The sufferings of the Spaniards in the streets, when returning from the
pyramid, had admonished the general of the necessity of devising some
plan of protection against those citizens who fought from the
house-tops, whenever constrained to attempt a second sortie.
Accordingly, the artisans, in obedience to his commands, had spent the
preceding night in the construction of certain wooden turrets,
sufficiently lofty to overlook the commoner houses, and strong enough to
bid defiance to the darts of the enemy. They were framed of timbers and
planks, torn from different parts of the palace. Each was two stories in
height, and, in addition, was furnished with a guard, or battlement over
the roof, breast-high, behind which, some half a score musketeers might
ensconce themselves to advantage, while nearly as many crossbowmen could
be concealed in either chamber, discharging their weapons from narrow
loop-holes. A little falconet was also placed in the upper chamber. They
were mounted on gun-carriages, and meant to be drawn by the Indian
allies. They were called at first _mantas_, or blankets; but afterwards
were nicknamed _burros_,--either because they were such silly
protections as might have been devised by the most stupid of animals,
which is one signification of the word, or, because the cannon-wheels,
revolving under the mass, reminded the soldiers of the great wheel of a
mill, which is another meaning. One of these machines had been
completed, and was now ordered to be taken out,--not from any
apprehension that it might be needed, but because it appeared to the
sagacious general, that, if fate should imprison him longer in
Tenochtitlan, the present was the best opportunity to instruct his
soldiers in the management of it.
It was already lumbering slowly and clumsily over the broken square,
drawn by some two hundred Tlascalans, and well manned with soldiers,
when Don Amador passed from the gates. As the cavaliers rode by, its
little garrison, vastly delighted with their safe and lazy quarters,
greeted them with a merry cheer, the gayest and most sonorous strain of
which was sounded by those who defended the roof. As Don Amador looked
curiously up, he was hailed by a voice not yet forgotten, and beheld,
perched among others, whom he seemed to command, on the very top of the
manta, the master of the caravel.
"I give you a good day, noble Don Amador!" said this commander, with a
grin. "I am not now aboard of such a bark as the little Sangre de
Cristo; but, for navigating through a beleagured city, especially among
such cut-throats as we have here in Tenochtitlan, perhaps a better ship
could not be invented."
"Thou art then resolved," said the cavalier, with a smile, "that this
people is not far behind the race of Florida?"
"Ay! I cannot but believe it; and I ask their pardon, for having so
greatly belied them," said the captain; "for more ferocious devils than
these, never saw I;--they dwell not among the lagoons of the north."
"And dost thou remember thy wager?" said Don Amador, losing the little
gayety that was on his visage, at the recollection.
"Concerning my soul, (which heaven have in keeping!) and the cotton
neck-piece?" cried the sailor, with a grim look.--"Ay, by my faith, I
do. If we fly this day, the first part of the venture is accomplished;
for true valour must acknowledge a defeat, as well as boast a victory.
And if we do not, I am even ready to wager over again for the second,
touching heaven. Three more such days as yesterday, and God bless us
all! But it is a good death to die, fighting the heathen! At the worst,
I have cheated the devil;--for the padre Olmedo absolved me this
morning."
Don Amador rode forward, relapsing into gloom.
The streets were, for a time, deserted and silent, as if the inhabitants
had fled from the island; and when, now and then, the cavaliers halted,
to deliberate on their course, to list for the cries of human voices, or
to watch the progress of the tottering manta, already far behind, the
sound of shrubs rustling together on the terraces, came to their ears
with the melancholy cadences of a desert. Sometimes, indeed, in these
pauses, they heard, from the recesses of a dwelling, which otherwise
seemed forsaken, faint groans, as of a wounded foeman dying without
succour; and, occasionally, to these were added the low sobs of women,
lamenting a sire or brother. But they had approached the limits of the
island, and almost within view of the causeway, without yet beholding an
enemy, when a warning gesture from the hands of Don Hernan, at the
front, brought them to a halt; and, as they stood in silence, they
heard, coming faintly on the breeze, and, as it seemed, from a street
which crossed their path, a little in advance, such sounds of flutes and
tabours as had, the day before, conducted the mysterious priestess to
the pyramid.
Don Amador's heart beat with a strange agitation as he listened; and he
burned again to look on the countenance of this divine representative of
a pagan divinity. Whether it was the dejection of his spirits which gave
its own character to the music; or whether indeed this was now breathed
from the lips of mourners, he thought not to inquire; but others were
struck with the wild sadness of the strain, and gazed inquisitively
upon one another, as if to gather its meaning. While they thus exchanged
looks, and awaited the issue of the event, the sounds approached,
growing louder, but losing none of their melancholy; and a train of
priests, in long black robes, and with downcast eyes, followed by boys
with smoking censers, at last stole on their view, slowly crossing the
street on which they had halted. At this moment, and just as the
prophetess (for it was she who stood, as before, under the feathered
canopy, carried by the devotees,) came into sight, the roar of a cannon,
bellowing afar from the palace, startled the cavaliers from their
tranquillity; and, in the assurance of new conflicts, destroyed, at
once, their hope of peaceful escape. This explosion, as was afterwards
discovered, was rather the cause than the consequence of hostilities;
for the Mexicans, after the sortie of Cortes, approaching the citadel in
great numbers, to beseech the body of their king, not doubting that he
was slain, the Spaniards had mistaken their grief for renewing rage, and
immediately fired upon them.
A furious scowl darkened the visage of Don Hernan, as this distant
discharge swept away his hopes; and rising on his stirrups, he cried to
his companions,
"Let us seize the person of this accursed priestess,--demon, or
woman,--who profanes the holiness of Our Lady, and incenses the hearts
of the rabble! On, and be quick; for 'tis an easy prize, and may replace
the emperor!"
Until this moment, the train, casting their eyes neither to the right
nor left, and raising them not even at the roar of the cannon, had been
ignorant of the presence of the Spaniards. But when the harsh voice of
the Christian drowned the breathings of the flutes, they paused, looking
towards him in affright; and again, for an instant, the lustrous eyes of
the prophetess fell upon the visage of Don Amador. His heart heaved with
a sickening sensation; and the impulse which had before driven to flight
his better judgment, assailed him anew with violence. His voice shouted
with the rest, but it uttered the name of Leila; and, as if, indeed, he
beheld the lost maid of Almeria, or her phantom, he spurred towards the
prophetess full as madly as when she vanished, before, under the Wall of
Serpents. But the train, scattering at once, fled in horror from the
Spaniards, escaping into the neighbouring houses. The object of the
outrage, nevertheless, seemed in the power of the cavaliers; for though
the bearers deserted her not they fled but slowly under their burden.
But there were protectors nigh, of whom the Spaniards had not dreamed;
and even Cortes himself reined back his horse with dismay, when,
suddenly, there sprang from the intersecting street a multitude of armed
nobles, interposing their bodies between him and his victim; and his
eye, running an instant down the street, beheld them followed by a
myriad of pagans without end.
"Back to the manta!" cried the general, hastily; "for these dogs are
armed, and the men of the turret have no aid!--Hark! hear ye not the
howls? Rein round, and back! They are slaying my Tlascalans!"
Before the neophyte could recover from his confusion of mind, he found
himself turned round and borne along with the mass of galloping
horsemen. The Mexicans uttered a cry, as with one impulse, and followed
furiously after.
In the crowd of thought that distracted him, Don Amador remembered the
words of Botello, and believed that he was, indeed, labouring under some
enchantment, which made him a misfortune to his friends. But not long
had he leisure for such meditations. The loud yells of combatants, and
the sounds of arquebuses, in front, increased at each step; and, quickly
turning an angle in the street, he found himself in the midst of
conflict.
An immense herd of men had surrounded the manta, and were engaged hand
to hand with the Tlascalans who drew it; while the Spaniards on its top
defended themselves, at a disadvantage, from many Mexicans, stationed on
the terrace of a lofty house, the dwelling of some superb Tlatoani. So
near indeed was the turret to the walls of this edifice, and so high
above it was the latter, that the huge stones tumbled from the
battlements, fell with great certainty on its roof, crushing the men of
the caravel, and beating down both the wooden parapet and the platform.
At the same time, certain savages, with long poles, struck at the
defenders, and thrusting the points of their weapons into its breaches,
endeavoured to topple it to the ground. As it rocked thus to and fro,
the violent motion entirely prevented the little garrison from making
use of their arms; and with wild cries to their friends, to seize the
ropes, dropped by the Tlascalans, and drag the manta from the palace,
they were seen holding by its sides as well as they could, receiving,
without returning, the blows of their adversaries. The necessity of
obeying their prayer was seen more plainly than the means; for the crowd
of mingled Tlascalans and Mexicans that surrounded the crazy machine,
was impenetrable; and had it been so, the appearance of the manta,
threatening each moment to fall, would have deterred the boldest from
approaching its dangerous vicinity.
As it was, the cavaliers gave what aid they could. They thrust their
spears into the mass of Indians, shouting to the Tlascalans to disengage
themselves from the enemy. But these shouts, if the allies did not
indeed receive them rather as encouragement to fight the more fiercely,
dissolved not the bloody melee into its components of friend and foe;
and many a Tlascalan died, that day, pierced through the heart by
spears, which their bearers thought were thrust through the breasts of
Mexicans.
In the meanwhile, the heavy burro was shaken still more violently; and
Don Amador, looking up, beheld the master of the caravel alone on the
top, (for his sailors were already slain) grasping despairingly at a
fragment of the parapet; while stones and darts were showered upon him
from the adjoining terrace, and a heavy pole, aimed by a lusty
barbarian, struck him with merciless severity. His countenance was pale,
his eye haggard, and his honourable scars now livid, and almost black,
were relieved, like fresh wounds, on his ghastly brow. His helmet had
fallen to the ground; and the sight of his gray hairs shaking over his
scarred front, as he was tossed up and down, like one bound hand and
foot on the back of a wild animal, inflamed the neophyte with both rage
and pity.
"Loose thy hold! drop upon the Indians, and take thy chance among them!"
he cried at the top of his voice. "What ho! friend Gomez! wilt thou lie
there, and perish?"
It seemed as if the voice of the cavalier had not passed unheard; for
the wretched man was seen to raise himself on his knees, and look down
to the fighting men below, as if meditating a leap; when suddenly a
great stone fell on the platform with a crashing noise, and, at the same
moment, the manta, lurching like an ill-ballasted ship before a
hurricane, staggered over its balance, and fell with a tremendous shock
to the ground. The neophyte thought not of the miserable combatants,
crushed in its fall. He beheld the voyager, at the instant of its
destruction, hurled from the ruin, as if from some mighty balista of
ancient days, clear over the heads of the Indians, and dashed, a mangled
and hideous corse, almost at his feet.
"God pity thee!" he cried, with a shudder; "thy words are made good, thy
wager is won,--and the saints that died for the faith, take thee to
paradise!"
"Do ye hear! Ho! to your lances, and back upon the wolves that are
behind us!" cried the trumpet-voice of Don Hernan. The neophyte turned,
and clapping spurs to Fogoso, charged, with the cavaliers, upon those
squadrons which had pursued them;--but, like his companions, he checked
his horse with surprise, and no little consternation, when he beheld in
what manner the infidels were prepared to receive them. The street was
packed with their bodies, as far as the eye could see; and darts and
swords of obsidian were seen flashing above the heads of the most
distant multitude; but he perceived that those combatants who stood in
front, stretching from wall to wall, were armed with long spears,
mostly, indeed, with wooden points, sharpened, and fire-hardened, though
some few were seen with copper blades, full a yard in length, which they
handled with singular and menacing address. Thus, no sooner did the
cavaliers approach them, than those of the first rank, dropping, like
trained soldiers, to their knees, planted the buts of their weapons on
the ground, while those held by others behind, were thrust over the
shoulders of the kneelers, and presented, together, such a wall of
bristling spines, as caused the bravest to hesitate.
"Have we Ottomies of the hills here!" cried Don Hernan, aghast. "Or are
these weapons, and this mode of using them, the teaching of the traitor
Moor?"
A loud shout, mingled with laughs of fierce derision, testified the
triumph of the barbarians; and Cortes, stung with fury, though
hesitating to attack, called for his musketeers, to break the line of
opponents.
"Our musketeers are in heaven! carried up in the fiend of a burro!"
cried Alvarado, waving his sword, and eyeing the vaunting herd. "Before
the days of saltpetre, true men were wont to shoot their foes without
it.--All that is to be done, is to conceive we are hunting foxes, and
leaping over a farmer's wall. Soho! Saladin, mouse! And all that are
brave gentlemen, follow me! Hah!"
As he concluded, the madcap soldier spurred his steed Saladin, and,
uttering a war-cry, dashed fearlessly on the spearmen. Before he had yet
parted from his companions, Don Amador de Leste, fired, in spite of his
melancholy, by the boldness of the exploit, and unwilling to be outdone
by a cavalier of the islands, brushed up to his side, and spurring
Fogoso at the same moment, the two hidalgos straightway vaulted among
the barbarians.
The show of resolution maintained by the exulting spearmen, while the
Christians stood yet at a distance, vanished when they beheld those
animals, which they always regarded with a superstitious awe, rushing
upon them with eyes of fury, and feet of thunder. To this faltering,
perhaps, it was owing, that the two Dons were not instantly slain; for,
though the heavy armour that guarded the chests and loins of the steeds,
could repel the thrust of a wooden spear as well as the corslets of
their riders, no such protection sheathed their bellies; and had they
been there pierced, their masters must instantly have perished. As it
was, however, the front rank recoiled, and when it closed again, the
cavaliers were seen wielding their swords, (for in such a melee their
spears were useless,) and striking valiantly about them, but entirely
surrounded.
"Shall we be thus shamed, my masters?" cried Don Hernan,
sharply. "Methinks there are two _more_ such cavaliers in this
company?--Santiago, and at them!"
Thus saying, and, with a word, inflaming their pride, he leaped against
the foe, followed by all the horsemen.
The two leaders in this desperate assault had vanished,--swallowed up,
as it were, in the vortex of contention; and it was not until his
friends heard the voice of Alvarado exclaiming, wildly, as if in
extremity, "Help me, De Leste, true friend! for I am unhorsed! Help me,
or the hell-hounds will have me to the temple!"--that they were
convinced the young men were living.
"Be of good heart!" cried Don Amador, (for he was at his side,) drawing
his sabre, with a dexterous sleight, over the sinewy arms that clutched
his companion, and releasing, without doing him harm. "If thou art
disarmed, draw my dagger from the sheath and use it; and fear not that I
will leave thee, till rescued by others."
"Who gets my sword, takes the arm along with it!" cried Alvarado,
grasping again his chained weapon, and dealing fierce blows, as he
spoke. "I will remember the act--Ho! false friends! forsworn soldiers!
condemned Christians! why leave ye us unsupported?"
"Courage, and strike well! we are near," answered Don Hernan. "Press on,
friends; trample the curs to death! Join we our true cavaliers; and then
sweep back for victory!"
"Where goest thou, now, mad Amador?" they heard the voice of Alvarado
exclaiming; "Return: thy horse is shoed with piraguas; but mine sticks
fast in this bog of flesh. Return; for, by heaven, I can follow thee no
further!"
"Come on, as thou art a true man; for I am sore beset, and wounded!"
These words, from the lips of the neophyte, came yet through the din of
yells; but it seemed to those who listened, that there was feebleness in
the voice that uttered them.
"Onward!" cried Cortes, with a voice of thunder, and urging his dun
steed furiously over the trampled barbarians; "the young man shall not
perish!"
A wolf-hound, weary and spent with the chase, suddenly surrounded by a
whole pack of the destroyers he has been tracking, and falling under the
fangs of his quarry, may figure the condition of Don Amador de Leste,
surrounded and seized upon by the enemy. Nothing but the vigour of
powerful and fiery-spirited steeds could have carried the two cavaliers
so far into a crowd of warriors almost compacted. While the neophyte
gave assistance to his friend, a dozen blows of the maquahuitl were
rained upon his body; and so closely was he invested immediately after,
(when, as Alvarado reined in his steed to await the rest, the two
cavaliers were separated,) that he thought no longer of warding off
blows; but giving himself up to smiting, he trusted to the strength of
his mail for protection. But the heavy bludgeons bruised where they
could not wound; and his armour being, at last, broken by the fury of
the blows, the sharp glass penetrated to his flesh, and he began to
bleed. He cast his eye over his shoulder, for his strength was failing;
but the plume of Don Pedro waved at a distance behind, and the shouts of
Cortes seemed to come from afar. He turned his horse's head, to retreat;
but half a dozen savages, emboldened by this symptom of defeat, clutched
upon the bridle; and the hand he raised to smite at them, was seized by
as many others. It was at this moment that he called out to his
companion, in the words we have recorded; but the answer, if answer were
made, was drowned in the savage yells of exultation, with which his foes
beheld him in their power. He collected all his energies, struggled
violently, and striking the rowels deep, and animating Fogoso with his
voice, hoped, by one bound, to spring clear of his capturers. The
gallant steed vaulted on high, but fell again to the earth, under the
weight of the many that clung to him: and a dozen new hands were added
to those that already throttled the rider.
"Rescue me, if ye be men!" he cried, with a voice that prevailed over
the uproar.--The cry was echoed by twenty Christian voices hard by, and
a gleam of hope entered into his heart. Another furious struggle,
another plunge of Fogoso, and he thought that the hands of his enemies
were at last unclenching. A bright weapon flashed before his eyes--It
was steel, and therefore the falchion of a friend!--It fell upon his
helmet with irresistible weight; his brain spun, his eyes darkened, and
he fell, or rather was dragged, like a dead man, from his horse. But ere
his eyes had yet closed, their last glance was fixed on the visage of
the striker; and the sting of benefits forgotten was added to the
bitterness of death, when, in this, he perceived the features of
Abdalla, the Moor.
In an instant more, the barbarians parted in terror before the great
Teuctli.
"Where art thou, De Leste?" he cried. "We are here, to rescue thee!"
As he spoke, there sprang, with a fierce bound, from among the Mexicans,
the well-known bay, Fogoso, his foamy sides streaked with gore, the
stirrups rattling against his armed flanks, the reins flying in the
air,--but no rider on the saddle.
"By heaven, false friends! craven gentlemen! you have lost the bravest
of your supporters!" cried Don Hernan. "On! for he may yet live: on! for
we will avenge him!"
The band, resolute now in their wrath, plunged fiercely through the mob.
They struck down many enemies,--they trampled upon many corses; but,
among them, they found not the body of De Leste.