said, "but I might go along as door-keeper, or something of that sort.
But I don't believe that Young and I will need to go into the circus
business. We are out of work, that's a fact; but the company has done
the square thing by us--paid us up in full to the end of next month and
fitted us out with passes to St. Louis. We're all right. Young is
heading straight for home, but I rather think that I'll take a turn
around the country and see what the civilized parts of it look like.
Ever since I came down here, nearly, I've been at work in the wilds. I
want to see some of the old temples and things too. You can put me up to
that, Professor. Where's a good ruin to begin on?"
From the moment that I laid eyes on these two men, as I came into the
court-yard, my mind was made up that I would do my best to induce them
to join with Fray Antonio and me in our search for the hidden city; and
I had listened very gladly to what they told me, for it showed me that I
should not have to ask them to abandon profitable work in order to join
in our doubtful enterprise. So we talked lightly about the circus and
other indifferent matters for a while; and then we had a lively supper
together at La Soledad (which always seemed to me a very original name
for a restaurant), and then I brought them to my room to smoke their
cigars.
It was while they were in the comfortable frame of mind that is begotten
of a good meal and subsequent good tobacco--over there in Morelia we
smoked the Tepic cigars, which are excellent--that I opened to them the
great project that I had in hand. I told them frankly the whole story:
of my strange adventure in the Indian village, of the paper and the gold
token which the Cacique unwittingly had given me, of the letter that
Fray Antonio had found, and of how our joint discoveries set us clearly
in the way of finding an Aztec community that certainly had existed
unchanged, save for such changes as had been developed within itself,
since a time long anterior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. I dwelt
with enthusiasm, and I think forcibly, upon the inestimable gain to the
science of archæology that would result from the investigations that we
intended to make; and I touched also upon the scientific value that
would attach to a careful and accurate description of the effect
produced upon this primitive community by Fray Antonio's preaching; for
this would be, as I pointed out, the first occasion in the history of
the world when a record would be made, from the stand-point of the
unprejudiced ethnologist, of the reception accorded by a heathen people
to the doctrine of Christianity. In a word, I presented the case most
glowingly--so glowingly, in fact, that my own heart was quite fired by
it--and ended by urging them earnestly to join us in a work that
promised so greatly to increase the sum of human knowledge touching the
most interesting subjects that can be presented to the consideration of
the human mind. And I am pained to state that I discovered, when I
finished my appeal, that Young was sound asleep!
Rayburn did not go to sleep, and he did take a certain amount of
interest in what I said, but I was discouraged by his very obvious
failure to respond to my enthusiasm.
"You see, Professor," he said, "the fact of the matter is that I can't
spare the time. I might take a month or two, but you seem to think that
a year is the least time in which any substantial results can he
accomplished. I can't give a year, or anything like a year, to what, so
far as I am concerned, will be sheer idleness. I've got a mother and
sister at home on Cape Cod who depend on me for a living, and I must get
to work again. You see, there is glory enough in all this, and glory
that I should like to have a share in; but glory is a luxury that I
can't afford. I've got to go to work at something that has money in it."
The sound of Rayburn's voice had the effect on Young of waking him up.
He listened, in a sleepily approving way, to Rayburn's practical
comment, and then, giving a prodigious yawn, added, on his own account:
"Yes, that's about the size of it. We're neither of us here for our
health, Professor; what we're after is spot cash. If there was any money
in your scheme I'd take a hand in it quick enough; but as there
isn't--Well, not this evening, Professor; some other evening."
"No money in it!" I answered. "Why, haven't I told you that there is
stored in this hidden city the greatest treasure that ever was brought
into one place since the world began?"
"No, I'll be d----d if you have!" Young replied, with great energy and
promptness. "Not a word, unless it was while I was asleep. What's he
said about a treasure, Rayburn? I'm awake now, an' I'll keep awake if
there's anything like that to be talked about."
"You certainly haven't said anything about a treasure so far,
Professor," Rayburn said. "I'd like to hear about it myself. If there is
a treasure-hunting expedition mixed up with this scientific expedition
of yours, that puts a new face on the whole matter. I can't afford the
luxury of scientific investigation pure and simple, but if there is
money in it too, that is quite another thing. So tell us about your
prospect, Professor, and if the surface indications are good you can
count on me to go in."
I confess that I was a trifle disappointed upon finding how eagerly
these young men sought information in regard to a matter that I
considered so unimportant that I had forgotten even to mention it. But I
reflected that, after all, the motive by which they were induced to join
in our adventure was immaterial, while our need for the strength that
their joining in it would give us was so pressing that upon gaining them
for allies very likely depended our eventual success. Being moved by
which considerations, I dilated upon the magnitude of the hidden
treasure with such vehemence that presently their eyes were flashing,
and the blood had so mounted into their brains that their very foreheads
were ruddy and their breath came short. And I must confess that my own
pulses beat quicker and harder as I talked on. Of this treasure I had
not before thought at all, being so thoroughly taken up with the
scientific side of the discovery that I hoped to accomplish; but now I
was moved profoundly by thoughts of what I could do for the advancement
of science had I practically limitless wealth at my command. And
especially was I thrilled by the thought of the magnificent form in
which my own magnificent discoveries could be given to the world.
Compared with my _Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of North
America_, Lord Kingsborough's great work, both in form and in substance,
would sink into hopeless insignificance. And in all that I said of the
vastness of the hidden treasure I felt certain that I was keeping well
within the bounds of truth, for I had the positive assurance that in the
Aztec treasure-house in that hidden valley the ransom of a nation was
stored.
"Will you go with us?" I asked, when I had brought my glowing
description to an end.
"Well, I should smile, Professor," was Young's characteristic answer.
"You can count me in now, and no mistake!" said Rayburn, and added, "By
Jove, Palgrave, I mean to take a part of my share and buy the whole of
Cape Cod!"
And so the make-up of our party was decided upon. Fray Antonio joined it
for the love of God; I joined it for the love of science; and Young and
Rayburn joined it for the love of gold. In regard to the boy Pablo, he
could not strictly be said to have joined it at all. He simply went
along.
VI.
THE KING'S SYMBOL.
Fray Antonio was well pleased when I told him of the stout contingent
that I had secured; and when he had seen Rayburn and Young, and had
talked with them--though his talk with Young did not amount to much, for
Young's Spanish was abominable--he was as thoroughly satisfied as I was
that for our purposes we could not possibly have found two better men.
In the course of this conference we made short work of our preparations
for departure. Rayburn's experience in fitting out engineering parties
had given him precisely the knowledge required for putting our own
little party promptly and effectively in the field; and in this matter,
and in all practical matters connected with the expedition, he took the
lead. He and Young already possessed the regulation frontier outfit of
arms--a Winchester rifle and a big revolver--which they increased by
another big revolver apiece; and I armed myself similarly with a pair of
revolvers and a Winchester: concerning the use that I should make of
which, in case need for using them arose, I had very grave doubts
indeed. Fray Antonio declined to carry any arms at all; and after he had
accidentally discharged one of my pistols, which he had picked up to
examine, so that the ball went singing by my ear and actually cut
through the brim of Young's hat, there was a general disposition to
admit that the less this godly man had to do with carnal weapons the
safer would it be for all the rest of us. Young's hat was a battered
Derby, and about as unsuitable a hat for wear in Mexico as possibly
could be found; but for some unknown reason he was very much attached to
that hat, and he was so wroth over having a hole shot through it in that
unprovoked sort of way that he manifested a decided coolness towards
Fray Antonio for several days.
In the matter of armament, the happiest member of our party was Pablo.
He was a handy boy, and when he had demonstrated his ability to manage a
revolver by doing some very creditable shooting with mine (at mark that
I had stuck up in the corral, in order that I might gain ease in the use
of this unknown weapon), I delighted him inexpressibly by buying him a
pistol for his very own. I think that Pablo, upon becoming the possessor
of that revolver, at once grew two inches taller. The way that he
strutted as he wore it, and his eager thrusting forward of his left hip,
so that this gallant piece of warlike furniture might be the most
conspicuous part of him, were a joy to witness. For a time his
mouth-organ was entirely neglected; and coming quietly into the corral
one day, I found him engaged in exhibiting the revolver to El Sabio; who
regarded it with a slightly bored expression that I do not think Pablo
took in good part.
Rayburn decided that our expedition could be made more effectively with
a small force than with a large one. He argued that unless we took into
the Indian country a really powerful body of men, we would be safer with
a very few: for a few of us would feel keenly the necessity of keeping
constantly on guard; could be more easily managed and held together in
running away; and in case a fight was forced upon us we would fight more
steadily because each of us would know surely that he could rely upon
the support of all the rest. Which reasoning we perceived to be so sound
that we promptly accepted it.
Rayburn added to our company, therefore, only three men: two Otomí
Indians of whom Fray Antonio gave a good account, and Dennis Kearney,
who had served as axeman on the recently disbanded engineering corps.
He was a merry soul, this Dennis, with a stock of Irish melodies in his
head that would have made the fortune of an old-time minstrel. He and
Pablo took to each other at once--though, since neither of them spoke a
word of the other's language, music was their only channel of
communication--and Pablo presently presented us with a rendering on his
mouth-organ, from a strictly Mexican stand-point, of "Rory O'More" that
quite took our breaths away. While Pablo played, Dennis would stand by
with his head cocked on one side, and with an air of attention as
closely critical as that which El Sabio himself exhibited; and when
Pablo went wrong, as he invariably did in his attempted _bravura_
passages, Dennis would stop him with a wave of his hand, and an "Aisy
now, me darlint! That's good enough Mexican, but it ain't good Irish at
all, at all," and then would show him what good Irish was by singing
"Rory O'More" in a fashion which made the old stone arches ring with a
volume of music that could have given odds to an entire brass band. Poor
Dennis! Only the other day I heard an organ-grinder grinding forth "Rory
O'More," and the memory of the last time I heard Dennis sing that song,
and of what heroic stuff that merry-hearted rough fellow then showed
himself to be made, came suddenly over me, and there was a choking in my
throat, and my eyes were full of tears.
Well, it was a good thing--or a bad thing, as you please to put it--that
we could not see far into the future that morning when we packed our
mules in the corral of the hotel, and set out upon the march that was
to lead us through such perilous passages before we reached its end.
[Illustration: PACKING IN THE CORRAL]
That I might fill to the brim the cup of Pablo's happiness--for my
conscience pricked me a little that I suffered him to go with us--I had
bought him the rain-coat of palm leaves for which his heart so long had
pined. What with this and his revolver, and the delight of going upon a
journey (for he had very fully developed that love of travel which is so
strong in his race), his wits seemed to be completely addled with joy.
He insisted upon putting on his absurd rain-coat at once; and he did so
many foolish things that even El Sabio looked at him reproachfully--this
was when he tried to place on that small donkey's back some of the heavy
pack-stuff destined for the back of one of the big mules--and we got
along much better with his room, as he presently enabled us to do, than
we did with his company. When the time for starting came, we had quite a
hunt for him; and we might not have found him at all had we not been
guided by the sound of music to the sequestered spot to which he had
retired in order to give vent to his pent-up feelings by playing on his
mouth-organ "Pop goes the weasel"--an air that Young had been whistling
that morning and that had mightily taken Pablo's fancy.
We made rather an imposing cavalcade as we filed forth from the great
gate of the hotel, and took our way along the Calle Nacional, the
principal street of the city, towards the Garita del Poniente. Fray
Antonio and I rode first; then came Rayburn and Young, followed by
Dennis Kearney; then the two pack-mules, beside which walked the two
Otomí Indians; and closing the procession came Pablo, wearing his
rain-coat, with his revolver strapped outside of it, and riding El Sabio
with a dignity that would have done honor to the Viceroy himself. Pablo
certainly was in the nature of an anti-climax; but I would not have told
him so for the world. Fray Antonio wore the habit of his Order, this
privilege having been specially granted to him by the Governor of the
State as a safeguard for all his expeditions among the Indians. It was
understood, indeed, that he now was going forth on one of his missionary
visits among the mountain tribes, and simply rode with us, so far as our
ways should lie together, for greater security. I had announced that I
was going among the Indians again in order to increase my knowledge of
their manners and customs; and Rayburn--to whom the rest of the party
was supposed to belong--had stated that he was taking the field in order
to make a new reconnaissance along the line of the projected railway. It
was in order to maintain these several fictions that we went out by the
western gate, and that we continued for two days our march westward
before turning to our true course.
Of our progress during the ensuing fortnight it is not necessary that I
should speak, for beyond the ordinary incidents of travel no adventures
befell us. During this period we went forward steadily and rapidly; and
at the end of it we had covered more than three hundred miles, and had
come close to where--supposing our rendering of the Aztec map to be
correct, and that we had rightly collated it with the dead monk's
letter--the mission of Santa Marta had stood three centuries and a half
before. There was no possibility that any trace of this mission would be
found; but every rock that we came to was most eagerly scrutinized, for
on any one of them might we find the King's symbol engraved.
For two or three days we had been travelling through a region very wild
and desolate. Far away along the western horizon rose a range of
mountains whose bare peaks cut a jagged line along the sky. The country
between us and these far-away mountains was made up of many parallel
ranges of rocky hills; which ranges were separated by broad, shallow
valleys, where cactus and sage-brush covered the dry ground thickly; and
the only trees that broke this dreary monotony were pita-palms, the most
dismal thing in all created nature to which the name of a tree ever has
been given by man. There was no trail, and travelling through this
tangle of briers was very difficult. All of Rayburn's skill, which long
practice had developed to a high degree, was required to enable us to
pick a way through so thorny a wilderness. At times the Indians with
their _machetes_, and Dennis with his axe, had to cut a path for us; and
despite all our care, our own hands were cut and torn, and the legs of
our poor beasts were red with blood.
The deadly dryness of this arid waste added to our discomfort. A strong
dry wind blew steadily from the north, building up out of fine dust
which was over all the surface of the baked ground little
whirl-winds--_remolinos_, as the Mexicans call them--which went dancing
down the valleys as though they were ghostly things; and occasionally,
when one of these struck us, we were covered with a prickly dust that
fairly burned our skins. What water we got was to be had only by digging
in the _arroyos_ which traversed the centre of each valley
longitudinally; and although this water always was muddy, and had a
strongly alkaline taste, it is the only thing that I remember with
pleasure in all that weary land. Of animal life there was nothing to be
seen, save a-plenty of rattlesnakes; and a few great buzzards which
wheeled above us from time to time as though with the intention of
keeping track of us until we should fall down and die of thirst and
weariness, and they should be able to feast upon us at their ease.
At the end of the third day of this dreary travelling we had come close
to the great western range of mountains, and our camp that night was
made in the mouth of a little valley that opened from among the
foot-hills. The night before we had made a dry camp, and for the whole
of the twenty-four hours we had had but a pint of water apiece. Pablo, I
am sure, had given half of his own scant allowance to El Sabio. The
other animals--it was all that we could do for them--had only their
dusty mouths and nostrils wiped out with a wet sponge. They were
pitiable objects, with their bleeding legs, their haggard eyes, their
out-hanging tongues, and their quivering flanks. As Fray Antonio
unsaddled his horse I saw that there were tears in his eyes; but the
rest of us, I fear, were too thoughtful of our own misery to feel much
sorrow for the misery of our beasts.
I suppose that a man must suffer the lack of it, as we then did, in
order to know how precious a thing water is. And to give some notion of
its preciousness to those who not only are free at any time to drink
their fill of it, but even can fill bath-tubs with it, and feel the joy
of it on their bare bodies whenever they are so minded, I will say that
when a little digging gave us that night as much water as we wanted, our
joy was far greater than it would have been had we there found the
hidden city of which we were in search.
Our well was sunk in the broad sandy bottom of the _arroyo_, in the
midst of a narrow and delectably grassy valley between two foot-hills.
And the abundance and the sweetness of the water, as well as the
presence of grass, showed us that but a little way up this valley there
must be an open stream. We drank, and our beasts drank, until all of our
skins were nigh to bursting; and the abundance of water was so great
that we even could wash the dust at last from our parched faces and
necks and arms; and much like raw beef our skins looked when our washing
was ended, and the stinging of them was as though we had been whipped
with nettles. It was our intention now to leave the plains and to march
along the edge of the foot-hills parallel with the main range, otherwise
we should not have ventured thus to wash ourselves. In a region where
alkali dust is in the air, washing is to be shunned; for each time that
the skin is cleaned the new deposit of dust takes a deeper biting hold.
It was rather that we might escape the misery of further travel on the
arid plains than because we had any strong hopes of thus finding the way
of which we were in search that we had decided to change our line of
march. Young had begun openly to express his contempt for the Aztec map,
and in the hearts of all of us had sprung up some doubts as to its
trustworthiness as a guide. After all, it was not in the least a map in
the true meaning of the word; and that it should show us rightly our way
depended not only upon our having interpreted correctly its curious
symbolism, but also upon the correctness of the interpretation that
Mexican archæologists had given to the map of the first Aztec
migration--of which map, as we believed, our map was a reserved and
secret part. If either interpretation were wrong, then we might be
hundreds of miles distant from the region in which the way marked by
gravings of the King's symbol should be sought.
Four or five hours of daylight still remained to us after we had dug our
well, and with the delicious water flowing into it had satisfied our
thirst; but we had no intention of going farther that day. We had no
need to hobble the animals, for they could be trusted to stay near the
water-hole while they feasted on the grass, and we needed food and rest
quite as much as they did. Young and Dennis together got us up a famous
meal, and when it was ended we lighted our pipes and held a sort of
council of war. That we might talk the more freely, in both English and
Spanish, we drew away a little from where the two Otomí Indians and
Pablo were stretched out upon the grass together; and we bade Dennis
take a look around the shoulder of the first hill, so that we might know
something of what our way would be like when we started in the morning;
for we were not as yet ready that the minor members of the expedition
should know the purpose that we had in mind. We had decided that when,
by the finding of the course indicated by the gravings of the King's
symbol, our quest fairly had a beginning, being no longer a matter of
mere hope and conjecture, we then would give Dennis and Pablo and the
two Indians some notion of what we intended doing; with the option of
deciding for themselves whether or not they would have a part in it. And
the thought never once occurred to our minds that circumstances might
arise of such a nature that neither they nor we would have any choice in
the matter at all.
As we consulted together we had spread out before us a map of Mexico,
and with this the map that the Cacique had given me, and a copy of the
map showing the great Aztec march. Yet the more that we councilled the
less could we come to any reasonable conclusion as to what was best for
us to do. As nearly as we could tell from the strange guides that we
needs must be led by, we had beaten thoroughly the region where once the
mission of Santa Marta was; and not a trace of the gravings on the rocks
had we found. To go over this region again, searching still more
minutely, was too great an undertaking even to be thought of; and yet
the only alternative to this painful course seemed to be that we should
abandon our search altogether; in short, we were completely at sea.
"What _I_ think," said Young, "is that that old dead monk, an' that old
dead Cacique, have set up a job on us. They're both of 'em lyin' like
fiddlers; that's what's th' matter with _them_. There ain't any hidden
city, or hidden treasure, or hidden d----n anything; it's all a fraud
from beginnin' t' end. I vote t' pull up stakes an' go home."
A cool refreshing wind was beginning to sweep down to us from the
mountains; but it was blowing only in puffs as yet, for the night would
not be upon us for several hours. Borne faintly and fitfully upon this
uncertain wind came to us the strains of "Rory O'More"; with which
melody, as we inferred, Dennis was beguiling his solitude while he
explored the route that we were to take the next day. Pablo, sitting
comfortably on the grass, his back propped against the back of El Sabio,
also caught the sound; and straightway began to play an accompaniment on
his mouth-organ to Dennis's distant singing. The strains gradually grew
louder, showing that Dennis was returning; but when they stopped
suddenly we thought that he had only tired of the sound of his own
voice, or, perhaps, did not think anything about the matter at all.