CHAPTER XLI.
At the earliest dawn, Don Amador arose from his couch, refreshed, butnot reanimated, by slumber. An oppressive gloom lay at his heart, withthe feeling of physical weight; and without yet yielding to any definiteapprehension, he was conscious of some presentiment, or vague forebodingof sorrow. The taper had expired on the pedestal, but an obscure light,the first beam of morning, guided him to the bed-side of his kinsman.The form of Baltasar was added to that of Marco on the floor; and theserving-men slept as soundly as their master. He bent a moment over DonGabriel, and though unable to perceive his countenance in the gloom, hejudged, by the calmness of his breathing, that the fever had abated."Heaven grant that the delirium may have departed with it!" he mutteredto himself, "and that my poor friend may look upon me rationally oncemore! If we are to perish under the knives of these unwearyingbarbarians, as now seems to me somewhat more than possible, better willit be for my kinsman's soul, that he die with the name of God on hislips, instead of those of the spirits which torment him."
While the cavalier gave way to such thoughts, he heard very distinctly,though at a great distance, such sounds as convinced him that 'theunwearying barbarians' were indeed rousing again for another day ofbattle. He armed himself with the more haste that he heard also in thepassage, the sound of feet, as if the garrison had been alreadysummoned, and were hurrying to the walls.
As he passed from the apartment, he found himself suddenly in the midstof a group of cavaliers, one of whom grasped his hand, and pressing itwarmly, whispered in his ear, "I will not forget that I owe thee thelife of Benita!--Come with me, my friend, and thou shalt see how prideis punished with shame, and injustice with humiliation."
"I thought," said Don Amador, "that we were about to be attacked, andthat my friends were running to the defence."
"Such is the case," said De Morla. "The millions are again advancingagainst the palace, and we go to oppose them, though not to the walls.We have raised devils, and we run to him we have most wronged, and mostdespised, to lay them. In an instant, you will hear the shrieks of thecombatants. If we find no other way to conquer them than with our arms,wo betide us all!--for we are worn and feeble, and we know our fate."
Several of the cavaliers had lights in their hands, but the chamber,into which Don Amador followed them, was lit with a multitude oftorches, chiefly of the knots of resinous wood, burning with a smokyglare, and scattering around a rich odour. The scene disclosed to theneophyte, was imposing and singular. The apartment was very spacious,and, indeed, lofty, and filled with human beings, most of them Mexicannobles of the highest rank, and of both sexes, who stood around theirmonarch, as in a solemn audience, leaving a space in front, which wasoccupied by the most distinguished of the Spaniards, among whom was DonHernan himself. A little platform, entirely concealed under cushions ofthe richest feathers, supported the chair, (it might have been called,the throne,) on which sat the royal captive, closely invested by thosemembers of his family who shared his imprisonment. A king of Cojohuacan,his brother, stood at his back, and at either side were two of hischildren, two sons and two daughters, all young, and one of them,--aprincess,--scarce budding into womanhood. Their attire, in obedience tothe law's of the court, was plain, and yet richer than the garments ofthe nobles. But it was their position near the king, the generalresemblance of their features, and the anxious eyes which they kept everbent on the royal countenance, which pointed them out as the offspringof Montezuma.
As for Montezuma himself, though he sat on his chair like an emperor, itwas more like a monarch of statuary than of flesh and blood. TheChristian general stood before him, dictating to the interpreter Marina,the expressions which he desired to enter the ear of his prisoner; but,though speaking with as much respect as earnestness, the Indian rulerseemed neither to hear nor to see him. His eye was indeed fixed on DonHernan, but yet fixed as on vacancy; and the lip, fallen in a ghastlycontortion, the rigid features, the abstracted stare, the right handpressed upon his knee, while the left lay powerless and dead over thecushions of his chair, as he bent a little forward, as if whollyunconscious of the presence of his people and his foes, made it manifestto all, that his thoughts were absorbed in the contemplation of his ownabasement.
The neophyte heard the words of Don Hernan.
"Tell his royal majesty, the king," said the general, with an accent nolonger resembling that which had fixed the barb in the bosom of hisprey, "that it mislikes me to destroy his people, like so many dumbbeasts; and yet to this end am I enforced by their madness and hissupineness. Bid him direct his subjects to lay down their arms, andassail me no further; otherwise shall I be constrained to employ thoseweapons which God has given me, until this beauteous island is convertedinto a charnel-house and hell, and the broad lake of Tezcuco into thegrave of his whole race!"
The mild and musical voice of Marina repeated the wish in the languageof Anahuac; and all eyes were bent on the monarch, as she spoke. But nota muscle moved in the frame or the visage of Montezuma.
"Is the knave turned to stone, that he hears not?" muttered the chief."Speak thou, my little Orteguilla. Repeat what thou hast heard, and seeif thine antics will not arouse the sleeper."
The youthful page stepped up to the king, seized his hand, which hestrove to raise to his lips, and looking up in his face, with aninnocent air, endeavoured to engage his attention. This boy had, fromthe first days of imprisonment, been a favourite with Montezuma; andbeing very arch and cunning, Don Hernan did not scruple to place him asa spy about the king, under colour of presenting him as a servant. Incommon, Montezuma was greatly diverted with his boyish tricks, andespecially with his blundering efforts to catch the tongue of Mexico.But there was no longer left in the bosom of the degraded prince, achord to vibrate to merriment. Habit, however, had not yet lost itshold; and as the boyish voice stammered out the accustomed tones, hegradually turned his eyes from the person of the general, and fixedthem on the visage of Orteguilla. But as he gazed, his brows contractedinto a gloomier frown, he laid his hand on the prattler's shoulder, andno sooner had the urchin ceased speaking, than he thrust him sternly,though not violently, away. Then drawing himself erect, he folded hisarms on his bosom, and without uttering a word, fixed his eyes on theface of Cortes, and there calmly and sorrowfully maintained them.
"This is, doubtless, a lethargy," said the general; "but it suits notour present occasions to indulge it. Where is my friend, De Morla? Hewas wont to have much influence with this humorous man."
"I am here," said De Morla, stepping forward; "and if you demand it, Iwill speak to the king; though with no hopes of persuading him to showus any kindness."
As De Morla spoke, Don Amador, who had followed him to the side ofCortes, observed one of the princesses turn from her sire, and lookeagerly towards his friend. In this maiden, he doubted not, he perceivedthe fair Minnapotzin; and he ceased to wonder at the passion of hiscountryman, when he discovered with his own eyes how little her beautyhad been overrated. Though of but small stature, her figure, as far asit could be perceived through the folds of peculiar vestments, wasexceedingly graceful. The cymar was knotted round her bosom with amodest girdle, and left bare two arms prettily moulded, on which shonebracelets of gold, fantastically wrought. Her hair was long, and fell,braided with strings of the same metal, on her shoulders, on which alsowas a necklace of little emeralds alternating with crystals, andsuspending a silver crucifix of Spanish workmanship. These were her onlydecorations. Her skin was rather dark than tawny, and the tinge ofbeautifying blood was as visible on her cheeks as on those of the maidsof Andalusia. Her features were very regular; and two large eyes, inwhich a native timidity struggled with affection at the sight of herChristian lover, rendered her countenance as engaging as it was lovely.She hung upon De Morla's accents with an air of the deepest interest, ashe expressed, in imperfect language, the desires of his general.
As he spoke, the infidel king surveyed him with a frown,--a notice thathe now extended to all the Christians present, b
ut without deigning toreply. It was evident that he understood the desires of his jailor, andequally plain that he had resolved to disregard them. The angry spotdarkened on the brow of Cortes; and he was about to degrade the captivewith still more violent marks of his displeasure; when, at this moment,the roar of his artillery, mingled with the shouts of the besiegers,suddenly shook the palace to its foundations, and drowned his voice inthe shrieks of the women.
Montezuma started to his feet, and cast a look upon Cortes, in whichhorror did not wholly conceal a touch of ferocious satisfaction. Hispeople were, indeed, falling under those terrific explosions, likeleaves before the mountain gust; but well he read in the dismayedvisages of the Spaniards, that fate was, at last, avenging his injurieson the oppressors.
"Speak _thou_ to thy father, my Benita!" cried De Morla, in her ownlanguage, to the terrified princess, "and let him stay the work ofblood; for none but he has the power. Tell him, we desire peace, repentthe wrongs we have done him, and will redress them. If he will regainhis liberty and his empire,--if he will save his people, his children,and himself, from one common and fearful destruction, let him forgetthat we have done him wrong, and pronounce the words of peace."
The Indian maiden threw herself at the feet of the king, and bathing hishands with tears, repeated the charge of the cavalier.
Montezuma gazed upon her with sorrow, and upon his other children; thenlooking coldly to Don Hernan, he said, with a tranquil voice, whileDona Marina rapidly interpreted his expressions,--
"What will the Teuctli have? He commands a captive to shield him fromthe darts of free warriors: Montezuma is a prisoner. He calls upon me toquiet a raging people: Montezuma has no people. He commands me to regainmy liberty: the Mexican that hath been once a slave, can be a freeman nomore. He bids me save my children: I have none! they are servants in thehouse of a stranger.--He that is in bonds, hath no offspring!"
While he spoke, the din increased, as if the yelling assailants werepressing up to the very walls of the palace; and many cavaliers,incapable of remaining longer inactive, and despairing of hisassistance, rushed from the apartment to join in the combat.
"Why does he waste time in words?" cried Cortes. "At every moment, thereare slain a thousand of his subjects!"
"If there were twenty thousand," said the captive, assuming, at last,the dignity that became his name, and speaking with a stately anger,"and if but one Christian lay dead among them, Montezuma should notmourn the loss. Happier would he be, left with the few and mangledremnants, with his throne on the grave of the strangers, than, thismoment, were he restored to his millions, with the children of the Eastabiding by him in friendship.--Thou callest upon me to appease _my_people. Thou knowest that they are thine. Why should they not listen to_thee_?"
"Ay, why should they not?" said Don Hernan, speaking rather to himself,than to Montezuma, and flinging sarcasms on his own head. "By myconscience, I know not; for though I was somewhat conceited, to grasp atthe sceptre so early, I think I may hold it with as much dignity as anyinfidel, were he a Turkish sultan.--Hearken, Montezuma; thou artdeceived: thy people are not mine, but thine, and through thee, as hissworn vassal, the subjects of my master, the king of Spain. Confirm thyvassalage to him, by tribute, be true to thy allegiance, and remain onthy throne for ever; and, if such be thy desire, I will straightwaywithdraw my army from the empire, so that thou mayest reign according tothine own barbarous fancies."
"I trust thee not," said the king, "for already hast thou deceived me! Irevoke my vows of vassalage; for he that has no kingdom, cannot be aking's deputy.--Do thy worst," continued the monarch, with increasingboldness, no longer regarding the furious looks of Don Hernan, andlearning, at last, to deserve the respect of his foes. "Do thy worst:Thou hast degraded me with chains, and with words of insult; nothingmore canst thou do, but kill! Kill me, then, if thou wilt; and inMictlan will I rejoice, for I know that my betrayers shall follow me!Yes!" he added, with wild energy, "I know that, at this moment, yourheart is frozen with fear, and your blood turned to water, seeing thatrevenge has reached you, and that your doom is death! The wronger of thelords of Tenochtitlan has learned to tremble before its basest herds;and let him tremble,--for the basest of them shall trample upon hisbody!"
"Am I menaced by this traitor to his allegiance?" cried Cortes.
"Senor," said De Morla, "let us trifle the time with no more deception.There is no one of our people, who does not perceive that we canmaintain our post in this city no longer, and that we cannot even escapefrom it, without the permission of our foes. This knows Montezuma, aswell as ourselves. Why incense him, why strive to cajole him further?Let us tell him the truth, and buy safety by restoring, at once, what wecannot keep; and what, otherwise, we must yield up with our lives."
"Ay, faith,--it cannot be denied: we are even caught in a net of our owntwisting. Tell the knave what thou wilt. We will leave his accursedisland.--But how soon we may return, to claim the possessions of ourmaster, thou needst not acquaint him. But, by my conscience, return wewill, and that right briefly!"
A thousand different expressions agitated the visage of Montezuma, whilelistening to the words of De Morla. Now a flash of joy lit his duskyfeatures; now doubt covered them with double gloom; and now he frownedwith a dark resolution, as if conceiving the fate of the Christians, ifleft to themselves, still caged in their bloody prison. The memory ofall he had suffered, mingled with the imagination of all the vengeancehe might enjoy, covered his countenance with a mingled rage andexultation. While he hesitated, his eye fell upon his children, for allhad thrown themselves at his feet; and he beheld them, in fancy, payingthe penalty of his ferocity. The stern eye of Cortes was upon him; andhe thought he read, in its meaning lustre, the punishment which awaitedhis refusal.
"Will the Teuctli depart from me," he cried, eagerly, "if I open a pathfor him through my incensed people?"
"I will depart from him," replied Don Hernan, "if his people throw downtheir arms, and disperse."
"They will listen to me no more!" exclaimed Montezuma, suddenly claspinghis hands, with a look and accent of despair, "for I am no longer theirmonarch. The gods of Anahuac have rejected the king that has submittedto bonds; a great prophetess has risen from Mictlan, bearing the will ofthe deities; and, by the bloody pool Ezapan, that washes the wounds ofthe penitent, the people have heard her words, and sworn faith to a newruler, beloved by heaven, and reverenced by themselves. They have seenthe degradation of Montezuma, and Cuitlahuatzin is now the king ofMexico!"
"He speaks of the strange priestess we saw at the temple," said DeMorla. "It is, indeed, said among all the Mexicans, (but how they haveheard of her, I know not,) that she has been sent by the gods, todethrone our prisoner, and destroy the Christians."
"Thou art deceived," said Cortes, to the monarch, without regarding thisexplanation; "there is no king, but thyself, acknowledged by thy people;and, at this moment, they are fighting to rescue thee from what theyfalsely consider bondage;--falsely I say, for thou knowest, thou art myguest, and not my prisoner,--free to depart whenever thou wilt,--thatis, whenever thou wilt exert thy authority to appease the insurrection.It is their mad love for thee, that reduces us to extremity."
"And thou swearest, then," cried Montezuma, catching eagerly at thesuggestion and the hope, "thou swearest, that thou wilt depart from myempire, if I appease this bloody tumult?"
"I swear, that I will depart from thy city," said the crafty Spaniard;"and I swear, that I hope to depart from thy empire--one day, at least,when I am its master." He muttered the last words to himself.
"Give me my robes--I will speak to my people!"
No sooner was this speech interpreted, than the Spaniards presentuttered exclamations of pleasure; and some of them running out with thenews to their companions, the court-yard soon rung with their shouts.Despair, at once, gave place to joy; and even to many of those who hadbeen most sick of battle, the relief came, with such revulsions offeeling, that they seemed loath to lose the opportunity of slaying
.
"Quick to your pieces! charge, and have at the yelling imps!" crieddivers voices, "for presently we shall have no more fighting!"