CHAPTER II.
At these words, the worthy thus appealed to, woke from his revery, andstaring a moment in some little perplexity at his companions, took up along copper-headed spear, which rested on the ground at his side, andadvanced towards them. Viewed at a little distance, the gravity of hiscountenance gave him an appearance of age, which vanished on a nearerinspection. In reality, if his own recorded account can be believed,(and heaven forbid we should attach any doubt to the representations ofour excellent prototype,) he did not number above twenty-six ortwenty-seven years, and was thus, as he chose to call himself, 'astripling.' Young as he was, however, there was not a man in the army ofCortes who had seen more, or more varied service than Bernal Diaz delCastillo. His exploits in the New World had commenced seven yearsbefore, among the burning and pestilential fens of Nombre de Dios,--aplace made still more odious to an aspiring youth by the ferociousdissensions of its inhabitants, and that bloodthirsty jealousy of itsruler, which had rewarded with the block the man[3] who disclosed toSpain the broad expanse of the Pacific, and led his subaltern, Pizarro,to the shores of Peru. With the two adventurers, Cordova and Grijalva,who had preceded Cortes in the attempt upon the lands of Montezuma,(discovered by the first,) Bernal Diaz shared the wounds andmisadventures of both expeditions; and he was among the first to jointhe standard of Don Hernan, in the third and most successful of theSpanish descents.
[Footnote 3: Vasco Nunez de Balboa.]
The hardships he had endured, the constant and unmitigated suffering towhich he had been exposed for seven years, had given him much of theweatherbeaten look of a veteran, which, added to the sombre gravity ofhis visage, caused him to present, at the first sight, the appearance ofa man of forty years or more. His garments were of a dusky red cloth,padded into escaupil, with back and breast-pieces of iron, over whichwas a long cloak of a chocolate colour, well embroidered, and, thoughmuch worn and tarnished, obviously a holiday suit. To these were added ablack velvet hat, ornamented with three flamingo feathers, striking uplike the points of a trident, with the medal of a saint, rudely wroughtin gold, hanging beneath them. His person was brawny, his face full andinexpressive; his dull grey eyes indicated nothing but simplicity andabsence of mind, or rather inattentiveness; and it required the presenceof many scars of several wounds on his countenance, to convince astranger that Bernal actually possessed the fortitude to encounter suchbadges of honour.
He approached the group with a heavy and indolent tread, bearing in hishand a bundle of leaves of maguey paper, such as served the purposes ofthe native painters and chroniclers of Anahuac, and with which he wasfain to supply the want of a better material.
"Dost thou hear, senor Inmortalidad?" cried Don Francisco de Guzman, asthe martial annalist took his seat serenely among the Castilians; "artthou deaf, dumb, or still wrapt in thy seventh heaven, that thouanswerest not a word to my salutations? Zounds, man, I will not ask theea second time."
"What is your will?" said Bernal Diaz, "what will you have of me,senores?" he repeated, surveying each member of the group, one after theother. "I did think that this being a day of license and rejoicing to somany of us, I might have an opportunity, not often in my power, ofputting down some things in my journal which it will be well to do,before setting out on the circuit of the lake, wherein there may happensome passages to drive from my memory those which are not yet recorded.But, by my faith, you have talked loud and much, and so disturbed mymind, that I have entirely lost some things I intended to say. I wouldto heaven you would find some other place to your liking, and leave mealone for a few hours."
"Why, thou infidel!" said Guzman, "if thou likest not our company, whydost thou not leave it? Dost thou forget thou hast the power oflocomotion? Wilt thou wait for us to depart before thou bethinkest theeof thine own legs? By'r lady! thou art not yet in thy senses!"
"By my faith, so I can!" said the historian, abruptly, as if the ideahad just entered his mind: "I will go down to the lake shore, where thesound of the waves will drown your voices. There is somethingencouraging to contemplation in the dashing of water; but as for men'svoices, I could never think well, when they were within hearing. I begyour pardon, all, senores: I will go down."
"What! when here are four fools, who are in the humour of listening tothee for some seven minutes, or so? ay, man, to thy crazy chronicles!When wilt thou expect such another audience? Lo you, the senor Camargahas desired to be made acquainted with your learned lucubrations. Come,stir; open thy lips, exalt thyself, while thou art alive; for afterdeath, there is no saying how short a time thou wilt sleep in cobwebs."
"You jeer me, senor Guzman; you laugh at me, gentlemen," said thesoldier, gravely; "and thereby you do yourselves, as well as me, muchwrong. Is it so great a thing for a soldier to write a history? Thevaliant Julius Caesar of Rome recorded, with his own hand, his greatactions in France, Britain, and our own Castile, as I know full well;for when I was a boy at school, I saw the very book; and sorry I am thatthe poverty of my parents denied me such instruction, as might haveenabled me to read it. Then, there was Josephus, the Jewish Captain, whowrote a history of the fall of Jerusalem, as I have heard from a learnedpriest. Besides, there were many Greek soldiers, who did the same thing,as I have been told; but I never knew much concerning them."
"And hast thou the vanity to talk of Julius Caesar?" cried Guzman,laughing.
"Why not?" said the soldier, stoutly; "I have fought almost as manybattles, and I warrant me, my heart is as strong; and were it my fate tobe a general and commander, instead of a poor soldier of fortune in theranks, I could myself, as well as another, lead you through thesemischievous Mexicans; who, I will be sworn, are much more valiantheathens than ever Caesar found among the French. As far as he was asoldier, then, I boast to be as good a man as he; ay, by mine honour,and better too! for I am a Christian man, whereas he was a poorbenighted infidel. As for my history, I will not make bold to compare itin excellence with his; for it has been told me, that Caesar was ascholar, and possessed of the graces and elegancies of style; whereas, Ihave myself none of these graces, being ignorant of both Latin andGreek, and knowing nothing of any tongues, except the Castilian, andsome smattering of this Indian jargon, which I have picked up with muchpains, and, as I may say, at the expense of more beating than one getsfrom the schoolmaster. Nevertheless, I flatter myself, that what I writewill be good, because it will be true; for this which I am writing, isnot a history of distant nations or of past events, nor is it composedof vain reveries and conjectures, such as fill the pages of one whowrites of former ages. I relate those things of which I am aneye-witness, and not idle reports and hearsay. Truth is sacred and veryvaluable. In future days, when men come to make histories of our acts inthis land, their histories will be good, because they will draw themfrom me, and not from those vain historiographers who stay at home, andwrite down all the lies that people at a distance may say of us. This isa good thing, and will make my book, when finished, a treasury to men;but what is better, and what should make it noticeable to yourselves, itwill not, like other histories, say, 'The great hero Cortes did this,'and 'the mighty commander did that,' giving all the glory to one manalone; but it will record our achievements in such a way as to show whoperformed them, relating that 'this thing was done by the Senor DonFrancisco de Guzman, and this by the valiant soldier Najara, and this bymyself, Bernal Diaz del Castillo,' and so on, each of us according toour acts."[4]
[Footnote 4: The historical reader will find that the worthy Bernal hasincorporated many of these judicious sentiments in the work he was thencomposing, and some almost word for word.]
"What the worthy Del Castillo says, is just," said Camarga; "and whetherhis history be elegant or unpolished, he should be encouraged tocontinue it. For my own part, I shall be glad when I have performedanything worthy to be preserved, to know, we have with us a man who willsee that the credit of the act is not bestowed upon another. And, inthis frame of mind, I will stand much indebted to the good senor, if hewill permit me at once,
to be made acquainted with the true relation ofcertain events, with which I am not yet familiar."
"What will you have?" said Bernal Diaz, much gratified by this proof ofapprobation. "You shall hear the truth, and no vain fabrication; for Icall heaven to witness, and I say Amen to it, that I have relatednothing which, being an eye-witness, I do not _know_ to be true; orwhich, having the testimony of many others, actors and lookers-on, tothe same, I have not good reason to believe, is true. What, then, willyou have, senor Camarga? Is there any particular battle you choose to beinformed of? Perhaps, I had better begin with the first chapter, which Ihave here, written out in full, and which--"
"Fire!" cried Guzman, starting up, "will you drive us away? Zounds! doyou think we will swallow all?"
"Read that chapter," said Najara, "in which you celebrate the exploitsof the senor Guzman."
"I have not," said Diaz, with much simplicity, "I have not yet hadoccasion to come to Don Francisco."
"Hear!" cried Villafana, clapping his hands with admiration, in whichthe cavalier, after looking a little indignant, thought fit to join.
"Unless indeed," continued the historian, "I should have resolved torelate the quarrel betwixt his favour, and the young cornet Lerma, (whommay heaven take to its rest; for there were some good things in theyoung man.) But as to this feud, I thought it better for the honour ofboth, as well as of another, whom I do not desire to mention withdispraise, that the matter should be forgotten."
"Put it down, if thou wilt," said Guzman, with a stern aspect. "What Ihave done, I have done; and I shame not to have it spoken. If I did notkill the youth, never believe me if it was not out of pity for hisyears; and out of regard to Cortes, with whom he was a favourite."
At these words, which were delivered with the greatest gravity, thehistorian raised his eyes to Don Francisco, and regarded him, for amoment, with surprise. Then shaking his head, and muttering the word'favourite,' with a voice of incredulity, and even wonder, he held hispeace, with the air of one who locks up in his breast a mystery, whichhe has been on the point of imprudently revealing.
"A favourite--I repeat the word," exclaimed Don Francisco, with angryemphasis; "a favourite, at least, until his folly and baseness were madeapparent to Cortes, and so brought him to disgrace."
"Strong words, Don Francisco!" said Villafana, with a bold tone ofrebuke; "and somewhat _too_ strong to be spoken of a dead enemy. Andbesides, without referring to your share in the matter, there are thosein this army, who have other thoughts in relation to the lad. It hasbeen whispered,--and the honour of Cortes has suffered thereby,--it hasbeen whispered----"
"By Villafana," exclaimed the hunchback, abruptly and sharply; "bythyself, certainly, Sir Alguazil, if there be anything in it against thecredit of the general."
"Pshaw! wilt thou buffet me again?" cried Villafana, springing up andstamping on the earth, though not in anger. "Dost thou know now whatthou art like?"
"Like a thorn in the foot, which, the more you stamp, the more it willhurt."
"Rather like a stupid ball tied to my leg," said the Alguazil, "which,without any merit of its own, serves but the dead-weight purpose ofgiving me a jerk, turn whichsoever way I will."
"Right!" cried Najara, with a sneer; "you have clapped the ball to theright leg. We do not so shot honest men."
"Gentlemen, with your leave," said Camarga, willing to divert the storm,which it seemed Najara's delight to provoke in the breast of theAlguazil, "with your leave, senores, I must not be robbed of mycuriosity. It was my purpose to ask the senor del Castillo to read mesuch portions of his journal as treated, first, of occurrences thathappened after the Noche Triste, and battle of Otumba, and then of thehistory and fate of this very young man, whose name is so efficacious inlaying you by the ears. But as I perceive the latter subject is hatefulto you all,--." Here he turned his eyes on Guzman.
"You are deceived," said Don Francisco, drily. "I bear the young man nomalice: the wolf and the dog may roll over carcasses--I have no angerfor bones. He slandered me: being no longer alive, I forgive him. AskBernal what you will, and let him answer what he will: I swear by mytroth, I care not."
"What needs that we should look into noisome caves, when we have green,wholesome lawns before us?" said Bernal Diaz, hesitating; for, at thatmoment, the eyes of all except Guzman, were fastened eagerly on his own."I could speak of the quarrel, to be sure, between his favour DonFrancisco and the young colour-bearer; for though, as I said, and forthe reasons stated, I have not put it down in my history, yet do Iremember it very well. But, should I get thus far, I should even persistwith the whole story; for, I know not how it is, I never begin arelation, and get well advanced in the same, but I am loath to leave it,till I have recounted all."
"Ay, I'll be sworn, thou art," said Villafana: "thy stories are muchlike to a crane's neck; 'tis but a head and bill at first, and an ell ortwo of nothing stretched out after."
"Nor am I able," said the worthy Bernal, without stopping to digest thesimile, "to read a full account of those actions the senor Camargaspeaks of, which took place subsequently to our flight from Mexico andour great victory on the plains of Otumba, for the good reason that Ihave not yet composed them; the failure of which is, in a great measure,the consequence of your loud talking just now, whilst I was addressingmy mind to the same. But, if you will have a verbal relation, senorCamarga, I will do my best to pleasure you, and that right briefly, andin true words; for I defy any man to detect falsehood or exaggeration inwhat I write."
"Ay, by'r lady!" cried Guzman, who had recovered his good-humour, andnow laughed heartily,--"in what you _write_, honest Bernal; but in whatyou say, you are not so infallible."
"You would not let me finish what I was about to say," murmured thehistorian.
"No, faith; you would make a day's work of it; whereas I, who am nowire-drawer of conceits, can despatch the whole thing in a minute. Doyou not see? the rear of the procession is in sight: in half an hour weshall be summoned into camp. Be content then, scribbler; I quote thywords, which should be honour enough: 'I defy any man to discoverfalsehood or exaggeration in what I say.' Know then, senorCamarga--after our victory at Otumba, nine months since, we retreated toTlascala, four hundred and fifty in number, at which city we rested fivemonths, curing our wounds, recruiting our forces, and preparing toresume the war. During this time, the only remarkable incidentswere,--first--the meeting of those goodly knaves who had come withNarvaez, sworn faith to Cortes, looked at Mexico, and now, beingsatisfied with blows and honour, demanded to be sent back to Cuba, tothe great injury and almost destruction of all our hopes. Among theforemost of these turbulent fellows, was our friend here, Villafana;who, although he came not with Narvaez, but was sent soon after us byVelasquez, was ever found consorting with the disaffected, until hisgood saint, in some dream of the gallows, brought better thoughts intohis mind, and converted him from an open enemy into a doubtful friend.Peace, Villafana! I am now playing the historian, and must thereforetell what I believe to be the truth."
At these words, Villafana, who had opened his mouth to speak, checkedthe impulse, nodded, laughed, and composed himself to silence.
"The defection of these men," resumed the cavalier, "and the reductionof our numbers that followed, (for we were e'en forced to discharge themore importunate of them,) were requited to us by happy reinforcementsof men, horses, and arms; some of them sent by the foolish Velasquez--"
"Senor Guzman," said Bernal Diaz, "the Governor Velasquez is myrelation. My father was an hidalgo, and his wife, my mother--"
"Oh, I forgot!" said Guzman, nodding to the historian:--"Some sent bythe _sagacious_ Velasquez to his captain, Narvaez, who was in chains atVilla Rica; some by De Garay, Adelantado of Jamaica, to rob us of ournorthern province, Panuco,--and it is supposed that thou, senor Camarga,with thy crew of sick men, though thou comest so late, and apparently ofthine own good will, wert equipt by the same inconsiderate commander;and some by the merchants of the Canaries and of Seville, to beexchanged for o
ur superfluous spoils, which were not then gathered;--no,by'r lady, nor yet, either. In fine, we became strong enough, by thesemeans, to recruit our forces among the natives of the land; which wedid, by attacking divers provinces in the neighbourhood of Tlascala, andcompelling their warriors to join our standard, along with theTlascalans, who were willing enough,--all save their generalissimo,Xicotencal. Thus, then, with no mean force of Spaniards, and withseveral armies of Indian confederates, we came, 'tis now more than threemonths since, to yonder city, Tezcuco, and raised to the throne, (inplace of his brother, who fled to Mexico,) a king of our own choosing;of whom I have the honour to be chief counsellor and minister, that isto say, guardian, regent, sponsor, or master, as you may think fit toesteem me. Here, it has been our good fortune to receive other andstronger reinforcements, and, as Villafana said, from the king's ownroyal bounty, with commissions and orders, priests and crown-officers,and so on; which circumstances have caused our army to be reorganized,the whole reduced to a stricter discipline, and civil officers to beappointed, for the better enforcing of martial law. Here, too, we havebeen preparing for the siege and blockade of yonder accursed metropolis,by bringing ships, (they are on the shoulders of these crawling pagans,)to give us the command of the lake; and by attacking and destroying theneighbouring towns, so as to secure possession of the shores. In themeanwhile, the young cub of an Emperor, Guatimozin, who has succeededCuitlahuatzin, the successor of Montezuma, has been equally busy inconcentrating the warriors of all his faithful provinces in the island,and providing vast stores of corn and meat, for their subsistence,--asresolute to resist as we are to assail. The materials for our vesselsbeing arrived, it is now known, that the time of constructing andlanching them, will be devoted to an expedition, led by Cortes himself;in which we will make the circuit of the whole lake, destroying therebellious cities on the main, and driving to the island all who maythink fit to resist. When they are thus caged, we shall have them likepigeons in a net; and good plucking there will be in store forall.--This is my history, and methinks it should satisfy you."
"It wants nothing to be complete save the episode of the Cornet Lerma,"said Villafana, with a malicious grin; "and, in requital for the goodturn you have done me, when speaking of the mutiny Tlascala, I willrelate it,--ay, by St. James, I will! frown and storm as you may. Thesenor Camarga has avowed his curiosity in the matter. Our dull Bernal,who is so frequent at boasting he tells naught but truth, has confessedthat he dares not tell _all_ the truth; which, I think, will be somewhatof a qualification to the belief of his future admirers. Najara, here,will say naught of any one but myself, and that with a crusty and bitterobstinacy,--wherein he seems to me to resemble a silly ox, who rubs hisstupid head against a tree, much less to the prejudice of the bark thanhis skin. And as for thyself, senor Don Francisco, thou hast but thineown fashion of telling the story. But I told thee before, there arethose in the army who have another way of thinking; and I am one--I willnot boggle at a truth, like Diaz, because it is somewhat discreditableto Cortes, or to a chief officer."
"Speak then," said Guzman, gravely; "I have said already I care not. Iknow full well how your knavish companions belie me. I say again, I carenot. What you aver as your own belief, I will make free to hold inconsideration: for the reported imputations of others, I release youfrom responsibility."
"Oh, I speak not on my own knowledge, nor of my own personal belief,"said Villafana, "and therefore, (but more especially in consequence ofthe decree, senor, the decree!--we will not forget the decree,) I shallfear neither dagger nor black looks. You called Lerma a 'favourite' ofthe general: pho! even Bernal smiled at that!"
"What I have said in that matter," replied Guzman, with composure, "Iwill condescend to support with argument. The young man was receivedinto the household of Cortes, while Cortes was yet a planter ofSantiago: he picked him up, heaven knows where, how, or why, a poor,vagabond boy. It is notorious to all, that, in those days, Don Hernanemployed him less as a servant than as a son, or younger brother, and assuch, bestowed upon him affection and confidence, as well as the truestprotection. Thou knowest, and if thou art not an infidel altogether,thou wilt allow, that the sword-cut on the general's left hand wasobtained in a duel which he fought with a man, ('twas the senorBocasucia,) who had thrown some sarcasm on the youth's birth, and thenran him through the body, when he sought for satisfaction."
"I allow all this," said Villafana; "I confess the youth was an ass, tomatch his boy's blade against the weapon of the best swordsman in theisland; and I agree that it was both noble and truly affectionate inCortes, to take up the quarrel, and so baste the bones of Bocasucia,that he will remember the correction to his dying day. I allow all this;and I add to it the greater proof of Don Hernan's love for the youth,that when Velasquez granted him his commission to subdue these lands, (Iwould the sea had swallowed them, some good ten years since!) thecaptain did forthwith entrust to the boy the honourable anddistinguished duty of recruiting soldiers for him, in Espanola, in whichisland he was born."
"Ay," quoth Guzman, dryly, "and one may find cause for the general'sanger, in the diligence with which the urchin prosecuted his task, andthe success that crowned it."
"By my faith," said Bernal Diaz, unable any longer to restrain hisdesire to take part in a discussion of such historical moment, "theyoung man sped well; and that he came to us empty-handed was no cause ofDon Hernan's displeasure, as I have heard Don Hernan say. It was, in thefirst place, our haste to embark, when we discovered that the governorwas about to revoke our captain's commission, that caused Lerma to beleft behind us; and, secondly, it was the governor's own act, that Lermawas not permitted to follow us, with the forces he had raised andbrought as far as Santiago. It is well known, that these men werearrested on their course, and disbanded by Velasquez,--for some of themcame afterwards with Narvaez, and have so reported. The youth was throwninto prison, too, where he fell sick,--for he had never entirelyrecovered from the effects of his wound,--and it required all theexertions of Dona Catalina, our leader's wife, backed by those of herfriends, to procure his release. His fidelity was afterwards shown inhis escape from Cuba, which was truly wonderful, both in boldness ofconception and success of accomplishment."
"His fidelity truly, and his folly, too," said Villafana; "for, I think,no one but a confirmed madman could have projected and undertaken avoyage across the gulf, in an open _fusta_,[5] (by'r lady! I have heard'twas nothing better than a piragua,) with a few beggarly Indianfishermen for his crew. But this he did, mad or not; and if Cortes wereangry, he took but an ill way to punish, since he gave him a horse andstandard, and kept him, for a long time, near to his own person. Hisfavourite for a time, I grant you he may have been, having heard it sorelated; but when I myself came to the land, there were others muchbetter beloved."
[Footnote 5: _Fusta_--a sort of galley, very small and open, with lateensails.]
"If I am not mistaken," said Don Francisco, "he was in favour at thattime; and I have heard it affirmed it was some news of thy bringing, orsome good counsel of thy speaking, which first opened the eyes ofCortes."
"_I_, indeed!--_my_ news, and _my_ counsel!" cried Villafana, with agrin. "I was more like, at that period, to get to the bastinado than theears of Don Hernan. I, indeed!--I loved not the young man, I confess;and who did? He had even the fate of a fallen minion; all spoke of himwith dispraise,--all hated him, or seemed to hate him, save only theTlascalan chief, Xicotencal, who loved him out of opposition; and Iremember a saying of this very crabbed Corcobado, here, on the subject,namely, that a hedgehog was the best fellow for a viper."
"Ay, by my faith," said Najara; "yet I meant not Xicotencal for theanimal, but a worthy Christian cavalier; who was, at that time, rollingthe snake out of his dwelling." As Najara spoke, he fixed his eyes onGuzman.
"I understand thee, toad," said the latter, indifferently. "It wasnatural, the young man should be somewhat jealous. But this leads usfrom the story. If it be needful to find a reason for Don Hernan'schange, I can m
yself give a thousand. In the first place, mere humanfickleness might be enough, for no man is master of his affections. Itmight be enough too, to know, that the youth was no longer the gay andgood-humoured lad he had been described, but a sour, gloomy, and peevishfool, exceedingly disagreeable and quarrelsome; and, perhaps, it mightbe more than enough, to remind you, that, as was currently believed,this change of temper was the consequence of certain villanous acts,committed after our departure, and which were thought to furnish abetter and more probable reason for the voyage in the fusta than anyparticular zeal he had in the cause of Cortes. If this be not enough,"continued the cavalier, looking round him with the air of one who feelsthat his arguments are conclusive, "then I have but to mention what youseem to have forgotten,--to wit, that this petulant and meddlesome boydid presume to make opposition to, and very arrogantly censure, certainactions of the general; and, in particular, the seizure and imprisonmentof king Montezuma, and the burning alive of the Cholulan prisoners, aswell as the seventeen warriors, who had fought the battle withEscalante, at Vera Cruz."--In the last of these instances, Don Franciscomade reference to the barbarous and most unjust punishment ofQuauhpopoco,--the military governor of a Mexican province near to VeraCruz,--and of his chief officers, who had presumed to resist with arms,and with fatal success, the Spanish commandant of the coast, in anunjustifiable attack.
"All this is true," said Villafana, "and it is all superfluous. What Idesired to establish was, that Lerma was no favourite, when sent on theexpedition, as would have been inferred from your words. I come now,senor Camarga, to speak of that occurrence in relation to this boy, JuanLerma, (I call him a boy, for, at that time, he was not thought toexceed nineteen years of age,) which, as Bernal Diaz says, touches thehonour of Don Hernan, and which, others think, bears as heavily uponthat of Don Francisco. The senores must answer for themselves: I onlygive what is one version of the story."
"And, I warrant thee, it is the worst," said Najara. "Thou hast verymuch the appetite of a gallinaza, who chooses her meat according to theroughness of the savour."
"Among the daughters of the captive Montezuma," said Villafana, noddingto the hunchback, in testimony of approbation, "was one, the youngest ofall, and, in truth, the prettiest, as I have heard, for I never beheldher, who was called Cillahula,--"
"_Zelahualla_," said Bernal Diaz. "It is a word that signifies--"
"It signifies nothing, so long as you give it not the proper accent,"said Guzman, with infinite composure. "Her true name was Citlaltihuatl;or, at least, it was by that the Mexicans designated her; for they ofthe royal family have, ordinarily, a popular title, in addition to thatused at court. The name may be interpreted the Maiden of the Star, orthe Celestial Lady; for so much is expressed by the two words of whichit is compounded."
"I maintain," said Bernal Diaz, stoutly, "that the word Zelahualla ismore agreeable of pronunciation, as well as much more universal in thearmy."
"I grant you that," said Guzman. "Nor is the corruption so great as thatof many names you have recorded in your journal: but I leave thesethings to be examined by your admirers hereafter. We will call theprincess, then, Zelahualla; that being the better and more commontitle.--And now, Villafana, man, get thee on, in God's name; and startnot, senor Camarga, at the damnable inventions of slander, which willnow be told you."
"Pho!" said the Alguazil, "I will not abuse thee half so much as theGeneral. Know, senor Camarga, that there arose, between the young foolLerma and the excellent cavalier Don Francisco de Guzman, a quarrel,very hot and deadly, concerning this same silly daughter of Montezuma;with whom Don Francisco chose to be somewhat rougher and moretyrannical, in displaying his affection, than was proper towards aking's daughter and a captive."
"Dost thou speak this upon thine own personal averment?" demanded DonFrancisco, with a countenance unchanged, but with a voicepreternaturally subdued.
"No, faith," said Villafana, hastily, and with an air that looked likealarm; "I repeat the innuendoes of others, which may be slanders ornot,--I know not. But it is certain, the young man so charged thee toCortes; affirming that, but for his interference, the villanymeditated--But, pho! thou growest angry! So much, certainly, he broughtagainst thee?"
"He did," replied Guzman, smiling as if in derision; "and I know not howany could have been induced to believe him, except that man,--eachman,--being naturally a rogue himself, doth rather delight to entertainthose aspersions which bring down his neighbour to his own level, thanthe commendations which acquaint him with a superior. He did!--He was afool! I can explain this thing to your satisfaction."
"Basta! it does not need," replied Villafana. "The rear-guard ispassing,--there is a stir on the temple-top, and presently we shall hearthe trumpet, which, like a curfew-bell, will command us to put out thefires of our fancy and the lights of our wit, on pain of having them,somewhat of a sudden, whipped out with switches. I must tell mine ownstory; the senor Camarga looks a little impatient. The end of thisquarrel," continued the Alguazil, "was a duel; in which neither of therivals in love and the general's favour, came to much hurt; since theywere speedily seized upon and introduced to the Calabozo, for fightingagainst the express orders of the general. Then, being released, theywere separated,--our excellent friend Don Francisco being sent on someduty to Tlascala, and the boy Juan to--heaven."
"Saints!" exclaimed Camarga; "he was not executed?"
"Not on the block or the gallows, to be sure," said Villafana; "but in amanner quite as effectual. He was sent on some fool's errand ofdiscovery, or exploration, to the South Sea, which, it was told us,washed the distant borders of this mighty empire;--his companions, twounlucky dogs of La Mancha, and one Leonese of Medina-del-Campo,--"
"Ay," said Bernal Diaz, with a groan,--"Gaspar Olea; he was my belovedfriend and townsman, and--" But Villafana was in no humour to beinterrupted:
"All three, like himself, out of favour," he continued. "Besides these,the young man had with him a band of knavish infidels, from the westernprovince Matlatzinco; and his guide and counsellor was an old chief ofthe Ottomies--a half-savage, (they called him _Ocelotl_ or _Ocelotzin_,that is, the Tiger,) who had been domesticated among Montezuma's otherwild beasts. Now, senor, you may make your own conclusions, or you maytake those of men who are true friends of Cortes, and yet will speaktheir mind. It was said, at the time, that the young man was sent to hisdeath; for the western tribes are fierce and barbarous; it was an easyway to get rid of him--and so it has been proved. This happened fourteenmonths ago: neither the young man, nor any of his companions, were everheard of more. The thing was understood, and it was called a cruel andunchristian act."
"Thou doest a foul wrong to Cortes, to say so," exclaimed Don Francisco,"imputing to him such sinister and perfidious motives. Such expeditionswere at that time common; for we were then at peace, and each explorerwas furnished by Montezuma with some royal officer by way ofsafe-conduct. Did not Don Hernan send his cousin, the young Pizarro, toexplore the gold-lands of Guaztepec, at that very time? Were not otherssent to search for mines, in the southern and northern provinces? Iaffirm, that this expedition of Lerma, fatal though it has proved, wasnot thought more, or _much_ more dangerous than Pizarro's:--thouknowest, Pizarro lost three of his men.--Moreover, thou doest thegeneral an equal wrong, in the matter of the three Spaniards, that wentwith Lerma. Olea, at least,--Gaspar Olea, the Barba-Roxa--wasnotoriously a favourite and trusted soldier, and was sent with theyouth, as being the fittest man who could be spared, to aid hisinexperience."
"The history is finished," said Villafana, rising; "the trumpetflourishes; and, like hounds at the horn of the hunter, we must e'en getus to the general, and add our howls to the yells of these curs ofTlascala. The history is finished; and I have only to add, by way ofannotation, that the hatred you bore the youth, (I have heard some say,he had the better in the duel!) will supply you good reasons fordefending his punishment."
"I say to you again," cried Guzman, "I have forgiven the youth, and Ihate him not."
/> "Oh! the brown horse, Bobadil, that was sent to him from Santo Domingo,a month since, and given to your own excellent favour, as to his properheir, is a good peace-maker!"
"Thou art a fool," said Don Francisco; "I lament his death as much asanother.----"
"Have masses then said for his soul, for, by heaven and St. John, hisspirit is among us!"
These words, pronounced by the hunchback, Najara, suddenly, and with avoice of extreme alarm, caused the cavalier, who, with Villafana andCamarga, had already begun to walk towards the city, to turn round; whenhe instantly beheld, and with similar agitation, the apparition whichhad drawn forth the exclamation of the deformed.