wellnigh the whole of the trained army of the Aztlanecas was with the
Priest Captain, and against this well-disciplined body of men our own
hastily assembled and imperfectly organized army would have made but a
poor showing had we met on equal terms. Even under the existing
circumstances, so favorable in many ways to our success, Tizoc and the
other military officers who were with us did not at all disguise their
anxiety as to what might be the outcome of the battle so soon to be
fought; and especially did they dread some well-planned stealthy
movement of the enemy, by which our camp might be suddenly set upon and
fairly carried before our own untrained forces could be rallied from the
bewilderment and confusion into which they would be thrown by the shock
of such surprise.
Rayburn, who had seen a good deal of Indian fighting in his time, fully
shared in this feeling of anxiety. "Indian fights, you see," he said,
"are not like any other kind of fights. The side that wins has got to do
it with a whoop and a hurrah. Indians haven't got any staying power in
them. They can't hold out against anybody who stands up against them
squarely, and won't be scared by a howling rush into running away.
That's the reason why our little bit of an army at home is strong enough
to police our whole Indian frontier. A single troop of our boys--if the
fighting's square, and they haven't been corralled in an ambush--can
stand off a whole tribe; and they can do it because they just get their
backs together and won't give in. What bothers me about the fight that
we're going to have is that the regulars are on the other side. Of
course, being Indians too, regulars like these don't amount to much; but
they are bound to be a long chalk better than this rowdy crowd of ours.
We've got a pretty fair chance to win, because we're in a strong
position, and because our people mean to wait until the other fellows
come at 'em; but I tell you what it is, if ever they manage to get
inside here, or if ever we go outside after them--that is, while they're
fresh and full of fight--it's bound to be all day with us. These miners,
and the rest of this Tlahuico outfit, will fight like wild-cats as long
as they're on top, but every bit of fight will go right out of them the
minute they find that they're beginning to get underneath. That's the
Indian way. I'm trying hard to believe that our crowd will whip the
other crowd; but I must say, Professor, that I'm not betting on it."
"Well, I'm bettin' on it, and bettin' on it high," said Young. "I don't
pretend t' know as much about this sort o' thing as Rayburn does; but I
do think I know a live devil when I see one--an' these miners are about
as lively an' about as devilly as anything that ever broke loose from
hell. They're just as full o' th' wickedest sort o' fight as they can
stick in their ugly skins, an' they're just sick for a chance t' let it
get out of 'em. All we've got t' do is t' worry th' other crowd for a
while by lettin' 'em monkey around tryin' t' bag us; an' then, when
they've been pretty well shot off, an' are gettin' tired, just make a
rush for 'em an' scoop 'em in. Regulars or no regulars, these miners 'll
go through 'em like a limited express; an' the' first thing th' Priest
Captain knows we'll have walloped him right smack out o' th' baggy
things he wears on his feet an' thinks are boots. That's th' size of it,
Rayburn. That's what's goin' t' happen right here--an' don't you forget
it! An' then, if there's any way out o' this d--n valley, we'll load up
with dollars an' pull out for home."
For my own part, I was not disposed to be either so doubtful as Rayburn
or so sanguine as Young. In what each of them said there was much truth,
and my inference from such of the facts in the case as were within my
knowledge and my comprehension was that the chances for and against our
success were very evenly divided. Had I listened only to the promptings
of my hopes, I should have entertained no doubt whatever touching the
certainty of our victory; for I was at that time so elated by the
knowledge that I had acquired, and that each day was increased by the
acquisition of new and most precious facts, whereby a flood of light was
let in upon what hitherto had been hopelessly dark places in Aztec
archæology, that I was disposed to believe as firmly as ever did the
first Napoleon in the assured ascendency of my lucky star. However, I
did not wholly permit my wits to be run away with by the joy begotten of
my truly wonderful discoveries; and I strove even to contemplate calmly
the possibility that I might myself be slain in the battle that was so
close upon us; and that thus the exceedingly valuable information which
I had acquired would be lost to the world, and to myself would be lost
the honorable fame due me for having gathered it. Yet I regret to
state--for until that time I had entertained unreservedly the belief
that I truly was a philosopher--my attempt at calm contemplation of this
dismal and far from improbable combination of evil circumstances had no
other effect upon me than to throw me into a most violent rage. It
seemed to me so stupidly unreasonable that some mere common brute of an
Indian, by the crude process of splitting my skull open, might deprive
me, and through me the scientific world, of the priceless knowledge that
with much effort I had stored within my brain.
But all thought of my own fortunes, and of this possible sudden cutting
of my life-strings, presently was thrust aside by the inroad of another
matter that was of far more serious moment to me, inasmuch as there was
involved in it a menace against the life of one of my companions; and,
indeed, this matter was one which startled our whole camp, for it was
nothing less than a formal offer on the part of the Priest Captain to
condone the rebellion, and to compromise with the rebels, on certain far
from exacting terms.
The envoy sent to treat with us came in a manner befitting his dignity
and the importance of his mission, having a considerable retinue with
him in his barge, and being himself a grave and dignified man well
advanced in years. Two of our guard-boats accompanied his barge across
the lake, and he alone was permitted to land in Huitzilan. Being led
before the Council, he delivered himself briefly of his message, and
added to it neither argument nor comment of his own. The Priest Captain,
he said, desiring to avoid the shedding of blood among brethren, was
willing to forgive the wrong already committed, and was willing even to
concede in part the demands made by the rebels, in consideration of the
acceptance by those now in arms against him of certain very easy terms.
For his part, he would yield in so far as to restore the custom of
permitting parents to buy back their own children, and so to save them
from being sacrificed or from becoming slaves; and he would withdraw
also his claim to the exercise of certain rights (which need not here be
specified) in civil matters, to which a counter-claim was set up by the
Council. In return for these concessions, he demanded that the army
raised by the rebels should be immediately disbanded; that order should
be restored in Huitzilan by returning the miners to their work, and the
Tlahuicos generally to their masters throughout the valley; and that the
arms which had been manufactured should be turned over to the keeper of
the arsenal in Culhuacan. The final demand made by the Priest Captain
related to ourselves; and the Council was given to understand that upon
its punctual and exact fulfilment the whole of the negotiation must
depend. Young and Rayburn and I, the envoy said, must be thrust out
through the Barred Pass, whence we came, and there left to shift for
ourselves; Fray Antonio must be without delay surrendered--that the
dreadful sin that he had committed by preaching vile doctrines,
subversive of the true faith, might be punished in so signal a manner
that the gods whom he had outraged would be appeased.
Both Fray Antonio and I were present in the Council chamber when the
envoy delivered his message; and when this final demand was
made--hearing which made me grow sick and faint, so keen was the pang of
sorrow that it caused me--I turned towards him quickly, expecting that
he also would feel the hurt of the blow which through him, because of my
great love for him, had stricken me so grievously. But so far from being
at all cast down by the knowledge thus rudely conveyed that a very cruel
death menaced him, there was upon his face a look of such joyful
elation, of such rejoicing triumph, that it seemed as though the very
greatest happiness that life could hold for him had been thrust suddenly
within his grasp.
Within the Council, and outside of it also, when the terms which the
envoy offered were spread abroad, there was at once aroused a very hot
antagonism between contending factions in regard to the wisdom of
placing trust in the Priest Captain's promises, and to the justice of
yielding to his demands. So far as the Council was concerned, its
members having no especial regard for our welfare now that we had served
their purpose, the slaying of Fray Antonio, and the expulsion from the
valley of the rest of us, were trifling matters which well enough might
be conceded if thereby peace might be secured. The matter of importance
that this body had to consider was how far the Priest Captain could be
trusted to fulfil promises made to rebels in arms, when these same
rebels voluntarily had submitted to disarmament and were at his mercy;
and on this essential point the whole debate that followed turned. The
faction that favored disarmament insisted that such yielding was not
surrender, inasmuch as the Priest Captain had conceded all that the
rebels had asked; while those of the faction that favored war rested
their case on the ground that the promises of concession were made only
to be broken, and that this sudden willingness on the part of the Priest
Captain to grant what he had heretofore so persistently refused was
proof that he recognized the hopelessness of his position, and so was
seeking to retain by craft the power that he no longer could hold by
force. These latter, therefore, urged that his false promises should not
be heeded; and that the matter at issue should be settled surely and
finally by carrying to a triumphant conclusion the war, for the waging
of which all needful preparations had been made.
The debate upon this matter continued throughout the whole day without
any conclusion being arrived at, and we listened to it--Fray Antonio and
I translating to the others--with a very earnest interest, inasmuch as
the outcome of it all might be the instant slaying of one of us, and for
the rest of us an imprisonment in wild fastnesses among bleak mountains
for what was like to be the whole remainder of our lives. When night
came, and the Council, being still unresolved, broke off its session
until the day following, we came back to our quarters and there talked
over the situation, and not cheerfully, among ourselves.
"Even if these fellows understood algebra," said Rayburn, "I don't see
how they could get an answer to the problem that they're trying to work.
All the _x_'s that ever were made are not enough to represent an unknown
quantity like the Priest Captain; and it simply is not in the conditions
of the case that they possibly can know what allowance to make for the
factor of error. For the last three hours, as far as I can make out,
they've just been talking in a circle, and going over and over the same
ground. The size of the business is that half of them believe the Priest
Captain is telling the truth, and the other half believe that he is
lying. This is a matter of conviction; it is not a thing that they can
argue about. As far as I can see, there is nothing to prevent them from
keeping on talking without getting anywhere for the next twenty years."
"Well, all I can say," said Young, "is that if they'll put me in th'
cab, an' let me run their train for 'em, I'll get it up this grade in no
time; an' what's more, I'll just take it down th' other side o' th'
divide a-kitin'! What's th' matter with th' Priest Captain, an' only
half of 'em have th' sense t' see 't, is that he's just solidly lyin'.
He's been lyin' to 'em from away back, I reckon; an' he's lyin' to 'em
now; an' he'll keep on lyin' to 'em right smack along till he gets t'
th' end of his run. If they're fools enough t' believe him they're bound
t' get left th' worst kind. They've got him in a hole now, an' he knows
it--an' that's more'n they do, t' judge from th' way they're goin' on.
I did have some respect for that Council. So far, they've managed things
first-rate. They've run in advance o' their schedule right along, an'
they've kep' up a rattlin' head o' steam with mighty d----n bad coal.
But if they really mean t' draw their fires, just when they ought t' put
on th' forced draught an' let her go for all she's worth, I must say I
haven't any more use for 'em. Seein' 'em shilly-shallyin' around like
they're doin' now, when they ought t' be takin' their coats off an'
sailin' in, just makes me sick!"
Fray Antonio--whose habit of quiet was such that he rarely sought to
take part in the talks that we had in English among ourselves--somewhat
surprised me by asking me to translate to him what Young and Rayburn had
been saying; and when he had heard it all he was silent for a while, and
evidently was engaged in earnest thought. At last, speaking very
gravely, he asked us if we greatly feared being thrust out from the
valley in case the Council decided to accept the Priest Captain's terms;
and without giving us a chance to answer, he bade us remember that we
had not at all explored the last valley that we had passed through
before we entered the cañon that ended at the Barred Pass, and that from
it there well might be some outlet through which we could return to the
civilized world; and even were we forced to end our days in it, he
continued, speaking quickly and urgently, a much worse fate might come
to us; for the valley was a bright and beautiful one, as we had seen,
and had in it an abundant supply of food. Would living there, he asked,
be any worse for us than living where we then were--where we were
equally shut in? And even supposing that the war ended in victory for
us, and that our allies gave us entire freedom of action, what more
could we do than end our days in the Valley of Aztlan, or else go back
to that other valley and search for an outlet thence whereby we could
get into an open way among the mountains, and so once more to our homes?
And then, still denying us opportunity to answer, he went on to speak of
the pain and misery and despairing sorrow that the threatened war would
bring; and then, more gently, of the duty that pressed upon us of
averting this calamity, that was also a crime, even though to do so we
must sacrifice hopes and wishes very dear to our hearts.
"What th' dickens is th' Padre drivin' at, anyway?" Young exclaimed; "I
don't ketch on at all."
"No more do I," said Rayburn. "It's a first-rate sermon that he's giving
us, but I don't see where he means the moral of it to fetch up."
For myself, so closely were Fray Antonio and I bound together by bonds
of sympathy, I saw but too plainly what he meant should be the outcome
of his discourse; and I was not surprised, therefore--though hearing
thus plainly expressed in words what I had been dreading, sent a dull,
cold pain into the very depths of my heart--when he unfolded to us the
whole of the plan that he had been forming within his mind. What he said
was said very simply, and with a loving sorrow for the pain that might
come to us through shaping our actions in accordance with his strong
desire; and this desire was: that, of our own free-will, we should
retire from the valley by the way that we came thither, and so leave the
Council free to accept unhesitatingly the Priest Captain's terms.
"And what of yourself?" I asked; for I felt within me a strong
conviction that for himself he had in view a very different fate.
He hesitated for a moment before answering me, and his color changed a
little; and then an unwonted ruddiness gave animation to his face, and a
light of glad and strong resolve shone in his eyes as he replied, in a
voice that was very low, and at the same time very clear and firm: "I
shall go to the Priest Captain, in Culhuacan!"
"And so go to your death," I said, speaking brokenly, for the pain that
his words caused me went through me like a knife-thrust.
"Say, rather," Fray Antonio answered, "that I go to win the life,
glorious and eternal, into which neither death nor sin nor sorrow
evermore can come!"
XXVIII.
THE SURRENDER OF A LIFE.
Knowing as I did Fray Antonio's resolute nature, and understanding far
more clearly than it was possible for the others to understand the
heroic impulses which stirred within him, I took no part in the attempt
that they then made to oppose the purpose which he had declared. But
when they somewhat shifted their position--perceiving how hopeless was
their effort to shake by argument his firm resolve--and sought to win
him to their way of thinking by consenting to leave the valley if only
he would accompany them, then I most earnestly joined my entreaties to
theirs. But no more by entreaty than by argument was Fray Antonio to be
moved.
And, in truth, there was a logical consistency in what he urged in
answer to us that, much though we might resent it, we yet were compelled
to respect. He had come with us, he said, for the single purpose of
preaching the saving grace of Christianity to heathen souls which
otherwise would perish utterly in their idolatry. And this was not a
matter wherein he had any right of election, but was a solemn duty that
the vows by which he was bound compelled him to fulfil. He was not free,
therefore, as we were free, to consider side issues relating to his
personal well-being or to mere expediency; his sole endeavor must be to
accomplish by the most efficient means the duty wherewith he was
charged. It was evident, he urged, that should there be war in the
valley the chance for the further spread of Christian doctrine would he
scant; for the seed that he had sown, and that already was well rooted
in many hearts, would die quickly and be utterly lost in the foul growth
of evil passions which would spring up rankly amid this bloody strife.
But if the war could be averted, not only would these people be spared
the misery that war must bring upon them, and the crime also of slaying
each other, but their hearts would remain open to the gentle doctrine
that he had taught; and his willingness--should such sacrifice be
necessary--to yield his life that peace might be preserved, would force
upon them strongly the conviction, tending thus to their own
strengthening, of his faithful trust in the creed which he avowed. And
it well might happen, he said, that such grace would be given him that
even within the very stronghold of the heathen faith he might win souls
to the purer faith which it was his glorious privilege to preach and
still remain unharmed; in proof of which possibility he cited the case
of the blessed St. Januarius, whom the lions refused to devour. But
whatever might be the outcome of thus yielding himself into the Priest
Captain's hands, his duty was so clear, he declared firmly, that no
evasion of it was possible. And what he purposed doing, he said,
finally, was but what countless of his brethren had done in the course
of the six centuries since the founding in Assisi of the Order to which
they and he belonged--and precisely was it what was done by the glorious
proto-martyr of Mexico, San Felipe de Jesus, who boldly carried the
Christian faith among the heathen, and so died for that faith upon the
cross in Japan.
Rayburn was far from willing to yield to this line of argument; yet he
understood it, as I did also, and perceived that it was the only logical
outcome of the only premises which Fray Antonio would recognize. Young,
on the other hand, did not in the least understand it, and Fray
Antonio's reasoning simply threw him into a rage.
"It's all d----n nonsense," he said, "for th' Padre t' talk about his
duty towards a set o' critters like th' Priest Captain's crowd. What's
th' life o' that whole outfit worth compared t' one life like his? He
might just as well sit down an' chop his own head off as go in among
those fellows; an' he knows it, too. I never heard o' th' man he's
talkin' about who didn't get eat up by th' lions--somebody in th' show
business, I s'pose--but if he thinks there'll he anything worth speakin'
of left of him two hours after he gets back into that city, he's makin'
a pretty d--n big mistake. Oh, I say, Professor, we've _got_ t' stop
this. Th' Padre's off his head, that's all there is to it; an' we've got
t' look after him till he braces up an' gets sensible again. I'll do
anything reasonable that he wants, but I'll be d----d if I'm goin' t'
stand by doin' nothin' while he cuts his own throat!"
Young was quite ready, I am sure, to resort to the radical measure of
clapping Fray Antonio into a strait-jacket; and had the opportunity
arisen for bringing their difference of opinion to a practical issue I
am confident that we should have witnessed an exceedingly curious
conflict, in which heroic self-devotion would have struggled with a
rough but very honest love. And that Fray Antonio anticipated such a
conflict was shown by his taking effective measures to render it
impossible. During the remainder of that day he steadfastly refused to
discuss the matter further; not harshly, but by shifting away into other
channels our earnest talk. Only at night, before we lay down to sleep,
of his own motion he turned once more to the matter; and when he briefly
had exhibited to us again the motives which urged him forward upon a
way so perilous, he begged that we would not think ill of his insisting
upon traversing our wishes, but that once more we would clasp hands with
him in sign of our forgiveness and continued love.
So tender was the mood that came upon us with his gentle words that none
of us well could answer him; and this he understood as in turn we took
his hand and strove to utter that which was in our hearts, and only
could say huskily a word or two, of which the meaning was conveyed for
the most part by the sorrow and the longing that were in our tones.
Young's natural instincts were wholly opposed to any display of the
softer emotions, and for shame of the weakness that in this case he
could not help but show, his face and neck flushed red, and he declared
that he had the toothache. And then, as a vent for his overwrought
feelings--of all things in the world--he fell to cursing the
Superintendent of the Old Colony Railroad: on the ground that but for
this functionary, who most unjustifiably had discharged him, he never
would have come to Mexico at all!
For my own part, I was well convinced that Fray Antonio meant then to
say good-bye to us; and for a long while, as I lay awake that night, my
thoughts went backward over the time that we had been companions
together, and so dwelt upon the faithfulness of his friendship, and upon
his gallant bearing in all times of peril, and upon the pure and perfect
holiness which characterized his every act and word. Into the future I
dared not let my thoughts wander, for I could foresee no outcome to the
purpose which he had planned so resolutely but a dreary sorrow that
would rest heavily upon me through all the remainder of my days. And at
last, worn out by my own grief, I fell into a troubled sleep.
The faint gray light of early morning shone dimly in the room as Rayburn
awakened me by shaking my arm; and the first words which he spoke to me
were, "The Padre is not here!"
As I roused myself fully, and sat up and looked into his face, I saw by
the look that he gave me how fully he shared the dread that was in my
heart. Young still was sleeping, and we waited to rouse him until we
should make sure that what we feared must be the truth really was true.
Together we went out quietly into the court-yard and so to the main
entrance of the building, where a guard was stationed. But this man was
asleep; and when I wakened him, and questioned him as to whether the
monk had gone forth, he could give me no answer. Therefore we went on to
the gate of the Citadel--which gate, being a vastly heavy grating,
raised and lowered by chains, was not usually closed even at night--in
the hope that there we might gain some certain knowledge. And here also
we found all of the half-dozen men on guard slumbering, saving only one
man, who seemed to have been aroused by the sound of our footsteps, and
who raised himself on one elbow and looked at us with a sleepy
curiosity.
[Illustration: IN THE GATE-WAY OF THE CITADEL]