Prodding him with his sword, threatening him with the most horrible tortures, Azcopil urged him forward. But little urging was required. The sight of my weapon, and of the dead priest upon the stone flagging, had been too much for the old fellow. The vengeance of the gods might eventually fall upon us, but it would be of little satisfaction to him if he was stark and stiff when the gods saw fit to act. And the gods seemed very slow. Babbling incoherently, vowing Kinchi Haman was not in the temple, he led the way at the point of the prince’s spear. Up a flight of steps, through a narrow passage, between rows of giant, magnificently-sculptured idols he stumbled, with us at his heels. Even in my distress, obsessed with one idea of rescuing my beloved Itza, I noticed half-consciously that the temple was immeasurably ancient, that it was unlike anything hitherto known in America, and that the outer Mayan portion must have been erected over the original prehistoric structure. Dimly, as though it were a fragment of some dream, I remembered Nohul Voh’s words; “When our fathers’ fathers’ fathers came to Mictolan a temple stood here--and the monster dwelt within.” The old sorcerer had told the truth about the ancient temple. Was there really a monster here? Would I find the thing? Then a terrible, a sickening thought flashed through my mind. They spoke of it as the “Monster of Sacrifices”; Itza had said the high priest fed the fiendish thing with maidens. What if Kinchi Haman had seized her--my Itza, to fill the maw of some horrible, loathsome creature! But Nohul Voh had assured me she would be safe until the day of Tonalmatl. Could I trust in him? How did he know? Then suddenly, like a ray of light, it came to me. The day of Tonalmatl, the day of the spring florescence, the day of the sacrifice of girls married symbolically by death to the Sun God! Itza herself had been a chosen one! I saw it all now. The villainous, bloodthirsty priest had abducted her, stolen her to sacrifice her to his pagan god by hurling her into the sacred well! In that way he could avenge himself upon me and would appease his god at the same time. Nohul Voh must have suspected, must have guessed. That was why he had felt sure Itza would be unharmed until the day of Tonalmatl! My face blanched at the thought of Itza meeting such a fate. I groaned aloud. But there was some consolation in the thought. The fanatical priest would not harm a hair of her head, would not dare anger his god by defiling her with his touch, until the appointed time. And I still had nearly thirty-six hours. * * * * *