CHAPTER XXII. A DARING UNDERTAKING.
Still, that point was of too vital importance to justify hasty decision,and the professor did not make his surrender complete until the shadesof another night were beginning to gather over the land.
Meantime, partly for the purpose of keeping the youngsters employed andthus out of the way of less harmless things, the professor suggestedthat the huge grizzly be flayed. If the proposed scheme should really beundertaken, that mighty pelt, if uncomfortable to convey, would serve asa fair excuse for the young brave's as yet unexplained absence from theLost City.
As a matter of course, Cooper Edgecombe felt intense anxiety throughall, but he contrived to keep fair mastery over his emotions, readilyadmitting that he himself could do naught towards visiting the LostCity.
"I know that my loved ones are yonder. I would joyfully suffer tenthousand deaths by torture for the chance to speak one word to--to them.And yet I know any such attempt would prove fatal to us all. The meresight of--I would go crazy with joy!"
There is no necessity for repeating the various arguments used, pro andcon, before the final agreement was reached. Enough has already been putupon record, and the result must suffice: Professor Featherwit yieldedthe vital point, and, having once fairly expressed his fears and doubts,flung his whole heart into perfecting the disguise which was now countedupon to carry Bruno safely into and out of yonder city.
He was carefully trigged out in the warlike uniform secured by CooperEdgecombe at the cost of a human life, and, with fresh stain appliedto his face and hands, the slight moustache he wore was not dangerouslyperceptible.
"'Twould take a strong light and mighty keen eyes to see it at all, andeven if a body should happen to notice it, he'd reckon 'twas a bit ofsmut, or the like," generously declared Waldo.
Under less trying circumstances, Bruno might have answered in kind, butnow he merely smiled at the jester, then turned again to receive theearnest cautions let fall for his benefit by the professor.
Above all else, he was to steer clear of fighting, and, without he sawa fair chance of winning speech with the white women, he was to keep insuch hiding as Ixtli might furnish, trusting the young Aztec to post theChildren of the Sun as to what was in the wind.
Tremulous, almost incapable of coherent speech, so intense was hisagitation, Cooper Edgecombe sent many messages to his loved ones,begging for one word in return. And if nothing less would serve--
His voice choked, and only his feverishly burning eyes could say therest.
It was well past sunset ere the youngsters set forth from therendezvous, accompanied a short distance by both Waldo and theprofessor; but the parting came in good time. It would be worse thanfolly to add to the existent perils that of possible discovery by someprowling Aztec who might work serious injury to them one and all.
That great bear-hide proved a tax upon their strength, even though thebullet-riddled head-piece had been carefully cut off and buried, lestthose queer holes tell a risky tale on close examination; but Ixtli, aswell as Bruno, was upborne by an exaltation such as neither had knownbefore this hour.
There was nothing worse than the natural obstacles in the way to beovercome, and, knowing every square yard of ground so thoroughly, Ixtlichose the most practicable route to that hill-encircled town.
The stony pass was followed to the lower level, and the youngadventurers had drawn fairly near the first buildings ere encountering aliving being; and then ample time was given them for meeting the danger.
A low-voiced call sounded upon the night air, and Ixtli responded inmuch the same tone. Bruno, of course, was utterly in the dark as towhat was being said, but he still held perfect faith in his copper-huedguide, and left all to the son of Aztotl.
The Aztec brave appeared to be explaining his unusually protractedabsence, for he proudly displayed the great grizzly pelt, then exhibitedthe spear-head from which protruded the tooth-marked wood.
Like one who was already familiar with the details, Bruno slowly loungedforward a pace or two, then in silence awaited the pleasure of hiscompanion on that night jaunt.
Ixtli was not many minutes in shaking off the Indian, and, almoststaggering beneath his shaggy burden, moved away as though in haste torejoin his family circle.
Fortunately for the venture, the Aztecans appeared to believe in themaxim of going to bed early, for there were very few individuals astirat that hour, young though the evening still was. And by the clearmoonlight which fell athwart the valley, it was no difficult task tocatch sight before being seen, where eyes so busy as those of the twoyoung men were concerned.
Only once were they forced to make a brief detour in order to escapemeeting another redskin, and then a guarded whisper from the lips ofthe Aztec warned Bruno that they were almost at the teocalli wherein theChildren of the Sun made their home and abiding-place.
Leaving the grizzly pelt at a corner, for the time being, Ixtli led hiswhite friend up and into the Temple of the Sun, pressing a hand by wayof added caution.
Although he had declared that an armed guard was kept night and day overthe Sun Children, and that he hoped to pass Bruno as well as himselfwithout any serious difficulty, since he had long been a favouredvisitor, and ever welcomed by Victo and Glady, the temple was seeminglywithout such protection upon the present occasion.
Ixtli expressed great surprise when this fact became evident, and heshowed uneasiness as to the welfare of his beloved patroness and kindlyteacher.
Surely something evil was impending! His father, Aztotl, was chieftainof the guards, and wholly devoted to the Sun Children, ready at alltimes to risk life in their behalf. Now, if the usual guards werelacking, surely it portended evil,--treachery, no doubt, at the bottomof which the paba and the 'Tzin almost certainly lurked.
All this Ixtli contrived to convey to Bruno, who fairly well shared thatanxiety, but who was more for going ahead with a bold rush, to learn theworst as quickly as might be.
Still, unfamiliar with the construction of the temple as he was, Brunofelt helpless without his guide, and so timed his progress by that ofIxtli, right hand tightly gripping the handle of his "hand-wood," ormaquahuitl, resolved to give a good account of either of those rascallyvarlets in case trouble lay ahead.
The unwonted desolation which appeared to reign on all sides was plainlytroubling the Aztec brave, and he seemed to suspect a cunning ambuscade,judging from his slow advance, pausing at nearly every step to bend earin keen listening.
Still, nothing was actually seen or heard until after the young menreached the upper elevation, upon a portion of which the Sun Childrenhad been first sighted by the air-voyagers.
Here the first sound of human voices was heard, and Bruno stopped shortin obedience to the almost fierce grip which Ixtli closed upon hisnearest arm, listening for a brief space, then breathing, lowly:
"We see, first. Dat good! Him see first, dat bad! Eye, ear, two both.You know, brother?"
"You mean that we are to listen and play spy, first, Ixtli?" askedBruno, scarcely catching the real meaning of those hurried words.
"Yes. Dat best. Come; step like snow falls, brother."
"Who is it, first?"
"Victo, she one. Odder man, not know sure, but think Huatzin. He bad;all bad! Kill him, some day. Dat good; plenty good all over!"
This grim vow appeared to do the Aztec good from a mental point of view,and then he led his white friend silently towards the covered part ofthe teocalli, from whence those sounds emanated.
Curtains of thick stuff served to shut in the light and to partlysmother the sound of voices, but Ixtli cautiously formed a couple ofpeepholes of which they quickly made good use.
A portion of the sacred fire was burning upon its special altar, while alarge lamp, formed of baked clay, was suspended from the roof, sheddinga fair light around, as well as perfuming the enclosure quite agreeably.
Almost directly beneath this hanging-lamp stood the two Children ofthe Sun, one tall, stately, almost queenly of statur
e, and now lookingunusually impressive, as she seemed to act as shield for her daughter,slighter, more yielding, but ah, how lovely of face and comely ofperson!
Even then Bruno could not help realising those facts, although hisears were tingling sharply with the harsh accents falling from a fardifferent pair of lips, those of a tall, muscular warrior whose form wasgorgeously arrayed in featherwork and cunning weaving, rich-hued dyeshaving been called to aid the other arts as well.
If this was actually the Prince Hua, then he was a most brutal sample ofAztecan aristocracy, and at first sight Gillespie felt a fierce hatredfor the harsh-toned chieftain.
As a matter of course, Bruno was unable to comprehend just what wasbeing said, thanks to his complete ignorance of the language employed;but he felt morally certain that ugly threats were passing through thosethin lips, and even so soon his hands began to itch and his blood toglow, both urging him to the rescue.
Swiftly fell the reply made by Victo, and her words must have stung theprince to the quick, since he uttered a savage cry, drawing back an armas though to smite that proudly beautiful face with his hard-clenchedfist.
That proved to be the cap-sheaf, for Bruno could stand no more. Hedashed aside the heavy curtain as he leaped forward, giving a stern cryas he came, swinging the war club over his shoulder to strike with allvengeance at the startled and recoiling Aztecan.
Only the young man's unfamiliarity with the weapon preserved Prince Huafrom certain death. As it was, he reeled, to fall in a nerveless heapupon the floor, while, with a startled cry, another Aztec broke away inflight.
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