tu The family had grayed—prayed to the sun and the moon, the “father” and “mother” gods, as they called them. Then they had called the medicine man, and he prayed, too. And all the while the medicine man was there, Chepil had prayed with all his might, desperately offering his own childish petition so that Elder Brother would •get well. After that the days passed slowly, but, little by little, Elder Broth er had grown strong and soon he was quite well again. And Chepil had thanked the gods, from the bottom of his young hèart, for giving Elder Brother’s spirit back to them. “ But why do the gods hear one time and not another?” he whispered now, afraid of his own daring in question ing them, but voicing the new thought that had just come to him. He was older when he had gone with Maruch that other time for the perfumed wood. Maruch’s face was white, and they had run so fast his heart had thumped until it hurt to breathe. But though they burned the wood and prayed, oh, so long, Mother had left them. The gods had taken her spirit away, and for many long nights Chepil had cried into his blan ket, remembering his mother’s beàuti- ful eyes and her soft voice telling him the Indian legends he loved. Last week the scent of the per fumed wood had risen toward the blue sky once more. But even as the little curls of smoke drifted lazily upward, it had happened. No more would he watch his father’s laugh ing eyes and merry smile of hear the gay voice singing'to him. The gods had taken, his father’s spirit away, too. The gods were very greedy—perhaps it was true, as the neighbors said, and the gods were angry with them. Any way, everything was changed from the happy days Chepil had known. Elder Brother and Maruch were go ing away, far over thé mountains to the hot country to plant com. There was no money left; something had to be done. Chepil had begged to go, but it was too far. He was not yet strong enough to walk that long dis- stance. It took so l o n g to grownup, he thought wistfully. If he were only a man so he, could help! But it was all settled for him. He had heard the others talking about it the other night when they thought he was asleep. He waS to be taken to "the big city where he would work in a home as a serving boy. There he would have a good home and plenty to eat and Maruch would not need to be afraid fqr him any longer. He ought to be glad to go. It was still very dark when Maruch called him at about three-thirty the next morning. He tried to eat some of the nice cakes she had ready for him, but he almost choked on them. Once the thought of a trip to the big
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And while h f was here he would see all there was that was so interesting about this new home. The houses here had tile roofs and thick adobe walls with floors of wood instead of the earth as they had been in Chepil’s home. ..W a t e r actually came out of a pipe in the wall, and there was always plenty of good food and even new clothes to wear. The clothes were different from any he had ever seen before, and all the peo ple spoke a different language from the Indian tongue of his village. But Chepil began to like hjs new home more and more. Every day he learned more S p a n i s h , ran errands, and helped his master in the store. • Further surprises awaited Chepil on his first Sunday in Las Casas. In His old life there had been special festival days, but he knew nothing about Sunday, or that any one went to the house of God on that day. He did as the o t h e r s in the household did, though. He bathed, put on c l e a n clothes, and went off to the house of God, carrying the new B i b l e and hymn book his master had given him. He sat very still during the service, bowing his head when he saw others , with bowed heads, repeating memory verses with the other boys, though he did not understand what the words meant, and watching the worshipers as they sang the songs that were very different from any he ever had heard before. He opened his Bible when others did, but the p r i n t e d words stared back at him, for he could not read them. Thus another resolve was born in Chepil’s heart. He would learn to read so that he could read this Book others seemed to enjoy so much. * * * The year passed quickly, far m°re quickly than Chepil thought it could. He had grown to love his new home. ■He c o u l d read now, and he spent many of his spare minutes in reading "'the Bible. He could not understand it all, but at first he had been very happy because it was so full of inter esting stories. Of late, however, he had been troubled, and quite often there was a p u z z l e d frown on his usually smiling face. • He t r u d g e d thoughtfully to th e ' church building one Sunday morning. “ It is a good teaching,” he mused. “I, too, would like to be a believer. But if this is the one, true doctrine, why have not the Indians heard of it before? Is it just a foreign reli gion? If I should follow this Way, I would be different from Maruch and Elder Brother and all the others of my village. I am not Spanish; I am an Indian, and we have our gods.” Swiftly the thought came, “Can our gods save us?” But Chepil would not voice that thought—he must not. The c h u r c h was quiet when he slipped in. He sat alone, not want-
city that he had never seen would have made him jump for joy. But there wasn’t even a tiny happy thrill over it how. “I wish . . .” he began once. Then he shrugged his thin shoulders and sighed. He must not make it harder for Maruch. Chepil felt very proud of himself when he managed to keep back the tears as he told .Maruch good-by. When he followed Elder Brother down the trail, each carrying a l i g h t e d wooden torch, his young back was very straight and stiff. Chepil was learn ing quickly that crying did no good. It seemed a long way to the city. He had not imagined it was nearly so far. For more than six hours, by the sun, he followed Elder Brother; up and down, over the mountains, then down into the green valleys, and his legs grew very tired. But gradually a resolve grew in his heart. He would work hard in the city and be a good servant. When he was old enough, he would find Maruch and he would take care of her a ll the rest of his life. Intent on his rosy dreams and splen did ambition, Chepil began to sing stanzas of the song his father had taught him, and the pain of his part ing with his sister began to ease a littlfe. Long before they had reached the city, Chepil found that it was pos sible to be happy over some things even though your heart felt like cry ing over something else. The gay— hued flowers, surprising him on every turn, caught his color-loving eyes and once he became quite excited when a brightly colored bird flew close, chir ruping a shrill warning of impending danger to his mate. The new and wonderful sights in the city of Las Casas were enough to make even a homesick boy happy again. As Chepil followed Elder Brother through the streets, his eyes simply could not keep up with all the exciting things there were to see. Perhaps it would be fun to live here after all! If only Maruch and Elder Brother could be With him, he knew it would be fun. The lump in his throat was a little easier to swallow the morning he said good-by to Elder Brother and watched him start toward Apas. For just a moment Chepil wished he could go back, too. Then he remembered his resolve to work hard and be brave.
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