savages," he said to his relatives and friends when they tried to
dissuade him from undertaking such a perilous search. "Let us go where
we can bathe in those enchanted waters and be young once more. I need
it and so will you before very long."
"But how do you know there is such a place?" they asked.
"By hearing the full particulars of an old Indian who went there and
washed himself and drank from the spring until he was restored to
youth and vigor. Let us go and be like him."
To find this new marvel he set sail with three brigantines, and the
adventurers with him floated over the summer sea, as men bent upon
pleasure, and to whom time was long and burdened with no serious
duties. They sailed from island to island touching here and there as
fancy led them. They sought the safest and pleasantest coves, where
the shades were deepest in the noonday sun, and the waters coolest;
where the fruits were the sweetest, the Indians most friendly and
their women the loveliest. At last they came to an inlet which led
invitingly up among wooded banks and flowering valleys. Here the old
knight said:
"Let us disembark and strike inland. My heart tells me that we have
found the Fountain of Youth."
"Nonsense," said his younger kinsman, "our way lies by water."
"Then leave me here with my men," he replied, and after an angry
discussion five men, long past middle age, and who had come with him
from Spain, were left on shore. The first thing they did was to climb
to the top of a hill and set up a cross which they had brought with
them. As soon as it was in place they all removed their helmets and
prayed before it. One of the men said to him:
"The ground is pawed up as if cattle ranged here, and this path has
been trod by human feet."
"You are right," said Ponce de Leon, "lead the way and we will
follow."
Taking the path they met about fifty Indian bowmen, who seemed to
their startled vision like a whole company of giants, but, who proved
to be of a very friendly disposition.
The grizzled old knights were anxious to inquire about the fabled
Fountain, so they gave the Indians strings of gay-colored beads, and
some little bells. In return they received an arrow, as a token of
good will. After a long parley the bowmen turned back to their huts.
"We will bring you food in the morning," they said, and at daybreak
they appeared again bringing plenty of fish, roots and fruits. When
they saw that the men were chilly from the cold night air, they said
to each other:
"Let us carry our brothers to our homes where they can get warm."
"But they will suffer on the way," said the chief. "Go before us and
build big fires and we will stop at each one to rest our weary arms."
The Spanish knights did not know what to make of this kind of
treatment, but they offered no resistance when the stalwart warriors
took them on their backs and started through the woods. The Indians
carried them very carefully, and at last set them down before the
doors of their huts where the women brought them food and drink.
"I wonder what they intend to do with us," said the knights among
themselves. On hearing this remark Ponce de Leon replied:
"It is just possible that they will offer us as a sacrifice, for it is
quite plain that they think we are supernatural beings."
"Let us get away from them as quickly as we can," they said, fearing
that something terrible would happen.
"Before we go we must try to find out about the magic spring we are
seeking," replied Ponce de Leon, unwilling to give up his project. It
required considerable time and patience to make the Indians comprehend
what he wanted, but they stoutly maintained that they knew nothing
about it.
"These redskins are cunning rascals, and will not tell us where to
find the Fountain of Youth," said Ponce de Leon, in explanation,
after his fruitless talk with them, "but God giving us strength we
will find it yet."
So they went slowly and carefully over the whole country, stopping at
each spring to take off their clothes and jump into it, then they
would drink as much of the water as they could, and sit down and wait
to see if it would make them young again. As they went farther away
from the coast the Indians became more and more friendly, because they
thought the white men had come from Heaven.
"We must bring them food, build houses for them and bear all their
burdens," they said among themselves. Some went out on the hills and
killed deer with their bows and arrows, while others killed rabbits by
going in a big wide circuit and then gradually closing in on the game.
When near enough they knocked the rabbit on the head with a wooden
club as it ran by them.
"Breathe upon and bless our food," they said to the knights, after
giving them all they wanted for themselves, "so that we may feel sure
in our hearts that you are pleased with us."
At first only the men made these requests, but finally the women
brought wild fruits and berries, which they wanted the visitors to see
and touch before they would eat. All this was very troublesome to the
knights, but if they refused or acted as if they were offended, the
poor Indians were terrified, and falling on their faces would cry
out:
"We shall die unless we have the favor of our good and wise white
brothers."
Farther on, the people did not venture to come out in the paths and
gather round them as the first had done, but stayed meekly in their
houses, sitting with their faces turned to the wall, and with all
their property heaped up in the middle of the floor.
"We could easily plunder and rob these simple folk," said Ponce de
Leon, "but I charge you on your honor as knights to take nothing you
do not pay for."
In spite of this the natives loaded them with valuable skins and other
presents, and were eager and willing to show all the springs and
creeks in their neighborhood.
"They pretend to know nothing of the miraculous gifts of the Fountain
of Youth, but their own splendid endurance of heat and cold, and the
fatigues of travel show how perpetually young and active they are. If
their bodies were pierced through with arrows they would soon recover.
They are trying to mislead us and conceal the source of their
strength, but we will soon find it," the Spanish knights said, and
Ponce de Leon, their leader, heartily agreed with them.
Never in the world had there been such a strange journey undertaken by
gray and careworn men. On and on they went searching in the heart of
the woods for a fountain where they could renew their youth. Yellow
jasmine trailed in festoons above their heads; wild roses grew at
their feet; the air was sweet with the odor of pine, while long gray
moss hung from the branches of the live-oaks.
Finally they came to a spring which widened into a natural basin and
bubbled up in such a cool, delicious manner, that Ponce de Leon
plunged into it with joy. Coming up on the bank to dress himself, he
exclaimed:
"It is enough. I have bathed in the Fountain of Youth. See, I am young
again."
His companions hastened to try it, and they too said the same.
"Hurrah! hurrah! the Fountain of Youth has been found! Let us make
haste to tell the world of your discovery."
But they were mistaken and had not counted on what the Indians would
do about it. When they found that the white men wanted a boat to go
down the river they were eager to get it for them, but when they
understood that they were going away, they wept bitterly, and tried
every way to persuade them to stay.
"No, we will not remain. This is Florida, the land of flowers, and we
are looking for Bimini, the Fountain of Youth," said Ponce de Leon,
firmly. "Your people have misled us continually. Bimini is an island
and we are going to search until we find it."
"And if you succeed will you return to us," asked an Indian chief
eagerly. "You have the secret of life and death in your hands, and
have already saved my wife and child. Stay and we will serve you
faithfully."
[Illustration: "HURRAH! HURRAH! THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH"]
"Oh! my brothers, stay with us!" begged and implored the Indians. Some
of them clung to the garments of the knights, and others were dragged
out of the boat by the determined natives. Finally Ponce de Leon,
grown tired of useless parley, said angrily:
"I am old and weary and must soon die if I do not find the waters
which will renew my youth and vigor. Your thickets and swamps are
filled with alligators and poisonous water snakes; the very air is
laden with deadly fevers, and never again will I return to it."
As the canoe started down the river the Indians wrung their hands and
wailed loudly:
"Come back! come back!" But Ponce de Leon stood up in the boat and
shook his head, and made them understand by signs that he would not do
as they wished. This made them all the more frantic and one of the
warriors, snatching up a poisoned arrow, sped it with deadly aim. It
went through the thigh of the gallant old knight where he stood, and
it was not long until death ended his search for the Fountain of
Youth. Since then no one has ever tried to locate this wonder-working
fountain, but philosophers say that it is in our own hearts and that
we find it when we realize that the soul never dies, and is
perpetually young because of its immortality.
Montezuma and the Paba
Columbus died poor and in prison because nobody was interested in his
effort to find a northwest passage to India, or cared whether the
earth was round or flat. They wanted gold, and the stories of El
Dorado told by the ignorant sailors had more influence on the people
than anything Columbus said or did.
"I have merely opened the gates for others to enter," he exclaimed
bitterly, when he found himself thwarted in all his plans, but there
is more honor accorded his memory than to any of the others who came
after him, and made immense fortunes.
The same year that Queen Isabella died, a young man, but nineteen
years old, named Hernando Cortez, sailed from Spain for Cuba. Already
there was quite a Spanish settlement on the island, and when the
Governor offered him a large tract of land with Indian slaves to
cultivate it, he answered angrily:
"I came to get gold, not to till the soil like a peasant."
He expected to find untold wealth locked up in the unexplored regions
of the new world, and had no patience with any of the slower methods
of gaining riches. Instead of working he meant to fight for what he
wanted and we shall find when we know more about him that he broke his
word to his king, the governor of Cuba, to his wife, to his soldiers,
and to every friend who served him. Yet he was born a gentleman,
handsome and well mannered, but a greedy love of gold rendered him
brutal and treacherous to a degree.
In his company were gallant knights of chivalry, servile retainers of
the king, soldiers of fortune, and bearded friars, who left behind
them country, home, family, friends and sweethearts, to seek El
Dorado, which to them meant simply gold. When we study the history of
the United States we shall be surprised to find men like them in full
armor of steel, with lance, shield and helmet, mounted on prancing
steeds, caparisoned in gay colors, glittering through the untracked
wilderness of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and even as far west as
Arizona, always in search of El Dorado. And in every case their greed
for gold led to such bloodshed and violence, that it makes the heart
ache to think about it.
Not many years after Cortez landed in Cuba, the Governor sent for him
and said:
"I have at last secured permission from the king to explore the
continent lying to the west, and I desire you to take ships and
soldiers and have command of the expedition."
Something in Cortez' manner excited the suspicion of the Governor, but
he said nothing until he was ready to sail. Then he withdrew the
commission, and ordered Cortez to remain in Cuba. Instead of obeying
he stole away in the night, and did not land until he came to the
coast of Mexico, close to the point from which the Golden Hearted had
sailed. His men were afraid to venture far from shore, but he painted
glowing pictures of the gold they were to find, and said:
"I hold out to you a glorious prize, but it is only to be won by
incessant toil."
Then holding up a black velvet standard with a red cross in the
center, surrounded by flames of blue and white, he continued:
"Comrades, let us follow the cross, and under this sign if we have
faith, we shall conquer."
The padres with them, who had come to minister to the spiritual
welfare of the cavaliers and soldiers, urged them to go forward,
saying:
"We are in honor bound to carry the gospel to these poor, ignorant
heathens, and God has given you the privilege of helping in this work."
The Indians were friendly and when asked for gold, answered:
"We on the sea coast have little, but in Tenochtitlan there is a rich
and powerful king named Montezuma, who has much gold and other
treasures."
Around them were parched and sandy plains, but on the march they soon
came to "the land of bread," as the Tlascallan country was called, and
here they heard of Cholula, the sacred city. When they came in sight
of it they exclaimed:
"It is the promised land!" and were amazed at the splendor of the
city, as well as the surrounding country, where there were fields of
maize, vanilla, indigo, sugar cane, flowering cacao groves, and banana
trees in profusion. The streets of Cholula were filled with a
concourse of priests whom Cortez mistook for beggars. They were
holding a religious festival in honor of Quetzalcoatl, which was their
name for the Golden Hearted, who had now become the Fair God of
tradition. Long had they been expecting him to return to Cholula, and
because Cortez had a fair complexion, and was accompanied by other
white men they thought the Golden Hearted had come at last. The people
lined the streets and roadways and not only wore garlands of flowers
on their heads, but tossed bouquets to the soldiers, while the priests
met them with music and swung incense up and down the cleanly-swept
streets they passed through.
"What is the will of Quetzalcoatl?" they asked eagerly of Cortez.
"Do you come from Tlapalla?" they inquired of his followers.
"No," they were answered, "but we have a disease of the heart which
only gold can cure."
Then the simple natives brought all the gold-dust and little trinkets
they could find and gave to their visitors. Cortez thanked them, but
said:
"This is not enough. We must have very much more."
"Then you would better ask our friend and ally, the great king,
Montezuma. He has immense stores of it."
"Where is this great king, and this city of Tenochtitlan?"
"Farther to the west," they answered.
Shortly after this an embassy of nobles from the court of Montezuma
appeared with rich presents and an invitation to Cortez to visit the
king. None of them had ever seen a white man before, and they did not
for a moment doubt that Cortez was the Golden Hearted, returned to
claim his own, and they were very anxious to please him. Touching his
brass helmet one of them said timidly:
"It is very like that worn by Quetzalcoatl, and I would like our king,
Montezuma, to see it."
"Certainly," responded Cortez, "but bring it back filled with gold."
And they did. No one knows just why, but something made Cortez
suspect the gentle natives of treachery, and one morning at daybreak
he fell upon them in the market place, and slew thousands of people,
and then set fire to the city. His rude soldiers went up on the
pyramid and threw down the statue of the Golden Hearted, and erected a
cross in its place. History says that the Aztecs had long been
offering the hearts of human beings in sacrifice to the Golden Hearted
in Cholula, while in Tenochtitlan they had set up an image of a
terrible war god, and were worshiping that more than the gentle,
inoffensive Golden Hearted. It was this disobedience which made
Montezuma fear that he was returning to take vengeance.
One morning early the king went to see the Paba, who had charge of the
sacred fires on the altars built by the Golden Hearted himself. The
chamber in the temple was square, with the ceiling covered by a
lattice work of shining white and yellow metal which, at the
intersections, was carved to represent flowers set with jewels. All
around the walls were sculptured pictures of men. As the king
approached the Paba said:
"The gloomy clouds hanging overhead are not darker than is the mood of
Quetzalcoatl, but to the poor Paba the voice of the king is ever
welcome."
"Why should the mood of Quetzalcoatl be dark? A new teocalli holds his
image, and they say he is happy and that he comes from the place of
sunrise with a canoe filled with blessings."
"Do you remember, O king! that in some of the underground chambers of
this temple, besides vast stores of wealth, there are prophecies to be
read?"
"I remember it well," said Montezuma.
"Give me leave, and I will show you the writing from Quetzalcoatl
himself."
Groping their way through the great underground cavern, but dimly
lighted, the Paba said:
"Son of a king, is your heart strong? The writing begins here and
continues around the wall."
"Read it," said Montezuma.
"The first is here on the north and represents the ancient king on the
march. You see him in the midst of warriors who are dancing in honor
of his victories. Here we have the whole story of our race."
"This was before the coming of Quetzalcoatl and is of the remote
past," said Montezuma, with a frown.
"On the southern wall, opposite," replied the Paba, "is what you seek.
Observe the king stands on a rock, and a priest points out to him an
eagle on a cactus holding a serpent in its claws. Beside it the king
reclines on a couch. Our city has been founded."
Montezuma said not a word, but turned to another panel.
"Look well to this, O king! There is Quetzalcoatl before an altar
offering a sacrifice of fruit and flowers. _His hands are free from
blood!_"
Montezuma's face was deadly pale, because he knew that many orders of
priests in his kingdom sacrificed human beings by cutting out their
hearts, and he was afraid that the coming of the strange white men was
on account of this forbidden practice.
"See! Oh majesty! the fair god is departing from our beloved
Tenochtitlan. Saddest of all days was that for us."
"Show me a prophecy if you would have me believe that this was written
by Quetzalcoatl. I would know something of the future."
"Be wise, oh my master! Let the future alone; it is sown with sorrows
for all you love."
"Until I wrong the gods why should I fear them? Have done, Paba. I,
too, am a priest," said Montezuma, earnestly.
"I, his true servant, tell you never again to look for smile from
Tlapalla. I will show you from Quetzalcoatl himself, that the end of
your empire is at hand. Every breeze from the east is filled with woe
for you and yours. The writing is on the wall. Look again and
closely."
"I see nothing," cried the king.
"All that you have heard about the return of Quetzalcoatl is true. He
is coming to end the days of the Aztecs forever."
"Forever! It cannot be. Read the next panel."
"There is no other, this is the last," answered the Paba sadly.
Montezuma turned quickly to the north wall, but found it without a
single mark. Here indeed was the end.
That night the Aztec king could neither eat nor sleep. The prophecy
was with him all the time. When the morning came he called for his
canoe. From the battlements of Chapultepec, the palace and tomb of his
fathers, he would see the sun rise. If Quetzalcoatl was angered and
meant to wreak vengeance, he naturally supposed the sun, his dwelling
place, would give some warning.
In all the heavens around there was not a fleck when suddenly a cloud
of smoke rushed upward, and across the pathway of the sun, so that
when it crept over the mountain range, it looked like a ball of blood!
Montezuma drew the hood over his face quickly, and his head dropped on
his breast.
The Paba had spoken the truth. Quetzalcoatl was coming! and next
evening a runner sped hotly over the causeway and up the street,
stopping at the gate of the royal palace. He was taken before the king
and shortly after the news went flying over Tenochtitlan, that
Quetzalcoatl had arrived in his huge water-house with wings, and
filled with thunder and lightning! for that was what the Aztecs called
the ships and cannon brought by Cortez.
When Montezuma heard of the terrible massacre in Cholula, he called a
council of wise old men and said:
"Of what use is it, uncles? The gods are against us and resistance is
of no avail. I mourn most for the women and children, and the old and
infirm who are too feeble to fight or fly. For myself and the brave
men around me, we must bare our breasts to the storm and meet it as we
may."
As Cortez neared Tenochtitlan he was met by so many chiefs and nobles
under Montezuma, that it took them an hour to pass before him, and
make their salutation which they did by touching the ground with the
right hand and then carrying it to the forehead. The four nobles
carrying Montezuma on their shoulders, were preceded by three officers
of state bearing gold wands in their hands to show that they came in
peace. The royal palanquin, or chair, in which Montezuma was seated,
blazed with gold, jewels and gaudy feather-work, while the nobles
carrying it were barefooted. They walked with slow measured steps and
kept their eyes bent on the ground. Finally the train of warriors and
nobles halted, and Montezuma came forward to meet Cortez.
Imagine what their feelings must have been as they looked at each
other! Montezuma thought he was welcoming back the gentle, kind
Quetzalcoatl, whom we know as the Golden Hearted, while Cortez knew he
had found more gold and riches than he ever dreamed existed anywhere.
The poor misled Aztec king approached the Spanish adventurer and
putting an exquisitely wrought gold collar around his neck said:
"This was my father's palace but it belongs to you and your brethren.
Rest here after your fatigues and in a little while I will visit you
again."
When he went out of the palace he sent slaves to wait upon them, and
he gave each one new clothes, and a splendid feast. When they had
finished eating, the rude soldiers searched all through the palace for
hidden wealth, and finding the treasure house of the king proceeded to
help themselves. When Montezuma heard of it he said:
"They are welcome to the gold and silver and other articles, if they
will but spare the things belonging to the gods."
In the palace grounds where they were quartered they found an aviary
filled with beautiful singing birds; a menagerie full of strange
animals, and snakes; ten big tanks stocked with water-fowl and fish;
fountains playing everywhere, and wonderful floating gardens on the
lakes, while all around them lay a city filled with temples, market
places, and handsome houses.
True to his promise Montezuma returned shortly and in speaking to
Cortez said:
"I have been expecting you for many days. The wonderful deeds
attributed to you, your complexion and the quarter from whence you
come show me that you are Quetzalcoatl. You and your brethren shall
share all things with me," and with tears in his eyes he gave them as
many costly presents as they could carry. The padres and soldiers
were constantly asked:
"Do you come from Tlapalla?" while Montezuma did everything he could
to please Cortez.
One day he went to the king's palace and after accepting the usual
presents of gold and silver, Montezuma offered him one of his
daughters for a wife. Cortez declined, and seeing that the courtyard
was partly filled with his trusted men, he approached Montezuma
abruptly and said:
"You have treated me treacherously, and have allowed one of my
officers to be killed on the sea coast."
Montezuma turned very pale. No one else in his kingdom would have
dared speak to him in such an insulting manner, and besides that he
knew nothing of the death of the officer before. In reality the
officer had been murdered while torturing the poor natives to make
them give him more gold.
"I demand that you send for the chief and all the notable men in his
council that I may punish him for the death of my comrade," said
Cortez, trying to pick a quarrel with the king.
"Very well," said Montezuma, kindly. "I will have them brought as you
desire."
"I believe in your promise, but you must come to my quarters as
hostage until the thing is done."