United States or Cocos Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
She had been carried off as he meant to carry off the seven maidens of the Happy Valley, for the misterios had a theory that a mixture of white and Indian blood made the finest children and the boldest warriors. But white wives being difficult to obtain, mestiza maidens had generally to be accepted, or rather, taken in their stead. We rose before daybreak and were in the saddle at dawn.
I was in this mood, and ready for any enterprise, however desperate, when one morning a young woman who had been driving cattle to an upland pasture, came running to Fray Ignacio to say that she had seen a troop of horsemen coming down from the mountains. "The misterios!" said the priest, turning pale. "Are you still resolved, señor?"
There were two or three mestizo families in the village, some of whom were whiter, or rather, less coppery than the others, and from these the misterios would select and carry off the best-looking maidens; for what purpose Fray Ignacio could not tell, but, as he feared, to sacrifice to their gods.
In this way we should be able to shoot down four or five of the misterios before any of them could get near us, and as they had no firearms I felt sure that, after so warm a reception, they would let us alone and go their way. The shooting would demoralize them, and as we should not show ourselves they could not know that the garrison consisted only of the negro and myself.
While the charmingly sincere young man pleaded with her accompanied by the orchestra in the old 'Traviata' duet, 'misterioso, misterios' altero! she maintained her bitter scepticism, and the curtain fell on her dancing recklessly with the others, after Armand had been sent away with his flower. Between the acts we had no time to forget.
Although the crowd numbered two or three hundred, of whom a third were men, no resistance was offered. A few of exceptionally energetic character made a languid attempt to bolt, but were speedily brought back by the misterios, whose long spears they treated with profound respect.
It was further arranged that Fray Ignacio should remain outside with his tame Indians, and tell the misterios that all the good-looking mestiza, maidens were in his house, guarded by braves from over the seas, who would strike dead with lightning anybody who attempted to lay hands on them.
DON EDUARDO. Cuanto hablemos ... que yo no soy partidario de misterios ni de cosas irregulares ... lo único que solicito es ver todavía otra vez a doña Matilde ... y probarla con sólo tres palabras que yo no era enteramente indigno del tesoro que codiciaba. BRUNO. ¿Quién puede dudarlo?... y muy digno que era usted.
One of the misterios, whom from his remarkable head-dress a helmet made of a condor's skull I took to be a cacique, after greeting the priest, entered into conversation with him, the purport of which I had no difficulty in guessing, for the Indian, laughing loudly, turned to his companions and said something that appeared greatly to amuse them.
A much more serious trouble were the occasional visits of bands of wild Indians Indios misterios, he called them; what they called themselves he had no idea. Neither had he any definite idea whence they came; from the other side of the Cordilleras, some people thought.
Word Of The Day