CHAPTER VII.
LOYALTY OUTWEIGHS GOLD AND FREEDOM
The delight of these humble Tlascalan slaves at discovering, and beingpermitted to serve, the son of their country's hero, knew no bounds.They wept with joy, and would have kissed his feet had he allowed it.The man provided him with dry clothing from his own scanty stock, whilethe woman hastened to make some tortillas, the thin cakes of meal andwater, baked on the surface of a flat stone set at an angle beforethe fire, that to this day form the staple bread of all Mexico. Theymarvelled at the story of his escape from beneath the very knife ofsacrifice, and listened to it with ejaculations of thankfulness andamazement at every detail. They spoke with bated breath of Tlahuicol'sbrave fight, while the man declared proudly that the like had neverbeen seen even in that land of battles, and that none but a Tlascalancould have performed such marvels. More than all were they proud thatHuetzin had entrusted them with his life, and they wondered that heshould have dared place himself at the mercy of strangers.
"No Tlascalan is a stranger to the son of Tlahuicol," answered theyoung man, simply.
"But how knew you that we were Tlascalans?"
"By the tongues with which you spoke. The voice of the mountaineer nomore resembles that of a dweller in the valleys than the cry of theeagle is like that of a raven," replied Huetzin, with a smile.
Then they rejoiced that in all their years of slavery they had notlost their native accent, and recalled with simple pride how they hadstriven and helped each other to preserve this token of their birth,and sole reminder of their happy youth among the distant mountains.They told him of their captivity, and how they had been surprised, notfar from their own home, by a party of Aztec slave-hunters, againstwhom the man's desperate resistance proved of no avail. "Though therewere but few abler warriors than he in all the land," added the oldwoman, proudly, with a fond look at her old husband. They also told himof their only child, the little girl, Cocotin, who had been left behindand of whose fate they had gained no tidings in all these years. Theytold of their present life with all its toil and hardship, and, whenthe tale was ended they rejoiced that the gods had led them over thethorny paths of slavery to the end that they might be of service to theson of Tlahuicol, their country's hero.
With all this there was no intimation of the fact, that should they besuspected of aiding the escape of a victim doomed to sacrifice, or ofhaving sheltered him for an hour, they would be condemned to death bytorture. Huetzin, however, was well aware of this, and so, when he hadeaten of their frugal fare and dried his wet garments, he would havetaken his departure; but to this his entertainers would not listen.
"It is near morning, and with daylight your capture in this place wouldbe certain," argued the man. "Tarry with us until the coming of anothernight, when I will guide you to a place from which you may reach theroad to Tlascala."
"Would my lord snatch from us the great joy of our lives?" askedthe woman, reproachfully, "and needlessly shorten the only hours ofhappiness we have known since last we looked on the face of Cocotin,our little one?"
"But if I am found here your lives will be forfeit," urged Huetzin.
"That is as the gods will," answered the man. "Our poor lives are asnothing, while the gods have shown that they are reserving yours fortheir own good purpose. Nay, my lord, depart not, but honor us withyour presence yet a while longer, and all shall be well."
Thus urged Huetzin yielded, and, more weary than he was aware of, flunghimself down on a mat of sweet grasses in one corner of the room, wherehe almost instantly fell asleep. The old people watched him, sittinghand in hand and conversing in whispers of the wonderful event by whichthe hard monotony of their lives had been brightened. Every now andthen the man went outside and listened. At daylight he was obliged toreport for duty in the fields.
When he had gone the woman took a quantity of the maguey fibre, whichit was her daily task to prepare for the cloth-weavers, and, withit, completely concealed the sleeping youth. So well was he hiddenthat even the prying eyes of a female neighbor, who ran in for a fewmoments' gossip while her breakfast was cooking, failed to detect hispresence.
"Have you heard," asked the woman, "of the escape of a victim dedicatedto Huitzil yesterday? In some manner--I have not yet learned thedetails--he succeeded in killing several of the holy priests, andescaping from under the very knife of sacrifice. The gods were soincensed that they extinguished the sacred fire with a breath. Nor willthey be appeased until he is again brought before them, and his heartlies on the altar; for so say the priests."
"What is he like?" demanded the other, calmly.
"They say," replied the visitor, "that he is young, and as comely tolook upon as Quetzal himself; but that at heart he is a very monster,and that his only meat is babes or very young children. I should befrightened to death were I to catch sight of him, though for the sakeof the reward I should be willing to venture it."
"Is there a reward offered for his capture?"
"Yes. Have you not heard? It is proclaimed everywhere, that, to anyfree man who shall produce him dead or alive, or tell where he may befound, shall be given a hundred quills of gold and a royal grant ofland. If any slave shall be the fortunate one, he and his shall begiven their freedom, and twenty quills of gold. Oh! I would my manmight set eyes on him. He is already searching, as are many of theneighbors, for it is said that the escaped one crossed the lake inthis direction last night, after overturning several boats that werein pursuit of him, and leaving their occupants to perish in the water.Besides that, he killed or wounded near a score of chinampa owners, andset their canoes adrift. I know this to be so, for my man picked up oneof the canoes on the lake shore, not an hour ago, and has informed theofficers."
"Never did I hear of anything so terrible!" cried the Tlascalan woman,professing an eager sympathy with her neighbor's gossip. "We are all indanger of our lives."
"Yes," continued the other, "but he must be taken soon, for soldiersare scouring the country in all directions, and every house is tobe searched. They will not find him in a dwelling, though, for thepenalty is too terrible. The proclamation says that whoever shallgive him a crust of bread, or a sup of water, or a moment's shelter,shall be burned to death, he and every member of his family. So themonster will get no aid, I warrant you. Well, I must go. I am glad youknow nothing of him," she added, casting a searching glance aroundthe interior of the hut, "for I should hate to be compelled to informagainst a neighbor. What a fine lot of fibre you have prepared!"
"Yes," answered the Tlascalan woman, calmly, "and I am just about totake it out in the sun to bleach."
As the steps of the departing gossip died away, Huetzin, who had beenaroused by her shrill tones, and had overheard all that she said, shookoff his covering of fibre and rose to his feet, looking very pale anddetermined.
"I can no longer remain here," he said; "my presence would bediscovered by the first who searched this dwelling, and I should onlyhave devoted you and your husband to an awful fate. It is better thatyou should give me up and claim the reward."
At these words the woman gave him a look so reproachful and full ofentreaty, that he hastened to recall them. "No," he exclaimed, "youcould not! To a Tlascalan such baseness would be impossible! But youcan at least let me depart."
"Yes," said the woman, "you must go, for you can no longer remain herein safety; but I am minded of another hiding-place in which, for a timeat least, you can remain undiscovered. Come with me, and I will show ityou."
So they left the hut together, Huetzin almost creeping on his handsand knees through the tall grasses which formed the only shelter fromobservation, and the woman bearing a great bundle of maguey fibre. Thisanswered a fourfold purpose. The pretense of bleaching it gave her anexcuse for going abroad. Its weight would account for the slowness withwhich she walked. She carried it so as partly to shield her companionfrom sight, and, had anyone approached, she would have dropped it overhim while pretending to rest.
Thus the two proceeded slowly and
fearfully until they reached theruins of an ancient aqueduct, that had once brought water for thegarden fountains of some long-forgotten Toltec noble. The aqueduct,which was a sodded dike enclosing a great earthen pipe, had beengullied by some short-lived but furious torrent, and its pipe wasbroken at the place where Huetzin and the Tlascalan woman now halted.There was an opening just large enough for a man to squeeze through;but, once inside the pipe, he could neither turn himself about norassume any position save that of lying at full length. The bottomof the pipe was covered thickly with a slimy sediment suggestive ofall manner of creeping and venomous things. It was indeed a dismalplace, but it offered a chance for life which Huetzin accepted. As hedisappeared within its dark recess, the woman resumed her burden offibre and retraced her steps to her own dwelling.
Not long after her return to it, she was startled by the approach of asquad of Aztec soldiers, guided by her husband, with anguish-strickenface. Entering the hut they searched it carefully, thrusting theirspears into every suspected place, including the heap of maguey fibreon the floor, which they thoroughly prodded. The Tlascalan was amazedat his wife's calmness during these proceedings, as well as at theabsence of the fugitive. He had been certain that the latter would bediscovered there, even while he stoutly denied any knowledge of him orhis whereabouts to the soldiers, who had forced him to accompany themto the search of his own dwelling. When they left to hunt elsewherehe was compelled to go with them. Thus it was not until nightfall,when he returned from his day's labor, that he learned of the safetyof their beloved guest, and of the hiding-place found for him by thequick-witted Tlascalan woman. She had not dared go near him during theday, and it was not until after their usual hour for retiring, whenall men were supposed to be asleep, that the brave old couple venturedforth to release the prisoner from his painful position in the ancientwater-pipe.