THE WAY THROUGH THE WALL.
"Al templo, _al templo_! to the temple!" shouted Cortes, as he charged
the close ranks of the enemy.
"_Al templo!_" answered the cavaliers, plunging forward in chivalric
rivalry.
And from the column behind them rolled the hoarse echo, with the words
of command superadded,--
"_Al templo! Adelante, adelante!_--forward!"
Not a Spaniard there but felt the inspiration of the cry; felt himself a
soldier of Christ, marching to a battle of the gods, the true against
the false; yet the way was hard, harder than ever; so much so, indeed,
that the noon came before Cortes at last spurred into the space in
front of the old palace.
The first object to claim attention there was the temple against which
the bigotry of the Christians had been so suddenly and shrewdly
directed,--shrewdly, because in the glory of its conquest the failure of
the _mantas_ was certain to be forgotten. In such intervals of the fight
as he could snatch, the leader measured the pile with a view to the
attack. Standing in his stirrups, he traced out the path to its summit,
beginning at the gate of the _coatapantli_, then up the broad stairs,
and around the four terraces to the _azoteas_,--a distance of nearly a
mile, the whole crowded with warriors, whose splendid regalia published
them lords and men of note, in arms to die, if need be, for glory and
the gods. As he looked, Sandoval rode to him.
"Turn thine eyes hither, Señor,--to the palace, the palace!"
Cortes dropped back into his saddle, and glanced that way.
"By the Mother of Christ, they have broken through the wall!"
He checked his horse.
"Escobar," he said, calmly, through his half-raised visor, "take thou
one hundred men, the last in the column, and attack the temple. Hearest
thou? Kill all thou findest! Nay, I recollect it is a people with two
heads, of which I have but one. Bring me the other, if thou canst find
him. I mean the butcher they call the high priest. And more, Señor
Alonzo: when thou hast taken the idolatrous mountain, burn the towers,
and fear not to tumble the bloody gods into the square. Thy battle will
be glorious. On thy side God, the Son, and Mother! Thou canst not fail."
"And thou, Olea," he added to another, "get thee down the street, and
hasten Mesa and his supports. Tell them the infidels are at the door of
the palace, and that the captain Christobal hath scarce room to lift his
axe. And further,--as speed is everything now,--bid Ordas out with the
gun, and fire the _manta_, which hath done its work. Spare not thy
horse!"
With the last word, Cortes shut his visor, and, griping his axe, spurred
to the front, shouting,--
"To the palace, gentlemen! for love of Christ and good comrades. Rescue,
rescue!"
Down the column sped the word,--then forward resistlessly, through the
embattled gate, into the enclosure; and none too soon, for, as Cortes
had said, though at the time witless of the truth, the Aztecs were
threatening the very doors of the palace.
Escobar, elated with the task assigned him, arranged his men, and made
ready for the assault. The infidels beheld his preparation with
astonishment. All eyes, theretofore bent upon the conflict in the palace
yard, now fixed upon the little band so boldly proposing to scale the
sacred heights. A cry came up the street: "The 'tzin, the 'tzin!" then
the 'tzin himself came; and as he passed through the gate of the
_coatapantli_, the thousands recognized him, and breathed freely. "The
'tzin has come! The gods are safe!" so they cheered each other.
The good captain led his men to the gate of the _coatapantli_. With
difficulty he gained entrance. As if to madden the infidels, already
fired by a zeal as great as his own, the dismal thunder of the great
drum of Huitzil' rolled down from the temple, overwhelming all other
sounds. Slowly he penetrated the enclosure; closely his command followed
him; yet not all of them; before he reached the stairway he was fighting
for, the hundred were but ninety.
Twenty minutes,--thirty: at last Escobar set his foot on the first step
of the ascent. There he stopped; a shield of iron clashed against his;
his helmet rang with a deadly blow. When he saw light again, he was
outside the sacred wall, borne away by his retreating countrymen, of
whom not one re-entered the palace unwounded.
Cortes, meantime, with sword and axe, cleared the palace of assailants;
and, as if the day's work were done, he prepared to dismount. Don
Christobal, holding his stirrup, said,--
"_Cierto, Señor_, thou art welcome. I do indeed kiss thy hand. I thank
thee."
"Not so, captain, not so. By my conscience, we are the debtors! I will
hear nothing else. It is true we came not a moment too soon,"--he
glanced at the breach in the wall, and shook his head gravely,--"but--I
speak what may not be gainsaid--thou hast saved the palace."
More he would have said in the same strain, but that a sentinel on the
roof cried out,--
"_Ola, Señores!_"
"What wouldst thou?" asked Cortes, quickly.
"I am an old soldier, Señor Hernan,--"
"To the purpose, varlet, to the purpose!"
"--whom much experience hath taught not to express himself hastily;
therefore, if thy orders were well done, Señor, whither would our
comrades over the way be going?"
"To the top of the temple," said Cortes, gravely, while all around him
laughed.
"Then I may say safely, Señor, that they will go round the world before
they arrive there. They come this way fast as men can who have to--"
A long, exulting cry from the infidels cut the speech short; and the
party, turning to the temple, saw it alive with waving sashes and
tossing shields.
"To horse, gentlemen!" said Cortes, quietly, but with flashing eyes.
"Satan hath ruled yon pile long enough. I will now tilt with him. Let
the trumpets be sounded! Muster the army! God's service hath become our
necessity. Haste ye!"
Out of the gate, opened to receive Escobar and his bruised followers,
marched three hundred chosen Christians, with as many thousand
Tlascalans. In their midst went Olmedo, under his gown a suit of armor,
in his hand a lance, and on that a brazen crucifix. Other ensign there
was not. Cortes and his cavalry led the column, which was of all the
arms except artillery; that remained with De Olid to take care of the
palace.
And never was precaution more timely; for hardly had the gate closed
upon the outgoers, before the good captain sent his garrison to the
walls, once more menaced by the infidels.
The preparations of Escobar, as we have seen, had been under Io's view;
so the prince, divining the object, drew after him a strong support, and
hastened to keep the advantage of the stairways. On one of the eastern
terraces he met the 'tzin ascending. There was hurried salutation
between them.
"Look you for Hualpa?" asked Io', observing the 'tzin search the company
inquiringly.
"Yes. He should be here."
The boy's face and voice fell.
"I would he were, good 'tzin. He left me on the _azoteas_. With the look
of one who had devoted himself, he embraced me. His last words were,
'Tell the 'tzin I have gone to make for him a way into the palace.'" And
thereupon Io' told the story through, simply and sorrowfully; at the end
the listener kissed him, and said,--
"I will find the way he made for me."
There was a silence, very brief, however, for a burst of yells from
below warned them of the fight begun. Then the 'tzin, recalled to
himself, gave orders.
"Care of the gods is mine now. Leave me these friends and go, and with
the people at command, bring stones and timbers, all you find, and heap
them ready for use on the terraces at the head of each stairway. Go
quickly, so may you earn the double blessing of Huitzil' and Tezca'!"
In a little time the 'tzin stood upon the last step of the lowest
stairway; nor did he lift hand until Escobar, half spent with exertion,
confronted him shield to shield. The result has been told.
And then were shown the qualities which, as a fighting man, raised the
'tzin above rivalry amongst his people. The axe in his hand was but
another form of the _maquahuitl_; and that his shield was of the
Christian style mattered not,--he was its perfect master. With a joyous
cry, he rushed upon the arms outstretched to save the fallen captain;
played his shield like a shifting mirror; rose and fell the axe, now in
feint, now in foil, but always in circles swifter than eye could follow;
striking a victim but once, he amazed and dazzled the Spaniards, as in
the Moorish wars El Zagel, the Moor, amazed and dazzled their fathers.
Nor did he want support. His followers, inspired by his example,
struggled to keep pace with him. On the flanks poured the masses of his
countrymen, in blind fury, content if, with their naked hands, they
could clutch the weapons that slew them. Such valor was not to be
resisted by the lessening band of Christians, who yielded, at first inch
by inch, then step by step; at length, in disorder, almost in rout, they
were driven from the sacred enclosure.
The victory was decided; the temple was safe, and the insult punished!
The air shook with the deep music of the drum; in the streets the
companies yelled as if drunk; the temple was beautiful with waving
sashes and tossing shields and banners; and on the _azoteas_ of the
great pile, in presence of the people, the priests appeared and danced
their dance of triumph,--a horrible saturnalia. The fight had been a
trial of power between the gods Christian and Aztec, and lo, Huitzil'
was master!
The 'tzin felt the sweetness of the victory, and his breast filled with
heroic impulses. Standing in the gate of the _coatapantli_, he saw the
breach Hualpa had made in the wall enclosing the palace, noticed that
the ascent to the base of the gorge was easy, and the gorge itself now
wide enough to admit of the passage of several men side by side. The
temptation was strong, the possibilities alluring, and he fixed his
purpose.
"It is the way he made for me, and I will tread it. Help me, O God of my
fathers!"
So he resolved, so he prayed.
And forthwith messengers ran to the chiefs on the four sides of the
palace with orders for them to pass the wall. From the dead Spaniards
the armor was stript, and arms taken; and the robbers, fourteen
caciques, men notable for skill and courage, stood up under cuirass, and
helm or morion, and with pike and battle-axe of Christian manufacture,
covered, nevertheless, with pagan trappings.
Still standing in the gateway, the 'tzin saw the companies in the street
begin the assault. Swelled their war-cries as never before, for the
inspiration of the victory was upon them also; rattled the tambours,
brayed the conchs, danced the priests, and from the temple and housetops
poured the missiles in a darkening cloud. Within his view a hundred
ladders were planted, and crowded with eager climbers. At the gorge of
the breach men struggled with each other to make the passage first. He
called a messenger:--
"Take this ring to the prince Io'," he said. "Tell him the house of the
gods is once more in his care." Then to his chosen caciques he turned,
saying,--"Follow me, O countrymen!"
With that, he walked swiftly to the breach; calm, collected, watchful,
silent, he walked. His companions shouted his war-cry. From mouth to
mouth it passed, thrilling and inspiring,--
"Up, up, Tlateloco! Up, up, over the wall! The 'tzin is with us!"
Meantime the beseiged were not idle; over the crest of the parapet the
Tlascalans fought successfully; through the ports and embrasures the
Christians kept up their fire of guns great and small. Nevertheless, to
the breach the 'tzin went without stopping.
"Clear the way!" he cried.
The guns within made answer; a shower of blood drenched him from head to
foot. Except of the dead, the way was clear! A rush through the slippery
gorge,--a shout,--and he was inside the enclosure, backed by his
caciques. And as he went in, Cortes passed out, marching to storm the
temple.
No doubt or hesitation on the 'tzin's part now; no looking about,
uncertain what to do, while bowmen and gunners made a mark of him. He
spoke to his supporters, and with them faced to the right, and cleared
the banquette of Tlascalans. Over the wall, thus cleared, and through
the breach leaped his people; and as they came, the iron shields covered
them, and they multiplied rapidly.
About eight hundred Spaniards, chiefly Narvaez' men, defended the
palace. They fought, but not with the spirit of the veterans, and were
pushed slowly backward. As they retired, wider grew the space of
undefended wall; like waves over a ship's side, in poured the companies;
the Aztecs fell by scores, yet they increased by hundreds.
Again the sick and wounded staggered from their quarters; again De Olid
brought his reserves into action; again the volleys shook the palace,
and wrapped it in curtains of smoke, whiter and softer than bridal
veils: still the infidels continued to master the walls and the space
within. By and by the gates fell into their hands; and then, indeed, all
seemed lost to the Christians.
The stout heart of the good Captain Christobal was well tempered for the
trial. To the windows and lesser entrances of the buildings he sent
guards, stationing them inside; then, in front of the four great doors,
he drew his men back, and fought on, so that the palace was literally
girt with a belt of battle.
An hour like that I write of seems a long time to a combatant; on this
occasion, however, one there was, not a combatant, to whom, possibly,
the time seemed much longer. In his darkened chamber sat the king,
neither speaking nor spoken to, though surrounded by his court. He must
have heard the cries of his people; knowing them so near, in fancy, at
least, he must have seen their heroism and slaughter. Had he no thought
in sympathy with them? no prayer for their success? no hope for himself
even? Who may answer?--so many there are dead in the midst of life.
At length the 'tzin became weary of the mode of attack, which, after
all, was but a series of hand-to-hand combats along lengthened lines,
that might last till night, or, indeed, as long as there were men to
fill the places of the fallen. To the companies crowding the conquered
space before the eastern front of the palace, he passed an order: a
simultaneous forward movement from the rear took place; the intervals
between the ranks were closed up; a moment of fusion,--a pressure; then
a welding together of the whole mass followed. After that words may not
convey the scene. The unfortunates who happened to be engaged were first
pushed, then driven, and finally shot forward, like dead weights.
Useless all skill, useless strength; the opposite lines met; blood flew
as from a hundred fountains; men, impaled on opposing weapons, died,
nailed together face to face. As the only chance for life, very many
fell down, and were smothered.
The defenders broke in an instant. Back, back they went,--back to the
guns, which, for a time, served as breakwaters to the wave; then past
the guns, almost to the wall, forced there by the awful impetus of the
rush.
The truly great leaders of men are those who, invoking storms, stand out
and brave them when they come. Such was Guatamozin. The surge I have so
faintly described caught him foremost in the fighting line of his
people, and flung him upon his antagonists. With his shield he broke the
force of the collision; the cuirass saved him from their points; close
wedged amongst them, they could not strike him. Tossed like so much
drift, backward they went, forward he. Numbers of them fell and
disappeared. When, at last, the impetus of the movement was nigh spent,
he found himself close by the principal door of the palace. But one man
stood before him,--a warrior with _maquahuitl_ lifted to strike. The
'tzin raised his shield, and caught the blow; then, upon his knee, he
looked up, and saw the face, and heard the exulting yell, of--Iztlil',
the Tezcucan! Whirled the weapon again. The noble Aztec summoned all his
spirit; death glared upon him through the burning eyes of his hated
rival; up, clear to vision, rose all dearest things,--gods, country,
glory, love. Suddenly the raised arm fell; down dropped the
_maquahuitl_; and upon the shield down dropped Iztlil' himself, carrying
the 'tzin with him.
The Tezcucan seemed dead.
A friendly hand helped the 'tzin to his feet. He was conscious, as he
arose, of a strange calm in the air; the clamor and furious stir of the
combat were dying away; he stood in the midst of enemies, but they were
still, and did not even look at him. A shield not his own covered his
breast; he turned, and lo! the face of Hualpa!
"Whence came you?" asked the 'tzin.
"From the palace."
"Thanks--"
"Not now, not now," said Hualpa, in a low voice. "The gods who permitted
me to save you, O 'tzin, have not been able to save themselves. Look! to
the temple!"
His eyes followed Hualpa's directing finger, and the same astonishment
that held his enemies motionless around him, the same horror that, in
the full tide of successful battle, had so instantly stayed his
countrymen, seized him also. He stood transfixed,--a man turned to
stone!
The towers of the temple were in flames; and, yet more awful, the image
of Huitzil', rolled to the verge of the _azoteas_, was tottering to its
fall! A thousand hands were held up instinctively,--a groan,--a long
cry,--and down the stairway and terraces, grinding and crashing,
thundered the idol. Tezca' followed after, and the sacrificial stone;
then the religion of the Aztecs was ended forever.
As if to assure the great fact, when next the spectators raised their
eyes to the _azoteas_, lo! Olmedo and his crucifix! The faithful servant
of Christ had performed his mission; he had burst the last gate, and
gained the last mountain in the way; and now, with bared head, and face
radiant with sublime emotion, he raised the symbol of salvation high up
in view of all the tribes, and, in the name of his Master, and for his
Master's Church, forever, by that simple ceremony, took possession of
the New World.
And marvellous to relate further, the tribes, awed if not conquered,
bowed their heads in peace. Even the companies in the palace-yard
marched out over their dead, and gave up the victory so nearly won.
Guatamozin and Hualpa followed them, but with their faces to the foe.
Needless the defiance: as they went, not a word was spoken, not a hand
lifted. For the time, all was peace.