was gladly accepted and a second expedition set out. But the lady in
question was a person of determination too, and hearing of the approach
of the party, doubtless from one of Cofachiqui's chiefs, she quietly
fled to some more sheltered spot, and after six days of wandering in
search of her, the party returned to camp in disgust and never again
attempted to visit her.

Even when apparently absorbed with other things, De Soto's whole mind
was centred on planning how to discover the gold which he had been told
could be found in such large quantities in the territory belonging to
the princess. Always a diplomat, he spoke carelessly of the pearls which
she had given him, asked whether she also owned any yellow and white
metals similar to the rings and other ornaments he showed her. As always
when she talked with him Cofachiqui's eyes sparkled, and her whole
nature seemed to go out to him in confidence and interest.

"Indeed, yes," she made answer through her interpreter, "on my land
there is an abundance of metals, both white and yellow."

De Soto's eyes gleamed at the statement. Then she summoned an Indian,
and directed him to go at once and bring to her specimens of both kinds
of metals. With ill-concealed impatience De Soto waited for the
messenger's return, and almost snatched the small lumps from his hands,
as the messenger brought them to the princess. With radiant joy she
handed them to De Soto, glad to give another proof of her friendship.
One look was enough, the yellow metal was only copper, the shining white
specimen was a worthless kind of quartz!

Glancing at De Soto with eyes full of pride in the products of her
realm, Cofachiqui's expression changed to one of surprise and fear, for
on the face before her she saw such rage and hatred that she knew
something dangerous had happened; and trembled lest revenge should be
visited on her guiltless people. In a gently soothing voice she hastily
said, pointing with a graceful wave of her hands to a spot in the
distance, "Yonder is the burial place of our village warriors. There you
will find our pearls. Take what you wish, and if you wish more, not far
from here there is a village which was the home of my forefathers. Its
temple is larger than this. You will find there so many pearls that even
if you loaded all your horses with them, and yourselves with as much as
you could carry you would not come to the end of them. Many years have
my people been collecting and