"Hualcoyotl was here, at the villa, four days ago, remaining over one sun. He came in the night, and left the following evening. He had one attendant with him; Oza, I think he called him. If no ill has befallen them, they are now on the mountains, off toward Tlascala. The prince went there, hoping to find in the mountain fastnesses a safe refuge from his pursuers."

Euetzin looked the picture of surprise, and was slow to speak, while Cacami suddenly became deeply concerned; and, when Teochma concluded, said, somewhat abruptly and abstrusely:

"A vexing oversight, truly; and lacking in courage as well!"

All eyes were immediately turned upon him, and Teochma asked, much astonished at the remark:

"To what do you allude?"

"Forbear, O friends; I would not appear rude. I allude to an incident with which I had to do, on my way in from the mountains. Your information with reference to the prince's movements, good Teochma, I regard as coming to me in the light of a revelation."

"How so?" inquiringly questioned the now interested tzin.

"Your excellent mother has just informed us that Hualcoyotl left Zelmonco four days ago, accompanied by one servant, going in the direction of Tlascala. Two days later I met with an incident in which, I feel a.s.sured, I was his defender in an encounter with a band of Tepanec soldiers. I have said there was a vexing oversight, also a lack of courage; and, I now add, 'twas in my own conduct. Listen, and judge me, if you will. Two days ago, as I was coming from the mountains, beyond Chalco, I came suddenly on a party of Tepanec soldiers, who were making a violent a.s.sault upon a traveler. The man had defended himself the best he could, with a stout walking-stick, but there were too many against him. At the moment of my coming up he was on the point of yielding, and, a little later, would have been a prisoner. I grasped my sword, which I always carry when I go to the mountains, and made a vigorous attack upon them. A few effective strokes sent two of their number to earth and the rest to flight. The rescued traveler had one attendant, who was lying bound and helpless by the roadside. He was quickly released, and found to have received no bodily harm. The traveler was very grateful, and expressed himself in warm terms. He asked of me my name; but, for what I considered a sufficient reason, I begged that he would permit me to pa.s.s on unknown. From a peculiar remark he made, I was, at one time, almost led to inquire who he was.

He said I had done a greater service than I could then be aware of, which struck me as containing a hidden meaning. Inadvertently, I decided not to make the inquiry, which, I see now, was an inexcusable oversight. Fearing a return of the soldiers, he again expressed his grat.i.tude, and went on toward the mountains. I am quite convinced the rescued traveler was none other than Hualcoyotl."

"What was your reason for withholding your name?" asked the tzin.

"I had slain two of the king's men, under circ.u.mstances which laid me liable to the severest penalty. I considered the course taken the safest, not knowing who the traveler was."

"And why do you now look upon your course as an oversight and lacking in courage?" questioned the tzin.

"For the reason that, through fear of the tyrant, Maxtla, I was silent, making no exertion to learn who it was I had defended," replied Cacami, in a self-accusing spirit.

"The traveler, quite likely, would have acted in the matter just as you did: declining to inform you. In fact, if it was the prince, I am sure he would; for any guarantee you might have given, as to your ident.i.ty, would have been insufficient to satisfy a man fleeing from the wrath of the king. I do not think you have cause for self-blame at all, but, on the contrary, have for self-approval. You may have been overcautious--nothing more. Your conduct was anything but cowardly, and, I would a.s.sure you, it will not go unrewarded, should our cause become propitious. Hualcoyotl has a kind heart, and does not forget a generous act, especially where courage is involved, as in this instance. If the rescued traveler proves to have been the prince, Tezcuco can never render adequate honor to the hunter, Cacami, for saving his life," spoke the tzin, whose great affection for his friend made him deeply grateful to his rescuer.

"I do not look upon the act of rescuing the traveler as being more than the discharge of an obligation which one man owes to another. I would have done the same had it been the poorest slave," replied Cacami, in a depreciating manner.

"I am sure that you would; that such is the case does not detract from the worthiness of the act, but rather magnifies it. A man who acts in such emergencies from a sense of duty is deserving of the highest consideration. I have only words of praise to bestow upon you. Our love for Hualcoyotl makes the act of saving his life doubly meritorious.

Language fails to express what we feel," returned the tzin, exhibiting a deep sensibility.

Euetzin was more than ever impressed with the idea of making an ally of his new friend; and, later, sought to gain his consent to join him in his work. He explained to him the nature and object of it, and a.s.sured him how gratified he would be to have his a.s.sistance.

Cacami expressed his grat.i.tude for the tzin's confidence, and said, further:

Should I follow my own inclination I would join you at once; but, notwithstanding I am beyond the age of paternal control, respect for the will of my father demands that he should be consulted first. I have no doubt as to the result of a conference with him, for he is a strong advocate of Tezcucan independence. You may count on a favorable report from me, I think, if it will please you to wait."

"It is well. Your regard for the will of your father is praiseworthy. I trust to your discretion in the matter, and will only add: do not forget the importance of a silent tongue."

"Be a.s.sured, my good friend, that your secrets and plans shall be as safely guarded as my life. I will be only too glad if they shall become, in part, my own."

The evening pa.s.sed away pleasantly and quite advantageously for our young friend Cacami. A high estimation of him was formed by the several members of the family. Itlza looked upon him as a real hero, and admired him accordingly.

At an early hour the party separated, and the weary young men, anxious to find the rest they needed, retired to their couches.

CHAPTER XII.

The hunter, Cacami, was heart free when he first entered Zelmonco Park, but not unsusceptible to heart wounds when subjected to such fascinating glances as greeted him from Itlza's eyes. An impa.s.sioned admiration for her was quickly awakened, and a way prepared for him to become an easy prey to Cupid's subtle influence.

When about to leave the villa the next morning, to continue his homeward journey, he sought the maiden with a view to having a parting word with her. Great was his disappointment when he learned that she was absent, and that no one knew where she was. He had counted on finding in his departure an opportunity in which to reveal to her, by word or action, something of the feelings with which she had inspired him. But the fates appeared to order it otherwise, and he would be compelled to forego the pleasure such a parting would afford him.

Concealing his disappointment under a semblance of cheerfulness he bade his host and hostess adieu and started for the highway.

Leaving the park he came to the road leading away from the villa, and turned his face toward Tezcuco. As he did so the first object to meet his eye and arouse him from the effects of his disappointment was Itlza herself, approaching from the opposite direction. Was it chance or design which caused the maiden to be there just at that time? She alone could have answered. But no matter; the sight of her lifted Cacami from the slough of despond, so to speak, into which he had fallen, and made him doubly glad in the sudden revulsion of his feelings. His whole appearance was changed in an instant, and with quickened pulse he hastened forward to meet her. He came up to her with pleasure beaming from his countenance, and in accents full of tender meaning exclaimed:

"O Laughing-eyes, light of thy home! why were you not present to gladden my departure from the villa but now? To Cacami the brightness of Zelmonco was gone because you were not there to receive his good-by."

"Why should my absence so affect the hunter, Cacami, when only a night hath divided the days which have made us known to each other?" she answered, naively.

"It is not the number of days that affect our lives, O Laughing-eyes, but what they bring," he replied. "To Cacami those beautiful, sparkling orbs, your eyes, O Itlza, are as two newly risen stars. To have been deprived of the privilege this morning of again looking into their wonderful depths would have robbed his stay at Zelmonco of its greatest charm, and cast a regretful shadow on his pathway home."

"Cacami is neither discreet nor wise in the use of language. The words he speaks are pleasing; and Itlza, being a woman, might believe them spoken in sincerity, when only gallantry is intended. Have a care, O Cacami, that thy tongue lead thee not into deception," she replied with a coquettish air.

"I pray you, Laughing-eyes, believe me sincere. Were I possessed of a deceitful tongue, which I can not think I am, I could not impose it on the sister of my good friend, the tzin. That would be baseness of which Cacami is not capable," he protested. "The clear crystal fountains which spring from the side of yonder mountain are not more pure than are the thoughts which he holds for Laughing-eyes," the young hunter went on, with an earnestness which bespoke sincerity.

"Cacami may be sincere, and his words well meant, but Itlza should not hear them. Let us talk of something else. Have you a sister?"

"Yes, two, who will give me welcome home when I cross my father's threshold," he replied with respectful deference.

"You ought to be very happy, then, in your homecomings," she replied.

"So I have ever been. It is a good and pleasant home which always waits me, and it will be very hard to leave it," he returned, with a shade of sadness in his voice.

"Why should you leave it?" she questioned, her voice tinged with a responsive sympathy.

"Why should anyone leave their childhood's home? Even Laughing-eyes will one day go from her beautiful Zelmonco to find another home. To do so is her natural destiny, as it is mine to leave the home I love," he answered, with an expression of tenderness, at the same time watching closely to observe the effect his words might have upon her. If she suspected a hidden meaning in them she did not show it.

"Is it far to your home?" she asked, appearing heedless of his impa.s.sioned voice.

"As far beyond as it is from here to Tezcuco--about four hours," he answered. "Your question admonishes me that I must not tarry. I would that Laughing-eyes will hold me kindly in her thoughts. Could I be a.s.sured that she will, it would please me more than she can know," he said, seriously.

"You will come again and I will know you better; till then good-by,"

she answered airily, accompanying her words with the same fascinating glance which had won his admiration. His already excited pulse quickened under its influence.

As she hastened away in the direction of the villa he looked after her with a strange, uncertain sensation, which made him feel as if he had found a priceless gem and was now about to lose it. He watched her receding form until out of sight, and then mentally soliloquized:

"Why should this strange maiden so impress me? More beautiful have I looked upon, and yet no such feelings as she has awakened have ever stirred me before. Can it be that I have found a mate in Laughing-eyes?" His concluding thought was not an unpleasant one, as the expression on his face clearly indicated. Again his steps were turned toward Tezcuco, and with rapid strides he widened the s.p.a.ce which separated him from the object of his thoughts.

Cacami may not have found a mate in the sister of his newly made friend; yet, if appearances were any criterion, had the object of his first love.

Itlza was not void of self-pride, and following on the very favorable impressions she had formed of the young hunter, the flattering words addressed to her by him were not without effect. She recalled some of them with a pleasurable satisfaction, and held them as something to be remembered, a very dangerous thing for a young girl like her to do if she would not be ensnared in the meshes of love's enthralling web.