CHAPTER V.
HOW TO YIELD A CROWN.
As the guard passed the old lord and the princess out of the gateopposite the _teocallis_, the latter looked up to the _azoteas_ of thesacred pile, and saw the 'tzin standing near the verge; taking off thewhite scarf that covered her head, and fell from her shoulders, afterpassing once around her neck, she gave him the signal. He waved his handin reply, and disappeared.
The lord Cuitlahua, just released from imprisonment and ignorant of thesituation, scarcely knowing whither to turn yet impatient to set hisrevenge in motion, accepted the suggestion of Tula, and accompanied herto the temple. The ascent was laborious, especially to him; at the top,however, they were received by Io' and Hualpa, and with every show ofrespect conducted to the 'tzin. He saluted them gravely, yetaffectionately. Cuitlahua told him the circumstances of his release fromimprisonment.
"So," said the 'tzin, "Malinche expects you to open the market, andforbid the war; but the king,--what of him?"
"To Tula he gave his will; hear her."
SHE GAVE HIM THE SIGNAL]
And she repeated the message of her father. At the end, the calm of the'tzin's temper was much disturbed. At his instance she again and againrecited the prophecy. The words "Freedom and God" were as dark to him asto the king, and he wondered at them. But that was not all. Clearly,Montezuma approved the war; that he intended its continuance was equallycertain; unhappily, there was no designation of a commander. And inthought of the omission, the young chief hesitated; never didambition appeal to him more strongly; but he brushed the allurementaway, and said to Cuitlahua,--
"The king has been pleased to be silent as to which of us should governin his absence; but we are both of one mind: the right is yoursnaturally, and your coming at this time, good uncle, looks as if thegods sent you. Take the government, therefore, and give me your orders.Malinche is stronger than ever." He turned thoughtfully to the palacebelow, over which the flag of Spain and that of Cortes were nowdisplayed. "He will require of us days of toil and fighting, and manyassaults. In conquering him there will be great glory, which I pray youwill let me divide with you."
The lord Cuitlahua heard the patriotic speech with glistening eyes.Undoubtedly he appreciated the self-denial that made it beautiful; forhe said, with emotion, "I accept the government, and, as its caresdemand, will take my brother's place in the palace; do you take whatelse would be my place under him in the field. And may the gods help useach to do his duty!"
He held out his hand, which the 'tzin kissed in token of fealty, and soyielded the crown; and as if the great act were already out of mind, hesaid, ----
"Come, now, good uncle,--and you, also, Tula,--come both of you, and Iwill show what use I made of the kingly power."
He led them closer to the verge of the _azoteas_, so close that they sawbelow them the whole western side of the city, and beyond that the lakeand its shore, clear to the sierra bounding the valley in thatdirection.
"There," said he, in the same strain of simplicity, "there, in theshadow of the hills, I gathered the people of the valley, and the flowerof all the tribes that pay us tribute. They make an army the like ofwhich was never seen. The chiefs are chosen; you may depend upon them,uncle. The whole great host will die for you."
"Say, rather, for us," said the lord Cuitlahua.
"No, you are now Anahuac"; and, as deeming the point settled, the 'tzinturned to Tula. "O good heart," he said, "you have been a witness to allthe preparation. At your signal, given there by the palace gate, Ikindled the piles which yet burn, as you see, at the four corners of thetemple. Through them I spoke to the chiefs and armies waiting on thelake-shore. Look now, and see their answers."
They looked, and from the shore and from each pretentious summit of thesierra, saw columns of smoke rising and melting into the sky.
"In that way the chiefs tell me, 'We are ready,' or 'We are coming.' Andwe cannot doubt them; for see, a dark line on the white face of thecauseway to Cojohuacan, its head nearly touching the gates at Xoloc; andanother from Tlacopan; and from the north a third; and yonder on thelake, in the shadow of Chapultepec, a yet deeper shadow."
"I see them," said Cuitlahua.
"And I," said Tula. "What are they?"
For the first time the 'tzin acknowledged a passing sentiment; he raisedhis head and swept the air with a haughty gesture.
"What are they? Wait a little, and you shall see the lines on thecauseways grow into ordered companies, and the shadows under Chapultepecbecome a multitude of canoes; wait a little longer, and you shall seethe companies fill all the great streets, and the canoes girdle the cityround about; wait a little longer, and you may see the battle."
And silence fell upon the three,--the silence, however, in which heartsbeat like drums. From point to point they turned their eagereyes,--from the causeways to the lake, from the lake to the palace.
Slowly the converging lines crawled toward the city; slowly the darkmass under the royal hill, sweeping out on the lake, broke intodivisions; slowly the banners came into view, of every color and form,and then the shields and uniforms, until, at last, each host on itsseparate way looked like an endless unrolling ribbon.
When the column approaching by the causeway from Tlacopan touched thecity with its advance, it halted, waiting for the others, which, havingfarther to march, were yet some distance out. Then the three on the_teocallis_ separated; the princess retired to her _chinampa_; the lordCuitlahua, with some nobles of the 'tzin's train, betook himself to thenew palace, there to choose a household; the 'tzin, for purposes ofobservation, remained on the _azoteas_.
And all the time the threatened palace was a picture of peace; the flagshung idly down; only the sentinels were in motion, and they gossipedwith each other, or lingered lazily at places where a wall or abattlement flung them a friendly shade.