The Aztec Treasure-House

by Thomas A. Janvier

  XXXIII.

  IN THE AZTEC TREASURE-HOUSE.

  Even with El Sabio reduced to this condition of complete quiescence, theAztlanecas, soldiers as well as priests, still were terribly afraid ofhim; being firmly convinced, as was not at all unnatural, that for thetime being there was embodied in him a devil of a most dangerous sort.Therefore they were but too glad to yield to Pablo's burning eagernessto get to the poor ass; and when he called for aid to carry theexhausted creature out from the amphitheatre, and so away from among thedead and wounded and from the dreadful smell of blood, Young and Ipromptly were pushed forward and ordered to perform this piece of workthat even the bravest of them shrunk from undertaking.

  However, there was no real peril in it, for El Sabio was so weak that hecould not even stand, and still less was he strong enough to kickanybody. Lifting him in this dull, limp state, and carrying him up thesteep steps, was heavy work for us, wounded and weary as we were; butwith Pablo's help we managed it, and so got him up from the depths ofthe amphitheatre to its windward side--where a fresh sweet breeze thatwas blowing, and some water that a soldier brought when Pablo called forit, in a little while put new life into him. Why the ass was not made topay the penalty of his sins, by being there and then killed, at firstwas a good deal of a puzzle to me; but presently, from the talk thatwent on about us while Pablo ministered to him, and while the woundedlying around the altar were being cared for, and the dead borne away, Igathered that no one dared to kill him for fear of being himselfpossessed by the devil that needs must enter another body upon beingthus set free. And as this seemed to be a view of the case that wasworth encouraging, I very gravely told one of the priests that I myselfhad seen a man all in an instant go raving mad upon slaying one of thesecreatures and so letting the devil loose from him. As this story wascirculated among the crowd I was glad to perceive that the dread of ElSabio obviously greatly increased.

  As a result of the untoward outbreak that had occurred, no attempt wasmade to complete the ceremonial of triumph. Indeed, the victory now layso decidedly with El Sabio that there was but little to triumph over.Therefore we presently were herded together by a party of soldiers--whotook good care that Pablo should lead the ass, and that Young and Ishould walk directly behind him as a protection against any furtheruplifting of his heels--and so we all were marched once more into thetemple. This time we did not stop in front of the great idol, but wenton beyond it towards a portal in the rear of the building that opened onan inner court; on the farther side of which court, as we knew from thedescription of the place that Tizoc had given us, was theTreasure-house, in which was stored not only the treasure placed therein long past ages by King Chaltzantzin, but also the treasure belongingto the State and to the temple that had been accumulated in later times.

  At the entrance to the court-yard, where the way was closed by a metalgrating over which a heavy curtain hung, the soldiers formallyrelinquished us into the charge of a company of priests; and then thecurtain was drawn aside and the grating was raised, and we passed outinto the bright sunlight--and saw close before us the place which for solong a time had so largely filled our thoughts. It was a building of nogreat size, being but a single story high, and was dwarfed by the vastlystupendous cliffs which so far overtopped it that they seemed to extendupward to the very sky; but it was most massively constructed, and theactual available space within it was far greater than was indicated bythe relatively small dimensions of its exterior walls. When we enteredthe building, through a narrow opening protected by a metal grating, thechamber into which we came was of so considerable a size that a part ofit, we perceived, must extend actually into the cliff; and that the workof quarrying out the living rock had been carried still farther wasshown by an opening at its rear end that evidently gave access to somehollow depth beyond.

  It was towards this inner recess that our guards led us. Here anothergrating was raised that we might pass, and we went onward through anarrow passage cut in the rock, along the sides of which were manyopenings giving access to small cell-like rooms. Nor was this place, aswe had expected to find it, wholly dark; for narrow slits had been cutthrough the rock out to the face of the cliff, through which came somuch light that we could see about us very well. And but for thatblessed light, faint though it was, I doubt not that we should have gonemad there; and even with the light to cheer and to comfort us I felt ablack despair settling down upon me at the thought of being thusimprisoned within the very bowels of the mountain, with no possibilityof other release than being taken thence to die.

  At the extreme end of the passage the rock had been hollowed awaysmoothly and carefully so as to form a chamber nearly thirty feet squareand at least twenty feet high, whereof all the walls were covered withplates of gold which overlapped each other in the manner of fishes'scales; and advantage had been taken of some wide crevice or deepdepression in the cliff above to open in the roof of this chamber asmall aperture, whence a pale light entered in long fine rays whichgleamed through the shadows, and gleamed again more faintly inreflections from the golden walls. In this oratory--for such itevidently was--stood a statue, smaller than that in the temple yet stillmore magnificently arrayed, of the god Huitzilopochtli; before whichodious image we were thrown upon our faces by our guards. When thisceremony was ended we were led forth once more into the passage, and sointo two of the little cells which had been meagrely prepared for us bytossing into each of them a bundle of mats; and there our guards left usto shift for ourselves--shutting the grating behind them with a sharpringing of metal on stone that echoed dismally through the rock-hewnchambers wherein we were held fast.

  For a while we stood in melancholy silence about the stretcher on whichpoor Rayburn lay; and very pale and worn he looked after his great lossof blood and heavy fatigue and the pain and excitement of the last fewhours. Pablo had taken up his quarters with El Sabio in a cell on theopposite side of the passage--for within the limits of our prison wewere left to arrange ourselves as we pleased--and we could hear himtalking to the ass in a fashion that at any other time we should havelaughed at; for by turns he upbraided him for his rash acts, andcomplimented him upon his bravery, and expressed dread of the punishmentthat might be visited upon him, and told him of his very tenderlove--all of which, so far as we could judge, El Sabio took in equallygood part.

  "There ain't no good in standin' 'round here doin' nothin'," Young said,at last. "This don't look like much of a place t' break out of, but wemay as well see how things are, anyway. Th' Padre'd better take asquint at Rayburn's busted leg an' set th' bandages straight; an' whilehe's attendin' t' that, me an' you, Professor, can do a littleprospectin'. This is th' Treasure-house, for sure, an' it'll be somesatisfaction t' see what it amounts to. I'll bet a hat there ain'tanything worth havin' in th' whole place, after all."

  I was glad enough to have any occupation that would change even a littlethe sad current of my thoughts, and I therefore very willingly acted onYoung's suggestion--after first making sure that Fray Antonio had noneed of help in his work of dressing Rayburn's wound--and together weset about this curious exploration; that had in it a strong charm forme, notwithstanding my heavy sorrow, because of the possibility that itopened of finding curious traces of a new community so far advanced incivilization as was that which the King Chaltzantzin had brought withhim into this valley a thousand years ago. Here, unquestionably, was theoldest deposit of the belongings of any of the primitive dwellers uponthe American continent; and I trembled a little with excitement at thethought of what archaeological treasures I here might find--and then Iheaved suddenly a long sigh as I remembered how useless in my presentcase would be even the most brilliant of discoveries.

  As for Young's bet of a hat that there was no treasure here worthhaving, he would have lost it, had it been accepted, at the very firstof the rooms which we examined; for the whole of this room, a cube ofabout ten feet, was packed full of bars of hardened gold from the mineat Huitzilan. And so was the next room, and the next, until we had foundfi
ve rooms thus filled. But all the remaining rooms were entirely empty,and of the treasure set aside in long past ages by King Chaltzantzinthere was no sign. Yet here, truly, was stored wealth the like of whichthe richest monarch in the world could not match for greatness; and asYoung beheld before him such enormous riches his face grew ruddy, aneager light came into his eyes, the muscles of his throat workedconvulsively, and his breathing was labored and short--until Idemolished all his fine fancies at a blow by saying: "Much good thistreasure is to us, when there isn't a ghost of a chance that either ofus ever will get out of this valley alive!" As I uttered these bitterwords his look of animation left him, and for some moments he wassilent; and when at last he spoke, it was in a tone of calm thoughmelancholy conviction, and with a most dispassionate air.

  "I shall be obliged t' you, Professor, really obliged t' you," he said,"if you'll just kick me for a blasted fool. Ever since that night inMorelia when you told me an' Rayburn about this treasure I've regularlyhad it on my brain. Through all these months I've been thinkin' about itwhen I was awake an' dreamin' about it when I was asleep. An' it's truefor a fact, Professor, that never until this blessed minute, when we'vereally struck it, has th' notion come into my fool head that when we didketch up with it the folks it rightly b'longed to might want t' keep itfor theirselves! Yes, just kick me, please. Just kick me for a forlorn,mis'rable, blasted fool!"

  I was not disposed to laugh at Young's words; rather was I disposed toweep over them. For they brought freshly and strongly to my mind thefact that I was responsible for alluring him, by the hope of acquiringgreat riches quickly, into this accursed valley, where in a little whilehe would be most barbarously done to death. And I knew too that I wasresponsible for the like fate that must overtake Rayburn, and that inregard to Pablo my guilt was greatest of all. It was a comfort to me,truly, that not one of these ever by look or word reproached me for thusso wofully misleading them; and yet, in a certain way, their veryforbearance but added to my pain.

  Therefore was I a little gladdened, when we returned again to theothers, to find that Fray Antonio was speaking to Rayburn, with a grave,calm hopefulness, of those spiritual realities which are higher andbetter than material realities, and without steadfast trust in which,most of us, in the course of this sorrowful thing that we call life,assuredly would go mad in sheer despair. And listening to thiscomforting discourse, which was not checked by our return, did much tostrengthen me to bear my heavy load of vain regret. Presently FrayAntonio shifted his ground--for he had the wisdom to speak but shortlyon these grave topics, yet using always pregnant words which sank downinto men's hearts and germinated there--and told us of what had befallenhim since he had stolen away from us that night in Huitzilan.

  In truth, he had but little to tell, for his adventures had been of avery simple kind. Upon his arrival in the canoe at the water-gate hehad been at once recognized and admitted, and had been carried directlyto the building in which, on our first coming into the city, we all hadbeen confined. And there he had been imprisoned until he was led up tothe temple to take part in the triumph that El Sabio's violence soseriously had marred, and so once more was in our company. Of the PriestCaptain he had seen nothing at all; nor had any answer come back to himfrom that dignitary to his urgent plea that, inasmuch as he had thussurrendered himself, his companions--that is, ourselves--should besuffered to leave the valley in peace; which silence on the part of thePriest Captain was not surprising, however, in view of the bravedefiance in words sent by the Tlahuicos, who afterwards were suchcowards in deeds.

  In fact, during the brief time of his imprisonment Fray Antonio had notspoken to a soul save the man who brought him drink and food. Yet histalk with this man, scant though it had been, had filled him with thehope that, could he only hold free converse with the people at large,even as he had done at Huitzilan, the purpose that he had in mind incoming into the valley would be fulfilled. Although a priest of thetemple, his jailer had listened with a most earnest and hearty attentionto the expounding of Christian doctrine that was opened to him, and hadshown a very cheering willingness to recognize the shortcomings of hisown idolatrous belief as compared with the principles of this purer andnobler faith. And he had told Fray Antonio that many of his companionsin the service of the temple, having heard somewhat of the new creedfrom those who had tome up from Huitzilan, were eager to know moreconcerning it; so that it would seem, Fray Antonio declared, as thoughthere were a harvest there ready to be reaped to Christianity by hishand. The case was such, he thought, that could he but speak publicly tothe multitude, and especially could there but be vouchsafed from Heavensome sign by which the verity of his words might be established, he yetwould win to the glorious Christian faith this whole community, that,through no fault of its own, until that time had remained lost inheathen sin.

  Rayburn and I exchanged glances as Fray Antonio spoke of aid being givenhim in his work by a sign from Heaven, for to our notions the time ofmiracles was a long while past. But Fray Antonio, as we knew (for onceor twice we three had spoken together of this matter), did not at allhold with us in believing that miracle-working had come to an end; andindeed his faith was entirely logical; for, as he himself put it, thosewho believed that miracles ever had been wrought for the advancement ofChristianity could not reasonably draw a line at any year since theChristian Church was founded, and say that in that year miracles ceasedto be. In this matter, as in many others, the resemblance between FrayAntonio and the founder of his Order, Saint Francis of Assisi, was verystrong.

  Pablo's experience as a prisoner had been of a far more trying sort; forthe priests had sought earnestly, he said, by most stringent means, topervert him from Christianity to their own faith. When we had been sorudely separated that day, after our interview with the Priest Captain,he, and El Sabio with him, had been hurried up the stairs to the temple,and thence to the Treasure-house; and there, though not in the part ofit in which we then were, he had been ever since confined. Strongmeasures certainly had been taken to make a heathen of him. He had beenstarved for a while, and he had been deprived of water, and he had beencruelly scourged, and very harrowing presentments had been made to himof the death that he must die should he much longer refuse to yield.That the lad had remained firm in his faith, he told us, sobbing alittle at memory of his hardships, was because of the sorrow that heknew his yielding would bring upon Fray Antonio and upon me; whichcertainly was not the reason that Fray Antonio most would have approved,but it did not in the least detract from the steady courage that he hadshown in holding out firmly under pressure that would have made many aman succumb. In all the time that so many cruelties had been practisedupon him, only one man had shown him kindness--an old man, who seemed tobe in charge of the archives that the Treasure-house contained, whotwice had risked his own life by secretly giving him water and food. Buthe never had been separated from El Sabio, Pablo said joyfully, inconclusion, nor had his mouth-organ been taken away from him; and theseblessings had done much to lessen the misery that he was compelled tobear.

  When, in our turn, Rayburn and Young and I had told of the far morestirring adventures that we had passed through, and of our high hopesseemingly so well founded that had suffered so dismal a downfall, we allof us wisely refrained from speculating at all upon the future; insteadof which profitless and painful topic we strove to speak cheerfully ofindifferent matters; and this we did not only that we might the betterkeep our hearts up, but that we might not excite Rayburn, who alreadywas in a dangerously feverish condition by reason of his wound. But,though we spoke not of it, we none of us doubted what our fate would be;nor did we imagine that the death that surely awaited us would be longdelayed.

  It was a source of wonder to us, therefore, that day after day went bywithout bringing the end that we so confidently expected. From the manwho brought us our food we could learn nothing; but this was not fromill-will on his part, but because he himself knew nothing of the PriestCaptain's plans. This man, though a priest, was not unkindly disposedtowar
ds us, and he even listened to the words which Fray Antonioaddressed to him touching Christian doctrine; but while helistened--being made of a sterner stuff than the priest who previouslyhad been Fray Antonio's jailer--he gave no sign of assent. The onlyother person whom we had a chance to speak with, and this but rarely,was the old man who had shown kindness to Pablo, the guardian of thearchives--who, by right of his official position, had free access tothat portion of the Treasure-house from which the second grating cut usoff. At the grating he and I had some very interesting conversationstogether upon archaeological matters; but Fray Antonio took but littleinterest in him when he found how slight was the impression made uponhim by the most serious of doctrinal talk. In truth, this oldfellow--wherefore my own heart warmed to him--was wholly given to thestudy of antiquities; and so full was his mind of this delightfulsubject that there was no room left in it for thoughts about religionsof any sort. He was entirely catholic in this matter, for his unconcernrespecting Christianity was neither more marked nor less marked than washis unconcern toward his own avowed faith.

  Many curious things this old man told me touching the history of hispeople; and he showed me, also, the manner in which their annals werekept--an obvious evolution from the picture-writing of the Aztecs thathad advanced to a stage closely resembling the cross between ideaographsand an alphabet that the Coreans use--all of which I have dealt withexhaustively in my larger work. And he told me also, with a wonder thatdid not seem uncalled for, that several times in each year the PriestCaptain retired to the very place in which we then were imprisoned, andremained there sometimes for as much as a whole month cut off from hispeople, without food or drink, while he communed with the gods.

  But what seemed strange to me, and also bitterly disheartening, was thatthis old man, notwithstanding the office that he held and his hungrylove for ancient things, could tell me nothing of the treasure that KingChaltzantzin had stored away. He knew of this treasure, he said, onlyas a vague tradition; and although, at one time or another, he hadexplored every chamber in the Treasure-house, he never had found of thisancient deposit the smallest trace; for which excellent reason he hadconcluded that if ever there had been such a treasure it long since hadbeen dispersed. No doubt--considering how useless to me, beyond the meregratification of my own curiosity, would have been its discovery--myregret at this abrupt ending of my hopes was most unreasonable; but Iconfess that, so far as I myself was concerned, the very keenest pang ofsorrow that I suffered through all that sorrowful time was when I thuslearned that the archaeological search that I had entered upon sohopefully, and that I had so laboriously prosecuted, had been but afool's errand from first to last.