foot and then to his own
forehead and breast, he said, in a language that was neither Spanish nor
such as the modern Indians of Mexico use,--

"Welcome, Semitzin! May this night be the beginning of high things!"

"I am ready," replied the other, in a soft and low voice, but with a
certain stateliness of utterance unlike the usual manner of General
Trednoke's daughter: "I was glad to hear you call, and to see again the
stars and the earth. Have you anything to tell?"

"There are events which may turn to our harm, most revered princess. The
master of this house----"

"Why do you not call him my father, Kamaiakan?" interposed the other.
"He is indeed the father of this mortal body which I wear, which (as you
tell me) bears the name of Miriam. Besides, are not Miriam and I united
by the thread of descent?"

"Something of the spirit that is you dwells in her also," said the
Indian.

"And does she know of it?"

"At times, my princess; but only as one remembers a dream."

"I wish I might converse with her and instruct her in the truth,"
said the princess. "And she, in turn, might speak to me of things that
perplex me. I live and move in this mortal world, and yet (you tell
me) three centuries have passed since what is called my death. To me it
seems as if I had but slept through a night, and were awake again.
Nor can I tell what has happened--what my life and thoughts have
been--during this long lapse of time. Yet it must be that I live another
life: I cannot rest in extinction. Three times you have called me forth;
yet whence I come hither, or whither I return, is unknown to me."

"There is a memory of the spirit," replied Kamaiakan, "and a memory of
the body. They are separate, and cannot communicate with each other.
Such is the law."

"Yet I remember, as if it were yesterday, the things that were done when
Montezuma was king. And well do I remember you, Kamaiakan!"

"It is true I live again, princess, though not in the flesh and bones
that died with you in the past. But in the old days I was acquainted
with mysteries, and learned the secrets of the world of spirits; and
this science still remained with me after the change, so that I was able
to know that I was I, and that you could be recalled to speak with me
through the tongue of Miriam. But there are some things that I do not
know; and it is for that I have been bold to summon you."

"What can I tell you that can be of use to you in this present life,
Kama