These are my children, given unto me by the great Sun-god.

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None of white blood may set foot in this valley and live." The woman stood gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to her feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric followers cast their light full upon her.
FOREWORD The manuscript of this tale has been in my possession several years.
It reached me through natural lines of inheritance, but remained nearly forgotten, until a chance reading revealed a certain historic basis; then, making note of correspondences in minor details, I realized that what I had cast aside as mere fiction might possess a substantial foundation of fact.