The dancers had fled from the terrace; the fire had smouldered away; but
in the light of the moon, which shed a far lovelier radiance, Don
Amador, as he was hurried to the steps, saw in place of the gay
cavaliers, a few sentries striding in front of the towers, and among the
artillery which frowned on either edge of the platform. Nevertheless, if
his rage had left him inquisitive, he was not allowed time to indulge
his observations. He was hurried down the steps, carried a few paces
further, and instantly immured in the stone dwelling of some native
chief, which, by the substitution of a door of plank for the cotton
curtain, and other simple contrivances, had been easily converted into a
prison.
In the meanwhile, the rage of the governor burned with a fury that was
not much lessened by the remonstrances of his officers; and to the
counsel of Duero,--the personal secretary of Don Diego Velasquez,
accompanying the expedition less as an adviser than as a spy over the
general, and therefore necessarily held in some respect,--he answered
only with heat and sarcasm.
"I have ever found the senor Don Andres," he cried, without regarding
the presence of Botello, "to be more friendly with the friends of Cortes
than may seem fitting in the honourable and confidential secretary of
Velasquez!"
"I will not deny that such is my temper," said Duero; "nor will I
conceal from you that such leniency springs less from affection than
interest. Sure am I, that had your excellency, from the first, held out
the arms of conciliation, instead of the banners of vengeance, at this
moment, instead of being arrayed against you in desperate hostility, the
forces of Cortes would have been found enrolled under your own
standard, and Cortes himself among the humblest and faithfullest of your
captains."
"While I doubt that effect," said the general sharply, "I cannot but be
assured of the strength of Don Andres's interest, while I listen to the
whispers of his enemies."
Duero coloured, but replied calmly:
"It is not unknown to me, that certain ill-advised persons have charged
me with being under the influence of a secret compact with Cortes,
formed before his appointment to the command of the first army of
invasion; whereby I was to share a full third of the profits of his
enterprise. Without pretending to show the improbability of such an
agreement, I will, for an instant, allow your excellency to take it for
granted, in order that your excellency may give me credit for my present
disinterestedness, in doing all I can to ruin my colleague; in which I
reckon, as no slight matter, taking every opportunity to decoy away his
followers."
"If thou wilt show me in what manner submission to the whims and insults
of this insolent boy could have detached any of the mutineers from
Cortes, I will confess myself in error, and liberate him forthwith,"
said the general.
"The insult has been passed, the blow has been struck," said Duero
gravely, "and unless your excellency chooses to measure swords with him
immediately after his liberation, nothing can be gained by such a step.
I should rather counsel your excellency to have the prison watched with
a double guard. But, in arresting him, you have, besides giving deep
offence to your colleague, the admiral, for ever won the hate and
hostility of the knight of Rhodes; and when this is told him in the camp
of Cortes, it will harden the hearts of all against us."
"When it is told in the camp of Cortes," said Narvaez, with a bitter
smile, "it shall be with mine own lips; and if I hang not upon a tree,
afterwards, the knight Calavar himself, it will be more out of regard
to his madness, than to the dignity of his knighthood. I will attack the
rebel to-morrow!"
"Your excellency is heated by anger," said Duero temperately; "or you
would observe you have a follower of the rebel for a listener."
"Ay! Botello!" cried the general, with a laugh of scorn. "He will carry
my counsels to Cortes when the cony carries food to the serpent, and the
sick ox to the carrion crow. Hark, sirrah,--thou hast read the fate of
thy master: will I attack him to-morrow?"
"Thou wilt not," said Botello, with an unmoved countenance.
"Hah!" cried Narvaez; "art thou so sure of this that thou wilt pledge
thy head on the prophecy? Thou shall live to be hanged at sunset, with
thy old comrades for spectators."
"Heaven has written another history for to-morrow," said Botello,
gravely; "and I have read that as closely as the page of to-day; but
what is for myself, is, and no man may know it: The fate in store for
the vain pride and the quick anger, may, in part, be spoken."
"Sirrah," said Narvaez, "remember, that though the vain pride might
overlook one so contemptible as thyself, the quick anger is not yet
allayed; and if thou wilt not have me beat thee in the morning, proceed
forthwith to discourse of our destinies."
"Blows shall be struck," said the magician, earnestly; "but whether upon
my own head or another's, whether in this temple or another place,
whether in the morning or the evening, I am not permitted to divulge.
Repent of thy sins; call in a confessor, and pray; for wrath cometh, and
sorrow is behind! By the spirits that live in the stars, by the elves
that dwell in stones and shrubs, by the virtues that are caged in matter
where the ignorant man findeth naught but ignorance, have I been made
acquainted with many things appertaining to thy fate, but not all. If
thou wilt, I will speak thee the things I am permitted."
"Speak then," cried the general; "for whether thy knowledge be truth or
lies, whether it come from the revelations of angels, or the diabolical
instructions of fiends, I will listen without fear."
"_Adonai Melech!_ under the heaven, and above the abyss,--with my hand
on the cross, and the rosary in my bosom,--in Rome, near to the
footsteps of his holiness, and with one who was his favourite
astrologer, studied I mine art; and there is nothing in it that is not
blessed," said Botello, with a solemn enthusiasm, that made a deep
impression upon all.--"Give me a staff, that I may draw the curtain from
this loop," he continued.
The sword of a younger officer was instantly extended, the curtain
removed, and the moon, climbing the blue hills of paradise, looked down
into the apartment. The cavaliers stared at the astrologer and magician,
for Botello was both, some with an unconcealed awe, and others, the
general among the rest, with an endeavour at looks of contempt not in
good character with the interest they betrayed in all his proceedings.
He raised his eyes to the beautiful luminary--enough to create by her
mystic splendour the elements of superstition in the breast of a
rhapsodist,--crossed himself devoutly twice or thrice, mumbled certain
inexplicable words, and then said aloud, with a mournful emphasis,
"Wo to him that sits in the high place, when the moon shines from the
house Allatha! But the time has not come; and I dare not speak the hour
of its visitation."
"And what shall it advantage me to know my peril, if I have not such
knowledge as may enable me to prevent it?" demanded Narvaez, with a
frown.
"And what would it benefit thee to know the time of thy peril," said the
astrologer, "when God has not given thee the power to avert it? What is
written must be fulfilled; what is declared must be accomplished.
Listen--the queen of night is in the eighteenth mansion; and under that
influence, discord is sown in the hearts of men, sedition comes to the
earth, and conspiracy hatches under the green leaf."
The general turned quickly upon his officers, and surveyed them with an
eye of suspicion. They looked blankly one upon another, until Duero,
laughing in a forced and unnatural manner, cried,
"Why should we listen to this madman, if we are so affected by his
ravings? Senor general, you will straightway look upon us all as
traitors!"
"There have been villains about us before," muttered the general, "but I
will not take the moon's word for it; and the more especially that I
must receive it through this man's interpretation."
"It is the influence, too, that is good for the friendless captive,"
continued the magician; "and many a heart that beats under bonds
to-night, will leap in freedom to-morrow."
"Every way this is bad for us," said Duero, banteringly. "I would advise
your excellency to clap chains on the legs of De Leste and the scribe,
who are, I think, saving the few rogues of Cortes who have craved to
enter into our service, the only prisoners in our possession."
"And dost thou think this gibberish will move me to any such
precaution?" cried Narvaez, with a compelled smile. "Thou canst not
believe I listen to it for aught but diversion?"
"Surely not, if your excellency says so. But still may we guard the
prisoners, without fear of being laughed at for our superstition,--as
long as we have faith in the discretion of all present."
"Guard them thyself, if thou wilt," said the general; "I am not moved
enough for such condescension.--Continue thy mummeries, Botello," he
went on, "and when thou art done with the moon, of which I am heartily
tired, I will look for thee to introduce me to some essence that speaks
a clearer language."
"What wouldst thou have?" cried the astrologer; "what plainer language
wouldst thou have spoken? In the house Allatha is written the defection
of friends, the dethronement of princes, the fall of citadels in a
siege."
"Villain and caitiff! dost thou dare to insinuate that this citadel of
Zempoala is in a state of siege?" cried the Biscayan, with a ferocious
frown.
"I speak of the things that are to come;" said Botello. "What more than
this wilt thou have?"
"It will doubtless be well," interrupted Duero, significantly, "to
evacuate this city in the morning. By encamping in the fields, we can
certainly avoid the danger of a besieged citadel."
"Dost thou gibe me, Don Andres?" said Narvaez, with a brow on which
jealousy struggled with rage.
The secretary of Velasquez laid his hand on his heart, with a gesture of
respectful deprecation.
"Ay! I see thou art stirred by these phantasms!" cried the governor,
with a harsh laugh, looking from Duero to the other cavaliers. "What
means this, my masters? Do ye all stare as if ye had got among you a
dead Samuel, telling ye of your deaths on the morrow? Cheer up,--for,
by'r lady, I intend, if this old fellow's command of the black art runs
so far, to divert you with a more horrible companion. What sayest thou,
Botello? It is whispered thou canst raise devils, and force them to
speak to thee!"
"Ay!" said Botello, with a ghastly grin, staring the general in the
face, until the latter faltered before him. "Wilt thou adventure then so
far? Canst _thou_, whose eyes tremble at the gaze of a living creature,
think to look upon the face of a fallen angel? Hast thou confessed
to-day, and been absolved? hast thou been free, since the sunrise, of
thoughts of treachery and feelings of wrath? The pentacle and the circle
the consecrated sword and the crucifix, the sign of the cross and the
muttered paternoster, will not protect the unshriven sinner from the
claws of a raised demon."
"If thou canst raise him," said Narvaez stoutly, "do so, and quickly. I
fortify myself in the name of God and the Holy Ones, against all spirits
and devils. It will be much satisfaction to my curiosity to look upon
one of the accursed."
"They are about us in the air--they are at our elbows and ears," said
Botello; "and it needs but a spell to be spoken to bring them before us.
But wo to him that hath thought a sin to day, when the Evil One looks on
him!"
"Senor Narvaez," cried Duero, with a most expressive and contagious
alarm, "if it be your inclination to raise the devil, you must indulge
it alone. For my part, I confess there have been, this day, certain
sinful thoughts about my bosom, which have unfitted me for such an
interview; and--I care not who knows it--my valour has in it so little
of the fire of faith, I would sooner, at any moment, speak with ten men
than one devil. God be with you, senor,--I wish you a good evening."
"Tarry, Duero; stay, cavaliers!" cried Narvaez, losing much of his own
dread in the contemplation of the apprehension of others. "Why, you are
such a knot of sinners as I dreamed not I had about me! Faith, I am
ashamed of you, and of you in particular, Duero; for I thought thy
shrewdness would have seen in this knave's attempt to frighten us from
the exhibition, an excellent evidence of his inability to make it."
"I could show thee more than thou couldst see," said Botello, "and, I
know, more things will come to thee than thou _shall_ see. I know, with
all thy vaunting, thou wouldst perish in the gaze of an angel of hell;
for thy heart would be the heart of a boy, and it flutters already, even
at the thought of the spectacle.--I will show thee an essence thou
mayest look upon without alarm."
"Do so," said Narvaez, sternly; "and remember, while saying what may be
necessary by way of explanation, that thou speakest to the chief and
governor of these lands, who will whip thy head from thy neck, in spite
of all the devils, if thou discoursest not with more becoming
reverence."
"My fate is written!" cried Botello, with neither indignation or alarm;
and drawing calmly from his bosom an implement of his art, he advanced
to the light, and displayed it freely to the cavaliers. It was, or
seemed to be, an antique jewel of rock-crystal, not bigger than a
pigeon's egg, set in the centre of a triangular disk of gold, on which
last, were engraved many unknown characters and figures. Crossing
himself twice or thrice, the enchanter swung it by a little silver chain
to which it was pendent, in the full blaze of the lamp; so that either
of the persons present might have handled it, had any been so disposed.
But, in truth, the superstition of an age for which no marvel was too
gross, no miracle too wonderful, was more or less shared by all; and
they merely surveyed it at a distance with curiosity and fear.
"This," said the magician,--"a gem more precious to the wise than the
adamant of the East, but in the hands of the unfaithful, more pernicious
than the tooth of a viper,--is the prison-house of an essence that was
once powerful among the spirits of night. The great Agrippa wedged him
in this stone; and from Agrippa, when I rested at his feet in the holy
city, did I receive the inestimable gift.--Kalidon-Sadabath! the night
is thy season, the midnight thy time of power! The lord of men calls
thee from thy prison-house, the armed man calls thee with the sword--Lo!
he wakes from his slumber, and will image out the destiny of the
seeker!"
The cavaliers, starting, gazed behind them with fear, as if expecting to
behold some mighty fiend rising shadowy from the floor; but no
intelligence more lofty or more ignoble than themselves was visible in
the sanctuary. They bent their eyes upon the crystal, and beheld, some
with surprise and others with deep awe, a little drop as of some black
liquid, glittering in the very centre of the jewel.
The haughty soldiers who would have rushed with cries of joy upon an
army of infidels, shrank away with murmurs of hesitation, when Botello
extended the talisman towards them. But they mistook the gesture of the
magician; his arm was outstretched more to display the wonder than to
part with it. He surveyed it himself a moment with much satisfaction;
then turning to Narvaez, he said,
"Lay thy hand upon the cross of thy sword, say a paternoster over in thy
heart, and thou shalt be protected from the mischief of this
inquisition, while I tell thee what I behold in the face of
Kalidon-Sadabath."
"With your favour," cried Narvaez, suddenly and boldly snatching the
enchanted crystal from the hands of Botello, "I will choose rather to
see his visage myself, than trust to your interpretations; and as for
the protection, I can con over a paternoster while I am looking: though,
why it needs to bestow so much piety upon this juggler's gewgaw, is more
than I can understand."
"Say at least the prayer," cried Botello, earnestly, "for neither
enchanted crystal nor consecrated gold can hold the strong spirit from
the wicked and self-sufficient."
"I have much trust in the saints, and in myself," said the governor,
coolly, greatly assured and inspirited by the harmless appearance of the
little mystery. "Nevertheless, I will follow your counsel, in the matter
of the prayer,--the more readily that it will keep my mind from
wandering to more important affairs; and because, in part, I am somewhat
burdened with the sin of neglecting such duties, when there is more
occasion for them."
He drew the lamp to him, grasped the crystal firmly in his hands, and
bending over it so closely that his warm breath sullied its lustre,
regarded it with a fixed attention. The cavaliers noted the proceeding
with interest; they gazed now at the jewel almost concealed in his
grasp, and now at the general, as his lips muttered over the inaudible
prayer.--Suddenly, and before he had half accomplished the task, they
observed his brows knit, and his lip fall; his eye dilated with a stare
of terror,--a deadly paleness came over his visage,--and starting up and
loosing the talisman from his grasp, he exclaimed wildly,
"By heaven, there is a living creature in the stone!"
The sorcerer caught the magical implement as it fell from the hands of
Narvaez; and throwing himself upon his knees, while the cavaliers looked
on in mute astonishment, exclaimed:--
"Forget not the prayer! and be content to hear what is revealed by the
imp of the crystal. Kalidon-Sadabath! He flingeth abroad his arms, and
is in wrath and trouble!"
"It is true," said Narvaez, looking to his officers in perturbation.
"While I looked into the shining stone, the black drop increased in
size, and grew into the similitude of a being, whose arms were tossed
out as if in agony, while spots of fire gathered round his visage!"
"Say the prayer, if thou wilt not die miserably before the time that is
otherwise ordained!" cried Botello with a stern voice, that was
remarkable enough, to be addressed by one of his station to the proud
and powerful commander. "Once, twice--Ay! is there no more to be
reckoned by thee, Sadabath? Once, twice--Yea, as the star sayeth, so
sayest thou--Once, twice!"
"What sayest thou?" said Narvaez, ceasing the prayer he had resumed, to
question the oraculous adept.
"To thy prayer! Listen, and ask not.--Ay! thou speakest in mystery! I
turn thee to the north, which thou knowest not, and the south, where
thou hadst thy dwelling,--to the east, which thou abhorrest, and to the
west, where was thy dark chamber; to the heaven, whose light thou lovest
not,--to the pit under the earth, where thou wast a wanderer,--and to
man's heart, which was pleasanter to thee than the bonds of the crystal.
In the name of the Seven that are of power under the earth, and of the
Seven that are mighty above, I call to thee, Kalidon-Sadabath, the
bright star that is quenched! In shadows, in fire and smoke,--in thunder
and with spears--with blows and with bloodshed, thou speakest, and I
hear thee!"
"_I_ hear nothing save thy accursed croaking, worse than that of the
crows of Biscay," cried Narvaez, hotly. "If thy devil have no more
intelligible gabble, cast him out, and call another."
"He speaks not, but by images and phantasms pictured on the
crystal.--Now listen, for thy story cometh. I see a great house on
fire--"
"Ay, I shall perish then in a conflagration!" said the governor,
hastily. "I have ever had a horror of burning houses."
"The smoke eddies, the flame roars, and one sitteth blindfold under the
eaves, with the flakes and cinders falling about him, which he sees
not."
"If thou meanest, that I shall rest, in that stupid state, under such
peril, thy devil Sadabath is a liar, and I defy him!"
"And he that takes thee by the hand," cried Botello, without regarding
the interruptions,--"is he thy friend?"
"Ay, answer me that question," said the governor; "for if I am to be led
out of the fire by a foeman, I will straightway forswear my friends, and
give my heart to the magnanimous."
"Thou doest him obeisance!" cried the magician, with extraordinary
emphasis--
"Villain!" exclaimed the general.
"Thou placest thy neck upon the earth, and he tramples it!"
"Liar and traitor!" roared the Biscayan, spurning the magician with his
foot, and, in his fury, snatching up a weapon to despatch him.
"Why shouldst thou stain thy hand with the blood of the dotard?" cried
Duero, interposing for a second time between the intemperate commander
and the object of his anger. "He is a madman, incapable of understanding
what he says; and were he even sane, and speaking the truth, your
commands to have him entertain you with his mummeries, should have
ensured him against your anger."
"Very true," said Narvaez, with a scowl; "I was a fool to strike
him.--Trample on my neck! Thou grizzly and cheating villain!--Go!
begone!--Thy devil, though he cannot tell thee what awaits thee in the
morning, may show thee what thou deservest."
"I deserved not to be spurned," said Botello tranquilly, after having
gathered up his enchanted crystal, and raised himself to his feet; "and
the dishonour will fall not on the side that was bruised, but on the
limb that was raised against it.--Once already, to-day, have I cursed
the man that struck me in my captivity; and he lies a corse on his
couch."
"It is true," said a young cavalier, shuddering. "I inquired after
Caboban, when I came from the prison with Botello--he was dead!"
"I will curse no more to-day," said the magician, sorrowfully; "for it
is a sin upon the soul to kill with maledictions; and, moreover, thou,
that hast done me this wrong, wilt suffer enough, without a new
retribution!"
The general waved his hand angrily and impatiently, and Botello was led
away, followed by most of the cavaliers.