To the surprise, and much also to the dissatisfaction, of Don Amador,
the noon-day sun still found him struggling, with his companions, among
the rocks and forests. It seemed to him, from a review of his journey,
that he had been doubling and turning, for the whole morning, like a boy
at blindman's-buff, within a circle of a few leagues; and though he
could not, upon the closest inspection, detect a single tree or brook
which he remembered to have passed before, he shrewdly suspected it was
Botello's intention to make him well acquainted with the forest, before
dismissing him from its depths. It was however vain to wonder, and
equally fruitless to complain. For the whole morning, at different
intervals, he was assured, sometimes from hearing their shouts in the
thicket, sometimes from beholding them from a hill-top crossing an
opposing eminence, that his pursuers were close at his heels: of which
fact, and the necessity it presented to move with becoming caution, the
enchanter took advantage in the construction of his answers to every
remonstrance. At length, perhaps two hours after noon, the travellers
approached a hill, whence, as Botello assured them, they might look down
upon the River of Canoes. This was the more agreeable intelligence,
since the day was intolerably hot, and they almost longed for the
bursting of a tempest which had been brooding in the welkin for the last
half hour, the drenching of which, as they thought, would be far more
sufferable than the combustion of sunshine. They reached the hill, and
from its bushy and stony side, looked down upon the valley, where the
river, or, more properly speaking, the rivulet, went foaming and
fretting over its rugged channel. On the hither side of the stream, the
vale was bare and sandy, and on the other, though doubtless partaking of
the same character, the trees which bordered upon the water, making
divers agreeable groves, entirely shut out the view, so that Don Amador
saw not, as he had fondly anticipated, the encampment of the invader of
Mexico, and the resting-place of his kinsman. But if he beheld not what
he so much desired to see, he surveyed another spectacle, which caused
him no little wonder. At a short distance, and almost at the bottom of
the hill, he was struck with the unexpected apparition of the army of
Narvaez, drawn out in order of battle, as if awaiting the approach of a
foe, and commanding the passage of the river. He rubbed his eyes with
astonishment; but there was no delusion in the view.
"Senor," said Botello, in a low voice, as if reading his thoughts, "you
marvel to see this army, which we left sleeping at the temple, arrived
at the river before us; but you forget Zempoala lies only a league from
the river."
"Let us descend, and cross to the other side," said Amador, impatiently.
"I see the very spot where sits the knave Narvaez on his horse; and if
the valiant Cortes have it in intention, as I do not doubt, to give him
battle, I should sharply regret to watch the conflict from this
hill-side."
"I told Narvaez, himself," said the magician, with a sort of triumph,
"he should not join battle with Cortes to-day; and he shall not!--When
the time comes, Don Amador may join in the combat, if he will.--Be
content, senor: we cannot stir from this hill without being observed,
and captured or slain. The thunder roars, the bolt glitters in the
heaven; the storm that levels the tall ceibas, will open us a path
presently, even through that angry army."
Almost while Botello spoke, and before the cavalier could add words to
the disinclination with which he regarded so untimely a delay, there
burst such a thunderbolt over his head, as made Fogoso, in common with
every other horse in the party, cower to the earth, as if stricken by
its violence. This was immediately followed by a succession of separate
explosions and of multisonous volleys, less resembling the furious roar
of the ordnance of a great army than of the artillery of volcanoes; and
it became immediately necessary for each man to dismount, and allay, as
he could, the frantic terrors of his charger. In the midst of this
sublime prelude, the rushing of a mighty wind was added to the orchestre
of the elements; and, in an instant, the face of day, the black vapours
above and the varied valley below, were hidden in a cloud of dust, sand,
and leaves, stripped in a moment from the plains and the forest; and in
an instant also, the army of Narvaez was snatched from the eyes of the
cavalier. Presently, also, came another sound, heard even above the peal
of the thunder and the rush of the wind; the roar of a great rain,
booming along like a moving cataract, was mingled with the harsh music
of nature; and Don Amador looked anxiously round for some place of
shelter. Happily, though no cavern welcomed them into its gloomy
security, there was a spot hard by, where certain tall and massive rocks
lay so jammed and wedged together, as to present most of the
characteristics of a chamber, except that there was wanting the fourth
side, as well as the roof, unless indeed the outstretched branches of
the great trees that grew among these fragments, might have been
considered a suitable canopy. A spring bubbled up from among these mossy
ruins, giving nourishment to a thick growth of brambles and weeds, which
added their own tangled covert to the stouter shelter of the rocks and
trunks. Into this nook the party, guided by Botello, to whom it seemed
not unfamiliar, penetrated forthwith; and here they found themselves, in
a great measure, sheltered from the rain. Here also, taking advantage of
a period of inactivity, and at the instigation of Don Amador, who
perceived with solicitude the visage of the secretary covered not only
with languor, but flushed with fatigue and fever, the enchanter set
about relieving the distresses of the youth. He removed the bandage and
garment, examined the wound, bathed the inflamed member in the cool
waters of the fountain; and having thus commenced proceedings with so
reasonable a preliminary, he drew a little silver vessel from his
wallet, containing the unguent 'blessed,' as he had before said, 'of the
fat of a pagan's heart,' and which, as may be repeated to those who
might doubt the efficacy of so remarkable a compound, was not only much
used, but highly commended by the Christian soldiers of that day in
America. The magician commanded Fabueno to repeat a paternoster as
slowly and devoutly as possible, (for none of Botello's conjurations
were conducted without the appearance of deep devotion;) and mumbling
himself another, or perhaps repeating some superstitious invocation, he
applied the ointment, previously spread over green leaves, to the wound;
and when it was again bound up, the secretary declared its anguish was
much mitigated, as well as his whole body greatly refreshed.
Don Amador regarded the youth for a moment with much grave kindness; and
then said,--
"I owe this man so much gratitude for the good he seems to have, and
doubtless has, done thee, whom I now, Fabueno,--at least until I can
receive instructions from my kinsman, the admiral,--must esteem as being
my ward and follower, that I am unwilling to offend him by seeming to
throw any discredit on his remedy. Nevertheless I am not less bound to
instruct thee with counsel, than to repay him with thanks; for which
reason I must charge thee to remember, that, when any miracle of a very
unusual or unnecessary character is wrought upon thyself, much more of
it may possibly be the product of thine own imagination, than of that
agent which seems to thee to be the only cause."
"Faith will work miracles, but fancy will not!" said Botello, gravely.
"If I were a better philosopher, good Botello," said Don Amador, "I
would attempt to show thee how that which thou callest faith, is, in
such a case as this, nothing but imagination in very fervent action,
differing as much from that calm assurance which constitutes true faith,
as doth a potter's pitcher gilded to resemble true gold, from a golden
pitcher; which difference, in the latter case, may be instantly
detected, by ringing them. And here I may tell thee, Botello, by way of
continuing the figure, that, as the earthen vessel will really tinkle
more pleasantly than the vessel of gold, so also will the excited
imagination give forth a sound so much more captivating than the
tranquil utterance of belief, that, in attempting to distinguish between
them, men are often seduced into error. Nevertheless, I will not quarrel
with thee on this subject, for I perceive thou art religious; and what
thy religion does not blame in thee, I have no right to censure."
This was a degree of liberality doubtless produced rather by the amiable
feeling of gratitude than any natural tolerance of disposition or
education; for the neophyte was in all respects a representative of the
nobler spirits of his age, in whom the good qualities inherited from
nature were dashed, and sometimes marred, by the tenets of a bad
philosophy.