On the rocky ledge below, he saw two men struggling for the possession of the opal. Xuarez, hotly pursued by the old priest, had taken the wrong turning below the bridge, and they were now reeling on the verge of destruction. Nearer and nearer they came to the brink, then Xuarez, evidently seeing he was lost, threw the harlequin opal into the torrent. The great gem described a curve in the air, flashed rainbow hues in the sunlight, then dropped sheer into the boiling torrent below--lost for ever to the world. In another second, Ixtlilxochitli had forced Xuarez over the ledge, and the two men, locked in one another's arms, shared the fate of the gem. Jack stood on the edge of the platform, looking in silent horror at the fate of the rebel leader, when he heard his name cried out loudly, and turned to see Peter hurrying towards him with a face of horror. "Jack! Jack! Tim!" "Tim!" echoed Jack, with a pang of fear, "is he wounded?" "He is dead." Jack waited to hear no more, but, followed by Peter, raced back to the teocalli. With the fall of the shrine had fallen the city, and Jack, crossing the square untouched, ran up the staircase rapidly. There, on the summit, supported in Philip's arms, with Philip's tears dropping on his dead face, lay Tim, merry-hearted Tim, whom they all loved so truly. "Oh, Tim!" cried Jack, with a burst of anguish, and fell on his knees beside the dead body. Below the tumult continued, the incense still rolled upward; but the last sacrifice had taken place in the teocalli of Totatzine, and Tim was the victim. CHAPTER XII. FAREWELL, TLATONAC. Let us sail eastward, where the sun Slow rises o'er the crimson wave, Our western toils at last are done, And rest, for ever, rest we crave. Oh, see the shore fades far away, A dim spot in the distant blue, And eastward breaks the coming day Which bids our life-day dawn anew. Old times are at an end,--our lives Have had their share of sighs and tears; Now, loyal friends, with loving wives, We hopeful look to coming years. A cheer arose from the crowd at the sea-gate, the warships dipped their flags in salutation, the guns thundered from the forts, and _The Bohemian_ steamed slowly out of Tlatonac Harbour. At her mainmast fluttered the Union Jack, over her stern drooped the Opal flag, for the daughter and niece of His Excellency Don Miguel Maraquando were on board, on their way to England, with their husbands, Sir Philip Cassim and Jack Duval. That same day had they been married by Padre Ignatius, and were now departing for the honeymoon, therefore did the guns thunder, the people cheer, the flags dip.