CHAPTER XLIII.
In great grief and consternation of mind, the cavaliers carried the kingto his apartments, and added their own sharp regrets to the tears of hischildren, when the surgeon pronounced his wounds mortal. Even the senorCortes did not disdain to heave a sigh over the mangled form of hisprisoner; for, in his death, he perceived his innocence, and rememberedhis benefactions; and, in addition, he felt, that, in the loss ofMontezuma, he was deprived of the strongest bulwark against theanimosity of his people.
"I have done this poor infidel king a great wrong," he said, with aremorse that might have been real, and yet, perhaps, was assumed, toeffect a purpose on his followers; "for now, indeed, it is plain, hecould not have been unfaithful to us, or he would not thus haveperished. I call God to witness, that I had no hand in his death; and Iaver to yourselves, noble cavaliers, that, when I have seemed to treathim with harshness and injustice, I have done so for the good of mycompanions, and the advantage of our king; for barbarians, being, insome sort, children, are to be governed by that severity which iswholesome to infancy. Nevertheless, I do not wholly despair of his life;for there are some score or two lusty fellows in the garrison, who havehad their skulls cracked, and are none the worse for the affliction. Itrust much in thy skill, senor _boticario_," he continued, addressingthe surgeon; "and I promise thee, if thou restore Montezuma to his lifeand wits, I will, on mine own part, bestow upon thee this golden chainand crucifix, valued at ninety pesos, besides recommending thee,likewise, to the gratitude of my brother captains, and the favourablenotice of his majesty, our king,--whom God preserve ever from the wrathand impiety of such traitorous subjects as have laid our Montezuma low!I leave him in thy charge. As for ourselves, valiant and true friends,it being now apparent to you, that we have none but ourselves to look tofor safety, and even food, (the want of which latter would, doubtless,create many loud murmurs, were it not for the jeopardy of the former,) Imust recommend you to betake you to your horses, and accompany me in asally which it is needful now to make, both for the sake ofreconnoitring the dikes, and gathering food.--What now, Botello!" hecried, observing the enchanter pressing through the throng; "what doestthou here?--Thou never madest me a prophecy of this great mishap!"
"I never cast the horoscope, nor called upon Kalidon-Sadabath, todiscover the fate of any but a Christian man," said Botello, gravely;"for what matters it _what_ is the fate of a soul predoomed to flames,whether it part with violence, or in peace? I have sought out thedestiny of his people, because I thought, some day, they should bebaptised in the faith; but I never cast me a spell for the king."
"Wilt thou adventure thine art in his behalf, and tell me whether heshall now live or die?"
"It needs no conjuration to discover that," said the magician, pointingsignificantly to the broken temple. "The king will die, and that beforewe are released from our thraldom. But hearken, senor," he continued,solemnly, "I have sought out the fate that concerns us more nearly. Lastnight, while others buried their weariness in sleep, and their sorrowsin the dreams of home, I watched in solitude, with prayers and fasting,working many secret and godly spells, and conversing with the spiritsthat came to the circle----"
The wounded monarch was forgotten, for an instant, by the cavaliers, intheir eagerness to gather the revelations of the conjurer; forscepticism, like pride, was yielding before the increasing difficultiesof their situation, and they grasped at hope and encouragement, comingfrom what quarter soever.
"And what have the spirits told thee, then?" demanded the general,meaningly.--"Doubtless, that, although there be a cloud about us now,there shall sunshine soon burst from it; and that, if we depart fromthis city, it will only be like the antique battering ram, pulled backfrom a wall, that it may presently return against it with tenfoldviolence."
"I have not questioned so far," replied Botello earnestly. "I know, thatwe must fly. What is to come after, is in the hands of God, and has notbeen revealed. Death lies in store for many, but safety for some. Thecelestial aspects are unfavourable, the conjunctions speak of sufferingand blood;--dreams are dark, Kalidon is moody, and the fiends prattle inriddles. Day after day, the gloom shall be thicker, the frowns of fatemore menacing, retreat more hopeless. Never before found I so many blackdays clustered over the earth! In all this period, there is but oneshining hour; and if we seize not that, heaven receive us! for, beyondthat, there is nothing but death.--On the fifth day from this, atmidnight, a path will be opened to us on the causeway; for then, fromthe house Alpharg, doth the moon break the walls of prisons, and lightfugitives to the desert. But after that, I say to thee again, very noblesenor, all is hopelessness, all is wo!--starvation in the palace, andshrieking sacrifices on the temple!"
"On the fifth night, then," said Cortes, gravely, "if the fates so willit, we must take our departure,--provided we die not of famine, on thefourth. I would the devils that thou hast in command, had revealed theesome earlier hour, or some good means of coming at meat and drink. Getthee to thy horoscopes again, thy prayers and thy suffumigations; andsee if thou hast not, by any mischance, overlooked some favourablemoment for to-morrow, or the day after."
"It cannot be," said Botello; "my art has disclosed me no hope; but,without art, I can see that, to-morrow, the news of Montezuma's death,(for surely he is now dying,) will fill the causeways with mountaineers,and cover the lake with navigators, all coming to avenge it."
"I like thy magic better than thy mother wit," said Don Hernan, with afrown. "Give me what diabolical comfort thou canst to the soldiers; butcroak no common-sense alarms into their ears."
"I have nothing to do with the magic that is diabolic," said theoffended enchanter. "God is my stay, and the fiends I curse! If I havefears, I speak them not, save to those who may handle them for wisepurposes. This, which I have said, will surely be the fate of to-morrow;and the besiegers will come, in double numbers, to the walls. What Ihave to speak of to-day, may be of as much moment, though revealed to meneither by star nor spirit.--The Mexicans are struck with horror, havingslain their king; they hide them in their houses, or they run, mourning,to the temples; the soldiers are fresh, and the streets are empty. Whathinders, that we do not gird on our packs, and, aiming for the near andshort dike of Tacuba, which I so lately traversed, with the king'sdaughters, make good our retreat this moment?"
"By Santiago!" cried Cortes, quickly, "this is a soldier's thought, andhonoured shalt thou be for conceiving it. What ho, Sandoval, my friend!get the troops in readiness. Prepare thy litters for the sick andwounded;--have all ready at a moment's warning. In the meanwhile, I willscour the western streets, and if all promise well, will return toconduct the retreat in person."
"We can carry with us," said Botello, "the wounded king, and his sonsand daughters; and if it chance we should be followed, we will do as thetiger-hunter does with the cubs, when the dam pursues him,--fling aprisoner, ever and anon, on the path, to check the fury of ourpersecutors.--The king will be better than a purse of gold."
"Ay! now thou art my sage soldier again!" said the general. "Get thee tothe men, and comfort them. Apothecary, look to the emperor; see that hehave the best litter.--Forget not thy drugs and potions. And now,Christian cavaliers, and brothers, be of good heart.--Let us mounthorse, and look at the dike of Tacuba."
The officers, greatly encouraged at the prospect of so speedy a releasefrom their sufferings, followed the general from the apartment. Theirelation was not shared by Don Amador de Leste. He rejoiced, for hiskinsman's sake, that he was about to bear him from the din and privationof a besieged citadel; but he remembered that the Moorish boy must beleft behind to perish; and it seemed to him, in addition, that certainmystic ties, the result of a day's adventure, which began to bind histhoughts to the pagan city, were, by the retreat, to be severed at once,and for ever.
But if his gloom was increased by such reflections, It was, in part,dispelled, when he reached the chamber of his kinsman. The delirium hadvanished, and the knight sat on his couch, feeble, indeed, and great
lydejected, but quite in his senses. He turned an eye of affection on theyouth, and with his trembling hand grasped Don Amador's.
"I have been as one that slept, dreaming my dreams," he said, "whilethou hast been fighting the infidel. Strange visions have beset me; butthanks be to heaven! they have passed away; and, by-and-by, I will beable to mount and go forth with thee; and we will fight, side by side,as we have done before, among the Mussulmans."
"Think not of that, my father," said the novice, "for thou art veryfeeble. I would, indeed, thou hadst but the strength, this day, to siton the saddle; for we are about to retreat from Tenochtitlan.Nevertheless, Baltasar shall have thy couch placed on a litter, which wecan secure between two horses."
"Speakest thou of retreating?" exclaimed Don Gabriel.
"It is even so, my friend. The numbers, the fury, and the unabatingexertions of the Mexicans, are greater than we looked for. We have lostmany men, are reduced to great extremities for food, altogetherdispirited, and now left so helpless, by the disaster of the king, thatwe have no hope but in flight."
"Is the king hurt?--and by a Spaniard?"
"Wounded by the stones and arrows of his own people, and now dying. And,it is thought, we can depart to best advantage, while the Mexicans arerepenting the impiety that slew him."
"And we must retreat?"
"If we can;--a matter which we, who are mounted, are about to determine,by riding to the nearest causeway. This, dear father, will give Marcoand Baltasar time to prepare thee. I will leave Lazaro and the secretaryto assist them. Presently, we will return; and when we march, be itunopposed, or yet through files of the enemy, I swear to thee I willride ever at thy side."
"And my boy?--my loving little page, Jacinto?" exclaimed the knight,anxiously: "Hath he returned to us? I have a recollection, that he wasstolen away. 'Twill be a new sin to me, if he come to harm through myneglect."
"Let us think no more of Jacinto," said the novice with a sigh. "If hebe living, he is now in the hands of Abdalla, his father, who hasdeserted from us, and is supposed to be harboured by the Mexicans. Godis over all--we can do him no good--God will protect him!"
Don Gabriel eyed his kinsman sorrowfully, saying,
"Evil follows in my path, and overtakes those who follow after me. Everyday open I mine eyes upon a new grief. I loved this child very well;and, for my punishment, he is taken from me. I love thee, also, Amador,whom I may call my son; for faithful and unwearying art thou; and,belike, the last blow will fall, when _thou_ art snatched away. Guardwell thy life, for it is the last pillar of my own!"
A few moments of affection, a few words of condolence, were bestowedupon Don Gabriel; and then the novice left him, to accompany thecavaliers to the causeway.
As he was stepping from the palace door into the court-yard, his arm wascaught by the magician, who, looking into his face with exceeding greatsolemnity, said,--
"Ride not thou with the cavaliers to-day, noble gentleman. Thou artunlucky."
A faint smile lit the countenance of the youth. It was soon followed bya sigh.
"This is, indeed, a truth, which no magic could make more manifest thanhas the history of much of my life. I am unfortunate; yet not in affairsof war;--being now, as you see, almost the only man in this garrison,who is not, in part, disabled by severe wounds. Yet why should I notride with my friends?"
"Because thou wilt bring them trouble, and thyself misery.--I cannotsay, senor," added Botello, with grave earnestness, "that thou didstabsolutely save my life, when thou broughtest me succour in the street;seeing that this is under the influence of a destiny, well known to me,which man cannot alter.--It was not possible those savages could slayme. Nevertheless, my gratitude is as strong, for thy good will was asgreat. I promised to read thee thy fortune; but in the troubles whichbeset me, I could not perfect thy horoscope. All I have learned is, thata heavy storm hangs over thee; and that, if thou art not discreet, thylast hour is nigh, and will be miserable. The very night of thy good andnoble service, I dreamed that we were surrounded by all the assembledMexicans, making with them a contract of peace; to which they were aboutswearing, when they laid their eyes upon thee, and straightway wereincensed, at the sight, as at the call of a trumpet, to attack us. Thouknowest, that it was thy rash attack on the accursed prophetess, whichbrought the knaves upon us! Thrice was this vision repeated to me: twicehas it been confirmed--once at the temple, and, but a moment since, onthe roof. Hadst _thou_ not stood before the king with thy shield, therage of the Mexicans would not have destroyed him! Therefore, go notout, now; for he that brings mischief, twice, to his friends, will, thethird time, be involved in their ruin!"
The neophyte stared at Botello, who pronounced these fantasticadjurations with the most solemn emphasis. His heart was heavy, or theirfolly would have amused him.
"Be not alarmed, Botello," he said, good-humouredly,--"I will be verydiscreet. My conscience absolves me of all agency in the king's hurts;and if I did, indeed, draw on the attack at the pyramid, as I am by nomeans certain, I only put match to the cannon, which, otherwise, mighthave been aimed at us more fatally. I promise thee to be rash nomore,--no, not even though I should again behold the marvellousprophetess, who, as Montezuma told us, has risen from his pagan hell."
The enchanter would have remonstrated further; but, at this moment, thetrumpet gave signal that the cavaliers were departing, and Don Amadorstayed neither to argue nor console. He commanded the secretary, whomhe found among the throng, to return to Don Gabriel; and Lorenzoreluctantly obeyed. Lazaro was already with the knight.
Thus, without personal attendants, Don Amador mounted, this day, amongthe cavaliers, prepared to disprove the enchanter's predictions, or toconsummate his destiny.