a wedding day you
would be happily planting beans in the garden of the nuns instead of
following a foreign husband to his own people!"

Don Ruy sauntered near enough to hear the fillip and see the woman dry
her eyes.

"Why is it, Dame Ysobel, that you allow this lad to make sport of
serious things?" he asked austerely. "He is woefully light minded for
so portentous an expedition."

Ysobel stammered, and glanced at the lad, and dug her toe in the soil,
and was dumb.

"You overwhelm her with your high and mighty notice, Excellency," said
the lad coming to her aid. "I will tell you truly--Ysobel has had
patience with me since I had the height of your knee--and it is now a
custom with her. She lived once in the house of my--relatives. We were
both younger--and she had no dreams of wedding a wild Indian--nor I of
seeking adventure among savages. She is afraid now that her husband
may be blamed--or sacrificed for bringing strangers here--the story of
the padre at the well of Ah-ko is not forgotten by her."

Whereupon Don Ruy told her there should be no harm to Jose--if he was
treated without welcome by the Te-huas he should go back in safety to
Mexico to follow his own will in freedom.

The woman murmured thanks and was content, and his excellency surveyed
the secretary in silence a bit, until warm color crept into the face
of the boy to his own confusion.

"So!--Your independence was because you had a friend at court?"--he
observed. "It is fool luck that you, with your girl's mouth, and
velvet cheeks, should get nearest the only woman in camp--and have a
secret with her! It is high time you went to confession!"

Upon which he walked away, and left the two together, and Chico lay on
the grass and laughed until called to make records of all that might
occur between visiting Castilian and the Children of the Sun in their
terraced village.

Then, while the men set about the preparations for a resting place,
and supper Padre Vicente, with Don Ruy, Chico, Gonzalvo and the two
Indians walked quietly to the gate in the great wall.

Many eyes were watching them as they were well aware, and ere they
reached the gate, it opened, and the old governor Phen-tza, the war
capitan and several of the older men stood there with courteous
greeting of hand clasps and invitation.

For the first time since his marriage, Ka-yemo came face to face with
Yahn Tsyn-deh, and quick anger flamed in his eyes as he saw her walk
close to the