nection is kept up in such societies between villages speaking a
totally different language,--even though the tribes be at war, there
is always a truce for these wild creatures who dance together for some
magic, or some prayer to their false gods."

"And the truce is kept?"

"It would not be possible for a tribe to break truce of their
diabolical things of their spirits. At the ceremonies for the
sacrifice to the comet god was a girl of another tribe, and when the
Greek noted that her desire was not to see him destroyed, he had the
first glimpse of hope,--the only other he had was to remove the stain
in some way, and convince them that their gods had made a miracle to
save him."

The priest made a gesture towards the great sand drifts at every side
of rock wall and column.

"To which of you would it occur, if hiding meant chance of life--to
which of you would it occur to go under that sand for days so close to
the trail that the women with the water jars would pass you scores of
times in a day carrying water from this pool?"

"This pool?--this--"--the eyes of Don Ruy lightened--"this is then
that place of the great danger?"

"A man could not hide in the sand like that--nor deceive these wild
trailers of animals," decided Don Diego--"and of a certainty it could
not be close to the trail!"

"So we would naturally think," decided Padre Vicente. "But the Indian
girl was wiser than our wisdom, Senor, for she did aid his escape, and
she did hide him there. To get breath, his face was touching a great
wall of rock against which another was carelessly laid. The place had
been chosen with a knowledge that seemed inspired--for only close to
the trail where the sand was like to be disturbed by naked romping
children,--only there in all these deserts could he have been hidden
from their hunters."

"Here?--in this place?" again said Don Ruy. "Holy father it is a good
story--yet sounds a romance fantastic to fit this weird place of the
pool and the star shine of the night?"

"By the name of these people, the Queres, and the name of the village
Ah-ko, this should be the place of the sacrificial intentions," said
the priest. "By the careful account given, this is the pool to which
the trail led, and it may even be that the ancient Cacique to whom,
but now, I gave the cigarro, was chief priest of the sacrifice in that
day."

"A truly delectable neighbor for a help to pleasant fancy," said Don
Ruy and laughed. "If the amiab