On the inner side of this cone were easy steps whereby
it could be ascended, and its top, which might have been six feet in
diameter, was fashioned in the shape of a cup, probably for the purposes
of acts of worship and of sacrifice. This extraordinary monument, which,
except on the river side, could not be seen from below on account of
the slope of the hill, leaned slightly outwards, so that a stone dropped
from its crest would fall into the waters of the stream.
"Thence it was," said the Molimo, "that my forefathers saw the last of
the Portuguese, the fair daughter of the great Captain Ferreira, hurl
herself to death after she had given the gold into our keeping, and laid
the curse upon it, until she came again. So in my dreams have I seen and
heard her also, ay, and others have seen her, but these only from by the
river far below."
He paused awhile, looking at Benita with his queer, dreamy eyes; then
said suddenly:
"Say, Lady, do you remember nothing of that matter?"
Now Benita grew vexed, for the whole thing was uncanny and jarred upon
her.
"How can I remember," she asked, "who was born not five and twenty years
ago?"
"I do not know," he answered. "How should I know, who am but an ignorant
old black man, who was born not much more than eighty years ago? Yet,
Lady, tell me, for I seek your wisdom, where were you born from? Out of
the earth, or out of the heavens? What? You shake your head, you who
do not remember? Well, neither do I remember.
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