CHAPTER VII 



THE INDIAN, THE MEXICAN AND 

 THE CHURCH 



''During the lifetime of the adventurer called Don Ruy Sandoval 

 the province of New Spain along the Rio Grande Del Norte was 

 locked and barred against the seeker of gold or of souls — it was 

 the closed land of mystery; the province of sorcerers, where Mother 

 Earth hid beneath her heart the symbol of the Sun Father. .. .Fires 

 were lit as they have been lighted for centuries that the god Po- 

 seyemo might know that their faith in the Valley of the Great River 

 was yet strong for the ancient gods. Three centuries of the re- 

 ligion of the white strangers have not made dim the signal fires 

 to those born of the sky." — The Flute of the Sky. 



Is there anything new under the sun? Now in 

 place of lighting fires on the mountain in honor of 

 the great god Po-se-yemo, the Mexicans and In- 

 dians, encouraged in superstition of another variety 

 by the Church, light these fires to show Our Lady 

 of Guadalupe the way down the Valley of the Great 

 River. Of course she has been to visit us once, 

 innumerable years ago, but it is presumed she has 

 forgotten the trail. The Church makes handsome 

 use of many an ancient heathen tradition, and this 

 represents just one. But it is eminently pictur- 

 esque, not to say beautiful. For days previous to 

 this sacred December night the devoutly inclined 

 native gathers whatever combustible material offers 

 itself, and when darkness falls dozens of little 

 flames rise into the star-studded sky. There is no 

 fear that Our Lady's feet may stumble. But alas ! 

 she never comes. When bedtime hour arrives we 



