Part 28 (1/2)
”Ay, adding that the pitiful Naladi only laughed at the sobs of Madaht with me No doubt 'twas a vision born of his own teraciously of the welfare and contentment of Eloise It would have been boorish to question her further Besides, she took e tale of these savages, although the black h ith her words”
It was abundantly evident the led in the web of this designing creature For the hour, at least, all serious consideration of her who should rightfully claim his attention had been co victier than his own, his conscience deadened by the poison of beauty; so, whileFrench vanity, I could perceive no ht arouse him to more manly action To cross such a man only invites to the surface the worst ele protest, it ht be doubtful if he comprehended the nature ofwould result in the exchange of hard words, and inan enemy where now I possessed a friend Not that the Chevalier was a particularly valuable ally, yet he wielded a good sword upon occasion, and would prove ht despise him, yet he remained the husband of Madame, and I durst pick no quarrel with hi our situation aes darker than ever As to the moral side of the affair, it would be sheer waste of words to broach it, as De Noyan could form no clearer conception of such an issue than a babe unborn He swung as the wind blew, and in all his pa himself a liberty Saint Andrew!
it was a knotty problem for such a head as mine to solve I believe I chose the better course in assu at the fellohile he twisted hisat himself in the pocket mirror, utterly oblivious of my presence
”So this beauty of a Queen told you the tale of her people,” I re to humor his mood ”It would interest me to hear the story Those I have thus far seen differ widely froes hoht As she tells the story, they are not of Indian blood, but belong to a far older race She says they are the re their exact lineage she spoke but little--who once, hundreds of years ago no doubt, held undisputed doh the prairies far to the northward, down to the salted sea bounding the land upon the east She said their ancestors mined in the rocks, and cultivated the rich land of the valleys They were ruled over by five kings; and when one of these died all their wives were burned above the grave, and a hundred slaves sacrificed to the Sun, which they worshi+pped, and called Elagabalus These were all buried around the body of the king, whose toe mound of earth erected over them by the labor of thousands of slaves taken in battle
Yet their chief king, in the day of their great power, she called Palenque, placing his capital to north and east of this place, a land journey of thirty days Here was built a great city of wood and stone, surrounded by an is journeyed in state once each year to doreat teather thus frohtered before the altar by the priests She told me they once possessed vast store of yellowstones, with other treasures Cities were set apart under guard to have special care over them Some of these have descended even unto the present, but are kept hidden away by the priests, though she promised later to let e tale of destiny--of a long, barbarous war, filled with the nawhich the Chichi down upon them from the northward--drove their fathers backward frodoreat river where Palenque reigned Their ancestors erected vast forts of earth, thusas their slaves remained loyal But at last these also rose in revolt, and, when all supplies had been cut off, the hopeless re with the the sacred flaift of the Sun, to die out upon their altars Like flies they died in the preservation of this syion; for 'tis their faith, that if it be kept burning undireat leader frolories She described to s the race had h walls, the vast ures of extinct animals, uplifted as altars, and sometimes utilized for the burial of their dead and their treasure _Sacre_! I can recall a portion of the story, yet it was a weird, fascinating tale as she told it slowly, and with all seriousness, although the black boy staot only dim pictures here and there”
”But how ca to that It was some trouble with the French in Bienville's day Only a few escaped, and they were driven into these hills; yet 't is said they saved a considerable amount of treasure which had coether with sos It is forty years since they discovered this dell, and only the older men have any memory of the discovery”
”What do they call themselves?”
”'Nalmas' was the word the Queen used, but they are that same people e knew about in New Orleans as 'Natchez'; their old country was called Tlapalan”
I sat silent, pondering upon his words, but before I thought out further questioning, a warrior, bearing food, entered the hut Setting this down upon the ground before us, he drew back into the gathering night shadoithout uttering a word That which I had just heard caused e--with neakened interest, and I could not help observing again hoidely the type differed fro border life had rendered me familiar Not only was this man of fairer, clearer complexion, but his cheek-bones were not in the least prominent, his nose ide at the base and somewhat flattened, while his forehead sloped sharply backward in such peculiar form as to warrant the opinion that the deformity arose from a coh worn long and flowing down the back, was decidedly wavy, and not coarse; the color was a ruddy brown The eyes of these Indians were bold, cruel, crafty, yet in ; the average stature was greater than that of those other Indians that I knew In short, they i all that was claimed, a distinct race, with characteristics olian than to the surrounding red races As I figured this out somewhat slowly, De Noyan busted hiot the topic of our conversation
”And did this Queen Naladi clai thus to test his observation
”Why not?” he asked in return, suspending operations, and glancing up at hter of the Sun,' once saying that her ancestors ruled over this people for a thousand years”
”She told you that?”
”At least so the black interpreted her words Why question it?”
”Doubtless to your thought there exists s the word of so fair a woed dryly ”Yet to my vision, not wholly blinded by her charms, she possesses more of the Caucasian in face and manner than any other of the race If she is not of European birth I ae, Monsieur, and 't is my belief, if she told you she was not, the woman lied”
I was scarcely prepared for the result of er sweeping into his eyes
”You are, indeed, of bold heart,” he exclain a won,” I retorted sharply, stung by his tone, ”I opine this Queen of savages belongs to that class To nant over the wrongs of your wife rather than over a just picturing of this harlot”
Before I could ing blow of his hand across e, ”Charles de Noyan takes such affront from no man I denounce you as a cowardly vilifier of an absent woman”
I know not why I failed to strike the fellon My hand was hard on the knife hilt within my doublet, yet I drew it not as we stood there eye to eye There was that between us--the dim, shadowy face of a woman--which held me as by a chain It seemed to h her before it touched his heart, and, feeling thus, God gave me power to choke back the hot resentment, and restrain my hand
”Monsieur,” I said sternly, ”never has the hand offull return for the blow Yet now I strike you not The time may come when I shall wipe out this insult, but here and now you stand safe from my arm”
”Safe!” he sneered ”_Parbleu_! you are a cowardly hound to talk thus
Safe! think you I have anything to fear at your hands?”