'
'Not so,' I answered; 'some fifty feet below the path still runs, and
one by one we will lower you to it with this rope.'
Then we set to work. Making the cord fast beneath the arms of a soldier
we let him down gently, till he came to the path, and was received there
by his comrades as a man returned from the dead. The last to be lowered
was that Spaniard with whom I had spoken.
'Farewell,' he said, 'and may the blessing of God be on you for this act
of mercy, renegade though you are. Say, now, will you not come with me?
I set my life and honour in pledge for your safety. You tell me that
you are still a Christian man. Is that a place for Christians?' and he
pointed upwards.
'No, indeed,' I answered, 'but still I cannot come, for my wife and son
are there, and I must return to die with them if need be. If you bear me
any gratitude, strive in return to save their lives, since for my own I
care but little.'
'That I will,' he said, and then we let him down among his friends, whom
he reached in safety.
Now we returned to the temple, giving it out that the Spaniards were in
retreat, having failed to cross the breach in the roadway. Here before
the temple the orgie still went on. But two Indians remained alive; and
the priests of sacrifice grew weary.
'Where are the Teules?' cried a voice. 'Swift! strip them for the
altar.
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