without knowing it, and she might be carried from her hiding place to some room we had already searched. No, to have any chance of success, a large body of men would be needed, and we had already found that even the loyal retainers of the prince, and my own guards, would die rather than force their way into the Temple of the Sun. Yet we must have men. I was determined to find Kinchi Haman and to search every nook and cranny of the temple, even if I was forced to tear the place to bits. Neither would this have been such an impossible feat as might be imagined. By closing the outlet at the top of the temple, thus confining the gas from that awful pit, and then igniting it, the structure could be blown to bits. And I mentally vowed that if I discovered Itza no longer lived, I would wreak that vengeance upon the place and its inmates. That such wild thoughts should have entered my head, that for one moment I should have contemplated the wholesale destruction of men and women who were in no way responsible for my bereavement, proves the mental state I was in, proves that I was temporarily insane with grief and desperation. Indeed, at that time, I would have stopped at nothing, would have destroyed the entire city, if doing so would have brought Itza back to me. The prince recalled me to my sober senses. The sun was setting, we were wasting valuable time. Only thirty hours now remained before the dawning of the day of Tonalmatl. The ruddy glare of the sinking sun brought a new thought to me. Would Kinchi Haman appear before the altar of his temple to conduct the ceremony of the Setting Sun? Would his religious fanaticism overcome his fear of my vengeance? Would he appear and openly defy me? My thoughts were interrupted by Azcopil. “Itzimin,” he said earnestly. “You must carry out the ritual of Kukulcan. If you fail, if the people find you have neglected this, they will turn against you, will lose faith in you and will swing to Kinchi Haman. It is hard, I know. I, your friend and brother, know how you are suffering, how you are tortured, Itzimin. But I know my people better than you do. To find Itza we must have men, must have support and the faith and confidence of my people. If they see you not upon the altar of the Plumed Serpent they will say the God of Day has cast you down for violating the sanctity of his temple; but if you appear, they will think your god is greater and more powerful than that of Kinchi Haman. And, Itzimin, from the temple you may call down the wrath of Kukulcan upon Kinchi Haman and all those who have a part in that tragedy that has befallen. Aye, Itzimin, my brother, and you may promise great things and the favor of the Plumed Serpent to those who are loyal and aid us. Do you not see, Itzimin?”