"Querido!" sighed Dolores, looking fondly in Jack's face; "how like an angel do you appear to me. I thought never to see you again; but now you are here, and I am happy. Tell of the dear ones, Juanito, of Eulalia and Rafael. How does my dear uncle, my aunt?" "I have not seen them for over a week, cara," replied Jack, kissing her; "they were much disturbed at your disappearance. We all thought that you had been carried off to Acauhtzin, and with Don Felipe and your brother I went up there to demand you from the base one." "I know all of this, mi amigo," said Dolores, quickly. "Ah! do not look so astonished. Cocom is our friend; Cocom told me all. Of Marina departing with Pepe in _The Pizarro_, of your journey to Acauhtzin, and how you were betrayed to the priests by Don Hypolito." "You know my story, Dolores, but I do not know yours. Tell me how it was that you were carried off. I at first suspected the Indians, but afterwards deemed Pepe had taken you to Xuarez. I suspected him wrongly, it seems." "No, Juan!" cried the girl, her eyes flashing with anger; "all this misery was contrived by Don Hypolito. He told Ixtlilxochitli that----" "What!" interrupted Jack, in astonishment; "does Xuarez know the priest? Has he been here? Is he a worshipper of that devil stone?" "As to that I am not certain, but he has been here frequently, and held long conversations with Ixtlilxochitli. Don Hypolito, you know, says he is a Mestizo. It is false; he is a pure Indian. His parents dwelt here as worshippers of the old gods, and it was in Totatzine that he was born. Afterwards, when he became a man, he grew weary of this buried city, and went forth to seek his fortune. He prospered, as you know, and now says he has Spanish blood in his veins, to gain favour with my own people. But his heart is Indian; he is a friend of Ixtlilxochitli; he comes here frequently. I said, querido, that I was not certain that he worshipped the devil stone. I am wrong; I think he does. Through him does that opal counsel war; and you were delivered to the priests to be the victim of the cycle." "And in return for this handsome gift of my life, what does Don Hypolito get?" "Can you not guess? Ixtlilxochitli, anxious to see the Ruler of Cholacaca one who is a believer in the old gods, has promised to make the Indians fight for him. He can do this by means of the opal's prophecies. The priest thinks that if Don Hypolito becomes President, he will restore the worship of Huitzilopochtli." "Ridiculous!" "It is not. Yet Ixtlilxochitli, who is a clever man, is completely deceived by Don Hypolito, and believes that this will be so." "Now I see how Xuarez came to the sacred city," said Jack, reflectively; "but you say it was he who carried you off?"