"I know nothing at present," replied Cocom, with a meaning glance. "Possess your soul in patience, Don Juan; all will yet be well. Don Hypolito desires to kill you, and wed Doña Dolores. He shall do neither. Santissima Virgen, I swear it. Be silent! No words, my lord. Rest now, and sleep. You will need all your strength." "For the sacrifice?" "Nay, Señor, for escape!" CHAPTER VI. THE SHRINE OF THE OPAL. Lord of the humming-bird's foot! Behold thy worshippers rising and falling in adoration before thee, as rise and fall the restless waves of the far-reaching ocean. These thousands gathered from the ends of the earth, are thine, and thine only. We see thine image bedecked with jewels, shine like the sun at his rising Before thee, the stone, whereon the favoured one yields up his life for thy glory. Smoking hearts dost thou love, the savour of blood, the carnage of battle. For thou art god of war, death alone is the way to thy favour. Spins before thee that precious stone by which thou tellest thy wishes, That shining, precious stone, which now burns red as the blood of thine altars, Crimson it gleams, hinting war! War is the fate of the future! Oh, mighty one! Lord of the humming-bird's foot! We pray thee give order, That the red war light melt soon to the azure of peace, Then will fresh victims be thine, and happiness ours, Shout, ye people! ask peace from the lord of the humming-bird's foot. In two days, Jack was comparatively well, and able to move about without much trouble. This almost miraculous cure was effected by Cocom through the medium of some medicinal herbs, the curative powers of which were known to him alone. Out of these he made two decoctions, one for internal, the other for external application. With the latter he bathed the wound on Jack's head, and made him drink quantities of the former every two hours. The effect was wonderfully rapid, and Jack soon found himself gaining strength. In the hands of a European doctor, he would probably have been laid up for weeks; but the rude medicine of the Indian set him on his legs in no time. The wound on his head gave him no trouble, and healed with great quickness; a fact which Jack put down as much to his healthy blood, and simple living, as to Cocom's physicing.