Product Description
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1893. Excerpt: ... 153 CHAPTER VIII. AN INDIAN FESTIVAL. The sacred drums of serpents' skins Send forth their muffled roar afar; Before the shrine the opal spins, A changing star! That flashes rays of rainbow light From out its breast of cloudy white, Rebuking sins Which mar! Oh, see the maidens forward bound, To swing and sway in dances wild, Loose locks with fragrant chaplets crowned, Their glances mild! Exchanged for looks, whose frantic fires The sacred god himself inspires, Who thrice hath frowned, And smiled. The victim! see the victim pure! Approaches to the stone to die; But for a space his pangs endure, And then on high His soul mounts upward to the sun, For ever with that orb to run, Of pleasure sure For aye. THAT evening, Jack received an invitation from Ixtlilxochitli to be present at dawn next morning on the summit of the teocalli, to take part in a religious ceremony of peculiar solemnity. The god Huitzilopochtli was to be asked if it was his will that the Indian tribes should array their ranks in battle on the side of Don Hypolito Xuarez? Through the opal was the answer to be given. If it gleamed red the god desired war, if blue there was to be peace in the land. Seeing the bloodthirsty character of the deity, and the secret understanding between his high priest and Xuarez, there was but little doubt in the mind of Jack as to what the answer would be. Still, as he was anxious to know how the prophecies were given, and not averse to seeing a unique religious ceremony, he accepted the invitation of Ixtlilxochitli with avidity. For many days, messages had been sent far and wide, calling on the Indians to repair to the sacred city, and assist at the festival. The town was filled to overflowing, and all the caravanseries in the square of the sacrifice were crowded...
