CHAPTER IX.
Some two hours or more after he had been discharged from the presence ofthe Captain-General, Juan Lerma sat musing in one of the many hundredchambers which composed the vast extent of the palace of Nezahualcojotl,a different being from that the reader beheld him returning from exile.The coarse _tilmaltli_, or native cloak, and the barbarous tunic, hadbeen exchanged for raiment of a better material and fashion, a part ofwhich,--the _bragas_ and _xaqueta_, at least--were from the wardrobe ofthe general, while modesty, or reluctance to accept any further of suchassistance than was absolutely necessary, had induced him to substitutefor the plain but costly _capa_, or mantle, of velvet, the long surcoatof black cloth, very richly embroidered, which had, as he was told,accompanied the suit of armour, sent by his unknown friend. Thisvaluable and well-timed gift lay upon a platform beside his matted andcanopied couch, shining brilliantly in the light which a waxen candlediffused throughout the apartment. He sat upon a native stool, carved ofa solid block of wood, and his fine countenance and majestic figure,besides the advantages they received from becoming garments, appearedeven of a more elevated beauty, when seen by this solitary ray.
His only companion was the dog Befo, whose shaggy coat, yet gleamingwith moisture, betrayed that he had shared with the young man hisevening bath in the lake. The attachment of this beast was much morenatural than remarkable. Five years before, when Juan was but a boy inSanto Domingo, Befo had been his playmate and companion;--had followedhim to Cuba, when the youth began to weary of dependence, and long for alife of activity and distinction; and was finally presented by thegrateful adventurer to Cortes, as the only gift in his power to bestow;for, at that time, saving his youth, health, and good spirits, Befo madeup the sum of his worldly possessions. In the change of masters,however, Befo did not trouble himself to acquiesce; nor did he perceiveany necessity, while treating Cortes with all surly good-will andrespect, to abate a jot of his love for the hand which had firstsustained and caressed him. The dog is the only animal that showsdisinclination to be transferred from one master to another. The horsecares not, the ox submits, and man makes no opposition. The dog has awill of his own, and acknowledges no change of servitude, untilconscious of a change of affection.
The stirring and harassing events of the day, though they had exhaustedthe spirit of the youth, had yet brought with exhaustion that nervousirritableness which drives away slumber from the eyes of the over-weary.Twice or thrice, Juan had flung himself on the couch to repose, but invain; and as he now sat questioning himself how far the substitution ofsoft mats and robes for a bed of earth, might account for his inabilityto sleep, he began to revolve in his mind, for the twentieth time, hischange of fortunes, and wonder at the inauspicious, and, as it seemed tohim, unnatural sadness, which oppressed his spirits.
"I have been restored," he muttered, half aloud,--and, as he spoke,Befo, roused by the accents from the floor, thrust his rough head overhis knees, to testify his attention,--"I have been restored to favour,and, in great part, to the friendship of the General.--Thou whinest,Befo! I would I could read the heart of a man as clearly as thine.--Yethas he not distinguished me with a high command,--a captain's? I trow,it is not every one who can so soon step into this dignity, especiallywhen without the recommendation of birth, as Alvarado hinted.--I willshow this proud cavalier, that God does not confine all merit tohidalgos' sons. If he give me but a capable force--Twenty foot and sixhorse?--'tis but a weak array for a field where eighty men haveperished. Yet I care not: if I have but Xicotencal to back me, with sometwo or three _xiquipils_[9] of his Tlascalans, it will be enough. If Ifall,--perhaps _that_ will be better: I am too faint-hearted for thesewars. Villafana says, that he brands the prisoners too, and sells themfor slaves. This is surely unjust--He was another man at Cuba."
[Footnote 9: _Xiquipil_--a military division of natives, consisting ofeight thousand men.]
At this moment, the dog raised his head and growled, and Juan heardsteps approaching through the long passage, that ran by his door. Herethey stopped, and Befo continuing to give utterance to his displeasure,the voice of Villafana whispered through the curtain,
"Put thy hand on the beast's neck, or box him o' the ears--He is nofriend of mine."
"Enter," said Juan, "if thou art seeking me. He will do thee no harm."
"Ay, marry," said Villafana, coming in; "for at the worst, and whenother things fail, I will stop him with my dudgeon, be he Cortes's,thine, or any one's else. It stirs my choler to be growled at by so basea thing as a dog."
"Put up thy weapon, nevertheless," said Juan, observing that Villafanahad a poniard in his hand; "thou seest, the dog is quiet. In this hepays me the compliment of supposing I can protect myself. What is thywill with me, Villafana?"
"First," said the Alguazil, with a laugh, "to give thee mycongratulations touching thy sudden rise from the abyss, and thymeditated flight heaven-ward. And, secondly," he continued, when Juanhad nodded his thanks, "to ask, in the way of friendship, from how higha cliff thou canst tumble headlong, without danger of breaking thyneck?"
"This is but a silly question, friendly though it may be," replied Juan.
"Oh, senor," said Villafana, "you must remember, the first night weslept with the army, at the base of El Volcan, the mighty Popocatepetl,how much we admired the great stones, that the devils therein flung upagainst the stars! You nod again: good luck to your recollections! Didyou observe any one of those ignited masses stick against the vault, andthere hang among the luminaries?"
"Surely not," said Juan; "those that fell not immediately back into thecrater, rolled down among the snows on the mountain-side, and were thereextinguished."
"Very well, senor--When you are mounted, you can remember thefire-stones, and make your choice whether to tumble back into the fireof wrath, that now sends you upward, or to quench yourself for ever inthe frozen bed of degradation.--You go to Tochtepec?"
"I do," said Juan, somewhat angrily; "and I warn thee, thy maliciousmetaphors will not make me less grateful for the kindness that sendsme."
"God rest you--it were better you had accepted the embassy toGuatimozin."
"Hah!" said Juan, "how knowest thou of this? It was spoken only insecret council?"
"Oh," said Villafana, with a second laugh, "if thou wilt but scratch onone end of a long log, be sure I will hear it at the other. There issomething more in the world than magic."
He spoke with marked exultation; indeed Juan had already observed thathis carriage was freer and bolder than common, and that he bore himselflike a man who cares not wholly to conceal a triumph of spirit, which hethinks it not needful altogether to divulge.
"Harkee, senor Don Juan," he went on, abruptly and inquisitively, "thouart good friends with Xicotencal?"
"So far as a Christian man can be with one, who, though a very noblebeing, is yet a misbeliever."
"And thou wert sworn friends, at Mexico, with the young prince,Guatimozin?"
"Not so," said Juan: "the young man kept aloof from us all, being of thehostile party; and there was scarce one of us who had ever seen hisface. I must confess, however, if I can believe Techeechee, that mypreservation in the expedition was owing to his good act; for Techeecheeavers, that it was through Guatimozin's good will that he was sent withme, to secure me from the death which was designed for all the rest ofthe party."
"Designed? dost thou allow it then?" cried the Alguazil, quickly.
"Ay," replied Juan, dryly; "designed by the Mexican lords, but not byChristian leaders."
"And art thou not sorry thou wert not despatched to him as envoy?"
"Why need we talk of this?" said Juan, hesitating. "Guatimozin the king,may be different from Guatimozin the prince."
"He is not _yet_ the king," said Villafana. "He will not be crowned tillthe day of the great war-festival, and not then, unless he can furnish aSpaniard for the sacrifice. I'faith, he loves not the blood of his redneighbours."
"Villafana," said Juan, struck with certain uneasy suspic
ions, "thouseemest better acquainted with these things than becomes a true followerof Don Hernan."
"Not a whit, not a whit," cried the Alguazil, hastily: "this is but thecommon talk,--the common talk, senor; and I am but a fool to indulge init, to the prejudice of other business more urgent. Come, senor,--willyou walk in the garden? There is a friend to speak with you."
"What friend?" said Juan.--"Villafana, I half suspect you are engaged insome foul work. I will have naught to do with it."
"Lo you now," said the Alguazil, impatiently; "this is wild work. Do youthink I will assassinate you? Ho! this is a thing thy best friend wouldentrust to another. Come, senor;--you have your rapier,--you can takeyour casque, too, if you have any fear. It is a friend, who has that tosay which it concerns your life to know. You know not your danger. Godbe with you, and your blood be upon your own head! If you refuse, youwill not repent you:--no, faith--you will not have time left forlamentation.--Farewell, senor,--"
"Stay, Villafana," exclaimed Juan, much disturbed: "Friend or foe,--itis not that which stays me, but the fear of being entrapped intosomething more to be dreaded than death. Thou art a schemer; it is thynature: I will have nothing to do with thy plots, or with those who--"
"Pho! this concerns thyself alone, not me. My only plot is to help onewho desires to drag thee out of the fire thou art so bent to burn in. Itake you to your friend, and depart: I have other things to occupy me. Iam but a messenger. Will you go? I must give you a token then.--You havenot forgotten Hilario?"
At these words, muttered under breath, Juan started and turned pale,exclaiming, "Saints and angels! and heaven forbid! Mine ears did notthen deceive me? Oh wo to us all! Alas for thine ill news! Have I notpain enough of mine own?"
As he spoke, with a trembling voice, Villafana handed him his cap andsword, saying, as he put into his hand the latter, which was a lightrapier,
"A good blade! and has hung at Don Hernan's girdle.--Leave the dogbehind: he will but set up his cursed growling, and so bring upon yousome one who may not relish the meeting."
"It is true, then?" cried Juan, with tones and aspect of the greatestdistress: "So fair, so young, so noble, so fallen!"
"Back, cur! thick-lips! Befo!" cried the Alguazil, as the two left thechamber.--"He grumbles at me, as if to say _Ehem_, with disdain. Commandhim thyself: he is a superfluous companion."
The young man waved his hand to Befo; at which signal Befo threw himselfupon his haunches, looking after Juan till he beheld him issue from thelong passage into the open air. Then rising, with the air of a servantwho understands his duty much better even than his master, he followedslowly after the pair into the garden.