hands or their feet. Whoever touched the ball with either hand or foot was out.
At fifteen the boys were put into a public school of arms, under the care of experienced chiefs deputed by the councillor that business; here they were taught to handle weapons skillfully. The lads then entered the ranks of the warriors. Long and rapid marches were common, and, as the youth went fully armed or carried the arms of one of the warriors, he soon found that war was no pastime. The lads also carried the baggage of priests who were traveling on religious errands. Their graduating-day came in our month of May, when the feast of the god Tezcaltipoca was celebrated. It was always a joyous occasion, in spite of the fact that on that day a young man, the fairest, noblest and most gifted of the captives, was offered in sacrifice to this god. For a whole year the victim had been petted and feasted; that day all his fine clothes were taken from him, and his gay companions, his luxurious quarters, his music, flowers and games, were left behind, and, surrounded by wild-eyed priests, he went with a solemn procession to a bloody death outside the city. But it was a gala-day for the lads in the temple. The women prepared a feast for them, including a graduating-cake sweetened with honey. It was the great frolic of their lives. They sang and jested and raced in the temple-corridors. Those who were in the classes below them had as much fun at their expense as the young people of our times have on All Fools' day, and the young women pelted the graduates as they ran the gauntlet of their fellows.
It was unlawful for an Aztec youth to remain unmarried, and his matrimonial affairs were generally settled by the time that temple-service and education were ended.
