CHAPTER LVI.
On the following morning, it was known to all the garrison, that theywere, at night, to depart from Tenochtitlan. The joy, however, thatmight have followed the announcement, was brief; for, at the same momentthat the exhausted Christians were roused from slumber and bidden toprepare, the warders sent down word from the turrets, that their enemieswere again approaching. The shrewdest of all could perceive no othermode of retreat than by cutting their way through the besiegers; and itrequired but little consideration in the dullest, to disclose themanifold dangers of such an expedient. They manned the walls and thecourt-yard, therefore, with but little alacrity, and awaited theMexicans in sullen despair.
But Don Hernan, quick to perceive, and resolute to employ the subtledevices of another, had not forgotten the words of Botello, when thatworthy counselled him to make such use of Montezuma and his children, ashad been made of the golden apples, by Hippomenes, when contending inthe race with the daughter of Schoeneus.
The Mexicans advanced, as usual, with whistling and shouts, filling thesquare with uproar; and, as usual, the cannoniers stood to their pieces,and the Tlascalans to their spears; but before a dart had been yetdischarged, those who looked down from the battlements, beheld a funeralprocession issue from the court-yard.
A bier, constructed rudely of the handles of partisans, but its rudenessin a measure concealed by the rich robes of state flung over it, wasborne on the shoulders of six native nobles, all of them of high degreein Tenochtitlan. It supported the body of the emperor, which was coveredonly by the tilmatli, leaving the countenance exposed to view. The royalsandals were on his feet, and the copilli, with the three sceptres, layupon his breast. The pagan priest in his sable garment, his face coveredby the cowl, and his head bending so low, that his hideous locks sweptthe earth, stepped upon the square, chanting a low and mournful requiem;and the bearers, stalking slowly and sorrowfully under their burden,followed after.
The murmurs were hushed in the palace; and the square, so lately filledwith the savage shouts of the enemy, became suddenly as silent as thegrave. The monotonous accents of the priest were alone heard, conveyingto the Mexicans, in the hymn that ushered a spirit into the presence ofthe deities, the knowledge of the death of their king.
For awhile, the barbarians stood in stupid awe; but, at last, as thetrain approached them, and they perceived with their own eyes theswarthy features of their monarch fixed in death, they uttered a cry ofgrief, low indeed, and rather a moan than a lament, but which, beingcaught and continued by the voices of many thousand men, was heard inthe remotest parts of the city. They parted before the corse of one, towhom, before the days of his degradation, they had been accustomed tolook as to an incarnate divinity. They fell upon their knees, and bowedtheir faces to the earth, as he was carried through them; and again theSpaniards beheld the impressive spectacle, of a great multitudeprostrate in the dust, as if in the act of adoration.
When the bearers and the body were alike concealed from their view, theMexicans rose, and turning towards the palace, brandished their weaponswith fierce gestures, and many exclamations of hatred, against thedestroyers of their king. For a moment, Cortes doubted if his expedienthad not served rather to increase, than to divert, the fury of hisopponents; and he beckoned from his stand on the terrace, to thecannoniers, to prepare their matches. But an instant after, he revokedthe command: the Mexicans were retiring; a great army was suddenlyconverted into a funeral train, and thus they departed from the square,after the body of their ruler, without striking a blow at the invader.
This circumstance reassured the garrison; and the prospect of speedyrelease from intolerable suffering and from destruction, wrought such achange over all, that visages, emaciated by famine, and haggard fromdespair, were lit up with smiles; and songs and laughter re-echoedthrough chambers, which, but the night before, had resounded withprayers, groans, and curses. Nothing was now thought of but the breadand fruits of Tlascala, the mines and fandangos of Cuba; and many asedate and sullen veteran clapped his hands with a sudden joy, as hebethought him of the urchins sporting in the limpid Estero, or climbingthe palm that grew at his cabin door. Escape from the miseries whichhad environed them, and the privilege to discourse for life of themarvels of Tenochtitlan,--of the beauty of its valleys, the magnificenceof its cities, the wealth of its rulers, the ferocious valour of itscitizens,--to wondering listeners, were the only offsets thought of tothe many labours, sufferings, and risks of the campaign. The littleproperty amassed by each--the share of Montezuma's presents, and thespoils stripped from the dead, were stored, along with such trifles asmight add the interest of locality to legends of battle, in the sacks ofthe soldiers. All made their preparations, and all made them in hope.
The only melancholy men in the palace, that day, were Cortes and DonAmador de Leste. The latter remembered his knight, falling ingloriouslyand alone on the causeway; and the general pondered over the griefs ofdefeated ambition.
But whatever were the pangs of Don Hernan, he forgot not the duties of ageneral. Besides other precautions, he caused his carpenters toconstruct a portable bridge of sufficient strength to support the weightof his heaviest artillery, and yet, not so ponderous but that it mightbe carried on the shoulders of some half a hundred strong men. This heprovided, fearing lest the barbarians had destroyed the bridges not onlyof the great dike of Iztapalapan, but of that of Tacuba, on which it washis determination to attempt his flight, and which, running westwardfrom the island, was, as has been intimated, but two miles in length.
In accordance with the advice of the necromancer, the hour of departingwas put off until midnight,--a period of time which had the doubleadvantage of being recommended by Botello, and of ensuring the leastmolestation. Each individual, therefore, made his preparations, andlooked forward to that hour.
The melancholy that oppressed the spirits of the neophyte, was so great,that he betrayed little curiosity either to acquaint himself with theevents which had occurred during his captivity, or even to inquirefurther into the mysterious knowledge and acts of the page. But, howeverindisposed to conversation, he could not resist the attentions of DeMorla. From him he learned the imputation he had cast on the valour andgratitude of Alvarado; a charge which the novice removed, bymagnanimously confessing, that his own indiscretion had carried himbeyond the reach of Don Pedro, who should be in no wise held accountablefor his misfortune. He heard with more interest, and even smiled withgood-natured approbation, at the story of Fabueno's fortune; but a frowndarkened on his visage, when De Morla pictured the anger and domineeringfury of the Tonatiuh; and this was not diminished, when his friendconfessed himself the champion of the secretary, announced that Corteshad sanctioned the quarrel, and claimed of him the offices of a friend.
"If blood must be shed in this quarrel," he said, "it must be apparentto you, my very noble and generous friend, (for, surely, your kindnessto Lorenzo merits this distinction,)--it must be apparent, I say, that Iam he who is called upon to shed it. The youth is my own follower; forwhich reason, I am bound to give him protection, and support him in allhis just rights, whereof one, I think, is to love any woman who maythink fit to give him her affections, whether she be a princess orpeasant. I must, therefore, after repeating to thee my thanks for thyvery distinguished generosity, require thee to yield up thy right to dobattle with Don Pedro, if battle must, indeed, be done,--though I havehopes that his good sense will enforce him to surrender the maid,without the necessity of bloodshed."
"I cannot yield to thee, hermano mio," said De Morla, quickly; "forthere is deadly feud betwixt the Tonatiuh and myself; and were he tofight thee a dozen times over, still should he, of a necessity, measureweapons with me."
"It doth not appear to me, how this difference can call for more thanone combat; and, as I have told thee, I think it can be composed,provided thou allowest me to assume thy place, entirely withoutconflict."
"Know thou, my friend," said De Morla, "that I have already, in thematter of thy fall and captu
re, at the fight of the manta, chargedAlvarado with many terms of opprobrium and insult; for which reason, aduello has become very inevitable."
"Having already heard from myself," said Don Amador, with gravity, "thatDon Pedro cannot justly incur reproach for my mishap, thou canst donothing else, as a true cavalier, but instantly withdraw thy charges,and make him the reparation of apology; after which, there will remainno need of enmity."
"Thou speakest the truth!" said De Morla, impetuously; "and I am but aknave, to have said, or even thought, except at the moment when I wasgrieved and imbittered by thy supposed death, that Don Pedro coulddemean himself, in any battle, like a craven. I freely avow, and willjustly bear witness, that he is a most unexceptionable cavalier. So far,I am impelled to pronounce by simple veracity. But yet is there mortal,though concealed, feud betwixt us."
The neophyte looked on his friend with surprise; seeing which, De Morlatook him by the arm, and said, with great heat,--
"I have come to hear, by an accident, that Don Pedro did once, ('tis nowmany months ago,) in the wantonness of his merriment, fling certainaspersions upon the innocence of Benita; a crime that I could not haveforgiven even in thee, amigo querido, hadst thou been capable of suchbaseness. I now confess to thee, without having divulged the same to anyone else, that this circumstance did greatly inflame my anger, and that,from that moment, I have sought out some means to quarrel with Alvarado,and so slay him, without involving the fame of Minnapotzin: for it isclear to me, as it must be to any lover, who doth truly reverence hismistress, that to associate her name with a quarrel, would be at once todarken it with the shadow of suspicion. If I should say to Alvarado,'Thou hast maligned my mistress, thou cur, and therefore I will fightthee,' then should he, for the credit of his honour, aver that he spokethe truth; and whether he lived or died, the maiden should still be thesufferer. I have, therefore, resolved, that my cause of vengeance shallbe concealed; and thou wilt see that the present pretext is thehonourable cloak I have been so long seeking. This I confess to thee;but I adjure thee to keep my counsel."
There was a degree of lofty delicacy and disinterestedness in thisrevealment, which chimed so harmoniously with the refined honour of DonAmador, that he grasped De Morla's hand, and, instead of opposingfurther remonstrance, assured him, both of his approval and hisdetermination to aid him, as a true brother in arms, in the conflict.
"But how comes it, my friend," he demanded, with a faint smile, "thoudarest look so far into futurity, for such employment? Hast thou forgotthe prophecy of Botello? Methinks, to be fulfilled at all, theconsummation should come shortly; for, with this night, we finish thewar in Mexico."
"For a time, senor mio," said De Morla. "Though the griefs of Montezumabe over, (heaven rest his soul, for he was the father of Minnapotzin!)the pangs of his race are not yet all written. I will abide with DonHernan; and if Botello do not lie, thou shalt yet see me sleep on thepyramid."
"Heaven forbid!" cried Amador. "I would rather thou wouldst follow mineown resolutions, and, for once, show Botello that he hath cast a wrongfigure."
"Dost thou mean to desert us?"
"My kinsman sleeps in the lake," said the novice, sadly; "the tie thatbound me to this fair new world is therefore broken. In mine own heart,I have no desires to fight longer with these infidels, who cannotinjure the faith of Christ, nor invade the churches of Christendom. TheTurks are a better enemy for a true believer; and, if I put not up mysword altogether, it shall be drawn, hereafter, on them. The littlepage, whom I have, by a miracle, recovered, I will convey with me toCuenza, after having, in like manner, recovered his father, (a verynoble Morisco,) or been otherwise assured of his death. I would greatlypersuade thee, having made the princess thy wife, to follow with me tothy native land. 'My castle lies on Morena's top,'--" continued thecavalier, insensibly falling upon the melody of the Knight and the Page,and beginning to muse on the singer, and to mutter, "Surely Jacinto isthe most wonderful of boys!"
"My patrimony is worn out," said De Morla, without regarding the suddenrevery of his friend; "and I give it to my younger brothers. By peace orwar, somehow or other, this land of Mexico will be, one day, conquered;and, then, a principality in Anahuac will count full as nobly as asheep-hill in Castile. I abide by Don Hernan. But let us be gone to thetreasury: I hear the ingots chinking, and thou hast not yet looked uponour spoils."
The exchequer thus alluded to, and to which De Morla speedily conductedhis friend, was the sleeping apartment of the general. Of the wealththat was there displayed,--the stores of golden vessels and of preciousstones, as well as of ingots melted from the tribute-dust long sincewrung from the unhappy Montezuma,--it needs not to speak. The wholetreasury of an avaricious king, a predecessor of the late captive,walled up in former days, and discovered by a happy chance, was theredisplayed among the meaner gleanings of conquest. An hundred men, as DonAmador entered, were grasping at the glittering heaps, while the voiceof Don Hernan was heard gravely saying,--
"The king's fifth, here partitioned and committed to the trust of histrue officers, we must defend with our lives; but while granting to allChristian men in this army, free permission to help themselves here asthey like, I solemnly warn them of the consequences, should we, asmayhap my fear may prove true, be attacked this night, while making ourway through the city. The richest man shall thereby purchase thequickest death.--The wise soldier will leave these baubles, till we comeback again to reclaim them. This night, I will insure the life of nonewho carries too rich a freight in his pockets."
He spoke with a serious emphasis, and some of the older veterans,raising their heads, and eyeing his countenance steadfastly for amoment, flung down the riches they had grasped, and silently retiredfrom the apartment. But many others bore about their persons a prince'sransom.