CHAPTER LXV.
A few words will finish the first part of the chronicle of DonCristobal.
The victory so marvellously gained, removed the last obstruction fromthe path of the Spaniards. The ensuing day beheld them entering theterritories of their allies; and, in four days more, the chiefs ofTlascala ushered them, with songs of joy, into the republican city.
Six days after this happy event, the novice of Rhodes sat by thedeath-bed of his kinsman.--From the moment when Calavar roused out ofthe fit of unconsciousness, into which he had fallen on the field ofOtumba, his brain wandered with delirium; but it gave his young kinsman,as well as the faithful Baltasar, much relief to perceive, that hisvisions were oftener of a pleasant than a disagreeable character. Thus,the reappearance of Alharef, after such long seeming death, dwelt in hismemory, without the recollection of his subsequent decease; and withthis came the conceit that Zayda yet lived among the Alpujarras,restored, like the Wali, to life, and all forgetful of the wrongs he haddone her. He prattled of returning now to Spain, and now to Rhodes, andnow of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is true, that,sometimes, dark thoughts crept to his brain, and agitated him with hisformer griefs; but these were ever chased away by the sight of Leila,whose countenance seemed to him as that of a holy seraph, sent fromheaven, to bid him be of good cheer.
On the fifth day, he recovered his senses, and being sensible of hisapproaching dissolution, assembled at his bed-side, after havingreceived absolution, the padre Olmedo, and the few friends and followerswhom heaven had spared him in this pagan land, being the young cavalierof Cuenza, the melancholy Zayda, or Leila, as Amador yet loved to callher, and Baltasar. The spear of Alharef had not harmed him; he wasdying, the victim of a long remorse; or, rather, as it may be said, heexpired, when the excitement of this passion no longer supported him.For, perhaps, the same thing may be said of many mental diseases, whichis true of certain physical ones, to which a human constitution has beenlong accustomed; that is, they may obtain so vital a command over allits functions, as to become in themselves the elements, or at least thebulwarks, of life; so that, when they are arrested by some unskilfulleech, death shall almost immediately follow the cure.
"I have now called you, my children," he said, bending an eye ofaffection upon the pair, and speaking very feebly, "to give you suchcounsel as may be drawn from the history of my life. Its secrets arerevealed to you, its pages all lie open; and as you read, your spiritswill find their own instruction; for they will discover, that theindulgence of passion, especially the passion of anger, doth lodge abarb in the bosom, never to be plucked out, save by the hand of death.What I have to say, is rather of command than advice; and thou wiltlisten to me, Amador, my son, for God hath given thee, in the person ofthis gentle Zayda, an argument of obedience, which will touch thy heartmore eloquently than words.--Break thy sword, hack off thy spurs, castthine armour into the sea, and think no more of war, unless to defendthy fire-side, and the altars of thy country, from the fury ofinvaders."
The novice started with alarm.
"Think not that I rave," said the knight. "I speak to thee with thewisdom that comes from the grave. Think no more of war; for war it isthat rouses our passions; and passions have made me what I have been,and what I am. I cannot think _now_, (for, at this moment, methinks Istand in the presence of Him who abhorreth contention,) that He willpardon the shedding of any blood, except that which the necessity ofself-preservation, and the defence of our country, enforce us to lavish.I repent me of that which I have poured, though even from the hearts ofpagans; for pagans are still the sons of God, though walking indarkness, for which we should pity them, not slay. Thou hast drawn thysword for glory; but the lives that are taken for fame, shall weigh uponthe souls of men as murders;--for such they are. Thou drawest forreligion:--give thy purse to the priest, and bid him convert with thecross; for the wrath of God will rest for ever upon him who makethproselytes with the sword. Wo is me, that the delusions of glory andChristian zeal have stained me so deeply! Live for happiness, and thoushalt wrong none, neither man nor God, and, thus, happiness shall beawarded thee; live for honour, and thou shalt know, that heavenacknowledges none but that which is justice; live for peace, which isvirtue; and for religion, which is goodness. Get thee to thy castle, tothe lands which thou shalt inherit; plant thy vines and olives, relievethe unhappy, succour the distressed; and if thy young brother shouldpant for the barb and lance, teach him the history of thy kinsman. Bevirtuous, be peaceful, be charitable, and be happy. When thou hearest ofglory, bethink thee of the poor deluded creatures we have slain in thisland; when thou art told of pious crusades, remember the days of theAlpujarras.--Would that my days were to pass again!"
He paused, with exhaustion.
"The noble knight," said the padre, "hath spoken much good and wholesometruth; nevertheless, in the matter of infidels, what he has counselled,is not well. For how is it written----"
"Holy father," murmured Don Gabriel, "there be men enow who will obeythee in this matter, and without exhortation or argument. Defeat not mywork; for I rob thee of but one. Let me think, that the son of myaffection will dwell in peace, and thereby be clean in the eyes of God,and thus happy at his death-hour. Would that I might appear before myMaker, without the stain of blood!"
With a few more such precepts of virtue, for grief and the hand of deathhad made his heart wise, Don Gabriel continued to address the novice. Hespoke many words of kindness, also, to the old and faithful Baltasar,and was about to give his benediction to the child of Zayda, when a filmcame suddenly over his eyes:
"Give me thy hand," he muttered, faintly and almost inarticulately; "Isee thee not, but mine eyes are opened to Zayda. Where art thou, Amador,my son? Heaven is blissful--Alharef--Zayda--all--Miserere mei,Domine!"----Thus he murmured for a moment, his voice dwindling to awhisper; then his lips moved, but without yielding any sound, until, atlast, it was apparent that he had expired, and yet so gently, that noteven a spasm of muscle, or change of countenance, indicated the passageof his spirit.
* * * * *
Three days after this, at sunrise, the senor Cortes stood alone with DonAmador de Leste, on the terrace of the great dwelling in which he hadquartered the remains of his army.
"Thou leavest me then, De Leste?" he said, in a low voice, lookingwestward to the hills, beyond which lay the valley of the lakes.
"Such is my purpose, very noble senor," said the cavalier, mildly, butfirmly. "My horses are caparisoned in the court-yard, my little companyis in waiting, my friends have been saluted, and nothing remains for mebut to thank your excellency for your many manifestations of goodness tome and mine,--the living and the dead together,--and to pray yourexcellency wish me God speed."
"And can you look upon yonder blue cliffs, and those snow-captpinnacles," said Don Hernan, with a smothered voice, "and think ofleaving the paradise they encompass, in the hands of the heathen?"
"I know not," said Don Amador, "that it becomes me to intrude any adviceupon your excellency. But you have already done deeds, as I am myself awitness, which will give you immortal fame, though you should proceed nofarther in the impossible attempt to subjugate this very potent andwonderful empire."
"It shall be mine!" said Cortes, smiting his hands together, andspeaking with clenched teeth. "Though there were but an hundred men leftwith me,--nay, were there but ten,--I would sooner that they should seeme rent under the tusks of the wild mountain hogs, than turning my backfor ever against the city of Montezuma. Thou thinkest the case isdesperate; yet, with those ten Christians, and the hundreds of thousandsof disaffected barbarians, whom I will gather together, thou shalt hear,perhaps, ere thou art housed in thy mountain castle of Cuenza, that hewhom thou leavest, is the lord of Mexico; and the valiant men who remainby him, the barons and counts of the great empire!"
"With mine own hills of olive and cork, have I enough to content me,"said the novice, coldly.
"And thou carest not to revenge thy fri
ends, massacred so barbarously,that fatal night--Flames be on the soul of the enchanter for ever!"exclaimed the general, bursting into fury at the recollection.
"I say, God pardon him!" replied Amador, "and God receive to his restthose friends, of whom you speak. I have naught to revenge; I lamenttheir fate, which was dreadful; but I acknowledge that they were slainin honourable combat."
"And thou carest not then to strike for the cause of Christ, and aid inthe conversion of countless souls from perdition?"
The cavalier regarded his general with a meaning eye. Cortes felt thereproof, and catching his hand, said, hastily,--
"It is enough! thou hast a young and tender wife--Who would have dreamedthat such a creature walked with us throughout that night? It is right,thou shouldst desire to bear her from these scenes of tumult, and notunnatural thou shouldst wish to share the peace and happiness to whichthou art conducting her. For myself, I sometimes think of my own fairDona in the island, and the pleasant sound of the surf, rolling, bynight, on the beach under her lattice; but nevertheless, there are, inthis same heathen clime, certain charms, which cause me to forget thefair Catalina, and my merry brats into the bargain."
"For me," said the novice, sadly, "there is nothing in this land butmelancholy. Alharef, sire of Zayda, sleeps under a rock at Otumba; andCalavar, whom I may call my father, since such he was to me, now restsin yon grove, on the hill-side. I have buried a faithful servant in thelake, and a good youth, whom I loved, an old follower of my knight, anda very dear friend. I shall think of the land with regret, yet must Ileave it without a sigh. I have hopes to find me some conveyance to theislands, and there, thank heaven, it is not so difficult to light upon atrader of Seville bound on the homeward voyage."
"If thou art, indeed, resolute to depart," said Cortes, "I have it in mypower not only to wish thee God speed, but to give thee a good ship ofmy fleet at Ulua, commanded by thy very noble kinsman, which he will,doubtless, man to thy liking with choice sailors; and wherein, thoucanst proceed instantly to Spain, without the tedious necessity oftouching at Cuba."
The eyes of the neophyte sparkled. Don Hernan smiled:
"Assuredly," said he, "I am rejoiced to pleasure thee so much; and yetthou wilt thyself confer upon me a very ineffable obligation, by sailingin that same good ship, and taking charge of a certain letter I havehere written to his majesty, our lord, Don Carlos, being the seconddespatch wherein I have presumed to acquaint him with the success of ourarms, fighting in his cause, and in that of the holy church. If it maysuit your convenience to bear the same, in person, to his imperialmajesty, I hope you will have no cause to repent doing me so great afavour."
"I will bear it to his majesty, in person," said the novice, taking thesealed packet, laying it upon his forehead in token of fealty, and thenwarmly grasping the general's hand: "I will do this with muchsatisfaction; and, in memory that thou hast, upon three severaloccasions, done me such personal service, as touches me to answer with alife's thankfulness, if there be any other act wherein I can pleasurethee, I pray thee command me to the same, without any reserve; for Iwill consider that thou dost thereby acquaint me with a way to testifymy gratitude."
"I thank you," said Don Hernan: "I have no commission with which I willdare further to trouble you. And yet, and yet,--and yet"--He hesitated amoment, and his lip slightly quivered; but instantly resuming an air ofindifference, he continued, "If it should suit your goodconvenience,--that is, if you should prefer,--to travel rather by thehot mountains of Estremadura, than the barren ridges of La Mancha, whilepassing to the court at Madrid, I would crave of your goodness toinquire me out a certain village called Medellin, that lieth on theGuadiana, some few leagues above the city of Merida."
"Were it an hundred leagues, and they of the rudest," said Amador, "Ishould be no less ready to do your bidding. But give me to know, when Iam arrived at this same village of Medellin, in what I can pleasureyou."
"Inquire me out," said Cortes, "a certain old man, a poor hidalgo,called Martin Cortes, as also his wife, Catalina.--By my conscience,senor, they are my father and mother; and they will have some joy tohear you speak of me!"
"Now, I vow to heaven!" cried Amador, struck by the sudden andimpetuous tone of feeling, which Don Hernan strove to hide under a burstof gayety. "I am sorry they live not as far away as Pampeluna, at once;that I might show you the readiness with which I will be your messenger:for, herein, do I perceive, I shall be looked on by them as a goodangel, sent to them from heaven."
"Be not over-sanguine," said Cortes, affecting a laugh: "for, by myconscience, if you tell her not every thing to her liking, my motherhath somewhat of a shrewish way of admonishing you. Nevertheless, it isenough: it hath been some long years since they have heard of mywhereabout and my what-about; since, sooth to say, I one day played thema dog's trick, and, a month after, was chasing the Indians in Cuba. Itwill greatly amaze them to hear I have not been absolutely hanged, as mymother oft-times promised me, for my sins; and, surely, they will stareat you, when you tell them I have been killing a great emperor, as someidle fellows have charged on me; whereas, you know yourself, having beenso forward to shield him, that Montezuma was slain by his own people,--amurrain on them!"
"I will bear witness to the truth, and I will say nothing that can givethem pain."
"I shall be much beholden to you," said Don Hernan, eagerly; "for mymother is somewhat more righteous than other women, and might beconvinced, out of the mouths of some of my friends, that I am given togodless acts on occasions, which is very false and slanderous. I willbeseech you to bear them certain curious jewels, and trifles of goldenware, the fabric of my good savages here, more as mementos of mygracelessness, than as presents of affection;--seeing that they are ofno great value. They are such curiosities as will make mine oldplay-mates stare. Ah, the rascals! they were all better than I at theirbooks, and somewhat less acquainted with the pedagogue's palm.--Butpho!" he continued, suddenly dropping the tone of bagatelle, with whichhe had spoken, "I do but fool the time: your steed neighs in thecourt-yard, your lady looks up to the terrace--I will detain you nolonger. The king's letter which you bear, will authorize you to demandof the admiral the best ship in our small navy, as also to have itsailored and provisioned to your mind; and therein you can voyage, atyour good pleasure, to the Guadalquivir. I have presumed to order inwaiting, subject to your command, a company of guides, consisting offour Castilian soldiers, ten Tlascalans, and thrice as many Totonacs ofthe coast, with whom you will take your own will as to speed, though Irecommend you to submit to theirs, in the matter of the road. Commend meto your kinsman, the admiral, as also very truly to my parents; and ifthe emperor should see fit to express doubts of the success of thisenterprise, in which I am engaged, tell him that I, Hernan Cortes, dosay, and I gage my head for the fulfilment of the same, that the landshall be his,--all that lies between the two seas, and betwixt thenarrow neck of Panama to the south, and the huge isle of Florida to thenorth: this I promise, and this I will fulfil.--And now, senor, givingyou my thanks for the good deeds you have already done me, as well asthose which you meditate, and wishing to your fair and noble wife agreen path by land and a smooth way by sea, I do, very truly anddevoutly, and from the bottom of my heart, pray you God speed!--Rememberme; for you shall hear of me yet!"
So saying, the two cavaliers descended and parted,--Don Amador de Lesteto cross the seas, and, discharging the commands of his friend, both tothe ancient hidalgo of Medellin and the great Charles of Austria, toseek for happiness in his castle of Alcornoque, in the society of hisMoorish bride; and Hernan Cortes to ponder alone upon the fall ofTenochtitlan.