Daughter of the Sun

, out through a deep, shadow-filled doorway into the dusk, down a long corridor and into the house again at an end which Kendric judged must be clos

hen hurried on. Again she knocked at a locked door; again it was swung open only when she had added her voice to her rapping. Who opened this door Kendric did not know; for it was pitch dark as soon as the door was shut after them and they stood in a room either windowless or darkened by thick curtains. But the girl hastened on before him and he

she neither knocked nor called. He heard her fingers groping along the wall;

whispered. And he k

softly modulated voice said: "Entra, se?or." He stepped across the threshhold and into the presence of another serving girl, taller t

and the main apartment had made the light dim, for just

s them. Then, abruptly, she put her lips quite close to his ear, and whispered: "Do not a

, nothing worse, than absurdity? Suppose Zoraida were sincere in all that she had said to him, in all the things she did? He had heard a rumor concerning Ruiz Rios, lo

l silks, he imagined, deep purples and yellows and greens and reds cunningly arranged so that their glowing colors and the ornamental designs worked upon them made no discordant clash of color. The chamber in which he had met Zoraida at the hotel was mild hued, colo

ving come; he should have sat tight in the patio and let her come to him. No doubt she was spying on him now from behind the hangings somewhere. There was no comfort in the thought, no joy in imagi

no way of knowing, the unforgettable, almost sickeningly sweet fragrance he remembered. One instant he was hardly conscious of it, it wa

talogued but vital. It was the old uncanny certainty that at last eyes, the eyes of none other than Zoraida Castelmar, were bent searchingly on him. So strong was the feelin

c. It parted readily and just behind it, her eyes more brilli

e influence of my mind upon your mind? You stood here and the chamber was empty about you. I came, but so that you might not hear with your ears and might not s

nd Kendric knew that it was not merely light mirth but the deeper l

re is nothing unusual in one's feeling the presence of another. As for any

ne of her mouth and the

ed as she passed by him into the room, "because

or true in your establishment," he

red, tiny feathers, feathers of humming birds, he learned later; throat and arms were bare save for many blazing red and green stones, feet bare

arkably heavy-muscled, the greater part of the body showing since his simple cotton tunic was wide open across the deep chest, and left arms and legs bare. The forehead was atavistically low, the cheek bones very prominent, the nose wide and flat, the lips loose and thick. The man looked brutish, cruel and ugly as he s

the words though he readily recognized the tongue for one of th

they bore a heavy chair of black polished wood the feet of which were eagles' talons gripping and resting on crystal balls. They placed it and stood waiting for orders or dismissal. She gave both, the first in a few

Kendric. "But if you have anyt

out her hand, stroking the bright feathers. From somewhere else, startling the man when he saw it gliding by him on its soft pads, a big puma, ran forward, threw up its head, snarling, its tail jerking back and forth restlessly. Zoraida spoke

er extravagant desires. But since everything about him was stamped with the barbaric, even to the oblique-eyed woman staring boldly at him; since everything in the exotic atmosph

mericano! And soon you will know you are wrong. There is no woman throughout the wide sweep of my country or yours who has the w

poke her thought. Whatever the fate which she judged was hers to fulfil, she accepted it with a fervor not unlike some ecstatic religious devot

s and pictures symbols in the Roman church. My bright colored bird is older now than you will be, or I, when we die. Age, bright feathers and chatter! My puma m

ught here for some p

in her chair, her two hand

ince then have I not sent myself into your thoughts many times? Did I not

e: Did you somehow get aboard the New Moon at

you, no matter what word I spoke! If I said that across the miles, over

re are other read

ck hand and poin

dred years of words and only a red and yellow bundle of feather

d her look

f me," he said. "And in one w

en he remained silent, his eyes hostile upon hers, she went on, her speech quick and passionate. "There are great happenings on foot, American. There will be war and death; there will be tearing down and bu

ime to mock, his time to g

I God; a man strong and fearless and masterful; a man trustworthy to the death when his word is given and his honor is at stake. No, I do not judge you alone by what happened at Ortega's gambling house. But that fitted in with all I knew of you. Where else can I find a man to lose ten thousand, twenty thousand dollars, all that he has and

bill of health," he said q

will be war

cut in. "There is a

vity; already is Chihuahua armed and eager. Already have the thousands of Yaquis listened and agreed; already have I made them large promises of ancient tribal lands restored and money. A Yaqui guards my door yonder. But you did not know that he wa

co. And if your great plannings are feasible, which I very much doubt, has yo

me. My cousin, Ruiz Rios, whom I distrust and detest; the Captain Escobar who is a small man and a murderer, the

away," he asked

not goi

s brows quic

ded her. "When I please. I am m

She smiled at

y going would be

e gardens; that, if you sought to pass the outer wall, you would be detained.

tching him shrewdly, interested to see just how he would accept

usands of acres; the barren lands which are mine, desert and mountain, stretch mile after mile. There is no power like mine in all Mexico, though until now it has lain hidden, giving

"What comes after all

es," she said so

deep into her heart; as though these were gates, open to him, through which he might glimpse paradise. Zoraida, her look clinging to his passionately, was seeking to offer the final argument. The case would have not been plainer had she whispered with her lips: "I, even I, Zoraida, love you! You

's mind hold an image of the thing in Zoraida's. He felt her influence upon him; he felt that odd stirring of the blood; he stared back into her eyes like a man bewildered as pictures rose and swept

ine how she stood before the sailor, how she talked with him and looked at him, how in the first small point she won over him. He thought of an ancient tale of Circe and the swine. Was he a free man, a man's man or was he a woman's plaything?… It flashed over him again that it might be that Zoraida was mad. Even now, that he se

f his mind but surely not all. What she realized was that she had offered much, everything, and that he stood, seemingly unmoved and

m of a mind to let those dogs, Rios and Escobar, have their way with you! What! am I Zoraida Castelmar, of a race of

out in the open air. But as h

ow something of it as I know something of all that goes forward from end to end of a land that will one day all be mine. Juarez died from Escobar's knife but his last gasp

d, showing its glistening teeth and red throat. Its eyes were no more merciless and cruel than its mistress's. Kendric felt queerly as though he

she

the doors thrown open befo