"
"You mean that the immediate ancestors of the people of
those countries came from the North," Jimmie criticized.
"For all we know, the people who lived before them came
from the South. They left no records to show that they
ever existed, but the earth was not bare of animal life
back of the period our scientists figure from."
"The first ones came from the East, by way of Iceland,
Greenland, and Baffinland; from the Eastern continent,
and about the vicinity of the Caspian sea, and so kept
on South on this continent as the climate grew colder.
But we were talking of the people of Mexico. I wanted to
show you that they have never been favored as the people
of our country have, and that they've got years of national
childhood to go through yet before they become a great people."
"Go on and tell me about it," urged Jimmie. "We may learn
as much about what's going on here by sitting on this plateau
as we could by climbing our heads off."
The boys listened a moment, but there were no suspicious sounds
about. The mountain lay as silent under the moon as if no human
foot had ever pressed its surface. There were lights far down
in the valley, but none on the slopes in view.
"About as far back as the books go in Mexican history," the
drummer began, "is the seventh century, even when England
wasn't much. About that time the Toltecs came out of the
North and took possession of the valley where the City of
Mexico now is. They were industrious, peaceful and skilled
in many of the arts.
Pages:
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110