e the blessing of
the Church as well as that of the gods of the _Indios_ at whose altars
the Red men still worship and upon which still is written "blood for
blood," as in the days when the White men first came from the South,
bearing the fire and thunderbolts of heaven with which they overthrew
them. This was in fulfillment of the curse which the people had brought
upon themselves. The fate which their ancient Sachems had foretold would
overtake them in those days when they should forget the commands of the
gods and neglect the land, and the hand of brother be lifted against
brother until the coming of a Fair Child with a face like the sun unto
whose words all men would hearken and their hearts be united in love.

According to custom, runners had been sent forth to the north, east,
south and west to proclaim the annual _Fiesta_. For this ceremony the
choicest ears were selected from the new harvest, and, after being
borne aloft in the procession that took place during the benediction of
the fields, were placed in the churches where they remained until the
following year. The golden ears represented the sunrise, the red, the
sunset, the blue, the sky, the white, the clouds, and all together,
their Mother, the Earth, from which they sprang.

As the season for rejoicing drew near, the _rancheros_ of the
neighboring _haciendas_, together with the Indians of the distant
_pueblos_ and half-wild hill tribes, chance strangers and adventurers,
streamed toward Santa Fe and swarmed within her walls; some eager for
trade and barter, but most of them bent upon pleasure. Her streets and
plazas became a surging mass of struggling humanity, bright with the gay
costumes of men and women. In her market-booths were displayed
innumerable commodities; animals, fruit, vegetables, fowl--flowers,
goldfish, caged finches, canaries--jewelry, rugs, stamped leathers and
drawn-linen work--bright cloths, blankets, baskets and pottery--wines,
laces, silks, satins, cigarettes and cigars.

Bidding was brisk and at times vehement, but always good humored.
Sellers of lottery-tickets, writers of love-letters, jugglers and
mountebanks plied their trades. The cries of the water-carrier and
vender of sweet-meats mingled with those of the inevitable beggar who
asked alms for the love of God; invoking blessings or curses upon the
head of him who gave or refused him a _centavo_. Babel reigned. Donkies
brayed, geese and turkeys hissed and gobbled, chickens ca