At the entrance they stood transfixed with surprise, and for the moment deemed they were in the Shrine of the Opal at Totatzine. Half-veiled by clouds of white smoke rolling upward from a small altar, they could see the terrible features of Huitzilopochtli, in all his blood-stained glory. The mats of feather-work hung glittering from the walls; they marked the grotesque visages of their deities scowling from pictured walls, and behind the altar, the hidden minstrel chaunted the hymn of the opal. The opal! There it hung in the centre of the white smoke. A ray of golden light, like a finger from heaven, smote it with terrible glory. It was turning rapidly, as they had seen it in the temple of the god at Totatzine. "Chalchuih Tlatonac!" they cried, and all five prostrated themselves before the sacred gem. High and shrill rang out the song from the hidden singer, and the chiefs, with reverential awe, watched the spinning opal. Red, yellow, blue, green, the rays flashed out jets of many-coloured fire every second. It began to revolve more slowly. Slower and slower! a pause!--it hung motionless, and a ray of azure shone benignly from its breast. The song ceased, and a tall man, arrayed in white garments, came from behind the shrine, holding a blue cloak full length in his arms. This was the ritual prescribed at the shrine of Huitzilopochtli when the god spoke through the opal. "The god proclaims peace!" His voice broke the spell. The Indians dashed forward, and strove to seize him, but he eluded their grip, and vanished. "Peace! Peace! Peace!" they heard him cry three times. Their attention was fixed on the opal, and they did not pursue him. "The sacred stone!" cried the supreme chief; "we must bear it back to the shrine of the god. Forgive us, oh, holy one." He snapped the stone off the string, and darted out of the door, followed by his four companions. At the door an old Indian, now divested of his sacerdotal garments, met them, and rushed on their principal with a cry of anger. "The opal! Give me back the sacred gem!" "Cocom!" cried the chief, raising his tomahawk. "It was thou who thieved the gem! Die, vile wretch, who desecrated the shrine of the god." His companions restrained his wrath. The fear of the opal was on them. "Nay, Tezuco. The god says peace! The stone burns blue rays." "Bind him, then, and we will take him to Totatzine; there to be sacrificed on the altar of the offended god." In a moment Cocom, in spite of his struggles, was thrown across the back of the horse of one of the chiefs, and they all rode off rapidly towards the camp. In the centre of the throng, Tezuco halted, and held up his hand. Therein flashed the opal, and a cry of delight arose from the host, who in a moment recognised the gem, and at once prostrated themselves before its glory.