Yermah, the Dorado, was refreshed and invigorated by his early morning
ride. It had been a voluntary gallop, and it would have been hard to say
which found the keenest enjoyment in it; he, his horse Cibolo, or Oghi
the ocelot, which ran beside them in long, slow leaps, covering much
ground yet always alighting noiselessly and as softly as a cat.
It was a beautiful morning, one that would correspond to the first of
June now—but this was in the long ago, when days and months were
reckoned differently.
The tall grass and wild oats left ample proof of close proximity along
the roadside by the fragments secreted in the clothing of Yermah and in
the trappings of Cibolo. Oghi, too, could have been convicted on the
evidence his formidable toes presented. Added to this was the
indescribable scent of dew, of the first hours of day and the springtime
of nature.
It was the first time since his arrival from Atlantis that Yermah had
ventured alone outside the city limits. When once the temples, and
marketplaces of Tlamco were left behind him, he had given Cibolo the
rein and abandoned himself to the exhilaration of going like the wind.
Tlamco, the Llama city, the name of which was unknown to the men who
sought the mythical Kingdom of Quivera—that will-o’-the wisp
land—supposed to be the center of the Amazon inhabited island of
California of the very remote past. Tlamco vanished so completely that
there were no traces perceptible to the men who founded Yerba Buena on
the same peninsula ages after. Its existence would be laughed at by
present day inhabitants of San Francisco were it not true that the hills
in and around Golden Gate Park are living witnesses of great
mathematical skill.
The first denizens built some of these hills and shaped others to give
the diameters and distances of all the planets. Who of to-day will
believe that Las Papas, or Twin Peaks, show the eccentricities of the
earth’s orbit to one fifty-millionths of its full size?
At present early morning milk-trains, and trucks loaded with vegetables
from the outlying gardens intercept and mingle with the heavy wagons
laden with meat from South City. In short, the modern city’s food supply
comes from the same direction in which Yermah rode. Conditions and
people have changed since then, and so have many of the features of the
locality itself.
South of what is known as the Potrero was a bay. Now it is a swamp, and
the north and south points there are the remains of forts, although they
appear to be nothing more than hillocks blown into shape by merest
chance. To the west is a hill on which dwelt Hanabusa, the captain of
the three-decked war-galleys, or balsas. Nearby was the signal tower
which could be seen from every eminence in the city. It guarded the
western side of the sanded causeway leading from the marketplace in the
center of Tlamco to the water’s edge. Hanabusa’s house afforded
protection to the north side.
Yermah skirted the range of hills on the land side, where the granaries
of his people were located and which accounted for the presence of the
war-galleys and the defenses in that neighborhood. He rode down what is
known as the old San Bruno Road, where he was kept busy returning the
salutes of the workmen whose duty it was to produce, conserve and
prepare food for their fellows.
Meeting Hanabusa near his house, Yermah dismounted to consult with him.
While the men talked, Oghi lay in wait for a flock of birds, which had
been frightened into rising from the ground. Oghi was more like the
South American jaguar than any of the ocelots of Central America. In
olden times these animals were plentiful on the Rio Grande, and were
used by the sportsmen of the day for hunting, much as dogs are now
employed.
This morning once fairly in the country, the quick eye of Oghi detected
a fine buck deer surreptitiously grazing in a field of oats by the
roadside. Instantly the ocelot crouched low and hugging the ground crept
stealthily forward. The black-tail, soon conscious of danger, elevated
its head adorned with a splendid set of antlers still in the velvet. Its
nostrils were distended, and it sniffed the air suspiciously. Like a
bolt from a gun the deer made a tremendous leap, and was off at top
speed. Oghi continued to trail in a crouching position, which made him
look like a long, black streak against the horizon. He gained on the
deer from the first, and when near enough made a furious spring.
The leap fell short, but Oghi lighted on the rump of the buck and nearly
bore it to its haunches. The wounded animal shook off its assailant and
plunged ahead desperately, but it was plain to be seen that it was badly
hurt where Oghi’s claws had torn out great pieces of flesh and hide.
The ocelot now changed tactics. All his cruel leonine nature was aroused
by the exertion and the taste of warm blood. Instead of hugging the
heels of his victim, he endeavored to run alongside near the shoulder
where he could fix his sharp teeth in the throbbing throat. For a few
moments they ran side by side, straight and even as a pair of coach
horses.
Then, with a mighty cat-like spring, Oghi’s long, slender body stretched
out and up into the air. When he descended, his claws had closed on the
jugular vein of the deer. For an instant there was no break in speed.
The deer made two more leaps, then staggered, whirled once around, and
victor and vanquished went heels over head together in the long grass.
Yermah kept close behind, putting Cibolo to his best paces in an
endeavor to save the life of the deer. He called repeatedly to Oghi to
let go his hold. Finally the creature reluctantly obeyed with a sullen
growl. Not only were the main arteries and veins in the deer’s throat
severed, but the heavy blows had broken the shoulder-blade.
Yermah hastily fastened the chain he carried to the bull’s-hide band on
Oghi’s foreleg, which was held in place by two smaller chains fastened
to the animal’s collar. As the captor licked the blood off his chops,
the death-struggles of his prey grew fainter, and finally ceased
altogether.
Oghi was quite a character in his way, and enjoyed an unique reputation
among the inhabitants of Tlamco. He came as a gift to Yermah from the
Atlantian colonists of the Rio Grande. He seemed so disconsolate and
lonely when first brought to his new home, that Yermah sent to his
former region to secure the ocelot a mate. In the meantime, the young
man told all his friends about it and promised his favorites the first
litters which should follow this happy venture. Oghi’s reputation for
intelligence, docility and courage made every one feel fortunate in the
prospect of owning some of the stock.
Pika, the mate, was an ocelot beauty and carried herself with all the
haughty disdain a full knowledge of that fact might have inspired. When
turned loose in the yard with Oghi, she flew at him instantly and
whipped him unmercifully. In no circumstance would she allow him near
her. Oghi submitted like a sheep. He even crawled flat on his belly and
howled for mercy. In these encounters he kept close to the wall on the
opposite side, and whenever possible scaled it with remarkable agility.
This unexpected outcome gave rise to great hilarity, although the
consensus of opinion was that Oghi had behaved like a gentleman. There
were men in those days capable of facing a hostile regiment,
single-handed, but who capitulated unconditionally at sight of an irate
female—so this idea is not entirely modern.
It may have been that an easy victory over Oghi caused Pika to
over-estimate her fighting abilities, for she did not hesitate to attack
a grizzly bear and in so doing came to an untimely end. It was a
rough-and-tumble fight, but a duel to the death from the beginning.
Had Pika been more wary, she would have kept well to the rear; but she
foolishly got in the way of Bruin’s right paw and the result was a skull
split from nose to ear.
When Yermah’s irreverent friends came to condole with him, he invited
them to witness his endowment of Oghi with a badge of mourning. This was
the bull’s-hide band, worn on the left foreleg by means of which Oghi
was always manageable. Suspended from the hook which fastened the
leading chain was a leaden heart with the inscription—