MUNIFICENCE OF MONTEZUMA--THE ROYAL BANQUET--THE
REQUITAL--THE EMPEROR A PRISONER IN HIS OWN PALACE.
~"Was that thunder?"~
* * * * *
~Those splendid halls resound with revelry,
And song, and dance lead on the tardy dawn.~
* * * * *
~From the hall of his fathers in anguish he fled,
Nor again will its marble re-echo his tread.~
Montezuma was always and every where munificent. When he had, though
reluctantly, admitted the strangers into his capital, he prepared to
give them a royally hospitable entertainment. Partly by way of triumph
in the success of their movements hitherto, and partly by way of
amusing, and at the same time overawing their entertainers, the
Spaniards, the day after their arrival in the city, made a grand
military display in their quarters, and in the neighboring streets. They
exercised their prancing steeds in all the feats of horsemanship,
racing, leaping, and careering, in all the wild majesty of the trained
charger, under the three fold discipline of bit and spur, and cheering
shout. They rushed upon each other in the mock warfare of the
tournament, with clashing sword and glancing spear, and then,
discharging their carbines in the air, separated amid clouds of dust and
smoke, as if driven asunder by the bolts of heaven in their own hands.
The astonished natives, accustomed only to the simple weapons of
primitive warfare, looked on with undisguised admiration, not unmixed
with fear. The strange beings before them, wielding such unwonted
powers, seemed indeed to have descended upon earth from some higher
sphere, and to partake of that mysterious and fearful character, which
they had been wont to ascribe to inhabitants of the spiritual world. But
when, in closing off the day's entertainment, they brought out the
loud-mouthed artillery, and shook the very foundations of the city with
their oft-repeated thunders, the spirit of the Aztec sunk within him,
and he felt, as he retired to his dwelling, that it was for no good end,
that men of such power, having such fearful engines at their command,
had been permitted to fix their quarters in one of the fortresses of
Tenochtitlan.
"Alas!" said an ancient Cacique from the northern frontier, "we are
fallen upon evil times. Our enemies are even now in the citadel--enemies
whom we know not, whose mode of warfare we do not understand, whose
weapons defy alike our powers of imitation and resistance. Let us
abandon the field, and retire to the far north, whence our fathers came,
and rear a new empire amid the impregnable fastnesses of the mountains."
"Who talks of abandoning the field to the enemy?" interrupted
Guatimozin,--"Let no Aztec harbor so base a thought. Rather let us
stand by our altars and die, if die we must."
"Right," cried the youthful prince Axayatl, from the southern slope of
the Sierra, "why should the all-conquering Aztec tremble at this display
of the mysterious strangers? Are not the millions of Anahuac a match for
a few hundred of their enemies, in whatever form they come? Be they
gods, or be they demons, they belong not to this soil, nor this soil to
them, and, by all our altars and all our gods, they must retire or
perish, though we, and our wives, and our children perish with them."
"Give us your hand, brave Axayatl," exclaimed Cuitlahua and Guatimozin,
at the same instant, "be that our vow in life and in death, and wo to
the base Aztec, that abandons the standard of Montezuma, or whispers of
submission to the haughty stranger."
Thus were the councils of the people divided between a timid
superstition, and a bold uncompromising patriotism. There wanted not the
material, if well directed, to annihilate, at a blow, the hopes of the
daring invaders. The arm of the nation was strong and sinewy, but "the
head was sick, and the heart faint." The Emperor, the hitherto proud and
self-sufficient Montezuma,--
Like a struck eagle fainting in his nest,
had cowered to a phantom of his own diseased imagination, and weakly
consented to regard _them_ as gods, whose passions, appetites and vices
proved them to be men, and whose diminished numbers, after every battle
they had fought, showed they were of mortal mould.
On the following day, a magnificent banquet was prepared for Cortez, and
his officers, in the imperial palace. It was graced by the presence of
all the nobility of Azteca, with all the pride and beauty of their
household divinities--for, among this refined people, the wife and the
daughter held her appropriate rank, and woman exercised all the
influence, which, among (so called) civilized nations, Christianity
alone has assigned her. Every apartment of that spacious and magnificent
pile blazed with the light of odoriferous torches, which sent up their
clouds of incense from hundreds of gold and silver stands, elaborately
carved and embossed in every form that fancy could suggest, or ingenuity
invent. Flowers of every hue and name were profusely distributed through
the rooms, clustered in beautiful vases, or hung in gorgeous festoons
and luxurious chaplets from the walls. The costume of the monarch and
his court was as rich and gorgeous, as the rare and variegated
_plumage_, with a lavish use of gold and gems, could make it. The women
were as splendidly apparelled as the men. Many of them were extremely
beautiful. Some were distinguished for their easy refinement of manners,
which charmed, no less than it astonished, the Castilian knights, who
had been accustomed to suppose that nothing so beautiful, or refined,
could be found without the borders of Spain.
By special command of the Emperor, all his nobles were present at this
festival, so that Guatimozin, contrary to his own will and purpose, was
brought into contact with Cortez, and his steel-clad cavaliers.
Tecuichpo also was there, in all her maiden loveliness, outshining all
the stars of that splendid galaxy. And yet she was as a star in
eclipse, for her soul was oppressed with those mysterious shadows that
hung over her destiny and that of her father, as connected with the
coming of these white men. Karee was there in attendance upon her
mistress, as she still delighted to call her; but her attention was more
absorbed by the strangers than by Tecuichpo. She watched every movement,
and scanned every countenance with a scrutiny that did not escape their
observation, in order to read, as well as she could, the character of
each. Her scrutiny satisfied herself, and she whispered in the ear of
the Princess, that "if these were gods, they came from the dark, and not
from the sunny side of heaven."
It was a rare spectacle, which this royal banquet presented. The
contrast between the steel-clad cavaliers of Castile, whose burnished
armor blazed and glittered in the brilliant torch-light, and rung under
their heavy martial tramp upon the marble floor, and the comparatively
fairy figures of the gaudily apparelled Aztecs, was as strong as could
possibly be presented in a scene like this. The costumes and customs of
each were matter of wonder and admiration to the other. The Aztec
trembled at the mysterious power, the incomprehensible weapons, of the
white man. The Castilian, if he did not tremble, fully appreciated the
danger of a little band, separated and scattered among a festive throng
of warlike men, amid the interminable labyrinths of the imperial palace,
and under the eye of a monarch whose word was absolute law to all the
myriads of his people.
But, whatever was passing in the inner man, the Aztec and the Castilian,
alike, appeared perfectly at ease, each abandoning himself to the
festivities of the occasion, as if each, unannoyed by the presence of a
stranger, were revelling in the security of his own castle, and
celebrating some time-honored festival of his own people.
With a benign dignity and grace, the Queen, and her suite of high-born
ladies, received the homage of the cavaliers, after they had been
presented to the Emperor. She was struck with admiration at the graceful
and dignified bearing of the Castilian, which, while it showed all the
deference and respect due to her sex and her rank, had nothing in it, of
that abject servility, which placed an impassable barrier between the
Aztec noble and his monarch, and made them appear to belong to distinct
races of being. To the chivalrous, impassioned Castilian, accustomed to
worship woman, and pay an almost divine homage to beauty, in the courtly
halls and sunny bowers of Spain, the scene presented a perfect
constellation of grace and loveliness. The flashing eye of the Aztec
maiden, as lustrous and eloquent as any in the gardens of Hesperides;
the jetty tresses, glittering with gems and pearls, or chastely
decorated with natural flowers; the easy grace of the loose flowing
robe, revealing the full rich bust and the rounded limb, in its fairest
proportions, won the instant admiration of every mailed knight, and
brought again to his lips his oft-repeated vows of love and devotion.
But of little avail were honied lips and eloquent tongues to the gallant
cavaliers at that magic fete. They formed no medium of communion with
the bright spirits, and gay hearts around them. The doom of Babel was on
them all, and there was no interpreter. Nothing daunted by obstacles
seemingly insurmountable, the gay Spaniards resolved, that, where bright
eyes were to be gazed on, and sweet smiles won from the ranks of youth
and beauty, they would make a way for themselves. The first ceremonies
of presentation over, each knight addressed himself to some chosen fair
one, and by sign and gesture, and speaking look, and smile of eloquent
flattery, commenced a spirited pantomimic attack, to the infinite
amusement of all the gay throng around. It was met with wonderful
spirit, and ready ingenuity, by the Aztec maidens, to whom the dialect
of signs, and the language of hieroglyphics was perfectly familiar; that
being the only written language of all the nations of Anahuac.
The spirit and interest of the scene that followed surpasses all attempt
at description. Abandoned to the gaiety of the hour, the Spaniards
forgot alike their schemes of ambition and aggrandisement, and the
peculiar perils which surrounded them; while the Aztec revellers
dismissed, for the moment, both their superstitious dread of the white
man, and their patriotic disgust at his daring pretensions to universal
dominion.
The noble Sandoval, attracted by the mild beaming eye, and sweet smile
of the Princess Tecuichpo, with a profound obeisance, laid his plumed
helmet at her feet, and choosing, from a vase at her side, a half blown
rose, which he gracefully twined with a sprig of amaranth, he first
pressed it to his own heart and lips, and then placed it among the
glittering gems upon her bosom. With queenly courtesy and grace, the
fair princess received this gallant token, and instantly responded to
it, by stooping down, and weaving among the plumes, so courteously laid
at her feet, another, of such rare beauty and brilliancy of hue, that it
quite eclipsed the gayest feather in the hall.
Cortez and Alvarado were, each in his turn, struck with the deep, dark,
piercing eye of Karee, and each put forth his best endeavor to win from
her a smile. But it was so coldly given, and accompanied with a look so
deep and searching, that the general quailed before it, as he had never
done before to mortal eye.
Instantly recovering himself, he put on such a smile of blended grace
and dignity, as melted at once the icy reserve of the maiden, and opened
the way for a long and animated parley. It was full of sparkles and
power, but could not be translated into any living tongue, without
losing all its force and brilliancy.
Meanwhile, an animated discussion had arisen between Guatimozin and the
Prince of Tezcuco, touching the propriety of receiving gifts from the
strangers, or, in any way, acknowledging their claims as friends. The
showy trinket, which Cacama had received from Cortez at Ajotzinco, and
which he displayed on his person at this festival, gave rise to the
dispute.
"It is wrong," urged Guatimozin, "wrong to our country and wrong to
ourselves. Let them gain what they can from the exuberant munificence of
the Emperor, and let them stay in peace, while he permits and requires
it,--but let us not weaken our hands, by touching their gifts, or
accepting their tokens. When they depart, let them not boast that they
have left any remembrancer behind them, or laid claims upon our hands,
by their gifts, which we have freely accepted."
"Surely, my dear cousin," said the Princess, "you make too much of so
small a matter. They are but common courtesies, and too trifling for
such grave consideration and argument."
"Not so, believe me, my fair cousin. They take us on the weak side of
the heart--they blind our eyes to our true relations, unnerve our arms,
and blunt our weapons of defence."
"What then would you do," asked Cacama, as if more than half persuaded
that Guatimozin was right in his views of duty.
"Do," replied the Prince, with startling energy of tone and manner, "I
would fling it at his feet, or trample it under my own, before his eyes,
and show him that I scorn him and his gifts alike."
Tecuichpo turned suddenly round at this remark, as if fearing the
stranger would understand it, and in her agitation, dropped a
magnificent jewel from her dress, and with it the rose so gallantly
presented by Sandoval. A dozen princes and cavaliers sprang, at the same
instant, to replace the precious toy. Pedro Orteguilla, the beautiful
young page of Cortez, was so fortunate as to recover it. Doffing his
cap, and kneeling gracefully at her feet, he presented it to the
Princess with an air of admiring deference, and, by signs, solicited the
honor of replacing it upon her arm.
This little incident put an end to the discussion, which was growing too
warm for the occasion, and the festivities went on as gaily as before.
A group of sprightly, mischief loving girls, who had clustered round the
cool basin of a sparkling _jet d' eau_, and were amusing themselves by
free and fearless comments upon the appearance and manners of the
strangers, arrested the eye of the impulsive, humor loving Alvarado, and
drew him to solicit a share in their sport; for, in beating a retreat
from the eagle glance of Karee, he had strolled into an illuminated
arbor, in one of the open courts of the palace. With hand, and eye, and
lip, now appealing in emphatic gesture to the stars above, and now, with
ready tact and admirable sagacity distributing the flowers among the gay
naiads of the fountain, he soon ingratiated himself into their favor,
and engaged them in a brilliant and animated pantomime, which, if it
wanted the eloquence of words, found ample compensation for that defect,
in the merry shout and ringing laugh, that accompanied each labored
attempt to utter, or interpret, a sentiment. The gallant cavalier soon
found himself loaded with a profusion of floral favors. For every flower
he bestowed upon the fair nymphs, he received an appropriate return,
till his hands were full, and he found it necessary to arrange them upon
his person.
Instantly the whole group, as by one impulse of artistic taste, seized
the idea, and resolved to array him as a flower-god. The magnificent
cactus flashed among the plumes of his helmet--a pair of splendid
magnolias, tastefully adjusted on either shoulder, supplied the place of
the silver epaulette--a rich cluster of unfading _forget-me-not_,
covered and eclipsed the gilded star upon his breastplate; while every
joint in his armor, and every loop and button of his doublet, was set
with its appropriate garden gem. Long wreaths of a blossoming vine were
dexterously intertwined with flowers of every brilliant hue, and hung
like a gorgeous sash over his right shoulder, its gay streamers waving
in the gentle breeze, or winding themselves about the scabbard of his
sword. His hands were gloved with a moss of the most delicate green
velvet, dotted with golden stars, and his boots transformed into buskins
of the most approved classic pattern, by alternate bands of jessamine
and scarlet lobelia, crossed and plaided with strings of anemone and
hyacinth.
Thus arrayed, his face skilfully masked with the flowering wax-plant
despoiled of its leaves, he was conducted into the presence of the
Queen, under a continually increasing escort of bright girls and fair
dames, where, with due reverence to her majesty, and with the gallantry
becoming a true knight, he begged, by significant looks and signs, to be
permitted to lay all his bright honors at the feet of the lovely
Tecuichpo.
The signal being given at this moment, he offered his arm to the
Princess, and led the way into the banqueting hall, where the luxuries
of all the climes of earth seemed to be spread out in endless profusion,
and where, the native song of the Aztec alternating with the martial
strains of the Castilian band, the night wore away with feasting and
revelry.
The day had almost dawned, when the strangers, laden with presents of
inestimable value, returned to their quarters, burdened with the weight
of their treasures, and deeply impressed with the more than regal
munificence of their host, and the unimagined loveliness and grace of
the fair beings, who gave life and beauty to his magnificent court.
"If these white gods can be bought, dear father," the Princess naively
remarked, as they took their leave, "you have surely paid a price worthy
of the ransom of the proudest monarch on earth."
"The more you bribe them," interrupted Guatimozin, "the less you bind
them. They have not the soul of an Aztec, who scorns to receive a favor
that does not pledge his heart in return. The Spaniard's heart has
nothing to do with his hand. He takes your gift, only to be the better
able to plot and compass your ruin."
The Emperor sighed, as he listened to a remark, to which he could make
no reply. It brought again before his agitated mind, the only course he
could safely adopt in the present crisis of his affairs. In vain did his
paternal heart second the suggestion, and his kingly pride urge its
immediate adoption. He had not the moral courage to execute his own
resolve. Superstition had wholly unmanned him.
* * * * *
The victorious Spaniard had now reached the goal he had so long aimed
at. But his position was far from agreeable, or promising. With a small
force, he was completely shut up in the heart of an immense and powerful
empire, teeming with millions of warriors, who were deemed terrible and
invincible by those whom he had found so formidable, and who might, at a
word or a look from their sovereign, either rush in and overwhelm him at
once, or withhold all supplies, and leave them to perish of famine in
their quarters.
Cortez realized the critical position into which he was drawn, and
resolved immediately on one of his bold measures, to turn it to his own
advantage. Soliciting an interview with Montezuma, in which he was
accompanied by some of his bravest cavaliers, he informed the monarch,
that it was not an idle curiosity that had drawn him to encounter the
perils, and undergo the toils, of the adventure that had brought him to
the capital. He came, as the accredited ambassador of the mighty monarch
of Castile, to whom many kings and many broad lands were tributary, and
who was the rightful lord of all the territories on which his armies had
set their foot. And the object of the present interview was, to demand
of the king an acknowledgment of his allegiance to his royal master, and
his consent to pay an annual tribute for his crown.
The mind of the superstitious Montezuma had long been preparing for this
acknowledgment. With little apparent constraint, therefore, he responded
to this haughty demand--that the oracles of his religion had long ago
instructed him, that the territories over which he reigned belonged to a
race of white men, who had removed to other lands beyond the rising sun,
but would return, in process of time, invested with more than mortal
power, to claim their original inheritance. For his part, he was fully
convinced that that time had now arrived--that the Spaniards were the
men of destiny foretold by a long line of presages and traditions, and
that he was fully prepared to acknowledge the king of Castile as his
lord, and pay allegiance to him as such.
"And recognize me," interposed the wily Castilian, "as his accredited
ambassador, and representative?"
The monarch assented.
The Aztec nobles, who surrounded the throne, were thunderstruck at the
humble tone, and humiliating attitude assumed by their once proud and
imperious lord. But they were accustomed to unqualified and
unquestioning submission to the word of the king. They accordingly, at
his command, gave a full assent to all that he had said, and agreed to
recognize Cortez as the representative of their new sovereign.
Guatimozin left the hall in disgust, and hastened to Iztapalapan, to
report the progress of their humiliation to Cuitlahua.
Even with this arrangement, which had been accomplished so much more
easily than he had expected, Cortez was by no means satisfied. He was
still in the power of the Mexican, and could never feel safe in the
position he held, without some substantial pledge, that the peace of the
city would be preserved, and the ground he had already secured be left
to him in undisturbed possession. To secure this, he conceived and
executed a bolder and more audacious measure than that which we have
just related. Soliciting another and a private interview with the
Emperor, and directing his best and bravest cavaliers, with some of
their chosen men, to keep near and about the palace, and be in readiness
to sustain and defend him, if any resistance or outbreak should follow
his daring attempt, he entered the royal presence. As the Spaniards
always carried their arms, it excited no suspicion, to see them on this
occasion fully equipped.
This disposition of his men and officers being effected, the bold
cavalier addressed himself, in a stern voice, to the Emperor, charging
him with secretly designing the destruction of his guests, and alleging,
in support of the charge, some of the incidents already related, and
others of more recent occurrence, in which some of the vassals of
Montezuma had surprised and slain a party of Spaniards, who relied upon
their hospitality. These were artfully woven into a tale of imaginary
wrongs, for which he boldly pretended to claim instant redress, or
rather security against their repetition.
The monarch was thunderstruck at the charge, while he, as well as the
few attendants that remained near his person, with difficulty restrained
the expression of their indignation at the disrespectful tone of the
address, so unlike that to which the royal ears were accustomed. He
peremptorily denied the charge. But Cortez was not to be foiled thus. He
knew that he had now gone too far to retract, and that the change of
feeling now produced would ensure his speedy destruction, if he failed
of securing the object of the present interview. He, therefore, repeated
the charge, assuring the monarch that such was the belief of all his
men, and that nothing would convince them of his innocence, or make them
willing to rest quietly in the capital, but the consent of the king to
transfer his residence, for a time, to their quarters. And this he
boldly demanded of him, in the name of their common sovereign, the great
king of Castile, and he could not refuse obedience, without breaking
allegiance with him.
"When was it ever known," exclaimed the astonished and offended king,
"that the monarch of a great people voluntarily left his own palace, to
become a prisoner in the camp of a foreign nation. If I should consent
to such indignity, my own subjects would every where cry out against it,
and a storm would be raised, which could only be hushed when the last
Spaniard was sacrificed to the outraged honor of their king, and the
wrath of their offended gods."
"No, my imperial lord," replied the politic and smooth tongued knight,
"your majesty entirely misapprehends my meaning, and the position in
which I would place you. I only propose a temporary removal from one of
your royal palaces to another, a thing of frequent occurrence, and
therefore not likely to excite remark among your people. You can bring
all your household and your court with you, and have the same royal
attendance, as you now do. This show of confidence and regard, on your
part, will inspire my men with new confidence in your kind intentions,
and give stability in the eyes of your own people, to the friendly
relations existing between us."
Montezuma still protested that it was unworthy the dignity and majesty
of the sovereign lord of Anahuac, thus to submit his motions to the
direction of strangers, as it was a daring presumption and impiety, on
their part, to suggest it. He therefore, peremptorily declined the
proposal, and requested the general to say no more about it, if he would
retain the position he now held in his regard, and that of his people.
Upon this, the iron-souled Castilian assumed a loftier aspect, and a
bolder tone, and abruptly assured the monarch that it was a point he was
not at liberty to dispense with. If he would not remove peaceably and
quietly to the Spanish quarters, he must be carried there forcibly,
though it should involve a struggle that should drench the palace in
blood, and sacrifice the life of every man in his army.
Suddenly, the spirit of the monarch was gone. His old dread of the
white man revived in all its power. He felt himself compelled by his
destiny, to do as he was required. Signifying his assent to the haughty
demand of the stranger, he ordered his nobles to make ready his
palanquin, that he might go in royal state, and not appear in the eyes
of his subjects, as he passed along, as a prisoner in his own capital.
With looks of astonishment, not unmingled with indignation, the proud
chiefs obeyed, marching under their royal burden, with solemn pace and
downcast looks, in utter silence, but nursing in their hearts an
implacable hatred against the insulting Castilians, and a burning rage,
which was yet to burst upon their devoted heads in an overwhelming storm
of wrath. As they passed the threshold of the imperial palace, which
their once proud but now humbled lord was never to recross, they heaved
a deep sigh, as if the dark shadows of the future already hung
frowningly over their heads. It was responded to by a deep, mysterious,
sepulchral groan, which seemed to issue from the very heart of the
earth, while, at the same instant, a royal eagle, sailing proudly over
the capital, struck by an invisible leaden messenger from one of the
sure-sighted marksmen in the Castilian camp, fluttered in his lofty
flight, drooped his strong wing, and, with a terrible death shriek, the
blood streaming freely from his wound, fell into the court, at the very
feet of the royal procession.
The fate of Montezuma, and of his empire, was now sealed. He had, with
his own hand, taken the crown from his head, and laid it at the feet of
the Spaniard. And, more than all, he had humbled himself in the eyes of
his own subjects, and diminished, though few were hardy enough to avow
it, the profound respect and reverence with which they were accustomed
to regard him. To his own immediate household, he had represented this
removal as a voluntary act of courtesy, on his part, designed to
compliment the strangers, by becoming, for a time, their guest, and to
inspire them, by his personal presence among them, with confidence in
his professions of regard, as well as to show his own people how strong
the bond of amity was between them. At the same time, however, that he
assured them of his personal safety and his confidence that all would
end well, he recommended his wives and children to leave him, for the
present, and take up their abode in his rural mountain palace at
Chapoltepec.
The timid and sensitive Tecuichpo was thrown into the deepest distress
by this suggestion. She could not doubt the repeated assurances of her
royal father, and yet she could not divest herself of the sad impression
that his liberty, and perhaps his life, was in danger, in thus
separating himself from the strong arms and devoted hearts of his own
people, his natural protectors, and throwing himself, unarmed, into the
garrison of the fearful strangers. What security could she have that he
would ever return, or that violence would not be offered to his sacred
person by those who looked upon him only as the vassal of their own
sovereign, to be used for his purposes and theirs, as their own
selfishness and rapacity might dictate.
"Leave us not, my dear father," she exclaimed, "or at least compel not
us to leave _you_. Rather in darkness and in trouble than at any other
time, would we stand at your side, to administer, as far as we may, to
your comfort, and to share, and perhaps lighten, your sorrows."
"Nay, my beloved child," the grateful monarch calmly replied, "I have no
need, at this time, of your solace, or your counsel. I go among friends,
who respect my person and my authority, and who well know that their own
safety in Tenochtitlan, depends entirely upon retaining my friendship,
which alone can shield them from being overwhelmed, and swept away like
chaff, before the countless hosts of my warrior bands. Why then should I
fear for myself. But for you, and your mother, and your sisters, the
camp of the strangers is not a fitting place for you. They have customs
of their own, and are slow to recognize the propriety of ours, deeming
us, as they do, an inferior race of beings. They are bold and free in
their manners, quite too much so for the refined delicacy of an Aztec
maiden, or an Aztec matron, as you yourself both saw and felt, at the
festival of their reception. How shall I expose you to the rude gaze of
these foreign cavaliers, and perhaps to the rude speeches of their
soldiers. No, my beloved, go to your retirement at Chapoltepec, and
train the flowers there for my coming, which will be at the approaching
festival of the new moon."
"But will you certainly come to us then, my dear father? Karee says"----
"Trouble me not with the dreams of Karee, my sweet child. They are not
always as loyal as they should be. I believe I am right in what I am now
doing, and I cannot be diverted from it by the mystic night visions of
your favorite. Go, and the gods be with you."
So saying, he tore himself from her embrace, and returned to his own
apartments to attire himself for the removal.
The fiery, high spirited Guatimozin was so disgusted with this act of
suicidal cowardice, on the part of his royal master, that he withdrew at
once from the city, taking with him his servants and retainers, as well
as his immense private treasures, and took up his abode at his country
palace or castle, where he lived in all the pseudo-regal state and
magnificence of a feudal baron, or a petty sovereign. Here he opened a
correspondence with a large number of the principal nobles of the realm,
who, like him, felt that the time had come to prepare for a terrible
crisis. They concerted no measures, for they dared not move openly
without the command or assent of their master; but they exchanged
sentiments, and encouraged each other in their patriotic purpose, to
defend their country from subjugation to a foreign foe, and their altars
from desecration.
Passing Chapoltepec on his way, the noble Prince sought an interview
with his lovely mistress, to inform her that, while the pledge he had
given, in accepting the proffered rose, over the sparkling fountain of
Tenochtitlan, should be sacredly regarded, he must be allowed to see
with his own eyes, when danger was near, and to raise his arm in her
defence, and in that of his country, from whatever quarter the
threatened danger might come. He found her, bathed in tears, wandering
wildly up and down, amid the shade of the tall cypresses that overhang
and almost bury that mountain retreat. Her raven hair had escaped from
its pearl-studded band, and was flying loosely in the breeze; the wonted
bloom was gone from her cheek, and the brilliant lustre of her dark
flashing eye had given way to a sad and subdued expression, which was
more in keeping with the uniform mildness and gentleness of her spirit.
Separated from her adored parent, and banished from the city of her love
and her pride, she began to feel more deeply than she had ever done, the
terror of those dark omens which had clouded her destiny, and marked her
out as the doomed Princess of Anahuac. While she could cling to her
father, and feel that she was to share all that might befal him, and
perhaps, by sharing it, extract some portion of the bitterness from the
cup which he was compelled to drink, she was calm and hopeful. But now,
the sheet-anchor of her soul was gone, and she was drifting, at the
mercy of the waves, she knew not whither.
"My sweet cousin," said Guatimozin gently, as he arrested her flying
step, "why this sudden abandonment to grief and despair. Dark as the
clouds may be over our heads, all is not lost. Know you not, my love,
that ten thousand times ten thousand brave hearts and strong arms are
pledged, by every bond of loyalty and love, to rush to the rescue, the
moment that any violence is offered to the sacred person of our lord. Be
assured not a hair of his head shall be touched."
"Ah! my brave Guatimozin! I know full well your courage and your zeal.
But of what avail to us will be the direst vengeance your arms can wreak
on the strangers, after the violence is done, and the honored head of
my father--oh! that I should live to speak it!--laid low at their feet!"
"Fear not, my beloved, they dare not, with all their boasted power, they
dare not lay a rude hand upon that sacred person. They know, they feel,
that they are treading on a mighty volcano, that may burst out at any
moment, and overwhelm them in hopeless destruction. It is this sense of
impending danger only that has induced them to invite the Emperor to
their quarters, and so to urge their suit, that he could not, as their
professed friend, deny it. While he is there, they will feel safe, for
his hand alone can stay the pent up fires, that they break not forth at
once. Fear not. I go to-night to Iztapalapan, to confer with your royal
uncle, the intrepid Cuitlahua. The noble Cacama joins us there,
convinced already that his was a mistaken policy, when he counselled
your father to receive the strangers courteously, and treat them as
friends."
"And what can Cacama do?"
"That is yet to be seen. He is convinced of his error, and is ready to
atone for it with his life. With Cacama, with Cuitlahua, with a thousand
more like them--chiefs who never feared danger, and never knew
defeat--why should we despair, or even doubt?"
"But how know you, Guatimozin, that these Castilian strangers regard
their own safety as any way involved in that of Montezuma?"
"I gathered it from the oracle, my love, and from omens which never
deceive."
"What oracle? What omens? I pray you explain?"
"The omens were their own troubled looks and clouded brows, while this
strange negotiation was pending, and the guarded watchfulness, with
which they now protect their guest, and prevent the intrusion upon his
privacy of any considerable number of his friends, at the same time."
"Prince Guatimozin, do I understand the import of those terrible words?
Is my father already a prisoner in his own palace?"
"What else, my sweet cousin, seeing he cannot come forth, if he would,
and we can only approach him by permission?"
"O ye gods! has it come to this? Fly, Guatimozin. Fly to Iztapalapan. I
release you from your pledge. Sound the alarm throughout the realm. And,
if need be, _I_ will arm, and with you to the rescue."
"Not so fast, brave princess; it is just this rashness that may endanger
the precious head we would rescue. His life is safe at present; let us
not put it to hazard, by moving too soon, or striking a useless blow."
"But I see not yet, my dear cousin, how it is ascertained that my father
is secure from further outrage. May it not be their policy to take away
the head, hoping thus to dishearten and distract our people, and make
them an easy prey to their victorious arms."
"If so, they know not the spirit of the Aztec. To a man, throughout
these broad realms, they would shed their last drop, to avenge the foul
sacrilege, nor rest in their work of vengeance, till every altar in the
land was drenched in the blood of the captive foe. But you forget that I
have oracle as well as omen to sustain my faith."
"What oracle has condescended, at last, to give us light? I thought
they had all been silent, not deigning, since the advent of these
mysterious strangers, any response to our prayers."
"Karee is never deaf, or silent, where the welfare of Tecuichpo is
concerned."
"Karee?"
"Yes, love, Karee! I want no better or more trusty oracle. She has, you
know, a sort of ubiquity. Nothing escapes her keen observation. Few
mysteries are too deep for her sagacity to unravel. In her brief
occasional encounters with the strangers, she has gathered the meaning
of not a few of the words of their strange tongue. What she has once
heard she never forgets. Presuming that no one could understand them,
they have talked freely and boldly in her presence. And it is from her
that I learn, that the Castilian general said to one of his officers, as
he crossed the court yard, this morning--'While we have the Emperor with
us, we are safe. We must see to it, he does not escape.'"
"Escape?" shrieked the agitated Princess; "then he is indeed a prisoner.
But these white men are gods, are the gods treacherous?"
"The gods of the deep are all treachery, but not those of the blue
fields and bright stars above us. But, be they gods from below, or gods
from above, they are not the gods of Anahuac, nor shall they claim a
foot of its soil, till it is drenched with the blood of the Aztec.
Farewell. Fear not. I will yet see you return in triumph to the imperial
halls of Tenochtitlan."