"No, Teochma, do not so. Let the good mother of Euetzin treat as a servant, rather, him who stands in her presence. When the winds cease to bear upon their wings the cry of my enslaved and degraded people for deliverance, which rises hourly from a thousand homes, then, and not till then, may he to whom you would do honor receive the homage due his station!" He bowed himself before her in salutation, and continued: "Thus may it be in this hour, good mother of my friend--and mine, I could wish, O Teochma!" "Rise, my son; it is not fit that you should humble yourself in this manner. Teochma is grateful for your condescension, and is pleased to welcome you to a shelter in her home." Hualcoyotl arose, and she continued: "But come, enter here and be seated," saying which, she motioned for him to pass to an adjoining room. "Give me yet a moment, good Teochma. There is one without, an attendant, who waits to be called. If it please you, I will bid him come in." "Assuredly, my son, bid him come." The door, which the prince had closed, was quietly opened, and Oza directed to enter. * * * * * The Anahuacans of the fifteenth century were well skilled in art, both mechanical and decorative. With tools of bronze, made from an alloy of tin and copper, they were enabled, by the use of a flinty powder, to shape the hardest substances into articles of use and adornment. Vessels of gold and silver were moulded and fashioned by them, having upon them representations of birds, animals, flowers, and other objects; and it is said of their goldsmiths that they could blend the metals in such a manner as to represent the feathers of a bird or the scales of a fish, alternately, in gold and silver. With their natural fondness for display, and the inexhaustible supply of material for its indulgence at their command, it is not surprising that the homes of the nobility and wealthy were gorgeously magnificent in furnishment, especially in the matter of adornment. And, withal, though none of the modern appliances for the promotion of elegance and ease, which now distinguish the mansions of the opulent, were then at hand, their abodes were not without comfort for the physical man. As in this age, a reception, or drawing-room was an indispensable apartment in the dwellings of the higher classes, and the completeness of its design and arrangement usually indicated not only the wealth and position of the owner, but, also, the taste and accomplishments of the occupants. The room into which the prince and his attendant were conducted was a model apartment of its kind, and deserves from us at least a passing notice.