An evil grin made his skeleton jaws more hideous still. “I, high priest of Mictolan, know all the ceremonies,” he declared. “Am I not the Kinchi Haman, priest of the Supreme God?” I shook my head dubiously and looked very serious. “Of Kinich Ahau, Lord of the Sun, yes,” I declared judicially. “But perchance, in the many Katuns that have passed since my father walked with the Kiche Maya, much has been forgotten. Does not the prophecy say that the old gods shall be forgotten? That the religion shall be perverted? Even you--” I turned suddenly, and pointing my finger at him thundered the words--“even you have caused human sacrifices to be made in the temples of the Plumed Serpent! And thy face, O, priest, is that of Uayayab--he by whom the year is poisoned! Already the all-powerful Hunabku frowns upon you and upon your temples! Aye, it is high time the son of Kukulcan came forth to thy temples to redeem the people of Mictolan! And thou, O Kinchi Haman, thou who claimest to know all rituals, shall stand beside me before the gods and shall aid me in my ceremony and my offerings. Take heed that no false move, no wrong word, no mistake is made, or upon you will fall the vengeance of Kukulcan, as the false betrayer of his teachings!” Terror filled the eyes of the priest as I stood over him, threatening, reviling, shaking my fist at him. He cowered back, his ghastly death’s head face blanched, his teeth chattered. My random words and accusations had hit the mark somewhere. Still in doubt as to my exact status, he was filled with superstitious dread. He was not by any means certain that I did not know more of the rituals of Kukulcan than himself, and at my assured confident tones, my scathing denunciation, he had become even less certain, had begun to doubt his own knowledge, had lost all self-assurance. In his ambition, his desire for power, his ruthless tyranny, he had usurped the powers of the priesthood of other cults than his own. He had installed himself as high-priest of all the Mayan gods, though he well knew, as I and all others familiar with Mayan mythology knew, the priests of the Plumed Serpent cult were apart from all others, a distinct order possessing secret rituals known only to themselves and amenable only to the supreme priest of their own order. He had been able to hoodwink the people, to pretend that, by favor of the gods, he had been appointed supreme head of the religion. But, so he thought, he had not fooled me. At my words, his crafty, ever-suspicious mind, had jumped to the conclusion that I knew secrets of the ceremony of Kukulcan of which he was in ignorance, and he was shaking with deadly fear that he had gotten himself into a tangle from which he would be most fortunate if he could escape. He glanced furtively about, he babbled that he must attend his own temple and conduct its ceremonies. But I shook my head and refused to listen.