Chapter 19: The Passage Of The Causeway.
On marching out from the city, Roger and his two comrades formedpart of a picked band, to whom was entrusted the charge of theprisoners. Roger had been specially selected, as he could translateto them any order given by the officer of the party; and he wasordered to march next to them.
He had once or twice in the past few days been enabled, by theintervention of Marina, to visit the prisoners. Cacama's spirit wasin no way shaken by captivity.
"Your general has made a fatal mistake," he said, "in sendingCuitlahua out to pacify the populace. He is of very different stufffrom Montezuma, who has become a woman in the hands of the Spanish.You will see that he will never return, but will lead the people onto the attack.
"It matters little to us. I know that we shall never escape. TheSpaniards will slay us all, rather than that we should rejoin ourpeople. But for that I care not. One would rather die in battlethan be slain as a captive; but in either case we shall be dyingfor our country, and what can we wish for more? It is the duty ofall to risk their lives, whenever they be needed for their country.Some here have fought in fifty battles for Mexico. I am younger,but not too young to have shared in many a battle. I fear death inno way, my friend, and should welcome it, as a change fromcaptivity.
"I am well content, now. I should have grieved to have died,believing that the Mexicans had lost all their ancient spirit andcourage, and were content to be slaves beneath the yoke of ahandful of strangers; but now I see that they were asleep, and notdead; and that these boasting strangers will find that the despisedMexican is a match for them; I shall die happy."
The news of the wounding of Montezuma, and the desperate fightingin the streets and round the palace, excited the prisoners to theutmost. In their place of confinement they heard the thunder of theguns, the perpetual rattle of the musketry, and the shouts andyells of the combatants; but it was only when Roger visited themthat they obtained any details as to the combat that was going on.They were filled with enthusiasm, as they heard how desperatelytheir countrymen were fighting; and their only regret was that theycould not join in the struggle, and die leading the assault againstthe Spaniards.
Roger did not see them, upon the last day, until he took his placeby their side, when the column formed up in the courtyard.
"I am to keep near you, Cacama," he said, "in order to translateanything the officer may have to say to you."
"We are going to leave the city?" Cacama asked, eagerly.
"Yes, we are going to cross the causeway."
The officer in charge here came up, and gave an order which Rogerinterpreted:
"He asks whether you will all give a pledge to remain silent, as wemarch out. If you will do so, he will accept your promise; but ifnot, he will be forced to gag you, as the safety of the armydepends upon our getting beyond the streets, before our march isdiscovered."
"I wonder that they are ready to take our promise," Cacama saiddisdainfully, "after their own treachery. However, an Aztec nobleis not like a Spaniard. Our faith may be depended upon. We willgive our word to be silent."
The other prisoners also promised, and were allowed to take theirplaces in the column, ungagged.
The alarm was given long before the rear of the column had got outfrom the street. Cacama gave an exclamation of joy, when he heardthe silence broken by loud cries at the end of the street; andimmediately afterwards by the shouts of the priests on the loftytemples, by the blowing of horns, and the beating of the great wardrum.
"The game has begun," he said. "We shall see how many Spaniardsremain alive, when the sun rises. Long before they can get acrossthe causeway, our people will be upon them. We shall not see thetriumph, for without defensive armor we shall fall, in thedarkness, beneath the missiles of our own people. That matters not.Better to die at the hands of a Mexican, struggling to be free,than at those of these treacherous invaders."
The missiles showered down thickly upon the column, from thehouses, till they emerged from the street and made their way out onto the causeway. Then they became exposed to the storm of arrows,darts, and stones from the canoes on the lake. By their officer'sorders, the soldiers immediately in charge of the prisoners drewtheir swords and formed a circle round them; with orders to fallupon and kill them, at once, did they make the slightest movementto escape. Roger translated to the captives the officer's assurancethat, although he was most anxious for their safety, he had noresource but to order the soldiers to slay them, at once, if theymade any movement to escape.
"We shall not try to escape," Cacama said. "How can we do so, withour hands bound?"
During the long pause that ensued, before the rear of the columnpassed over the bridge on to the causeway, the impatience among thesoldiers was great. Many had already fallen beneath the missiles ofthe enemy. Scarce one but had received wounds, more or less severe.Several of the prisoners, too, had fallen.
"What is it?" Cacama asked, as the cry of despair went up; when itbecame known that the bridge was immovable, and that there were nomeans of crossing the breaks in the causeway, ahead.
He muttered an exclamation of triumph, when Roger repeated to himthe news he had just learned.
"That settles it," he said. "Their fate is now sealed. The gods areat last fighting again for Mexico.
"Roger, I am sorry for you, I am sorry for my wife, and forAmenche; but I rejoice for my country. If you should escape thisnight, Roger--and you have more chance than most, since you speakour language--do all you can for them."
"You may be sure that I shall do that, Cacama; but the chance ofany escaping seems, to me, a small one. Still, it may be that somewill get over alive. The Spaniards have their faults, Cacama, butthey are grand soldiers; and at any rate, now that they see theymust win their way or perish, they will perform wonders."
"Ah!" the exclamation was caused by an arrow striking the youngprince in the chest.
At this time a terrible fight was raging all around them. Thenatives had gained a footing on the causeway, and the Spaniardswere fighting hand to hand with them.
"I am mortally wounded, Roger," Cacama said. "Most of the othershave already fallen. It is better so. I have lived long enough tosee vengeance taken on our oppressors.
"Roger, there is one chance for you. Wrap round you one of ourmantles. In the darkness, none will see that you are not a Mexican,and they will not shoot at you.
"Listen, there is Cuitcatl's war cry. I know his voice; anddoubtless they have discerned our white dresses, in the darkness,and he is trying to rescue us."
The crowd, pressing along the causeway, had swept the guards awayfrom the prisoners--indeed, there were now scarcely any prisonersleft to guard. Unprotected by any defensive armor, most of them hadfallen very early in the conflict. Roger was supporting Cacama, andanother prisoner lay dead at their feet.
Roger stooped and snatched off his mantle; then, lifting Cacama inhis arms, forced his way through the press to the edge of thecauseway, just as a canoe ran up alongside, and a number of Aztecssprang ashore.
"Cuitcatl!" Roger shouted, at the top of his voice.
"Here," the young noble exclaimed, as he sprang forward.
"Here is Cacama," Roger cried.
At the same moment, he received a stunning blow on the back of hishelmet from one of the Spaniards, who took him for a Mexican; andfell down the side of the causeway, into the water, with his burdenin his arms.
When Roger recovered his senses, he was lying in a canoe, which wasbeing paddled rapidly. He had been insensible but a few minutes,for the cries of the combatants still sounded close at hand.Cuitcatl was bending over him.
"How is Cacama?" he asked, as soon as he could speak.
"Alas! He is dead," Cuitcatl replied. "You did your best to savehim, Roger.
"He spoke but once, after we had got him into the canoe. He said'Protect my wife, Cuitcatl; and save our friend.'"
"Where are you taking us?" Roger asked next.
"We will land some distance
up the lake. There I will obtainbearers, and carry Cacama home, that he may be buried as one of hisrank should be. As to you, we must think what had best be done.None of those with me know who you are; believing, in the darkness,that you are one of ourselves. They are my own men, and I can relyupon them when their blood is cooled; but it were best that, atpresent, they remained in ignorance. Bathalda is in the bow, andhis influence and mine will be sufficient to control them, when weare once out of hearing of the conflict. Nothing, save my duty toCacama, would have withdrawn me from it; but they must do withoutme. Not a Spaniard will see tomorrow's sun.
"Are you badly hurt, Roger? It is too dark to see anything."
"Not badly. I have several arrow points sticking in me, in oneplace or another; but they have not gone deep. My armor kept themout. It was a blow on the head that felled me. There were manyMexicans on the causeway, fighting with the Spaniards; and I was,of course, mistaken for one of them. My helmet broke the blow, andI was stunned rather than injured, I think.
"How came you to be just at that spot?"
"I was on the lookout for the prisoners, being determined to rescueCacama, if possible; and as I was fighting, farther back, I heardit said that there were several white dresses among the Spaniardsahead. So I made to that point and, just as I was springing ashore,heard your shout; and saw you roll down, you and another. I guessedit might be Cacama, for I knew that you would do your best to savehim; and so sprang back again to the water's edge, and found thatit was so.
"And found, alas! that Cacama was mortally wounded. How about theother prisoners?"
"I think that all had fallen, before he did. You see, they had noprotection; and even we who had armor were suffering, terribly,from the missiles poured in among us. I know that two ladies,Montezuma's daughters, were among the first to fall. More than thatI cannot say, for I kept close to Cacama, hoping that in some way Imight find an opportunity to aid his escape; and had he not beenstruck, just when he was, I might have done so; for after the newscame that the bridge could not be removed, all was confusion, andeach man thought only of saving his own life."
After rowing for three hours the canoe, having made a circuit ofthe city and crossed the lake, reached the shore at a distance of afew miles from Tezcuco. Cacama's body was lifted ashore, thenCuitcatl said to Bathalda:
"Bathalda, you will be glad to know that we have saved Cacama'sfriend, and mine, Roger Hawkshaw."
The forester gave an exclamation of pleasure.
"I am glad, indeed," he exclaimed. "I wondered what had become ofhim, in the fight."
Bathalda's exclamation silenced the murmur with which the othershad heard that one of the white men had been saved, by them, fromthe general destruction which, as they believed, had fallen upontheir oppressors.
"He is a friend of our people," Cuitcatl went on, "and is ofanother race to these Spaniards. As you see, men, he speaks ourlanguage well, and is like one of ourselves. Cacama held him as adear friend; and as you know, Cacama hated the Spaniards, and hadit not been for treason would have attacked them, long ago.
"Now, form a litter with the paddles and lay Cacama upon it.Morning is breaking, and we have far to go. The new Lord of Tezcucois a friend of the Spaniards. We must get well away, as soon as wecan."
Roger threw aside the Spanish helmet. Cuitcatl took some of theplumes from his own headdress, and bound them round his head and,as soon as the bier was constructed, the little party started. Inthe afternoon they arrived at Cuitcatl's house, the chief havinghimself gone forward, to inform the queen of Cacama's fate, and ofthe near approach of the party, with his body.
It was a mournful scene, when they arrived. The whole of the maleand female retainers were assembled outside the house, the womenfilling the air with cries and lamentations, the men weeping andwailing. The bearers of the bier passed into the house, whereMaclutha awaited it.
Roger, unwilling to intrude upon the grief of the unhappy queen,remained without, talking to Bathalda; the natives viewing him withhostility and wonder, being unable to understand how it was thattheir lord had brought one of the white men to his house.
In a minute or two, however, Amenche's attendant ran down the stepsto Roger and, telling him to follow her, led the way to theapartment where the princess was waiting him. She fell, crying,into his arms.
"It is terrible, Roger," she sobbed. "As long as my brother was buta captive, we had hoped that he might be restored to us; and now heis brought home dead--slain, too, by a Mexican arrow."
"Cacama was ready for death, Amenche. I was beside him, from thetime he left his prison. He was sure that we should be attacked;and saw that, as he and those with him were unprotected by anyarmor, they would be the first to fall when the fighting began as,in the darkness, the Mexicans would not be able to distinguish themfrom their enemies. But he said that he was quite content to die,seeing that the people had now recovered their ancient spirit, andwere battling with heroes against their oppressors."
"And they are all destroyed," Amenche exclaimed, passionately.
"We do not know that," Roger replied. "Their position was aterrible one and seemed well-nigh hopeless. I know that Cuitcatlregarded it as quite hopeless, and deems that all have fallen; butI do not think so. The passages to be crossed were of no greatwidth; and though numbers may have fallen, I believe that some willhave made their way across. They will have lost their guns, and ifthe Aztecs continue to press them as hotly as they did upon thecauseway, they may slay them all; but if they give them time torally, they may yet fight their way back to Tlascala."
"And you will stop here with us, Roger. Is it not so?"
"If your people will allow me to do so, I will, Amenche. I ask fornothing better; but remember that even Cacama, himself, feltdoubtful whether he could protect me from the power of thepriests--and at that time their reason for hating the Spaniards wassmall to what it now is, and Cacama himself has gone. Cuitcatl,though a powerful cazique, has but small influence in comparisonwith that which Cacama, as King of Tezcuco and nephew of Montezuma,possessed."
"How is Montezuma? What has become of him? We heard that he waswounded; but it scarce seems possible that his own subjects shouldraise a hand against him."
"He died yesterday afternoon, and Cortez delivered his body to thepeople of the city."
The girl uttered an exclamation of horror.
"This is dreadful, indeed," she said, bursting again into tears."To think of the great emperor being dead! What horrors andmisfortunes have befallen us!
"It is bad for us, too, Roger. I was one of his favorite nieces,and I thought of going to him and obtaining his permission to marryyou, in order that you should be received into the nation. Now thathope is gone.
"But I must leave you for a while, and go to Maclutha. I must notleave her longer, alone in her grief."
Soon afterwards, Cuitcatl entered the room.
"Come, Roger," he said; "a meal has been prepared, and we bothsorely need food and rest. Tomorrow we shall have time to talk overthe future, and by that time I shall have news whether any of theSpaniards have escaped. If they have, I must hurry off again; forCuitlahua has sworn that not one shall leave the country, alive,and every man who can bear arms must take the field against them.But it will be an easy task for, at any rate, few can have got offthat causeway alive."
Roger was glad, as soon as he had finished his meal, to throwhimself down on a couch. He had been on guard, the greater part ofthe night before the sortie to clear the street leading to thecauseway, and had slept but an hour or two, the following evening.He had lost a good deal of blood, from the blow he had received onthe head; and from the arrow wounds, of which he had several,although none were serious; and he was now completely done up.
Amenche stole away from Maclutha, for a few minutes' talk with himand Cuitcatl, while they had their meal; and after hearing anoutline of the later events of the siege of the palace, and of thefight on the causeway, she had herself insisted that Roger shouldinstantly seek repose.
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sp; "I shall be occupied with Maclutha, and there is much to see about,in such times as these. There can be no pomp and ceremonial ofburial. That must come when peace is restored, and we carryCacama's ashes to be laid with his father's, at Tezcuco. Bathaldaand some of the slaves have already started to bring in wood forthe funeral pile. All will be ready by sunrise, tomorrow."
Roger's wounds were dressed, by one of the slaves who was skilledin all operations connected with wounds; and he slept, without oncewaking, until Cuitcatl came to him in the morning and bade himarise, as all was ready for the ceremony of Cacama's cremation.
The rule in Mexico was that, on the death of anyone, the body wasattired in the garments peculiar to his tutelary deity; but Cacamawas dressed, simply, in the robe indicating his rank.
"You see," Amenche said, when Roger joined them; "we have dressedhim in a warrior's robes, not in those of a Lord of Tezcuco; for wehave none such here. Nor have we attired him in the garments of ourgod. For Cacama, as you know, worshiped chiefly the great UnknownGod, in whom his grandfather believed; who is Lord of all the gods,and of all peoples; and who must be the same, Roger, that you whitepeople worship."
"No doubt He is the same," Roger said; "and I am glad, Amenche,that you and your brother have already come to love Him. He is notLord of all gods, for He is the only God. There are none others.
"Some day, dear, when you come to England with me, a priest shallinstruct you in all we know of Him.
"But I see they are going to light the pile. What are all thosepieces of paper that cover his body?"
"They are charms, Roger, against the dangers of the unknown road hehas to travel. It is the custom of the country, and we did notthink it worth while to depart from it. It is also the custom tosacrifice numbers of slaves, and send them to be his attendantsupon the road. But the Unknown God hates all sacrifices of blood;and Cacama, although forced to yield to the power of the priests,would have had none, could he have helped it, in Tezcuco."
Cuitcatl, as the oldest friend of the dead prince, applied a torchto the pile, which was composed for the most part of aromatic wood.Maclutha and Amenche broke into a plaintive hymn, in which theirattendants, and the females who had collected, in considerablenumbers, from the neighboring villages, joined. Higher and higherrose the flames, the voices rising with them; until the dirgeculminated in a loud wailing cry, as the flames reached the corpse,and hid it from view. Then the hymn recommenced, and continueduntil the pile had been burnt down.
The mourners then re-entered the house, leaving the two or threepriests who were present to collect the ashes, and to place them ina large gold vase; of which they would act as guardians, until thetime came for its removal, in solemn procession, to Tezcuco.
Cuitcatl took Roger aside.
"I have bad news from Mexico," he said. "You were right, and I wasmistaken. A portion of the Spaniards and Tlascalans succeeded incrossing the breaches in the causeway, and gaining the mainland.However, it is said that two-thirds of their number perished. Asthey have lost the terrible weapons, that committed suchdestruction, they will be at our mercy. We know now that they arenot invincible. Their terror has departed.
"Be assured that they will not escape us. They have reached land onthe opposite side of the lake, and will have to make a greatcircuit, which will give us time to collect our forces. Cuitlahuahas already dispatched a messenger to every town and village,ordering all to assemble under their chiefs; and to be prepared tomarch, at a moment's notice, when the rendezvous is settled upon. Iwould it had all been finished on the causeway, but there can be nodoubt as to the result.
"At most there are but four hundred Whites and four thousandTlascalans, while we shall number over one hundred thousand. Theysay the white men have lost not only their great guns, but thosethey carry on their shoulders; and that only twenty or thirty oftheir strange animals have survived. Therefore, this time, we shallfight with something like equal arms, and shall overwhelm them asthe sea overwhelms the rock."
"Your simile is an unfortunate one, Cuitcatl. The sea covers therock, but when it retires the rock remains. Still, it does seem tome that, however valiantly the Spaniards may fight, they cannotwithstand such terrible odds.
"But I cannot rejoice with you. You know that I abhor, as much asyou do, the cruel massacre at the temple. My sympathies were withyour people, while struggling to throw off the yoke that theSpaniards had imposed upon them; but I am white, like them. I knowthat many among them are noble men, and that much of the harm theyhave committed has been done from conscientious motives; just asyour people have, from a desire to please the gods, offered upthousands of human victims, every year. Much as they love gold, manyof them--and certainly Cortez among them--think more of spreadingtheir religion than they do of personal ambition, or even of gain.I have many acquaintances and some good friends, among them; and Icannot think of their being all destroyed, without regret andhorror. I do not say that you are not justified in killing all, foryour existence as a nation is at stake; but to me, it is terrible."
"I can understand that, my friend; but nothing can avert theirdestruction.
"Now, as to yourself. Had it not been for Cacama's death, I shouldhave said it were best that you should marry Amenche, at once; butamong us, it would be most unseemly for a sister to think ofmarrying, when her brother has but just died."
"It is the same with us," Roger said. "A certain time must alwayspass, after the death of a near relative, before marriage. Besides,the present is no time for thinking of such a thing. My fate isaltogether uncertain, and I own that I consider there is smallground for hope that I can escape from the present troubles. If, asseems certain now, the Spaniards are all destroyed, the people willmore than ever venerate their gods, and the power of the priestswill be almost unlimited.
"It is useless for me to try to deceive myself, Cuitcatl. I knowyour friendship, but you would not have the power to withstand thedecision of the priests. They will never permit a single white manto remain alive in the land. Had Cacama lived, he might possiblyhave protected me; but I think that even his authority would havebeen insufficient to do so. If the Spaniards are destroyed, I havebut one chance of my life: and that is, to make my way down to thecoast, and to sail away with the Spaniards there."
Cuitcatl was silent, for he felt the force of what Roger said.
"If you go, you must not go alone," he replied at last. "Amenchewould die, were you to desert her."
"I will assuredly take her, if she will accompany me," Roger said;"but I do not think that there is much chance of my escape, even inthat way. The news of the destruction of the Spaniards will becarried, with the speed of the wind, down to the coast; and thetribes there will instantly rise and fall upon the Spaniards. Thosewho have been the most friendly with them will be the very first totake up arms against them, in order to make their peace with theAztecs, and to avert their vengeance for the aid they have giventhe Spaniards. Long before we could reach the coast, the Spaniardsthere would either be killed, or driven on board their ships."
Cuitcatl could not deny the justice of Roger's reasoning.
"There is nothing to do," the latter went on, "but to wait--at anyrate, until this battle has taken place. Impossible as it seems,the Spaniards may yet extricate themselves from the toils; in whichcase I should join them. If not, and I find my escape by the coastcut off, by the rising of the tribes there, the only thing that Ican see is to take to the mountains; and to live there, as I didwith Bathalda, on the proceeds of the chase. I might then, perhaps,in time make my way to people in the far north, who have not suchreason as they have here for hating a man with a white skin; or Imight wait until the Spaniards send another expedition, to carryout what Cortez has failed to accomplish."
Leaving their fires burning, the remains of the Spanish armymarched, at midnight, from the temple where they had enjoyed rest,and had recruited their strength and spirits. The sick and woundedwere placed in the center, and carried on litters, or on the backsof the porters; while others, who were
strong enough to situpright, rode on the horses behind the mounted soldiers. All nightthe march continued without disturbance; but in the morning, largeparties of natives were seen moving about. Tlacopan lay on the mostwesterly point of the lake, and the most direct route of theSpaniards would have been to keep along by its margin; but had theydone so, they would have been liable to attack from the capital; asthe troops could have poured out across the causeway to Tepejacac,and headed them there. They therefore struck off due north, withthe intention of passing to the west of Lake Xaltocan.
The country was a broken one; and the Mexicans, gathering on thehills, rolled stones down upon them, with volleys of arrows anddarts. Sometimes they even ventured to descend into the plain, andfall upon the rear of the column. As often as they did so, however,the little body of cavalry drove them off. The infantry column keptsteadily on its way, though greatly harassed by the continuedattacks.
Day after day passed in this manner, the Spaniards being reduced togreat straits, from want of food; as the natives, in the smalltowns and villages through which they passed, carried off allprovisions and stores; and the only food the soldiers could obtainwere wild cherries, and a few ears of corn that had been left bythe harvesters. Sometimes a horse fell dead, from exhaustion, andafforded a welcome supply of food.
Many of the soldiers dropped, lifeless from fatigue and famine.Others, unable to keep up the march, fell behind and were capturedby the enemy, and carried off to furnish sacrifices for the gods.To lighten themselves, the soldiers threw away the gold, to obtainwhich they had dared so many dangers, and suffered so manyhardships. Life itself was at stake, and the precious metal hadceased to have any value in their eyes.
Through those terrible days Cortez, as usual, set a splendidexample to his solders. He was in the front, wherever dangerthreatened. He bore his full share of the hardships, and by hischeerfulness and calmness kept up the spirits of the soldiers, andcheered them by assuring them they might yet escape from thedangers that menaced them.
The Tlascalans also behaved admirably; and appeared to bear nogrudge, whatever, against the Spaniards, for the sufferings whichtheir alliance had brought upon them.
Passing through the town of Quauhtitlan, and round the north ofLake Tzompanco, they at last turned their faces east; and on theseventh day reached the edge of the plateau, and looked down uponthe plains of Otompan. They were still but thirty miles, in adirect line, from the capital; but they had traversed fully threetimes that distance, in their circuitous journey.
During the last day's march, the numbers of the natives whosurrounded them had considerably increased; and menacing shouts, ofthe fate that awaited them, greeted them as they marched along. Thenature of the peril was not understood until, on reaching the crestfrom which they looked down on the valley of Otompan, they saw thatit was filled with a mighty army; whose white cotton mail gaveit--as one of their historians states--the appearance of beingcovered with snow. Here were all the levies that Cuitlahua hadcollected. The whole of the cities of the plains had sent in theirquota, and the bright banners of the chiefs and nobles waved gailyover the snowy array of their followers.
The numbers of the Mexicans were put down at varying amounts by theSpanish historians, some of them having them as high as two hundredthousand; but it is probable that at least half that number wereassembled, to bar the march of the worn-out little force thatsurveyed them from the heights. Even the most hopeful andcourageous of the Spaniards felt something like dismay, as theyviewed the tremendous array before them. Deprived of the weapons onwhich they had chiefly depended for victory, with their cavalryreduced to a mere handful, the prospect seemed indeed desperate.But there was no room for hesitation. They must cut a way throughthe enemy, or die.
Cortez addressed the troops in a short speech of encouragement. Hereminded them that they had already won victories against enormousodds; and that numbers, indeed, were but of slight consequence,when the arm of God was with them.
"Assuredly He, who had carried them safely through so many perils,would not now abandon them, and His own good cause, to perish bythe hand of these infidels."
With steady step and in compact array, the little force descendedthe hill into the plain; and as soon as they reached the levelground, the Aztec host attacked them, on all sides. The handful ofcavalry, consisting almost entirely of the personal friends andofficers of Cortez, cleared the way for the head of the column byrepeated and desperate charges; while the infantry, with pike andsword, maintained a front that the Aztecs, although fighting withthe greatest bravery, were unable to break.
The Tlascalans fought as stoutly as the Spaniards. Their nativeland lay almost within sight, and the love of home, and theremembrance of many a victory gained over the Aztecs, animated themto rival the steadfastness of their white comrades.
Yet though unbroken, the little force was but as an island in themidst of an ocean. The attacks, although always repulsed, wereconstantly renewed. The gaps in the ranks of the enemy were filledup with fresh combatants and, as hour after hour went on, even themost hopeful in the Spanish band began to feel that the contestcould have but one termination; and that they would be overcome,not so much by the arms of the Aztecs, as by fatigue, thirst andhunger.
The cavalry had performed prodigies of valor. Breaking up intoknots of threes and fours, they had charged into the dense crowd ofthe enemy; clearing a way for themselves with lance and sword, andby the weight of the horses and armor. But such charges could havebut little effect on the fortunes of the day. The numbers of thosethey slew counted for nothing, in such a host; and the lanes theymade closed behind them, until, after making a circuit, they againjoined the main body.
For hours the fight raged. The Spanish battle cry, "Saint James andOur Lady!" still rose sternly, in answer to the triumphant yells ofthe Aztecs. Their front was still unbroken, but all felt thatnothing, short of a miracle, could save them. Not one but waswounded in many places by the Aztec missiles. Their arms were wearywith striking. The sun blazed down upon them with scorching heat.Their throats were parched with thirst. They were enfeebled byhunger.
The Aztecs, seeing that their foes were becoming faint and wearied,that the horses of the cavaliers could scarce carry them, and thatthe end was approaching, redoubled their shouts; and pressed moreheartily and eagerly than ever upon the Spaniards, driving thecavalry back, by sheer weight, into the ranks of the infantry.
Cortez, at this supreme moment, still maintained his calmness. Hesaw that all was lost, unless a change was made, and that speedily.Another hour at latest, and the resistance would be over, and thebrave men who had followed him be either dead, or prisonersreserved for sacrifice.
Throughout the day he had ordered his cavaliers to strike ever atthe chiefs, knowing well that undisciplined bodies of men becomelost, without leaders. Raising himself in his stirrups, he lookedround over the seething mass of the foe; and at some distancebeheld a small body of officers, whose gay and glittering attireshowed them to belong to the highest rank of nobles; gathered rounda litter on which was a chief, gorgeously attired with a loftyplume of feathers floating above his head; rising above which was ashort staff, bearing a golden net.
Cortez knew that this was the symbol carried by the Azteccommanders in chief. He called to his comrades--Sandoval, Olid,Alvarado, Avila, and the other cavaliers--and pointing to thechief, cried:
"There is our mark! Follow, and support me."
Then he spurred his wearied horse forward, and dashed into thethrong, followed by his cavaliers.
The fury and suddenness of the attack bore all before it. Thecompact little body of horsemen, shouting their battle cry, clovethrough the ranks of the enemy, making straight for the Indiancommander, whose name was Cihuaca. In vain the Mexicans tried tobar the way. In vain, when after a few minutes of tremendousexertion, Cortez reached his goal, the nobles and the bodyguardstrove to defend their chief. Cortez, fighting with almostsuperhuman vigor, clove his way through all opposition; and withhis lance ran through the
Aztec general, and hurled him to theground, when one of his followers, leaping from his horse, quicklydispatched him.
The guard, appalled by the suddenness of the attack, broke and fledin all directions, scattering panic among the lately triumphanthost. Scarce knowing what had happened, but feeling that somedreadful misfortune had occurred, and all was lost, the Aztecs wereseized with a blind terror; and breaking their ranks, thought onlyof escape.
As if by magic, a victorious army was transformed into a flyingmob. The Spaniards and Tlascalans took instant advantage of thechange. Fatigue and thirst, wounds and exhaustion were forgotten.With shouts of triumph, and vengeance, they broke their ranks andfollowed hotly upon the fugitives. These, impeded by their verynumbers, and half mad with panic, offered no resistance whatever.Great numbers were overtaken and slain and, when the Spaniardsabandoned the pursuit at the summons of their leader's trumpet, andassembled round him, the field was covered with the bodies of theirfallen foes.
An hour was spent in gathering the booty from the bodies of thechiefs, of whom great numbers had fallen; and then, after offeringup thanks to God for their marvelous deliverance, the army againrenewed their march. It was already late in the afternoon, and theyhalted at sunset at a temple standing on an eminence, whichafforded them shelter and a defensive position, should the Aztecsrenew the assault.
But of this there was little fear. Their defeat had been utter andcomplete. There was no chance of their rallying.
The victory of Otompan was one of the most remarkable ever won. Thediscrepancy of numbers was immense. The Spaniards were unprovidedwith artillery or firearms, and owed their success to theirdiscipline and bravery, and still more to the extraordinary valorand quick-sightedness of their leader.