the way of escape thus opened to them; but their flight could not have
been taken hastily, because it included a very great number of them, and
included also carrying with them large quantities of arms for warfare,
and of useful household stores. He could say certainly no more than
that when all their well-laid plan was ready to be executed, they rose
against the soldiers which guarded them with such suddenness and brave
violence that they succeeded in seizing and in holding the Citadel;
which gave no chance for grave uneasiness, for the officers of the force
thus for a moment driven off thought that because of their retiring
within so narrow a place they speedily must surrender for dread of being
starved there; and it was held to be but a sign of their still greater
simplicity--since thus would there be more hungry mouths to fill--that
they carried their women and children with them into the stronghold
where they lay besieged.
But so strange was the desolate silence that hung over the place into
which so great a multitude had retired, that the besiegers presently
were moved by it to a wonder wherein was a strong feeling of awe; and
still greater was the marvel that they had to ponder upon when, at last,
meeting with no opposition, they broke in the grating that barred the
entrance to the Citadel, and found within the enclosure not one single
living soul! And so cleverly had the fugitives closed the way behind
them that a long while passed before it was known certainly what had
become of this living host that, as it seemed, in a moment had vanished
from off the face of the earth. More than half a lifetime went by
without the shedding of light upon this mystery; and it seemed as though
a ghost had risen when one day a very aged man came forth from that
long-abandoned passage in the mine and surrendered himself to the first
of the guards whom he encountered--and then told that he was a priest
whom the fleeing rebels had carried captive with them, and whom they had
held a prisoner through all these many years. And he told also how the
rebels had made their home in a certain fair valley that was shut in and
hidden among the mountains; and how that they had built a great
city--resting fearless in the conviction that they were safe from harm.
By the heavy toil that had been needful to open anew the way into the
mine from the cañon, the little remnant of strength in this old man's
body had been exhausted; and presently, having told his story, he died.
Then it was that the Priest Captain and the Council who ruled in that
ancient time, having assured themselves by the sending out of spies that
all which the old man had told them was true, planned to bring upon the
rebels a very terrible vengeance; which was to drown them all in their
city by letting loose upon them the waters of a mighty lake. And this
plan, though its accomplishment was not arrived at until two full cycles
had passed away, so mighty was the labor that it involved, at last was
executed: and in one single day every living creature in all that valley
was overwhelmed by the flood let loose into it; and where so great a
mass of teeming life had been there remained thereafter only the
desolate silence and stillness of universal death.
It was with long-drawn breaths that Fray Antonio and I listened to
Tizoc's telling of this tradition, which in many ways was far more real
to us than it possibly could be to him; for we but lately had passed
through that death-stricken valley--and ourselves had been like to die
there--and every feature of the scene, that he could but vaguely
describe to us, we had clearly in our minds. And thus we came to know
the full meaning of the great catastrophe whereof we had seen the
outworking, both in the destruction wrought by it and the way of its
accomplishment, but of which we had divined no more concerning its cause
than that in some way it must have resulted from a slowly worked-out
vengeance prompted by a most malignant hate.
XXVI.
THE GATHERING FOR WAR.
Although the whole of the discussion of their plan of revolt was carried
on by the Council with so calm a gravity, there was enough of energy and
of quick movement when their deliberations came to an end; and we
augured well of the result because they thus had delayed their action
until their plan for making it effective had been fully matured. The
whole of that first day in Huitzilan, and much of the following night
also, was given to arranging clearly what must be done in order to set
up a temporary government and to get an army together; and how well this
preliminary work was accomplished was shown by the precision and
celerity with which the plans then made were executed during the
immediately ensuing days.
During this period we had ample time to look around us; and, being now
upon a most friendly footing with the strange people among whom we thus
strangely found ourselves, we were heartily aided--so far as this was
possible because of the exigencies of that stirring time--in
investigating the manner of their lives. The material then was obtained
for my chapter on the "House Life and Domestic Customs of the Aztecs";
and the knowledge which Rayburn gathered (also embodied in his own
paper, that attracted so much attention when read before the American
Institute of Mining Engineers) he has permitted me to use in my chapter
on "Mining and Metal-working among the Aztecs"; which two chapters are
among the most note worthy _Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of
North America_. Rayburn, indeed, was lost in wonder as he came to
understand how far scientific investigation had been carried among this
isolated people, and how well they had learned to apply their scientific
knowledge to their practical affairs. In many matters, to be sure, they
fell far behind the remainder of the civilized world; but a large part
of the useful knowledge that has been gained by study under civilized
conditions elsewhere we found here also as the fruit of independent
discovery. In many cases the discovery was identical in every respect
with our own. Thus, their process (the adding of hydrochloric acid to a
neutral solution of auric-chloride) for producing from gold a rich
purple stain, that was employed in the coloring of hard-wood and bone,
was precisely that which Boyle mentioned in 1663; and, as nearly as I
could determine the date, it was about that very time that they, also,
first effected this combination. In the matter of hardening gold, and
thereafter giving it all the qualities of tempered steel, they had made
a step that was distinctly in advance of anything which our
metallurgists had accomplished; and I am strongly inclined to the belief
that--at least among the priests--knowledge had been gained of a process
quite unlike that known to us for producing a gold fulminate. I was not
so fortunate as to gain more knowledge of this matter than could be
learned from hearsay, but from several sources I heard of the splitting
asunder of a certain great rock by the Priest Captain--which wonder was
accompanied by a thunderous noise and a gleam of flame and a bursting
forth of smoke--whereby he was considered to have proved that the aid of
the gods was at his command. But to my mind, and also to Rayburn's, the
proof was, rather, that he had at his command--in some way that as yet
our chemists have not fathomed--the aid of a gold fulminate that could
be controlled in use as readily as we control gunpowder. That this
agent, whatever it might be, was not easily available, was indicated by
the fact that the Priest Captain never had given more than this single
exhibition of the wonders which he could accomplish with it; and that it
then had served his purpose well was shown by the obvious awe with which
all who told me of it spoke of the dreadful havoc that thus visibly was
wrought by what they termed the thunder of the gods.
Indeed, a very serious difficulty that the leaders of the revolution had
to overcome was the unwillingness on the part of the people at large to
defy the power of their spiritual chief; which feeling among the upper
classes was mainly because disobedience to the Priest Captain was, in
effect, heresy; while among the lower classes there was joined to a like
horror of heresy a very lively dread of the punishment, both temporal
and spiritual, that the Priest Captain could bring upon them because of
his intimate relations with the supernatural beings by which the forces
of the world were controlled.
Yet out of this condition of affairs arose an opportunity that Fray
Antonio was not slow to make the most of. Our coming into the valley
with news of the outside world that directly controverted the Priest
Captain's claim to infallibility gave a great shock to the religious
faith of the community, and so induced a willingness to listen to the
preaching of a new and purer creed. And on the part of those of the
Council who were organizing the revolution--among whom religion seemed
to be regarded less as a vital fact than as a matter of political
expediency--there was a strong disposition to encourage the spread of
doctrines which obviously, by weakening the Priest Captain's hold upon
the people, would increase their own strength. Therefore, Fray Antonio
found himself free to preach to this heathen multitude the glorious
Christian faith; and that he was granted this most rare and signal
opportunity, the like of which was not given even to the blessed Saint
Francis himself, so filled and exalted his soul with a radiantly joyful
thankfulness that he was as one transformed. And his holy enthusiasm,
that thus made every fibre of his being vibrate with a grateful
gladness, gave him also so eloquent a command of beseeching language
that it was a living wonder to perceive how his inspired words
penetrated into the minds, darkened by superstitious doctrines, of those
to whom he spoke, and so sunk into their hearts and brought the restful
happiness of the faith Christian to those who had known only the
restless terror of idolatry throughout all their lives. Like a pure
flame, the doctrine that he preached ran through that host of the
heathen, burning out from among them the impure creed whereby their
souls had been held in a most cruel and desolate bondage, and giving in
the place thereof the tender comfort of a saving Christian grace.
Yet the very fervor of Fray Antonio's preaching, and the strong hold
that the gentle doctrine which he set forth took upon the hearts of the
multitude, tended also to stir up against him a lively enmity among
those who, refusing to hearken to him, remained steadfast in the ancient
faith. Many such there were among us at that time in Huitzilan; but
because of the firm grasp that Fray Antonio had upon so many hearts, and
also because of the countenance which the Council gave him, these did
not venture to assail either him or his doctrine openly; yet, as I noted
at times the evil glances which they shot forth at him--which surely
would have killed him could he thus have been slain--I was filled with
dread that hate so malignant as here was shown must surely find
expression in a direct attempt upon his life. Fortunately, there no
longer were any priests among us. Of these there had been a
considerable number in Huitzilan upon our first coming there, but
silently, one by one, they had disappeared--going, as we well knew, to
join themselves to the force which the Priest Captain was gathering
against the time when the issue between us would be settled by the
arbitration of arms. And those who went from our camp to his must have
carried with them news of the peril that menaced the ancient faith
through the new faith that Fray Antonio preached so zealously in such
burning words; for of his knowledge of what Fray Antonio was doing, and
of his dread of what might therefrom result, we presently had proof in a
way that filled our hearts with a very dismal fear.
All the while that this curious, and to me most interesting, conflict
between a primitive and a highly developed religion went on, the more
practical work went on also of establishing a new government and of
organizing an army whereby it might be maintained. So far as the setting
up of a government was concerned, the matter was comparatively easy; for
the majority of the Council had come out with us from Culhuacan, and
these had but to adapt to the requirements of the new situation the
governmental machinery that already was established and at their
command. And they were surprised pleasurably by finding how readily this
transformation was effected; for among the higher classes--from which
classes the officials of the government exclusively were drawn--the
feeling of hatred against the Priest Captain, begotten of his many acts
of cruelty and oppression, was so strong that the opportunity now
offered to turn against him was seized upon most gladly. In every town
throughout the valley the emissaries of the Council were warmly
welcomed; and presently the new government was established everywhere
save in the capital city and in certain villages upon the lake border
lying close beneath its walls.
The work of organizing an army, however, was a more difficult matter;
for very serious obstacles, both moral and material, had to be overcome
before we of the revolutionary faction could place an effective fighting
force in the field. Of what I may term regular troops, that is to say,
thoroughly drilled and disciplined soldiers, we could count upon but
few; for, practically, the whole body of the army had remained faithful
to the Priest Captain and was with him in Culhuacan. For the most part,
also, the regular troops scattered through the garrisons of the various
towns had betaken themselves immediately to Culhuacan upon the
acknowledgment by the civil officers of these towns of the authority of
the new government; and at the same time had departed with them nearly
all the priests, and such few persons of the upper classes as desired
the maintenance of the ancient order of things. The result of which
general movement at least gave us the advantage of carrying on
unmolested our own work of concentrating and organizing; and, so far,
was a positive service to us.
As the nucleus of our army we had the corps that Tizoc commanded, the
highly organized body of troops charged with the important duty of
guarding the Barred Pass; and we had also the few hundreds of men who
had come out with us from Culhuacan. From these sources we were able to
draw officers to command the irregular force, largely made up of
Tlahuicos, that the Council rapidly got together; while for the
organizing of the main body of our troops, the savages who worked in the
mine, the bold stroke was made of mingling them with the men who, until
then, had been their most relentless enemies--the soldiers who had
served as their guards. That it was possible to put in operation this
daring plan was due, I think, in great part to the fact that both guards
and miners were led to accept the extraordinary fellowship that it
created by a genuine shock of surprise; and before they had at all
recovered from their astonishment their interests became identical,
through their common need of defending themselves against a common
enemy. And, further, I am well convinced that the Tlahuicos had been in
part prepared, before our coming into the valley, to join in the revolt
that under any circumstances could not have been much longer delayed. In
regard to this matter, Tizoc persistently evaded my questions; but I
remembered very distinctly his curious hesitancy when he had told me of
the effective part that the servile class could be made to take in the
event of a rebellion; and I perceived many evidences of a secret
understanding between him and certain of the miners during the time that
the gathering for war was going on in Huitzilan. Therefore, I inferred
that the seeds of revolt which germinated so readily had been long since
sown.
Of all the disabilities under which we then labored, the most serious
was the lack of an adequate supply of arms. The great arsenal of the
Aztlanecas was in Culhuacan; and thus nearly the whole of the supply of
munitions of war in the valley was in the Priest Captain's hands.
Fortunately, the shipment of hardened gold that we had intercepted--by
landing at the pier whence in a few hours it would have been despatched
to the Treasure-house--gave us a good supply of raw material out of
which spear-heads, and the heads of darts, and swords could be made; and
night and day the forges blazed in Huitzilan while the manufacture of
these weapons went on. Of bows and arrows it was not possible to make
many in that short time, but of slings there was no difficulty in making
enough to supply our entire force--and among these people, who are
wonderfully skilful in the use of it, the sling is a most deadly
implement of war. We lacked time, also, to make any large number of
shields, and our deficiency in this respect was regarded by Tizoc, and
by all the military officers who were with us, as a most serious matter;
for not only would our men without shields be the more easily slain in
battle, but their fighting value would be lessened by their
consciousness that they were without this piece of furniture that all
savage races hold to be so necessary in war.
However, of defensive armor we had a good supply, for it chanced that in
the Citadel there was a great store of cotton cloth, suitable for making
long kirtles of many thicknesses of cloth quilted together; which
kirtles were arrow proof, and well protected a man from his neck
downward almost to his knees. Young was disposed to think but lightly of
this curious armor, but when Tizoc, to convince him of its utility,
demonstrated its power to resist a well-pointed arrow shot at very short
range he was forced to confess its entire applicability to the purpose
for which it was designed.
"Tell th' Colonel that I give in, an' think it a first-rate notion,
Professor," he said. "But if you can get it into his head, an' I'm
afraid you can't, just tell him that when this barelegged army of ours
gets fitted out with those little night-shirts they'll look for all th'
world like a lot o' fellows who've scrambled out of a hotel that's
caught fire in th' middle o' th' night. All that'll be wanted t' make
th' thing perfect 'll be a couple o' steam fire-engines, an' a crowd
with all their clothes on, an' a line of policemen. I guess it's goin'
t' be one o' th' funniest lookin' armies that was ever seen outside of a
lunatic asylum. What I'd like to do, Professor, instead o' tryin' t' do
any fightin' with it, is just t' take th' whole outfit back t' th'
States an' make a show of it. I'd get Benito Nichols t' go in with
me--he's a first-class man, Benito is, an' he's a boss hand as a show
manager--an' we'd call it 'Th' Aztec Warrior Army an' Circus
Combination,' an' we'd just rake in th' dollars quicker'n we could count
'em. That makes me think o' that show we were talkin' about makin' with
Pablo an' his burro." Young's voice changed as he spoke, and there was a
huskiness in it as he added: "I s'pose by this time there ain't much
left for show-makin' purposes of either of 'em. No, I guess I'll stay
around an' take a hand in any fightin' that's goin' on; for I'd pretty
near be willin' t' be killed right away after it myself for th' chance
t' square things with that old devil for killin' our boy. He was a good
boy, Professor, an'--How this devilish dust does get into my eyes an'
make 'em water." With which highly irrelevant remark--for there was no
dust blowing just then--Young suddenly ceased speaking and walked away.
This was the only time that we spoke of Pablo while we lay at Huitzilan,
for talk about the boy only increased the bitter sorrow for him that was
in all our hearts. As for my own heart, it was wellnigh broken as I
thought that but for me his gentle life would still be flowing on
smoothly--as I had found it flowing when, in an evil hour, I joined his
fortunes with mine, and so had brought him to so untimely and to so
cruel a death. And I, too, longed for the fighting to begin that I might
avenge him; for the accomplishment of which vengeance I was not merely
in part, but altogether ready to yield up my own life.
Indeed, excepting only Fray Antonio, who saw in warfare only the
wickedness and the cruelty of it, we all were most eager for our
inaction to end, and for the battling to begin that would give us
opportunity to let the life out of some of those by whom Pablo had been
slain. It was with delight, therefore, that we noted the rapidity with
which the preparations for the impending campaign were carried forward,
and saw how each day the disorderly host that had been gathered at
Huitzilan was changing from a confused mass of good fighting material
into a body fairly well adapted to the needs of war. It was, in truth,
astonishing to us--for we could not well comprehend how essentially
warlike were the instincts of this people, and how quick, therefore,
they must be in military matters--to observe the promptness that was
shown in getting our army in readiness for the field. And with our
astonishment came also a comforting conviction that the force that could
be so quickly, and, as it seemed, so effectively organized, must surely
hold well together, and fight well together, when the hour for fighting
came.
XXVII.
AN OFFER OF TERMS.
During the time that our various preparations thus went forward we had
no direct news from the stronghold of the enemy; yet many vague rumors
reached us of the army that was being set in order there to take the
field against us. On the other hand, the constant departure from among
us of those who were loyal to the ancient government kept the Priest
Captain well informed of all that was in progress in our camp. No effort
was made by the Council to prevent these departures, for all of our
plans were working so well, and our forces were increasing so
prodigiously, that it was to our advantage that the enemy should have
news of our rapidly augmenting strength; and especially was it hoped
that the news thus carried to the city might incline many there who
wavered in their allegiance to take open part with us--or, at the least,
to refuse to take part against us--and that in this way there might be
stirred up a very dangerous spirit of mutiny within the enemy's lines.
The plan of campaign that the Council had adopted struck me as being an
exceedingly prudent one. This was that we should not attempt an attack
upon the city--for, indeed, to assail such fortifications without
artillery would have been utterly hopeless--but should wait until the
enemy came out to assail us, and then meet him on our own chosen ground.
In every way this plan was in our favor. It most obviously was to our
advantage to delay as long as possible the battle that was inevitable,
and that, when it did come, must decide the fate of the rebellion
finally. Every day that this was deferred was a substantial gain to us,
in that the organization of our army was thereby rendered the more
complete, and also in that the effective hold of the new government upon
the people throughout the valley was thereby strengthened. On the side
of the enemy, delay would produce no corresponding gain, rather would it
tend to weaken the hold of the Priest Captain upon those who remained
faithful to him; and, being shut up with his whole army and a multitude
of non-combatants within those great stone walls, a very terrible foe,
against which stone walls are no defence, presently would attack him in
the shape of hunger. Therefore we had only to wait--maintaining the
while a vigilant patrol of guard-boats on the lake, so that no fresh
supplies might reach the garrison in the city--in the sure conviction
that our foe would of his own accord come forth to give us battle, and
that we then would have the advantage of standing wholly on the
defensive until some happy turn of chance should so favor us that we
would risk nothing in making an assault.