wise, and perhaps too cruel, for he saw the strength
of Juan's love. Besides, many of his tribe had learned much from the
Spaniard.
"Padre Juan fell into despair. He had no desire to live. He faded and
wasted away. But before he died he went to the old Indians who had
burned the maiden, and he begged them, when he was dead, to burn his
body and to cast his ashes to the wind from that wonderful slope,
where they would blow away to mingle forever with those of his Indian
sweetheart.
"The Indians promised, and when Padre Juan died they burned his body and
took his ashes to the mountain heights and cast them to the wind, where
they drifted and fell to mix with the ashes of the Indian girl he had
loved.
"Years passed. More padres traveled across the desert to the home of
the Apaches, and they heard the story of Juan. Among their number was
a padre who in his youth had been one of Juan's people. He set forth to
find Juan's grave, where he believed he would also find the gold. And he
came back with pebbles of gold and flowers that shed a golden dust,
and he told a wonderful story. He had climbed and climbed into the
mountains, and he had come to a wonderful slope under the crags. That
slope was yellow with golden flowers. When he touched them golden ashes
drifted from them and blew down among the rocks. There the padre found
dust of gold, grains of gold, pebbles of gold, rocks of gold.
"Then all the padres went into the mountains. But the discoverer of the
mine lost his way. They searched and searched until they were old and
gray, but never found the wonderful slope and flowers that marked the
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