Hernan Cortes was a Spanish gentleman whose achievements in the new
world earned him a fame almost as great and almost as fantastic
as that of any of the mediæval heroes. He was first taken out to
the West Indies as secretary to Diego Velasquez, Governor of Cuba,
whose arbitrary acts excited so much discontent, that a commission of
inquiry was sent out from Spain, which established its head-quarters
at Hispaniola [109]. It was a perilous enterprise to carry the
complaint of Cuba over to the commission; and as no one could be
found to undertake the service, Hernan Cortes resolved to go himself,
though he had to cross the straits in an open boat. The governor had
been on the watch, and one of the swiftest boats under his orders
succeeded in overtaking Cortes's boat, and putting him in irons to
bring him back to shore.
Hernan Cortes was one of the handsomest of men; and his beauty and
misfortunes exciting the sympathy of his keepers, he was not very
vigilantly watched. Possessing great natural pluck and dexterity, he
managed in the night, as they neared the land, to slip his chains and
gain the shore. Here he hid himself in the jungle till daybreak, when
he found sanctuary in a little church. For several days he remained
here in safety, but among the frequenters of the shrine was Melinda
Xuares, whose piety, and modest demeanour in spite of her exceeding
beauty, attracted his attention and won his heart. Her brother, Juan
Xuares, with whom she lived, for she was an orphan, was delighted to
cultivate the acquaintance of a man he admired so much, and therefore
received him cordially.
In his remote retreat he thought himself so safe that he ventured
daily to spend some hours at Juan Xuares' house; but the governor's
spies were down upon him. They caught him one day outside the limits
of the sanctuary, and clapped him in prison.
When he had been seized before, it was by an arbitrary stretch of
power: now there was a formal charge against him, for having broken
prison; and he was liable to be hanged.
Melinda's grief was indescribable: but she was brave as beautiful;
she no sooner heard of Hernan's imprisonment than she hastened to
the governor, and so successfully pleaded her lover's cause, that he
ordered him to be set free and restored to her.
Thus a noble life was spared; and Hernan Cortes afterwards became
the conqueror of Mexico.