Euetzin and Cacami, with the assistance of their colaborers, had done a
splendid work among the men of their tribe for the cause of Tezcuco.
Everywhere they had labored the Tezcucan heart was thoroughly aroused,
and the secret preparations for resistance to Maxtla's rule were
rapidly assuming proportions highly encouraging to the promoters. The
comrades were now returning to the once proud capital of their nation
to continue the work of organization at the very threshold of the
enemy.
The work in Tezcuco had been deferred until assurance of success was
made reasonably certain elsewhere; and, now, since a perfect confidence
in the ultimate triumph of their cause was felt by the conspirators,
the work was to be pushed into that city as a final effort in the
creation of the mighty and silent forces which were intended to strike
the shackles from the oppressed Tezcucans.
The young men reached Zelmonco villa, on their way to the city, in the
afternoon, where they proposed to stop a few hours with Teochma and
Itlza. It was a very happy meeting, for weeks had elapsed since the
tzin and his companion turned their faces away from the home of the
former.
Itlza's welcome to Cacami was very encouraging to him. The weeks of
absence he was compelled to endure had strengthened the attachment he
had conceived for her, and he was longing for some token of
reciprocation, which would release him from his pledge of silence. He
thought he saw a realization of his hopes in the greeting he received;
and, notwithstanding he was pledged, when he came face to face with the
object of his love he felt that his feelings would impel him to speak,
should the opportunity for doing so be presented.
The days had not been without effect upon Itlza, too. She had grown
thoughtful, and the thoughts which held her most were thoughts of
Cacami. She had often gone to the oak tree, where she sat for hours
and, dreamingly, lived over again the few pleasant moments she had
spent there with him; and, as the dreaming went on, her heart could not
do otherwise than go out to the object of her thoughts.
After an hour of pleasant talk, and the subjects of inquiry had been
exhausted, the little party broke up. Euetzin went to look about the
villa, Teochma to see that suitable refreshments were prepared, and
Itlza and Cacami for a short stroll in the park.
Persons who are in love are usually inclined to reticence in the
presence of the beloved, except when talking on the subject which is
ever uppermost in their minds. Thus it was with Cacami and Itlza. He
was thinking of his promise, and was not a little vexed at himself for
having given it, now that so favorable an opportunity was presented for
pleading his cause. She was thinking of the same thing; and,
remembering that she had exacted the promise from him, was endeavoring
to devise a way to let him know that he was absolved from it. The
consequence was a rather awkward silence between them. He finally
managed to say:
"How has Laughing-eyes occupied the time since her brother and myself
went away?"
"As she always does--eating, sleeping, and dreaming," she replied,
jocosely.
"Were your dreams in your sleeping or waking hours?" he asked, looking
at her with quizzical interest.
"You should not question so, Cacami. To be truthful I might be
compelled to say in both; then you would think me a dreamer," she
answered, coquettishly.
"I should never find fault with your dreaming, Laughing-eyes, if I
might be assured of a part in it," he said, with a look of fondness.
"Selfish Cacami!" she exclaimed, with mock solemnity.
"Yes, Laughing-eyes, Cacami is selfish where you are concerned," he
rejoined, with unfeigned tenderness.
She could not mistake the trend of his manner, and hoped earnestly that
he would disregard his promise, and speak the endearing words she had
herself checked upon his lips before she realized that her best love
was his.
"I must have a care for myself; selfish Cacami might choose to spirit
me away," she said, archly, at the same time giving him a look which
tempted him severely, and almost loosed his tongue. With a heroic
effort he controlled himself, and, with strained facetiousness,
replied:
"When I do that, Laughing-eyes will furnish the spirit wings."
To this quasi repartee she answered only with a coquettish little
laugh.
They had come to the lower side of the park, near the roadway. A short
pause had followed Cacami's last remark, and he was fixedly and
tenderly contemplating his strangely fascinating companion.
The art of fashioning flowers, as well as feathers, into varied and
beautiful designs was an accomplishment frequently attained by the
native women, and in which Itlza was an adept. She had plucked some
choice varieties, here and there, as she walked along, and wrought them
into a delicate, heart-shaped bouquet. She noticed her companion's
quiet demeanor, and, feeling a magnetic influence from his fixed gaze,
turned to look at him.
"Why are you so silent?" she asked, her voice expressive of sympathetic
tenderness. She continued: "And what are your thoughts, that the look
from your eyes burns into my very heart?"
Her eyes were fixed on his as she spoke, and the love-light, which
shone from them, became suddenly intensified. For an instant she was
overcome by the power of his superior magnetism, and, holding out both
hands, involuntarily exclaimed:
"O, Cacami!"
When Cacami heard the impassioned cry, and saw the no less impassioned
light which beamed upon him from the liquid depths of her intensely
luminous eyes, the temptation was too strong, and, forgetting his
promise, he impulsively clasped her hands in both his own, and, for one
moment of blissful thralldom, two souls stood blending on the verge of
rapture.
"Itlza!" called the mother, from the hill above.
The spell was broken, and the passionate words which trembled on
Cacami's lips remained unsaid.
Itlza quickly withdrew her hands, and answered her mother's call; but
the flower-heart was left in Cacami's possession.
With quickened pulse the lovers turned from the blissful spot, and
walked toward the house.
The emotions which filled the heart and moved the soul of Cacami, in
that to him ecstatic moment, can not be described. Those who have in
like manner realized the dearest wish of a heart's first and purest
love only can know what his feelings were. Itlza had, not in words, but
in the language of soul speaking to soul, surrendered to him the
citadel of affection--her heart, which was typified in the beautiful
heart of flowers which he now possessed.
An hour in Cacami's society had shown to Itlza how deep was the love
she felt for him; and, ere the moment of revelation came, the little
love-bird which nestled in her heart was fluttering to be released,
that it might sing its song for him. She had wrought the flower-heart
for her lover, but knew not how it would reach him. The moment came, as
we have seen, unexpectedly to Cacami at least, which transferred it to
his hand and revealed to him the fact that he was loved.
When the lovers came up to Teochma, who stood waiting for them at the
top of the hill, they had overcome their agitation and met her with no
perceptible signs of confusion. She said, with a slight expression of
impatience:
"Refreshments are waiting, while Cacami and Itlza are lost to the
flight of time, and neglect them."
"If I have been remiss, the pleasure of a stroll with Itlza must be my
excuse," said he humbly.
"And, Itlza, what have you to say of your conduct?" asked the mother in
a quizzical but affectionate manner, at the same time watching the
effect of her question. If she thought to fathom the sentiment which
moved the young people she failed; for Itlza answered demurely, casting
an arch glance at her companion:
"It was Cacami's fault, mother; he had so much to tell that I forgot."
"Well, well, I'm inclined to think you are both to blame; and since it
is so, I can not scold. But you must be more thoughtful in the future;"
at saying which Teochma turned and led the way into the house.
After refreshments were served, the family, with Cacami, repaired to
the reception room, where the evening was passed in pleasant
conversation. The young people had no opportunity to communicate
farther except in a general way. Thus they were left for another
interval of time to meditate on what might have been.
* * * * *
The tzin was in deepest sympathy with the demands of the hour upon him
from his enslaved countrymen and their subverted government; and,
regardless of the entreaties of his mother and Itlza, and the pressing
desire in his own heart to remain longer, cut short his stay, and with
Cacami, who was sadly disappointed at not being permitted, by even a
brief interview with Itlza, to verify the hopes with which her latest
conduct had inspired him, struck out at an early hour the next morning
for Tezcuco, where the work in behalf of Tezcucan independence was to
be continued.
On entering the city the tzin felt forcibly drawn toward the palace of
the prince. It had been a home to him for the past eight years, and
now, returning to its very threshold to remain for a time, it seemed
like forsaking an old friend to turn away from it.
But the place was still under surveillance by the enemies of his royal
master, and, unknown though he was to them, his presence there, he
felt, might expose him to suspicion, which would mark him as a person
to be watched, thereby causing him annoyance and possible interruption
in his labors. He therefore passed it by with a sigh of regret, and
sought accommodations elsewhere, which he found at the home of a
patriotic Tezcucan.
No time was permitted to elapse unimproved by Euetzin and his
coworkers. The necessary steps, which had become a fixed proceeding,
were taken, and ere four and twenty hours had passed, a council of
leading Tezcucans was organized, and each member of it, with the
obligation still warm upon his lips, was laboring secretly and
zealously for country, home and Hualcoyotl.