The scene of death in which they were engaged, had so employed the
thoughts of the cavaliers, that they were, for a time, insensible to
many tumultuous noises in the city, which, beginning at the moment when
the struggles and outcries of Villafana were fiercest and loudest,
increased every instant, until all was uproar.
At first, as they rushed in disorder to the doors, they thought the din
was caused by a renewal of the storm, or rather the sudden outbursting
of a tornado; which, overwhelming the houses of some of the poorer
citizens, and burying them among the ruins, might account for the
screams and yells, that were mingled with other noises. But they soon
exchanged this fear for one more stirring, when, as they rushed into the
air, they heard an alarum ringing from the chapel-bell on the top of the
pyramid, drums beating to arms, arquebuses firing in several different
quarters, and were made sensible that a conflict was raging in the town.
"Dios!" cried one; "the conspirators are upon us! Let us back to the
hall and defend ourselves!"
"My life upon it," said Gaspar, "the conspirators will not stir till
Villafana opens his lips to them.--Heaven rest his soul!--Hark! these
are the yells of Indians."
"On, friends!" exclaimed Cortes, perceiving the garden full of soldiers,
rushing from various parts of the palace, as if to seek the fray. "This
is Tlascalan work--a knavery of Xicotencal. Hah! hark! see! 'tis an
assault upon the prison! Ho, Castilians! ho, Christians! cavaliers and
soldiers, to arms! haste, to arms!"
While the soldiers, collecting together at the well-known voice of the
Captain-General, began to rush with him towards the prison, over which,
besides hearing the shouting of the watchmen at the doors, they beheld
three blazing arrows shot up into the air, their alarm was directed to
another quarter, by a violent cannonade from the squadron, moored yet at
the entrance of the little river; and looking that way, they perceived
to their astonishment and fear, no less than four of the brigantines
suddenly enveloped in flames.
"Guzman and Quinones!" cried Cortes, with instant determination, "to the
prison, with what force ye can pick up on the way. Shoot all fugitives,
as well as all assailants. The rest follow me to the river; for I would
mine arms should be burned, rather than my vessels."
By this time, all the Spaniards who were capable of bearing arms, were
in the open air, and following not less the shouts of Cortes than the
crash of the falconets, ran hastily towards the fleet, which, it was now
evident, was furiously beset by multitudes of Indians in canoes. The
flash of the explosions and the flames bursting ruddily out from sails
and cordage, revealed them clustering with impetuosity around the
devoted vessels, whose crews, it was equally apparent, were making a
gallant resistance. In this light, the houses bordering upon the water
were seen covered with citizens, looking on with a tranquillity, which
showed that their share in the unexpected hostilities, if indeed they
had any, was entirely passive. A more agreeable sight was disclosed to
Cortes, as he ran onwards, in the appearance of many thousand
Tlascalans, rushing down the narrow meadows which bordered the canal,
with such alacrity of speed and such furious cries of 'Tlascala!' and
'Castilla!' as convinced him of their fidelity and affection.
"It is a Mexican device, after all," he muttered; "a plan of the
ambassadors. Well done for thee, Villafana!--Bold varlets, these! What!
down with your demi-culverins and sakers, Orozca! Where is my good
cannonier, Juan Catalan? We will aid the vessels from the shore."
The mariners, however hotly engaged, replied to the cries of their
friends with shouts of courage; and redoubling their exertions, they
succeeded not only in repelling the assailants, whose obvious aim was to
fire the whole fleet, from those ships not yet ignited, but even in
extinguishing the flames in the less fortunate four. In this, they were
doubtless materially assisted by the condition of the planks and
timbers, which being of green wood, the flames would perhaps have
confined their ravages to the more combustible sails and cordage, and
soon expired for want of fuel. They weighed anchor also, and taking
advantage of the gusts which still blew over the lake, six of the
largest and strongest set sail, and boldly plunged among the canoes,
overturning and sinking many, while the others, receiving assistance
from the shore, betook themselves to the little harbour, dragging with
them their disabled consorts.
In this manner, it soon became evident that the danger in this quarter
was over; and Cortes, directing that the position of the brigantines
should be strengthened by a temporary battery at the mouth of the river,
returned to inspect the condition of the city in the neighbourhood of
the palace.
The sounds of contention were over; and one passing through the garden,
and listening to the moaning of the winds through the trees, could
scarce have believed that half an hour before it had been a scene of
such warlike bustle. The bell rang no longer, the drums, trumpets, and
arquebuses were silent, and the sentinels paced to and fro at their
stations, as if nothing unusual had happened. The only sounds indeed
that now vexed the calm of the night, were the occasional explosion of a
falconet from some brigantine, afar among the shadows of the lake, still
pursuing the retreating canoes. The attack was perhaps unpremeditated;
or, perhaps, its only object was to taunt and defy. At all events, it
was now over; and in less than an hour from the time of the first alarm,
the cry of all's-well could be heard through the different quarters of
the city.
Before this satisfactory conclusion of an evening so eventful, the
Captain-General was doomed to have his equanimity put to the proof by a
new trial. A double line of guards surrounded the prison, and Guzman,
Quinones, and Gaspar Olea were among them, the last wringing his hands,
and bewailing; but the prison-door was open, a thin smoke issued from
it, and he could see, at a glance, that the only persons in the
apartment were a few soldiers, dashing water over its partly consumed
floor. Under the very threshold lay the bodies of two soldiers,
fearfully mangled; another was writhing, gasping, and dying in the arms
of his comrades; and a fourth, severely wounded, was narrating to
Quinones the particulars of an assault, made, as he averred, by ten
thousand devils, or Mexicans, who sprang suddenly out of the earth,
killed or dispersed the whole guard, carried off the prisoner, or burned
him, he knew not which, (for he lay upon the ground, counterfeiting
death,) and then, setting fire to the building, vanished quite as
suddenly as they came.
"Were these men Mexicans or Tlascalans?" demanded Cortes, without
betraying any sign of feeling.
The soldier started at the sound of his leader's voice, and hastily
replied,
"In good faith, senor, I know not, for I was somewhat overcome with
fear."
"And with wine, sirrah!" exclaimed the General. "But it matters
not--thou art too stupid to answer now. Have this fellow into the den,
Quinones, and let him be brought to me to-morrow.--Senor Don Francisco,
we will walk to the palace."
He put his arm into Guzman's, and dragging him to a little distance,
where no beam of torch or cresset illuminated his visage, exclaimed,
eagerly,
"Tell me the truth, Francisco:--has he perished by fire in the prison,
or has he escaped me?"
"Senor," replied Guzman, "his star, or his devil, has helped him."
"Why then the fiends seize thee, and all false friends, who plague me!"
cried Cortes, giving way to passion. "Is it thus I am to be cheated?"
"Senor," said Guzman, moderately, but without fear; "I have mine own
cause of distress, for my hand is horribly mangled, and I have heard
that the bite of a dying man causes mortification. So, with this pain of
body and mind, I may not speak good counsel or good defence.--When I
reached the prison, it was empty and on fire. Had not your excellency
interfered with the execution this day--"
"Ay, there again!" muttered the Captain-General; "mine own hand is made
to befool me; it pulls out of the pit faster than my foot tramples in.
Hark thee, Guzman, dost thou not think this young man is protected by
some special providence?"
"I, senor?"
"Why, look you, what could have carried him through the tribes of the
West, to the South Sea, and back again?--(a device of thy scheming,
too!) And, didst thou not see, I was about to run him through, in the
very act of mutinous resistance, when a brute and insensate dog seized
my sword-blade in his mouth? And now, for the third time, what but his
angel could have brought to his prison-door yonder infidels of
Mexico--his only friends, I think?"
"Let your excellency question if this circumstance will not, without
removing him from punishment, give a still stronger excuse for it? The
scribe visited him in the dungeon; a paction with the enemy, sealed by
the act of flight with them to their stronghold, has confirmed him
thrice over a traitor."
"Ay, by heaven! it is true!" said Cortes, smiting his hands together;
"and, by and by, I will take him out of his hiding-place, and crown the
day of victory with a double triumph!"
"And who can affirm," quoth Don Francisco, "that the misbelievers have
not taken him for a sacrifice? It is said, the coronation of Guatimozin
is deferred only until he can provide a Castilian victim to do honour to
the ceremony. By my faith, senor, there is a pleasant twitch in my
cheek,--ay, in the scar of the rapier-wound--at the very thought of this
retribution!"
"Now, by heaven," said Cortes, with an altered voice, "villain as he is,
I cannot rejoice that such a dismal fate should befall him. Death,
indeed, but not a death of horror! Dost thou think this, then, can be
his doom? Alas, poor youth! had he but some one to lament him or to
avenge, I were better satisfied with what I have done. I swear to thee,
Francisco, we are e'en as base knaves as himself; for we have employed
our strength--our cunning and our strength--against a creature that is
utterly friendless. Alas, I say; for I remember me of the days of old;
and surely I loved him once as my own soul."
This outbreaking of feeling did not at all surprise Guzman, who had been
familiar from the beginning with the ebbings and flowings of Don
Hernan's hate, and who had several times seen him, when the destiny of
Juan seemed already closed, affected so much that he shed tears, as he
did at the present moment. But Guzman was acquainted with a spell which
never failed to banish all compunction from the General's breast; and he
did not scruple to employ it now.
"It is enough!" muttered Cortes, through his clenched teeth. "Heaven and
my conscience acquit me, and I will think of it no more."
With these words, he seemed to discharge from his mind all thoughts of
the youth so deeply detested, and addressing himself to the task of
inspecting in person the condition of all assailable points in the city,
betook himself at last, and at the day-dawn, to his repose.
END OF VOL. I.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Infidel, Vol. I., by Robert Montgomery Bird