The morn, which by this time was breaking over the sea, was ushered in
with a thousand sounds of triumph; and the drums of the vanquished
rolled in concert with the trumpets of the victors. In truth, saving to
the wounded and broken-spirited Biscayan, and some few cavaliers who
had remained faithful to him and to his employer, the change of others
from rivalry to subjection, was a circumstance more of gratulation than
regret; as was proved by the ready alacrity with which they betook
themselves to the audience of their conqueror.
In the gilded and feather-broidered chair in which he had first seen the
person of the unlucky Narvaez, Don Amador de Leste now perceived the
figure of the Conqueror, a rich mantle of an orange hue thrown over his
shoulders, his head bare, but his heel resting on a certain footstool or
ball of variegated feathers, and altogether preserving an appearance of
singular, but superb state. His valiant and well-beloved officers stood
ranked on either side, and on either side, also, his resolute followers
were displayed, as if performing the duties of a body-guard. In this
situation of pride, he prepared to receive the congratulations or the
griefs of his enemies; and, as if to add still further to the imposing
magnificence of the ceremony, at that moment, as a wild roar of conches
and drums mingling with the wilder shouts of human beings, burst over
the city, a great multitude of native warriors from the province of
Chinantla, marching in regular and alternate files of spearmen and
archers, and glittering with feathers and brilliant cotton garments,
strode upon the square, and dividing upon either side of the pyramid,
halted only when they had surrounded it with their warlike and most
romantic array. The spectacle was no more surprising to the people of
Narvaez than to those friends of Cortes, who had not before looked upon
an Indian army, among whom Don Amador was one. He regarded the
picturesque barbarians with much admiration; though his eye soon
wandered from them to dwell upon the leader, and the ceremonious part he
was then enacting. He sat in his chair like a monarch, and though, at
times, when some conquered cavalier more honoured, or better beloved,
than others, approached, he arose, and even extended his arms with a
friendly embrace, in the greater number of instances he was content to
pronounce some simple words of compliment, and present his hand to be
kissed,--a mark of homage reverentially rendered by all.
It did not become Don Amador, though he surveyed these proceedings with
some little contempt, as indicating on the one side, too much arrogance,
and on the other, too much humility, to interrupt them, in which
persuasion, he stood patiently aside, with his company, watching until
such moment when he might approach with propriety. Being thus a witness
of the degree of friendliness which characterized the receptions, as
well as the many petitions which the comers made to be accredited and
enrolled among the general's true friends and followers, he began to
lose somewhat of the wonder with which he had regarded the suddenness
and facility of the victory. It was apparent, that most of the officers
of Narvaez had long made up their minds to devote themselves to the
service of his enemy; and when they had paid their compliments to Don
Hernan, they dropped among his officers, as if joining old friends and
comrades.
It gave the neophyte some pain, when at the conclusion of these
ceremonies, he beheld the Biscayan led forward in chains, (for he was
heavily ironed,) to salute his rival. His casque was off; a bandage
covered his eye; his face was very pale; and he strode forward with an
uncertain gait, as if feeble from the loss of blood, or agitated by
shame and despair. Nevertheless, he spoke with a firm and manly voice,
when he found himself confronted with his vanquisher.
"Thou mayest congratulate thyself, Cortes," said the fallen chief. "Thy
star has the ascendant, thy fate is superior; and so much do I admire my
own misfortune, that I could compliment thee upon it, did I not know it
was wrought less by the valour of my enemies, than the perfidy of my
friends."
"Thou doest thyself, as well as all others, a great wrong to say so,
brother Narvaez," said the victor, gravely; "and it would better become
thee magnanimously to confess thou art beaten by thine own fault, rather
than to follow the example of little-minded men, and lay the blame upon
others."
"I confess that I _am_ beaten," said the captive;--"and that the shame
of my defeat will last longer than my grave. But I aver to God, and I
maintain in thy teeth, though I am but a captive in thy hands, that this
victory is altogether so miraculous, it could not have happened unless
by the corruption of my people."
"To heaven and my good soldiers, it is all owing," said Cortes,
composedly: "and so little miraculous, my brother, do I myself esteem
it, after having twice or thrice beaten thirty thousand Tlascalans, at a
time, all valiant men, that I vow to thee on my conscience, I cannot do
other than consider this triumph as altogether the least of my
achievements in Mexico."
"It must be so, since you say it," responded Narvaez, his breast heaving
under the sarcasm, with a bitter and suffocating pang; "yet it matters
not. Let the glory be ever so little, the shame is not the less
notorious; and though thou scornest thy reward of fame, I will not fly
from mine own recompense of contempt.--What more is expected of me? Dios
mio! I cannot, like the rest, kiss thy hand, and take upon me the oaths
of service. I am thy prisoner!"
"Had I been thine," said Cortes, gravely, "thou wouldst have fulfilled
thy word, and hanged me, wouldst thou not?"
"What matters it?" replied the unfortunate man, with a firm voice.
"Doubtless, if the passion that beset me at the time of the
proclamation, had lasted after a victory, I should have been as good as
my word: for which reason I will anticipate thy excuses, and assure thee
out of mine own mouth, thou wilt but retaliate fairly, to dismiss me to
the same fate."
"Thou canst not understand the moderation thou hast not practised," said
Cortes rising, and speaking with dignity. "The foolish rage that
provoked thee to set a price upon my head, I remember not; the madness
that proclaimed these true and most loyal men for rebels and traitors,
must be passed by, as other hallucinations: but as, in doing this, thou
hast greatly injured and jeoparded the interests of thy master the king,
thou art worthy to suffer the death of a rebellious subject, for as such
thou hast acted. Nevertheless, I will do thee a grace thou wouldst not
accord to me; I will conceive, that, however traitorous have been thy
actions, thou mayest have been faithful at heart,--mistaken, but not
disloyal: in which thought, I give thee thy life, and will recommend
thee into the hands of his majesty for judgment and mercy."
The conqueror waved his hand, and Narvaez was led away:--to terminate,
in after years, a life of mischance by a death of misery, among those
ruder tribes of the North who are but now vanishing from the borders of
the Mississippi, and to add his melancholy tale to the gloomy histories
of De Leon and De Soto.
"What will my noble and thrice-honoured friend, Don Amador de Leste?"
cried Cortes, as he perceived the neophyte approaching him. "We should
be good friends, senor; for I owe thee much, and we have been in peril
together."
"Twice, I thank your excellency," said Amador, "you have done me the
office of a true cavalier; for which I will not now trifle the time to
thank you, inasmuch as my arm is henceforth unshackled, and I can write
my gratitude better with it, than with my tongue. What I have now to
require, is that your excellency will judge between me and this fellow,
the master of a ship, in the matter of a Moor called Abdalla, otherwise
Esclavo de la Cruz, and his son Jacinto; both of whom being Christian
Moors, though captured in a Barbary vessel, this man doth claim to be
his slaves; I, on the other hand, as their vowed protector and champion,
upholding them to be free, and in the condition of wards to his majesty
the king."
"They are my slaves," said the master--but a frown from the general
instantly closed his lips.
"It is well for the Moor," said Cortes, as, at his command, Abdalla
approached, followed by Jacinto: "it is well for the Moor that he has so
powerful a protector as Don Amador; for otherwise, having discovered it
was his accursed hand shot off the falcon which destroyed me four brave
men and maimed as many more, I had resolved to hang him like a hound,
this very morning!"
"There is no better cannonier in all your excellency's train," said the
master, who, however likely to be robbed of his property, could not
check the impulse to praise it.
"I fired the cannon with the fear of death in my eyes, if I refused,"
said Abdalla, humbly; "and my lord should as well be wroth with the
linstock as with myself."
"Say not a word, sirrah Moor," said Cortes; "for the favour of Don
Amador having saved thy life, I have nothing further to do, but to judge
thy claims to liberty; the which if thou establish, I will not scruple
to employ thee in mine own service."
"The freedom of these twain," said Amador, "was recognised by his
excellency, the admiral Cavallero; and I thought he had satisfied this
ship-master."
"His excellency, the admiral, protested he would represent the matter to
the governor Velasquez," said the surly captain; "and I was content to
abide his decision. But my sailors, hearing there was more gold to be
gathered among these hills than on the sea, deserted me; and not having
the means to carry my ship to Cuba, I was fain to follow after them;
hoping the excellent cavaliers would do me justice, and pay me for my
captives."
"Sirrah," said the general, "wert thou with Narvaez, or with me, in this
battle?"
"With neither," said the sailor. "I arrived at night-fall; and not being
able to make my way to Narvaez, I slept off my fatigue in a hut below,
till roused by the din of this siege; coming forth to behold which, I
discovered my slaves, and straightway claimed them: and my sailors
yonder will witness I won them in fair fight."
"The Moriscos are Christians, and therefore not thy property," said the
commander; "and if they were, being taken out of the camp of an enemy,
they should be reckoned spoils of war, and for that reason, my
possessions, and not thine. Cease therefore thy demands; follow thy
sailors, if thou wilt,--for on the lakes of Mexico, I shall have
employment for thy best skill; and if, in time, I discover thee
faithful, and this Moor as dexterous as thou representest, I will,
without allowing thee any right to the same, give thee very good guerdon
for his services."
The master, concealing his dissatisfaction, retired.
"I hoped," said Amador, "your excellency might be persuaded to send
Abdalla and the boy to Spain."
"I am loath to say to Don Amador, that may not be," replied Cortes. "As
a good Christian, Abdalla will doubtless rejoice to fight the infidel;
and as for his boy, if there be no other cavalier willing to advance him
to the honours of a page, I will myself receive him. I hear he is a good
musician; and I want a playmate for my little Orteguilla, whom I left
dancing boleros before the emperor Montezuma."
The fame of Jacinto as a lutist and singer, had already spread among the
cavaliers; and his appearance was at the same time so prepossessing,
that many of them stepped forward, and avowed themselves ready to
receive him into service. Don Amador himself, now for the first time
perusing his countenance at leisure, and moved as much by its beauty as
by its air of grief and destitution, added himself to the number; and it
seemed as if the claims of the various applicants might lead to heat and
misunderstanding. The cap of Jacinto had fallen from his head, and long
ringlets, such as greatly stirred the envy of the younger cavaliers,
fell over his fair brow and exceedingly beautiful countenance. His
delicately chiseled lips, parted in alarm and anxiety, moved and played
with an ever-varying expressiveness; while his large black eyes, in
which brilliancy was mingled with a pensive gentleness, rolled from
general to cavalier, from Amador to his father, with a wild solicitude.
The difficulty was terminated at last by Don Hernan.
"I vow by my conscience," said he, "I like the boy's face well; but I
will not oppose my wishes to those of worthier gentlemen here present.
In my opinion, no man hath so fair a claim to the boy as Don Amador de
Leste, who first befriended him; and not doubting that, herein, the boy
will agree with me, I propose the election of a master to be left to
himself, or, what is the same thing, to his father, as a measure equally
agreeable to all. Choose, therefore, Abdalla, between these cavaliers
and thy benefactor; for it is not possible the stripling can remain with
thyself."
Abdalla bent his troubled eyes around the assembly; and Amador, not
doubting his choice, regarded him with a benignant encouragement. Long
did the Almogavar survey him, now with eagerness, as if about to throw
himself at his feet and beseech his protection, and now faltering with
hesitation and doubt. Amador, mistaking the cause of his embarrassment,
prepared to reassure him; when the eyes of the Moor, wandering away from
himself, fell upon the figure of Don Gabriel standing hard by. The same
hesitation that disturbed him before, again beset him; but it lasted not
long. Amid the clouds of dejection and distraction that characterised
the countenance of the knight of Rhodes, there shone a ray of
benevolence as if the emanation of a fixed and constant principle; and
Abdoul al Sidi, as he remarked it, forgot that Calavar was the slayer of
his people.
"If my lord, my very noble lord," he said, bending to the earth, "will
hear the prayer of his servant, and waste his charity on so great a
wretch as Abdoul, there is no one of all this noble assembly to whose
benevolent protection Abdoul would sooner confide his helpless and
sinless child."
The cavaliers stared; yet Abdalla had not erred, when he reckoned on the
humanity of Calavar.
The knight received the hand of Jacinto from his father, and regarding
him with a paternal kindness, said,--
"For the sake of Him who did not scorn to protect little children, I
will receive this boy into my arms, and protect him with my best
strength, both from sorrow, and the sin that is the parent of sorrow."
"And I may see him sometimes?" said the Moor, lingering, though the
general had motioned him away.
"Surely I keep him from harm, not from the love of his father."
"I commend thee to heaven, my child," said the Almogavar, embracing him.
"Confide in thy master, remember thy father, and pray often.--Farewell!"
But the boy, with a cry that drew the commiseration of all present,
threw himself into Abdalla's arms, and clasping him as if forever, wept
on his bosom.
"Thy master waits thee, my child!" said Abdalla, disengaging his hands,
and again leading him to Calavar. "Be wise and faithful, and remember,
if not always in thy presence, I shall not often be far from thy side."
The stripling once more kissed the lips of the Morisco, and then
checking his lamentations, as his father left him, wrapped his cloak
round his head, as if to hide his tears, and stood by the knight in
silence.
While this incident was passing, the attention of Cortes was attracted
by two Indians differing much in equipment from the warriors of
Chinantla, but still of a soldier-like bearing, who, in company with two
or three of his chief cavaliers, hastily approached him, and conferred
with him through the medium of an interpreter. A cloud came over his
countenance; he arose, and smote his hands together with fury.
"What, ho, cavaliers!" he cried; "we must think of other matters than
crying babes and jingling pages. I thank God for this victory, for never
came one more opportunely; and ye, true friends, who have, this moment,
protested your allegiance, prepare now to make it more manifest. Sharpen
your swords, saddle your horses; for to-day we must march to
Tenochtitlan!"
A murmur of surprise ran through the multitude that thronged the
pyramid; and Amador forgot both the boy, and the touch of indignation
with which he had seen him transferred to another, though his kinsman,
as he pressed towards the excited general.
"Know ye, friends and brothers!" continued Cortes, "that the devil has,
at last, waked up in the infidel city; blood has been shed,--the blood
of Spaniards as well as of pagan Mexicans,--and, at this moment,
Alvarado is besieged in the palace by the whole hordes of the valley;
and he swears to me, by these Tlascalan messengers, that unless I render
him speedy assistance, he must die of starvation, or perish under the
sword of the barbarians. So God speed us to the Venice of the New World,
the Babylon of the mountains! The gold shall not be snatched out of our
hands, nor the fame blotted from our histories: we have this good day
numbers enow to chase the imps from the islands, and to tumble the gods
from their temples; and so will we, in the name of God and St. Peter,
Amen!--God speed us to Tenochtitlan!"
The shout that answered this pious and valiant rhapsody from the pyramid
and the square, gave note of the zeal with which his followers, both old
and new, were prepared to second the resolution of their leader.