"Querido," she said in a tender voice, "my good uncle tells me of your scheme. It is that of which you spoke to me. It may save Tlatonac from savage foes, and thus do I aid you to the extent of my powers." She held out the opal towards him. "You may lose it altogether, Dolores." "No matter, Juanito. It may save the city." "And you consent to this sacrifice, Don Miguel?" "Yes, Señor. I think it will turn aside this host of savages. With them away, we can hope to conquer Xuarez. Otherwise----" Maraquando stopped suddenly, and made a gesture of despair. "Of course it is merely an experiment," said Jack, doubtfully. "But one which must be successful," cried Dolores, quickly. "Querido, can you doubt that, after what we saw in the sacred city? As the god speaks through the opal, so will the Indians act. Let it dart, then, its blue ray, and drive them back to their forests." "You are sure you can make it shine blue, Cocom?" "Señor," said the old man, with great dignity, "I give my life to prove that this shall be so." Jack took the opal from the outstretched hand of Dolores. "So be it!" he cried, fervently. "The opal has brought the Indians to Tlatonac; the opal shall send them back again to Totatzine." Tim suddenly made his appearance with a face full of excitement. "Jack! Señor Maraquando!" he said, quickly, in Spanish, "the messenger you sent to spy on the Indians at Chichimec has returned." "What does he say, Señor Correspoñsal?" "That the whole host of Indians are marching from Chichimec, and will be camped round the walls at dawn. Dios! We are lost!" "No," cried Jack, brightly, "we are saved!" "What the deuce will save us, Jack?" asked Tim, in English. "This!" Duval held up the harlequin opal. A ray of sunlight struck the jewel, and a blue ray darted out like a tongue of steel. "Bueno!" said Cocom, stolidly, "the Chalchuih Tlatonac prophesies peace." CHAPTER VI. THE LUCK OF THE OPAL. The red ray dies in the opal stone, The god hath spoken, Arrow and bow and spear be broken, Red of war is the fiery token, And lo! in the zone, It pales, and fades, and faints, and dies, As sunsets wane in the eastern skies. The blue ray glows in the opal's heart, The god is smiling, Victims no more need we be piling, On altar stone for his dread beguiling; The blue rays dart To tell us war must surely cease, So in the land let there be peace.