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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



entangled in a snare elose beside him as 

 he sat motionless, happily musing. See- 

 ing that its big, soft eyes were like those 

 of the maiden he loved, he loosed its 

 bonds and set it free. 



In the midst of his amorous musings, 

 as he sat in his chamber one day, a dust- 

 covered runner came up to the palace 

 entrance and rattled the sounding shells 

 before the curtains for instant entrance 

 on the ruler's service. 



The news he brought drove the young 

 ruler to desperation. 



The Batab of a neighboring province, 

 and one far more powerful than he of 

 Chichen Itza, had married the maiden 

 that Canek was to take to wife. 



For a while no raging jaguar robbed 

 of his mate was more furious than 

 young Canek: then of a sudden he grew 

 quiet, cool, and seemingly calm. 



So his warriors remembered to have 

 seen him when they fought an old-time 

 enemy, killed his fighting men, and de- 

 faced his temple, and they patiently 

 waited. 



The night came and with it a brooding 

 norther. Darkness as black as the hate 

 in the heart of Canek was all around the 

 silent ranks of the swiftly moving war- 

 riors. The lightning flashes, as sharp 

 and hot as the anger that flamed in the 

 Canek's breast, played over the glinting 

 points of crystal on the moving forest of 

 lances as they neared the enemy's city. 



The ever-burning flames on the top of 

 the distant temple gleamed redly, and 

 black smoke went heavenward in in- 

 creasing volume as the priests burnt 

 great baskets of copal in honor of their 

 ruler's marriage. 



Canek and his silent warriors came 

 swiftly onward, melting into the dark- 

 ness of the shadows, hiding from the 

 lightning flash, leaping ahead like deer 

 when chance offered. Revelry had taken 

 the city with all that was in it and held 

 it hard and fast. Even the watchers 

 were drunkenly grumbling over the fate 

 that kept them out of the carousals and 

 in the darkness. As the black and mov- 

 ing shadows reached them swiftly they 

 soon were quiet and out of the darkness 

 for evermore. 



THE INTERRUPTED MARRIAGE 



And the deer-eyed woman — a wife, yet 

 still a maiden^was she happy? Oh, who 

 knows ! It may be that her eyes were 

 not pain shadowed ; that it was but the 

 dim light of the wild wax tapers in the 

 narrow vaulted chamber, and it may be 

 that which glistened on her drooping 

 lashes was but the flashing of stray light 

 beams from between the entrance cur- 

 tains. Who knows? 



Merry were the wedding guests and 

 well drunken most of them. More than 

 merry was the bridegroom, who drank 

 the deepest of them all. His brain was 

 sodden, his limbs rebellious, but his 

 tongue, though thick and clumsy, still 

 responded to his call. 



Sodden brain and clumsy tongue 

 worked together as he mumbled loudly: 



"As for the Lord of Chichen Itza — 

 poor lean dog — let him take his pleas- 

 ure howling at the moon tonight ! Be- 

 fore I seek my wife's caresses in her 

 many-curtained chamber, I must hear a 

 lively song. Ehen ! Holcanes ! Tupiles ! 

 lift your voices and rattle out the battle 

 song." 



Drunkenly mumbling, stupidly fumb- 

 ling, he rolled on his side and fell asleep. 



At the holcanes' call the tupiles started 

 the great war song of the Mayas — "Co- 

 nex. Conex Paleche" ("Come on, come 

 on, ye warriors"). 



The voices that commenced it were 

 well known, though drunken and quav- 

 ering ; the voices that joined in it and 

 ended it were strong, full, and shrilly 

 menacing. Abruptly the drunken voices 

 ceased and some ended with a groan. 



The deer-eyed woman, alone in her 

 curtained chamber, heard the voices and 

 the singing, and then the strangeness of 

 the tumult drove her to the carved stone 

 entrance. Before she reached it the 

 shells were rattled and the curtains 

 parted swiftly. "Star of the night! 

 Star of my life !" said Canek. 



"My Lord Canek," said the maiden, 

 with startled eyes, but star lit. 



Dead men, live men. and the live men 

 dead in drunken stupor, what could the 

 few with senses unbenumbed do against 



