"O Laughing-eyes, light of thy home! why were you not present to gladden my departure from the villa but now? To Cacami the brightness of Zelmonco was gone because you were not there to receive his good-by." "Why should my absence so affect the hunter, Cacami, when only a night hath divided the days which have made us known to each other?" she answered, naively. "It is not the number of days that affect our lives, O Laughing-eyes, but what they bring," he replied. "To Cacami those beautiful, sparkling orbs, your eyes, O Itlza, are as two newly risen stars. To have been deprived of the privilege this morning of again looking into their wonderful depths would have robbed his stay at Zelmonco of its greatest charm, and cast a regretful shadow on his pathway home." "Cacami is neither discreet nor wise in the use of language. The words he speaks are pleasing; and Itlza, being a woman, might believe them spoken in sincerity, when only gallantry is intended. Have a care, O Cacami, that thy tongue lead thee not into deception," she replied with a coquettish air. "I pray you, Laughing-eyes, believe me sincere. Were I possessed of a deceitful tongue, which I can not think I am, I could not impose it on the sister of my good friend, the tzin. That would be baseness of which Cacami is not capable," he protested. "The clear crystal fountains which spring from the side of yonder mountain are not more pure than are the thoughts which he holds for Laughing-eyes," the young hunter went on, with an earnestness which bespoke sincerity. "Cacami may be sincere, and his words well meant, but Itlza should not hear them. Let us talk of something else. Have you a sister?" "Yes, two, who will give me welcome home when I cross my father's threshold," he replied with respectful deference. "You ought to be very happy, then, in your homecomings," she replied. "So I have ever been. It is a good and pleasant home which always waits me, and it will be very hard to leave it," he returned, with a shade of sadness in his voice. "Why should you leave it?" she questioned, her voice tinged with a responsive sympathy. "Why should anyone leave their childhood's home? Even Laughing-eyes will one day go from her beautiful Zelmonco to find another home. To do so is her natural destiny, as it is mine to leave the home I love," he answered, with an expression of tenderness, at the same time watching closely to observe the effect his words might have upon her. If she suspected a hidden meaning in them she did not show it. "Is it far to your home?" she asked, appearing heedless of his impassioned voice. "As far beyond as it is from here to Tezcuco--about four hours," he answered. "Your question admonishes me that I must not tarry. I would that Laughing-eyes will hold me kindly in her thoughts. Could I be assured that she will, it would please me more than she can know," he said, seriously.