"How much it would have delighted me, could I have been with you, I can not express; but you know how dearly I love to use my bow and arrow; let that speak for me. You often tell me, however, father, that I am too tender-hearted to engage in hunting."
"Yes, that's a fact, Mit, and I'm not sorry for it. I would not that ye were disposed to be cruel, for ye are a woman," he replied, in approval of her weakness, or, more fittingly, her innate sympathy.
"Your daughter is a fine archer, I infer?" remarked the Tezcucan inquiringly, addressing the mountaineer.
"Her arrow is true--I might say unerring," replied the father proudly. "And yet few know that she is an archer, at all."
"My father, you see, is a little extravagant in his praise of my archery," interrupted Mitla.
"He, no doubt, has reasons for being so," said Cacami. "It is a delightful accomplishment, and I'm sure you realize much pleasure from it. I am not unskilled in the use of the bow, and greatly enjoy its employment." Turning to the younger sister, he continued: "You, my young friend--Oxie, I believe, do not engage in its practice?"
"No, my sister's excellence and my own awkwardness have always discouraged me, so I have given up trying," she answered a little ruefully.
"Oxie, if not an archer, has other accomplishments really more womanly," spoke the mother, joining in the conversation to defend her favorite.
"Your daughters are both, without doubt, worthy of all praise, each for those accomplishments best suited to her disposition," replied Cacami with tact, addressing his hostess.
"Good girls, friend, both of them," interrupted Tezcot, stripping the meat from the bone of a pheasant; "differently constituted, that's all." Then abruptly turning the subject, he said: "Have you been successful, Cacami, in chasing the charm to which you alluded this evening, the charm which we of the mountains find in pursuing the hunter's calling?"
"You may be assured, O Tezcot, that I have no cause for complaint. My success has always been very satisfactory," replied Cacami; and continuing, he inquired: "How do you hunters manage to dispose of your game aside from what you consume?"
"Take or send it to the nearest market. My men will go in after another day to dispose of our surplus, which is now quite large," replied the mountaineer.