Then I was borne to the edge of the teocalli, for I could not walk, and here my would-be murderer, the priest, having first shouted some words to the spectators below, that caused them to murmur like a forest when the wind stirs it, clasped me in his blood-stained arms and kissed me on the forehead.

Now it was for the first time that I noticed my captor, the cacique, standing at my side, grave, courteous, and smiling.

As he had smiled when he handed me to the pabas, so he smiled when he took me back from them.

Then having been cleansed and clothed, I was led into the sanctuary of the god Quetzal and stood face to face with the hideous image there, staring at the golden censer that was to have received my heart while the priests uttered prayers.

Thence I was supported down the winding road of the pyramid till I came to its foot, where my captor the cacique took me by the hand and led me through the people who, it seemed, now regarded me with some strange veneration.
The first person that I saw when we reached the house was Marina, who looked at me and murmured some soft words that I could not understand.
Then I was suffered to go to my chamber, and there I passed the rest of the day prostrated by all that I had undergone.