r People in this land," he said. "To Tahn-te was
given by the gods, the trees, and the seeds of the trees. Since the
time when Po-se-yemo walked on earth, and brought seeds, no new seeds
have been born from blossoms here in the land of Te-hua people. When
the gods send a man, they also send a Sign. The sign of Tahn-te was
the Flute of the Gods, the trees of this fruit, and another
fruit;--also a grain of which food is made. It is a good grain. For
all of this we make prayers each year when the fruit is gathered, and
when the grain is planted, and for all of this we see why the name of
the Sun has been given to Tahn-te. The old men of the Hopi desert say
he was born of the falling rain and the light of the moon. We do not
know, but his mother knew, and she is wise--and she named him as a
child of the Sky would be named."

The Castilians listened with little enough belief in the god-given
Cacique. The peaches and the grain had, without doubt, been brought by
Coronado. Juan Gonzalvo said as much, and Yahn told it eagerly to the
council, but the old men shook their heads.

The trees were a year old from the seed when Tahn-te carried them on
his back from the heart of the desert, and Capitan Coronado had not
yet seen the villages of the P[=o]-s[=o]n-ge, called by him the Rio
Grande.

"Then:--" said Padre Vicente--"it is because he found new seeds that
he is above the cares of the daily life? I can bring many strange
seeds from the gardens of Europe or Africa. For that would I be a son
of the moon and the stars?"

"May be so,--" said the old man,--"and maybe so the gods would not
need a son on that day." He inhaled the fragrant smoke and went on to
make clear to these people of outlands some little gleam of the
mysteries circling holy things,--"You must be born in a good year--and
a good time in that year--the trail of the visitors of the sky must be
climbing up--up!"

"The trail of the visitors in the sky?" The Padre looked with
quickness into the bronze faces.

"He means the planets--the wandering stars," said Chico. "The Mexican
tribes also watch them when a child is born. A god lives in each
one--so they think!"

"Necromantic fancies devised by the Evil one!" stated the priest and
crossed himself to ostracise such powers of the demon from the circle.
The rest devoutedly imitated him, and the Te-hua men watched with
interest the men of iron making their "medicine" against the celestial
bodies on the descending tr