THE ROMANCE OF MEXICO
spices, was presented to the emperor. All manner of delicious fruits were then placed before him, gathered from the tropical groves of the coast and the orchards of the temperate plateau.
When the meal was over the fair maidens presented once more the silver basin of sparkling water, the ancient lords retired, and pipes were brought of gilded wood containing "liquid amber, mixed with an herb they call tobacco." While the emperor lay and smoked, buffoon and jester, juggler, minstrel and dancing-girl sought in vain to chase from his brow the lines of heavy care. Dismissing them all at last, he sank to sleep in the heavy, scent-laden air; but not to rest, for in his dreams echoed the iron tramp of the horses and the thunder of those dread engines brought by the steel-clad children of the East.
