It was with a feeling of pleasure and relief that, after some
hours, Roger saw the hangings drawn aside, and Cacama enter.
"Come, my friend, the council is over, and you may return with me."
Cacama was evidently anxious to be off at once, and Roger followed
him without a question. One of the pages of the palace led the way
through a long series of passages, and at last Roger found himself
outside the palace, where a door opened into a canal. Here Cacama's
boat was lying. The young king and Roger took their seats, and the
canoe dashed off at once.
"It has been a hard fight in the council," Cacama said. "No two men
were of the same opinion. Even the priests were divided among
themselves; and Montezuma was as undecided, at the end, as he was
at the beginning; so that the decision is postponed. Then the
question arose, were you to be treated as a guest or as a prisoner?
And this I settled by saying that I would take you back with me to
Tezcuco, and produce you whenever required. So in order to avoid
excitement among the people, I sent word for the boat to be brought
round to that quiet entrance to the palace, by which means we
avoided passing through the streets, altogether.
"At one time it seemed to me that the decision would go against
you, on the ground that, had you been a supernatural being, you
would have had new arts to teach the people. Fortunately, I had
brought with me the pictures you made for my wife and sister, and
these I showed them. I pointed out that they were altogether
different from the work of our own scribes; that these drew stiff
images that looked like representations, not of men and animals,
but of wooden creatures, while in your drawings it seemed as if the
men and animals were moving across the paper; and that, were you to
teach our scribes thus to portray objects, it would make a profound
alteration in Mexican art.
"This made a great impression upon them. Many of the nobles belonging
to the Council of Education were present, and Montezuma himself is
fond of art. All were greatly struck with your paintings, and these
certainly went a long way towards strengthening my party. When we get
back, you shall do some pictures of things such as they see here, and
are accustomed to. Perhaps you could do even better, still, if you
were to try."
"I could make much more finished pictures," Roger said. "These were
only sketched off in haste, and with such colors as came to hand;
but if I had pigments, and could mix the colors as I wanted them, I
could produce very much better effect."
Roger, as a child, had been placed by his father, during the
latter's long absences from home, at a school kept by some monks at
a monastery at Plymouth, in order that he might learn to read and
write--as these accomplishments would be of great use to him, as a
master mariner. His fondness for painting attracted the attention
of one of the old monks, who illuminated missals; and he had
permitted him to copy many of the manuscripts in the monastery, and
had given him instructions in the art. He had, indeed, been so
struck with the talent the boy showed, that he told Reuben Hawkshaw
that if he would let his son devote himself to art, he would make a
famous painter. The sailor had scoffed at the idea; and Roger
himself, fond as he was of painting, would have been reluctant to
abandon the idea of going to sea.
The instructions he had obtained, however, up to the age of twelve,
when he went on his first voyage with his father, had been of great
assistance to him. Thanks to his natural talent, his visits to the
churches at the various ports at which the ship touched, and to the
fact that he had plenty of time on board to practice the art, his
pictures were surprisingly good, and had excited a great deal of
attention on the part of the friends and acquaintances of Master
Diggory Beggs.
Upon his return to Tezcuco, Cacama ordered the scribes to furnish
him with large sheets of the best paper, brushes, and pigments. The
colors were all bright and glaring ones; but by mixing them, and
adding some sombre dyes he obtained in the market, Roger succeeded
in getting the required tints. Taking his place in the garden, at a
point where he commanded the lake, near at hand, dotted with
canoes; and the city of Mexico, with its background of hills, in
the distance, Roger set to work. To the surprise of the scribe who
had been ordered to assist him, he mixed the colors with oil
instead of water, and then began his picture. He worked as long as
there was sufficient light, and recommenced it the next morning,
directly after sunrise, and continued at work all day; and by
evening had finished the picture, three feet by two, which,
although it would not be considered remarkable in Europe, excited
the most lively admiration on the part of Cacama and the ladies.
He explained to the king that, as he had none of the spirit that
was used in conjunction with the oil to make it dry rapidly, it
would be some days before the picture would be sufficiently dry to
be touched. Cacama, however, sent it off the next morning under
charge of his principal scribe to Montezuma, who sent back word
that he was astonished, indeed, at this work of art, which seemed
to him to be almost magical; and he sent, in return, a large golden
goblet to Roger, in token of his satisfaction.
Cacama was summoned to a council on the following day; and
returned, saying that the picture had quite turned the scale in
Roger's favor; that it had been examined by the chief scribes and
the men of science, who all agreed that no such thing had been seen
before; and that a person who was thus able to turn, as it were, a
leaf of paper into a mirror, to fix upon it the representation of
scenes just as the eye beheld them, must be possessed of powers
altogether strange and supernatural. They desired to know whether
he would teach his methods to some of the chief scribes of the
emperor.
Cacama warmly congratulated Roger on the result.
"You are now safe, for the present, at any rate," he said, "and the
priests are silenced. You may have trouble in the future, but for
the time Montezuma's love of art has overcome his doubts and fears
as to good and evil omens."
"Shall I have to take up my residence in Mexico?"
"I hardly think so," Cacama replied. "Tezcuco is still acknowledged
the center of the arts and sciences of Anahuac. Here are the best
schools of the scribes, and they come here to be instructed in
hieroglyphic writing from all parts of the kingdom. Moreover, in
that way Montezuma will have less uneasiness concerning you. He
will think that, even if the omens be unfavorable, there will be no
danger so long as you are at a distance from his capital;
therefore, I think he is more likely to order some of the scribes
to take up their residence here, for a time, than he is to bid you
to cross to teach them there."
Such in fact was the purport of the message received from Montezuma
on the following day. Six of the most accomplished scribes of
Mexico were to proceed at once to Tezcuco, there to be instructed
in the new art; and the next day Roger found himself established in
a room in the palace, with the six Aztec scribes, and six of those
most celebrated for their skill in Tezcuco. Some attendants were
told off to mix colors under his directions, and to purchase for
him, in the market, all kinds of dyes and colors he might require.
A male and female slave were, at Roger's request, placed at his
service to act as models; and the attendants had orders to fetch,
from the cages and aviaries, any beasts and birds he might desire
to copy.
Roger had, at first, some difficulty in preserving his gravity at
thus undertaking charge of an art school. At first he confined
himself to sketching, from the models, with a burnt stick on the
white paper, and in seeing that his pupils did the same. Their
drawing had hitherto been purely conventional. They had always
drawn a man in a certain way, not because they saw him so, but
because that was the way in which they had been taught to draw him;
and he had great difficulty in getting them to depart altogether
from these lines, and to draw the model exactly as he stood before
them.
What he called his school hours lasted but four hours a day; and as
he did this work in the middle of the day, when it was too hot to
go out, but very pleasant in the rooms with their thick walls and
semi-shaded windows, it interfered but little with his daily life.
He had now a set of apartments next to those of Cuitcatl, with
attendants to wait upon him; but his time was spent as much in the
young noble's rooms as in his own. In the morning they walked
together, either in the town or beyond its walls. In the evening
they spent hours upon the lake, sometimes in large canoes with gay
parties, the boats decked with flowers; while at a short distance
another boat with musicians followed in their wake, the melody,
which was by no means agreeable to Roger when close, coming softly
across the water. With Cuitcatl as a guide, Roger visited the
schools where the young nobles were educated, and which reminded
him much of that at which he had, for five or six years, been
taught.
He also frequently witnessed the drilling of the soldiers. This was
of a very simple character, consisting principally in teaching them
to move together in masses, and to shoot with a bow. The bows were
light and the arrows small, and Roger thought that they could
scarcely be very formidable weapons, even against men clad in
quilted cotton; for although they might wound and annoy, they could
seldom kill.
One evening, about five months after his arrival, Roger had just
returned from an excursion upon the lake; and he and Cuitcatl were
seated in the latter's rooms, sipping chocolate, when the hangings
of the door were drawn aside suddenly, and Amenche entered. With an
exclamation of surprise, the two young men rose to their feet and
saluted deeply.
"You must fly," she exclaimed to Roger, "and at once. The royal
boat has just come from Mexico, with two nobles and a guard. They
have orders to carry you back with them. The news has arrived that
several floating castles, filled with white men with strange arms
and animals, have arrived on the coast. Secret council has been
held, and Montezuma is full of alarm. The priests have decided that
you are undoubtedly a spy, and must be sacrificed, at once, to the
gods. I happened to be behind the hanging, heard what was said, and
hurried away to warn you.
"There is not a moment to lose. Go round to the garden, and conceal
yourself in the shrubbery near the eagle house. I will tell Cacama
where you are, and he will come or send down to you, to say what
had best be done, and where you are to go. Do not delay an instant.
The orders were urgent, and they will be here in a minute or two to
seize you.
"Not a word, now. Go! I must not be found here. I will see you
again," and she was gone.
"Come, my friend," Cuitcatl said; "there is evidently not a moment
to be lost."
Roger ran into his room; emptied, from a drawer where they were
lying, the gold ornaments and presents he had received, and tied
them in a cloth; caught up his sword and then, with Cuitcatl,
hurried down the passage. Just as they reached the end, they saw a
party appear at the other extremity, preceded by an official
carrying torches.
"We are but just in time," the young noble said. "The princess has
saved your life."
In two or three minutes they were in the garden and keeping
carefully in the shade of the shrubs, so as to escape the view of
any who might be sitting at the windows, or on the flat roof of the
palace, enjoying the lovely evening and the bright moonlight. They
made their way cautiously down to the eagle house, which lay at the
other end of the garden, nearly half a mile from the palace. The
whole thing had come so suddenly upon Roger that he could scarcely
believe, even now, that his pleasant and tranquil time had come to
an end, and he was in danger of being dragged away and instantly
sacrificed.
Scarce a word was spoken until they reached the spot indicated.
Close to this grew a large patch of bamboos.
"We will take refuge here, for the present," Cuitcatl said. "It is
hardly likely they will search the gardens at night. It would need
an army to do so thoroughly. If we hear footsteps approaching, we
can take refuge inside; and meantime, let us seat ourselves here.
"These must be the people you told us of, the first night you
came."
"No doubt they are so; but, Cuitcatl, you had best return at once
to your chamber. You will be missed as well as I shall, and it
would be suspected that you had a share in my flight; and if I
should make my escape, the emperor's vengeance may fall on you.
Pray leave me at once. I should be most unhappy if my misfortunes
brought trouble upon you. You have been like a brother to me, since
I came here."
"I should not think of leaving you," the young noble said firmly.
"But you can do me more good by going, Cuitcatl. You will see what
is taking place there, and may throw them off the scent; while here
you can do me no good whatever, and indeed might do me harm. Were I
found here with you, I should be forced to surrender without
striking a blow; for I should be afraid to resist, lest I should
bring harm upon you; whereas, if I am alone, I would fight to the
death rather than surrender. Besides, you will be able to consult
the princess, and can bring down such things as you may consider
will aid me in my flight--though how I am to escape the search
there will be after me is more than I can guess. Pray go at once,
for the sooner you go the sooner you can bring me back news of what
is being done up there."
Cuitcatl saw the justice of Roger's reasoning.
"I may, at least, throw them off the scent," he said, "and see
about preparing for your flight. You promise to hide in the bamboos
there, if searchers should come in this direction?"
"Certainly I do. I will do all in my power to conceal myself, and
will only fight if there be no other way."
Cuitcatl at once glided noiselessly off, keeping as before in the
shadow of the bushes. For an hour and a half Roger remained alone.
He was sitting under the shadow of the bamboos, and could in a
moment withdraw himself among them.
At last he thought he heard a slight noise, and drew back towards
the thick canes. A moment later, however, he stepped forward, as a
figure he at once recognized advanced across a patch of moonlight
from the next clump of shrubs.
"All is well so far," Cuitcatl said. "Directly I entered the
palace, an attendant told me that I was being inquired for, and I
proceeded straight to the royal apartments. Montezuma's messengers
were there. They at once asked me if I had seen you. I said yes,
that we had been walking together, but that you had not returned
with me, as you said that the night was so lovely you should remain
out for some time longer. They asked me if I could lead them to
where you were; but I said that you had not told me which way you
should go, and you might, for aught I knew, have taken a canoe and
gone for a moonlight row on the lake, as was often your custom.
"Orders have been issued to the city guard to arrest you,
immediately, wherever you might be found; and the envoys themselves
started at once, with the guard they had brought with them, to the
waterside. Up to that time Cacama, who had not left them, was in
ignorance what had become of you; and I could see he was anxious,
and much troubled."
"'Do you know where he is?' he asked me, as soon as we were alone.
"'Would it not be better, your Majesty,' I said, 'that you should
remain in ignorance? Should he escape, Montezuma will be furious;
and it might be well that you should be able to affirm, on your
oath, that you knew nothing of him, and were in no way privy to his
escape.'
"'But is there a chance of his escaping?' he asked.
"'We will do what we can,' I said; 'and we can do no more. With a
disguise, a guide, and arms, Roger Hawkshaw may be able to make his
way through the country, in spite of Montezuma and his army. I
should think that the best thing will be to get him into a small
canoe, take him to the end of the lake, and land him near
Tepechpan. Then he can strike up north, take to the hills there,
and then journey east. All the roads direct from here will be so
guarded that it will be impossible to get through. The search will
be close everywhere; but there will be more chance of escape, on
that line, than from here.'
"'But how about the guide? Whom can we trust?'
"'I have one of my hunters in the town. He brought some game down
from my estate today, and was not to return until tomorrow. I know
where he lodges. He is a brave fellow, and carried my banner in the
last campaign.'
"'You will let me know before he starts?' the king asked.
"'I will, your Majesty. The moon will not be down for three hours,
yet, and he cannot attempt to fly until it has set.'
"As I left the royal apartment, one of the female attendants came
up and, putting her finger on her lip, signed to me to follow her.
I did so, and she led me to the apartment where the Queen and
Princess Amenche were awaiting me.
"'You have left your friend safe, Cuitcatl?' the queen said. 'The
princess has told me the part she has taken in the affair. It was
foolish, but I cannot blame her, though if Montezuma knew by whose
means the prey had slipped from his fingers, the least she could
expect would be to be ordered to retire, for life, to one of the
temples. Have you formed any plans?'
"I told her what I had thought of.
"'That seems as good a plan as any other,' she said. 'He will need
paints to disguise himself, the dress of a peasant, and arms.'
"'He has his sword,' I said.
"'He cannot take that. Its golden handle would betray him, at once.
A heavy woodman's ax, and a bow and spear, would be the most
suitable.'
"'He shall have them,' I said. 'My hunter shall take them, and
place them in the canoe, in readiness.'
"'What are you going to do now?'
"'I am going first into the town, to give my hunter his
instructions, and bid him be at the lake entrance to the gardens,
half an hour after the moon has set. I shall want the key of the
gate. Next I shall go down, and tell Roger what preparations have
been made; and then return here, for it is best I should be seen in
the palace. Then, just as the moon sets, I shall go down again to
him.'
"'Come here on your way, Cuitcatl. I shall go down with Amenche to
say goodbye to him. This obstinate girl has determined to go, and I
cannot let her go alone.'
"As soon as I left them, I went down to the town and found my
hunter, who has taken a vow to lay down his life to save you, if
necessary.
"Here are some peasant's clothes--a coarse cotton mantle, and a
short skirt. Here is a jar of dye. You had better strip at once,
and let me color you, and then put on these clothes. It will be too
dark to see to do it properly, when I return. Besides, time will be
short then.
"This small jar contains some dye from the juice of a plant which
will turn your hair black--at least, as they use it for dyeing the
skins of animals black, I suppose it will affect your hair."
Roger at once took off his gaudy attire, and was stained from head
to foot with the contents of the jug, and then rubbed his hair with
the liquid from the smaller vessel. Then he put on the peasant's
clothes.
"You will pass well, now," Cuitcatl said, heading him out in the
moonlight, so that he could obtain a good view of him. "It is only
your height that is against you. Still, some men are taller than
others; though I never saw one as tall as you, and you will
certainly be stared at.
"Is there anything else in the way of arms you would like, beside
the ax and spear?"
"I shall make myself a bow and arrows, when we get fairly away,"
Roger said.
"I did not know you could use them."
"I could not use such little things as those your people carry; but
we still use the bow in England, and every boy is obliged, by law,
to practice with it. With such a bow as I should make, I could send
an arrow three times as far as those puny weapons of yours, and
could keep my foes at a distance; whereas, otherwise, they could
shoot me down as they chose."
"They will not shoot you down," Cuitcatl said. "You may be quite
sure that the orders will be to take you alive, and this will give
you a great advantage, if you are attacked. But I must be going up
now to the palace again, to show myself, for a time, among our
friends. Just as the moon sets I will be here."
"Will you thank the queen and princess for their kindness," Roger
said, "and say that, much as I should like to say goodbye to them,
I would not that they should run any risks by coming to see me?"
"They will come," Cuitcatl said, "unless I am greatly mistaken. The
princess would come, even if her uncle Montezuma were, himself,
watching her."
Roger sat down again, and watched the moon going down. He felt a
certain sense of exhilaration at the thought that he was about to
enter upon a life of active adventure, again. It had seemed to him,
lately, that his life was to be spent in this strange country, cut
off from all chances of ever returning to England; and that, sooner
or later, he was assuredly destined to form a part of their hideous
sacrifices. The party against him had been silenced for a moment,
but would be sure to gather strength again; and he would be called
upon either to worship these bloodstained idols, or to die.
Life was pleasant enough as it was, at present, with the friendship
of the young king, and the kindness of the queen and princess; but
he would soon be tired of it, with its everlasting sunshine, and
its flowers, and its idleness.
At last the moon set, and in a few minutes he heard footsteps
approaching, and Cuitcatl and two veiled figures came up. The queen
came straight up to him.
"We are very sorry to lose you, Roger Hawkshaw," she said, gently;
"and were there a hope of doing so successfully, we would defy the
cruel orders from Montezuma. But it would bring ruin on our
people."
"I know that it cannot be done, Madam," Roger said. "I thank you
and the king, most heartily, for all your kindness to me. If I
escape to my own country, I shall remember it all my life; and I
will pray, to the God we worship, to give you happiness."
"Take this," the queen said, putting a small bag into his hand.
"You have told me that these gems are as much prized among your
people as they are here, and you can more easily conceal them than
gold. I have taken them, with the king's permission, from the royal
treasure; and should you reach your distant home in safety, they
ought to make you rich for the rest of your life.
"And now, farewell. Whatever the priests may say, Cacama and I know
that you came as a friend, and meant us no harm.
"Now, Amenche," she said, "come and say goodbye."
The girl came forward slowly. She took Roger's hand, and gazed up
into his face. She seemed to try to speak, and then Roger felt her
sway suddenly, and caught her just as she would have fallen.
"Give her to me," the queen said. "It is best so, by far.
"Hurry away, Roger. You have done harm enough, without meaning it.
"Cuitcatl, take him away, at once."
The young noble took Roger's hand, and hurried him away.
"What is the matter?" he asked, bewildered. "What did the queen
mean--that I had done harm enough?"
"Do you mean to say that you have not seen that Amenche loves you?"
"I never dreamed of such a thing," Roger exclaimed.
"Cacama and the queen, and all of us who have seen her with you,
knew it long ago; and had it not been for this unlucky news, today,
Cacama would, in a short time, have offered you her hand. There has
been a scene tonight between her and her brother; for she declared
that she would go with you, and share your dangers, whatever they
might be. She has for the last three hours been confined in her
chamber, and she was only allowed to come down to say goodbye to
you, on her swearing that she would return with the queen to her
room."
"I am awfully sorry," Roger said. "I never dreamed of such a thing.
The princess has always been very kind to me, but I should never
have thought of raising my eyes so high. Besides, as I have told
you, I am still scarce a man; and with us, one does not think of
marriage until he is five or six years older than I am."
"No one blames you at all," Cuitcatl said. "The king and queen both
told her that they were sure you had not thought of her in that
way; though they naturally supposed that, had you remained here,
you would have gladly formed such an alliance when it was offered
you. However, it is no use talking any more about it. You will have
difficulties enough before you, and would have had no chance
whatever of getting through them, if encumbered with her.
"Cacama told her so, but she scoffed at the idea of danger. Mexican
women, when they love, are ready for any sacrifice. Cacama did not
press that, but chiefly spoke of the terrible scandal it would be,
were she--his sister and the niece of Montezuma--to be brought back
with you, a captive."
They were now at the gate. Cuitcatl opened it, and locked it again
after him. A figure was standing outside.
"This is my follower. You may rely upon him to serve you, to the
last.
"Bathalda, this is my white friend. You will serve him as you would
me."
The man took Roger's hand, and carried it to his forehead.
"My life is yours, my lord," he said.
"Is everything ready, Bathalda?" asked Cuitcatl.
"Yes, my lord. I have the canoe hidden among the rocks, with the
arms and some food. It is but a few hundred yards away."
"Let us be off then, at once," Cuitcatl said.
The man led the way down to the lake, and then along the shore for
some little distance.
"There is the canoe," he said.
Cuitcatl embraced Roger.
"I wish that I could go with you, my white brother, and share your
dangers down to the coast," he said; "but I could aid you but
little, and my life would be forfeited on my return. May the gods
of Mexico, and the God you worship, protect you.
"It may be--who knows?--that some day you may return hither.
Cuitcatl's heart will be rejoiced to see you."
"Thank you for all your kindness," Roger said. "Whatever befalls
me, I shall never forget it. Thank Cacama for all he has done in my
favor, and say goodbye for me to the princess. Tell her that it is
better so, for that so soft a flower would soon droop, and pine
away, in my cold country."
Roger took his seat in the canoe, Bathalda seized the paddle, and
the little boat shot out from the shore. For some distance they
kept close in under the shadow of the land, Bathalda saying that
two or three royal canoes were rowing up and down, opposite the
town, and that every canoe putting off had been stopped and
questioned. Several times, when the sound of a paddle was heard out
on the lake, Bathalda stopped rowing for a time; but after keeping
close to the shore for an hour, he struck out more boldly and,
after two hours' further rowing, approached the shore again.
"This is the point where we must land," he said. "Four hours'
walking will take us among the hills; but before we leave the canoe
we will half fill it with stones, then knock a hole in her bottom
and push her out into the lake to sink. Were she found here in the
morning, it might afford a clue as to the way we had taken."
This was done, and then they started for the hills. Alone, Roger
would have had great difficulty in making his way along the paths
running between the cultivated fields; but his companion led the
way without hesitation, seeing, apparently, as well as if it had
been broad daylight. Roger carried the ax, which was a heavy one,
on one shoulder; and in the other hand the spear, which he used as
a walking stick.
Before daylight broke they were ascending the hills, which were
wild and rugged. They passed several villages lying high up on
rugged hilltops, and inaccessible, save by ladders, which could be
drawn up in case of attack.
"The tribes here have only recently been conquered," Bathalda said.
"They pay tribute to Mexico, but are a wild race; and as there is
nothing to be obtained from them but hard knocks, they are but
little interfered with."
Getting deeper among the hills, Bathalda, just as morning was
breaking, led the way up a ravine down which a little stream
trickled, and found a resting place among a number of great rocks
that had fallen from above.
"Here," he said, "we shall be perfectly safe for the day. It is not
likely that even a shepherd will enter this ravine, and if he does,
he is not likely to come upon us here. First, let us eat our
breakfast; and then we will lie down, and sleep till evening. I
will keep watch if you like, but I do not think there is any
occasion for it."
"Not the least," Roger agreed. "We had both better get what sleep
we can. We shall have a long tramp before us, tonight."
They were undisturbed during the day and, as soon as the sun set,
were again on their feet. The journey was a toilsome one. The
country was so broken that they were continually either climbing
the steep hills or descending into the valleys. After the moon had
set they were forced to come to a halt, for some hours, finding it
impossible to climb the steep hills in the darkness. With the first
light of day they were again in motion, and continued walking for
some hours.
"There," Bathalda said at last, as he gained the brow of the hill,
"that is the plateau land. The town you see there, away on our
right, is Otompan. Now we will keep due west. There are no large
towns now, till we reach Tlatlanquitepec and Perote. From that
point our danger will be the greatest, for all the roads across the
mountains are sure to be watched. The guards at the station houses
on these roads have, no doubt, by this time had orders to look for
you and arrest you; but by traveling at night, we may pass them
safely.
"We may as well enter that field of maize, and lie down until
evening. After that we will follow a path till we gain a main road,
and then travel straight on. We can go so much faster on a road
than through the fields; and I know where the post houses are
situated, so we can make a detour to avoid them."
That night they walked, as far as Roger could guess, fifty miles,
and again entered a very hilly country. In the morning they left
the road and encamped in a wood, far up the hillside. During the
day they saw several parties of troops following the road; and many
couriers passed along, at a swift run.
"The whole country is up," Bathalda said. "We shall have to be very
careful, in future."
The first night, while passing through the low, hot country near
the lake, Roger had cut a strong bamboo; together with a bundle of
smaller rods, suitable for arrows. Bathalda had brought with him a
bag of sharp obsidian arrowheads, and some feathers for winging
them, together with a bowstring of twice the ordinary strength. He
had looked on with amusement when Roger cut the bamboo, making it,
as was the custom of English archers, of his own height.
"My lord is not intending that, surely, for a bow?" he said.
"Yes, Bathalda, I think that will do well," Roger said, trying with
his knee the stiffness of the cane.
At the halt next day, Roger had cut the notches for the string.
"Now, Bathalda," he said, "can you string this?"
"No, my lord; nor can any other man."
"I think it is about the strength of the bows we use at home,"
Roger said. "The stringing them is a matter of knack, as well as of
strength."
And, to the amazement of the Aztec, he strung the bow.
"Now," said he, "let us make some arrows. They should be a cloth
yard in length--that is, from the middle of my chest to the end of
my middle finger."
A dozen of the light bamboos were cut to this length. The huntsman
fitted the obsidian points to them, and Roger stepped back a
hundred yards from the small tree, with a trunk some six inches in
diameter, under whose shade they had been sitting. Then he fitted
the arrow to the string, bent the bow to its head, and loosed the
arrow. It struck the trunk, but glanced off.
"I am out of practice, indeed," he said, "or I should have hit that
fair in the center."
To the huntsman, however, the shot seemed well-nigh miraculous, the
distance being twice as great as the Mexican bows would carry, with
anything like accuracy; while the speed with which the arrow flew,
and the distance it went after glancing from the tree, showed that
it would have been fatal at least fifty yards beyond the object
aimed at. Taking the bow from Roger, he fitted another arrow in and
tried to bend it; but with all his efforts could only draw the
arrow four or five inches.
"It is wonderful," he said, returning the weapon to Roger. "If I
had not seen it done, I could not have believed it."
"It is merely a matter of practice," Roger said. "My people are
famous for their dexterity with the bow, and I have seen men hit a
mark no bigger than the palm of my hand, ten times in succession,
at that distance."
The next time they halted, Bathalda made the rest of the bamboos
into arrows and, making a quiver of the bark of a tree, hung them
over his shoulder. Roger left his spear behind; using the bow,
which he had unstrung, as a walking staff. Bathalda offered to
carry the spear, in addition to his own weapon, but Roger told him
that he did not care about it.
"If it should come to a hand-to-hand fight," he said, "I would
rather rely on my ax. Besides, the bow, now it is unstrung, makes
an excellent quarterstaff, a weapon with which I have practiced a
great deal. With a spear your people would know quite as much as I
should; but I fancy that, with a quarterstaff, I should astonish
them. It has the advantage, too, that it disables without killing;
and as your soldiers would only be doing their duty in arresting
me, I should be sorry to do them more harm than I could help.
"There were a great many men on the road below there, today."
"A great many, my lord; and no doubt the garrisons of the two towns
we shall have to pass tonight will be all out, and on the watch.
This is the most dangerous part of the journey. The mountains are
rugged, and there are only certain passes by which we can travel,
and they are sure to be watched narrowly. They will guess that we
shall travel by night."
"I suppose it will not be possible to make a detour, either to the
south or north?"
The Aztec shook his head.
"To the north lie terrible mountains, of whose passes I know
nothing. Our provisions are exhausted, and we must, in future,
depend upon maize and other things we can pick by the way. Were we
to go there, we should find nothing.
"To the south lies Tlascala, whose people are independent of
Montezuma. They are fierce and warlike, and would seize and offer
you to the gods, without pity."
"Still, they would not be on the lookout for us; and we might,
therefore, pass through their country without being seen."
"We might do so, my lord," Bathalda agreed.
"At any rate," Roger said, "it seems to me that there would be more
chance, in that direction, than in going straight forward. From
what you say, it seems well-nigh impossible for us to get through
the passes ahead of us, without being captured."
Accordingly, when night fell they struck off to the south. The
journey was a very toilsome one, for they were now crossing the
spurs of the hills, running far down into the plateau. As before,
they had to halt when the moon set, but continued their way at
daybreak.
"There is a road down in the valley there," Roger said, after three
hours' more walking.
Bathalda stood looking down, for some time.
"I know it, now," he said. "It is the last road north of Tlascala,
and runs from Huejotlipan to Yxtacamaxtitlan. We are already east
of Tlascala, and about fifteen miles from Yxtacamaxtitlan. If we
get past that town without accident, we shall then have to cross
the Pass of Obispo, over the great range of mountains, and come
down near Naulinco. Once past that town our dangers will be over,
for there are few towns and villages in the Tierra Caliente. Our
great danger will lie in the pass. There are but two or three roads
across these mountains, and they will know that we must follow
them."
"Well, we must take our chance," Roger said. "So far we have met
with no difficulties, whatever, and provided we don't come across
too large a force, we ought to be able to manage to get through. I
noticed there were trees right through the pass I came over; and I
see the country ahead is thickly wooded. How far is the pass from
where we are now?"
"About thirty miles. It is where you see that cleft in the great
line of hills."
"Well, we can get near it before the moon sets, and will try to
pass through by daylight. It would be useless attempting to make
our way through the trees at night; and if we have to fight, I
would rather do so in the light. We will lie down now, for I own I
am completely tired out."