A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec Empire

by James A. Porter

  CHAPTER XVI.

  The day was one of brightness and warmth on the mountain where we leftHualcoyotl and his attendant. The storm of the previous night hadentirely disappeared before the refulgent rays of the morning sun.Hours came and passed, and the day was three-fourths gone; yet, fairlywell protected in their new quarters, the prince and Oza slept on in anunbroken slumber, so worn were they from the almost superhuman effortsof the night before. The sleep of exhaustion was upon them, and theordinary noises of the mountain wilds with which they were surroundedwere without effect to disturb them. Now and then a bird would alightquite near and shie its bright eye at the sleepers, then hurry away.Animals frisked unconcerned about them, and the pestiferous insectfilled the air with its ceaseless and annoying hum; still the tiredfugitives continued profoundly unconscious of it all.

  Such was the situation of the sleepers about the middle of theafternoon, when a piercing scream, like the cry of a person in extremedistress or peril, only much louder and inexpressibly awful, awakenedthe slumberers to a sudden impression of impending danger. The princequickly raised himself to a listening posture, and exclaimed:

  "What means that cry?"

  "Hist, master; look there! What is that?" spoke Oza, in an excitedwhisper, at the same time pointing to an object just above and in frontof them.

  The prince looked in the direction indicated by his attendant, andthere, not twenty feet away, beheld, crouched on an overhanging limb, aferocious looking beast, with eyes which shone like balls of fire fixedmenacingly upon them. The animal's lips were parted, showing its greatugly teeth, which caused a savage grin to overspread its fierce andthreatening visage. Its tail, cat-like and menacing, was moving slowlyto and fro; and, altogether, the monster's appearance was anything butreassuring to contemplate. The situation was, indeed, alarming.

  The position of the animal was such that, to get away, the prince andOza would have been compelled to pass almost under it. To have donethis would have been to invite an immediate attack, which they couldnot afford to do in their defenseless condition.

  Hualcoyotl recalled having heard some time in his life that suchanimals would not attack a person whose eyes were kept fixed upon them.The thought suggested the idea that the beast might be kept at bay inthis manner until, tiring, it would leave of its own accord. The planwas immediately put into execution, and a peculiar contest began.

  The fiercely grinning beast gave stare for stare, and never once turnedits eyes away. For a full half hour, which seemed an age to the prince,the battle of the eyes went on, and still there was no letting up inthe belligerent attitude of his fierce looking adversary.

  Thus matters stood when there came a sudden thud-like sound, followedby a terrible howl from the animal, which leaped from its position intothe ravine, falling dead almost at the feet of the imprisonedfugitives.

  The long, uninterrupted stare into the eyes of the snarling beast hadproven to be a very trying ordeal to Hualcoyotl; and when it sprang sosuddenly into the ravine as if to attack them, he was almost prostratedfrom the shock given his tensified sensibilities. He quickly recoveredwhen he saw that deliverance, from an unknown and unexpected source,had come to them through the death of the animal. Directly a voice,apparently just above them, was heard to say:

  "Menke, ye couldn't have missed that feller no how. Queer the brute'lowed me to come so close; never moved till I sent the jav'lin rightinto his ugly carcass. There he lies, sure enough, at the bottom o' theravine, dead as a stone. Ol' feller, ye got yer everlastin', an' nomistake. Hello! What's that?" was the exclamation which followed thediscovery of the prince's quarters. "Looks as ef somebody'd gone tohouse-keepin'."

  The foregoing talk was carried on by Menke, the hunter, who wasintroduced to the reader in the preceding chapter. It was in the natureof a soliloquy, in which, as we have before observed, the hunterfrequently indulged.

  In pursuing his hunt through the mountain forests he had chanced topass near the place where the prince and Oza were sheltered, and seeingthe animal with fixed attention, crept cautiously up and gave it adeath thrust with the javelin. He was too deeply intent on securing theanimal as a prize to notice the retreat of the fugitives until themoment his exclamation was uttered.

  Hualcoyotl very naturally concluded, on hearing the voice, that therewere at least two persons in the party. He also surmised, from thecharacter of the language used, that they were denizens of themountains.

  "They are surely not soldiers," he thought, "and may prove to befriendly."

  The hunter descended into the ravine for the purpose of securing hisprize, hardly expecting to find any one under cover of the shelter hehad just discovered. When he reached the bottom near where the animalwas lying, his eyes fell upon the forms of the prince and Oza, who hadremained quietly waiting developments. He quickly took in the situationand said, with an air of surprise:

  "Wull, now, what kind of a nest d'ye call that, eh?"

  "It might be a worse one, hunter," returned the prince, recognizingMenke's calling by his general appearance, at the same time coming outof his sheltered retreat. "We were endeavoring to get some sleep, aftera very tiresome tramp over the mountain," he continued, "when the cryof this beast aroused us rather unceremoniously; and for the past halfhour we have been trying to drive it from us by looking it steadily inthe eyes. But it has been provokingly persistent, and might haveworried us out in time, had you not opportunely come along and relievedus with your javelin."

  "That 'counts for the brute payin' no 'tention to me; 'lowin' me tocome right onto 'im, an' givin' me such a fine show for his skin,"returned the hunter.

  "Yes, its fixed attention made it a splendid target for your javelin.But, friend, where are your companions?" the prince asked, seeing noone but the hunter.

  "My companions," quoth Menke. "Don't understand ye, stranger."

  "We certainly heard you talking with someone just before you came intothe ravine," replied the prince.

  "Wull, now, that's so; I was doin' some talkin', I reckon, but it wasto myself. Ye see, stranger, when a feller's alone 'bout all the time,as I am, he gets real sociable with 'imself, an' falls into that way o'doin'. No, there's no one 'long o' me, an' ef I did any conversin', itwas entirely onesided," returned the hunter, in his peculiar manner ofexpression. "Ye've got a right snug place here," he continued, taking alook at the fugitives' shelter. "Goin' to stop a while, eh?"

  "That will depend on circumstances," replied the prince. "Do you livenear here?"

  "Wull, no; it's some distance to my place. There are folks livin'hereabout, but their way o' livin's kind o' tough. Ye'd better go round'em, stranger. Some good people on the plateaus, though. Now, there'sTezcot--lives th' other side of yon mountain. He's a man ye can fastento an' know ye're safe. He's a kind o' chief 'mong the mountain people.Ef ye happen to run onto Tez, ye'll find 'im true as his arrer, an'that's sayin' a heap."

  "We'll try to remember your friend Tezcot, hunter, and should we meethim, will feel that we are fortunate."

  "S'pose ye're on a huntin' excursion, eh?" said Menke, forgetting thestrangers could not be supplied with arms, else the animal would hardlyhave held them prisoners.

  "Well, not exactly. Our business is, to some extent, searching forroots and berries," replied the prince, expressing a sudden thoughtwhich suggested a way of misleading the hunter and avoiding immediatediscovery.

  "Medicine man, eh?" responded the hunter, in an ejaculatory manner.

  The prince found it necessary to change the subject, which he did byinquiring:

  "Do you ever get any news from the valley, hunter?"

  "Wull, yes. 'Casionally meet a hunter from there who has news; an' thenthe soldiers--thick as mosquitoes round here o' late--they have a heapto say. Some o' them--the Tepanecs, are lookin' for the Tezcucanprince, who's hidin' somewhere in the mountains. Maxtla, the newTepanec king, is after his life."

  "Have you seen this prince you speak of?"

  "Wull, no; haven't had that pleasure."
<
br />   "What would you do, hunter, should you meet with the prince on themountain--make him a prisoner and claim the reward?"

  "No, stranger, I'd do nothin' o' the sort; I'd let 'im alone."

  "You certainly have not heard of the extraordinary reward which, Iunderstand, has been offered for his capture, dead or alive--a noblelady's hand in marriage, and a rich domain with it, to him who takesthe prince. Is that not worth considering?" said Hualcoyotl,endeavoring to draw the hunter out still farther, to be more fullyassured that he might trust him.

  "Not to a man o' family, stranger," replied the hunter.

  "With the wealth included in the reward you could support severalwives. The matter of a family would be of small consequence," pursuedthe prince.

  "All the same, stranger, I'd sooner be a free man o' the mountains thanto have all Maxtla has to give for the prince's capture. I'll never bea slave to any man, and surely not to Maxtla. Ef the prince should comemy way, I'll show 'im what a mountaineer can do fur the son o' hisfather, a man who was loved by his people fur the good that was in'im." At this instant a thought occurred to the hunter which caused himto look sharply at the prince. After a moment of close scrutiny, hesaid: "Come to think of it, ye're askin' a good many questions 'boutthe prince. Wouldn't be s'prised ef ye'd turn out to be the 'denticalchap, yerself. Curious I haven't s'pected that afore. Who are ye, anyway?"

  "Hunter, your expressions of good will assure me that I can trust you.I have the confidence to believe you would not betray a pursued andunjustly persecuted man. You see in me Hualcoyotl, the fugitiveprince." As the prince said this he seemed to grow taller, for he stoodproudly erect while he waited for the surprised hunter to speak.

  Menke's astonishment, at finding his suspicion verified, was littleshort of amazement. After a moment, he said:

  "Wull, ef I aint clear beat; been talkin' to a live prince all thistime, an' didn't have gumption 'nough to know it." Looking Hualcoyotlover, he continued: "So ye're the prince. Wull, that knocks mecrookeder 'an that animal's leg; I'd 'bout as soon take yer man fur aprince. Can't see but ye're just like other folks--nothin' extra,either."

  The prince could not repress a smile of amusement at hearing thehunter's very expressive language. Menke continued:

  "D'ye know, Prince, ye took my measure exactly when ye said ye thoughtye could trust me? Ye can do it, sure as ye live. May the next lion Icome across eat me jacket and all, ef ye can't!"

  "Thank you, hunter," returned the prince. "You can not know how muchrelief and encouragement your words afford us. Our situation was verycritical before you came to our assistance, and we feel very gratefulto you. The disposition of kindliness which you evince toward us ismost assuring, and makes us feel as if we were not wholly friendless."

  "That's all right, Prince. It doesn't cost much to be obligin', an' itturns up a good profit; so don't let it trouble ye. Menke--that'sme--'ll do all he's promised, an' more too ef it's needed. How're yefixed fur somethin' to eat?" he concluded, thoughtful of the fugitives'physical wants.

  "Rather poorly, hunter. We have nothing except a little green maizewhich we brought with us when we came here--hardly worth mentioning."

  "Ye are a little short, that's a fact. My luck hasn't been the bestto-day. Only got a pheasant or two an' one hare. Ye're welcome to 'em,Prince."

  "Again we have to thank you, hunter; you are very kind."

  "Can't see why I'm more'n I should be; ye've nothing to eat an' I have;that means a divide to Menke, Prince."

  "I have often heard of the liberality and hospitable character of themen of the mountains. You have proven, by your kindness, Menke, thatthe report is well founded.

  "It doesn't matter how you put it, Prince; that's our way o' doin'; an'ef ye've no objection to remainin' here alone, I'll take yer man 'longo' me--what's 'is name?" he suddenly asked, looking at Oza. The namewas given, and he continued: "Wull, Oza, ef yer master's willin', yecan g'long o' me, and I'll find ye somethin' more than pheasant an'hare to eat."

  It was arranged for Oza to accompany the hunter to the plateau, tobring in such food as he might procure for them. When ready to go,Menke threw the carcass of the mountain lion (for such it was) over hisshoulder, and started to leave the ravine.

  "Hunter!" called the prince, as he was moving off, "you will keep ourhiding-place a secret. Do not mention to anyone, not even to yourclosest friends, that you have seen us; curiosity might lead to ourdiscovery."

  "Don't 'low any such notion as that to spoil yer sleep, Prince,"returned the hunter. "When Menke undertakes to do somethin', he doesn'tcount on callin' in his neighbors. Think he knows what's what, if hedoes live on the mountains." With this brusk and emphatic reply he leftthe ravine, followed by Oza.

  Hualcoyotl was now alone. His situation was not the happiest, and wascalculated to call up disturbing reflections.

  For some time after the departure of the hunter and Oza, he remained inhis retreat, pondering on his peculiarly trying position. Growingnervous and uneasy, he concluded to venture out on the side of themountain, which he did. Finding a place whence he could observe unseenthe approaches to his quarters, he put himself on guard. As the hourspassed and Oza did not return, he grew still more uneasy. He had eatennothing during the day, and hunger was becoming a disturbing influence.When night came on and Oza had not returned, he felt that some mishaphad certainly befallen him. He went back to his retreat, under cover ofdarkness, feeling much depressed in spirits, where we leave him, tofollow the hunter and Oza.

  After leaving the prince, they passed noiselessly down the side of themountain and out on to a narrow, level stretch of ground, along whichthey went for a short distance, passing, on their way, some rudelyconstructed huts, formed of sticks and earth, which were inhabited bythe class of mountaineers referred to by Menke as living tough.

  The hunter's object was to procure for the fugitives a supply ofuncooked food, but he did not deem it expedient to apply to theoccupants of the huts for it, so passed on.

  They had not gone far, after passing the huts, when they were met by asquad of soldiers, the sight of whom almost paralyzed the heart of Oza.

  "Hist, Oza!" quietly ejaculated the hunter, when he discovered thesoldiers approaching. "Ye're my servant; d'ye understand? Take thisanimal on yer back an' fall behind." Oza comprehended, and quicklyobeyed.

  Menke advanced boldly up to the soldiers, and one of them, looking atOza's burden, said:

  "What have you there, hunter?"

  "A lion, soldier--a very savage kind of animal. I'd caution ye to lookout fur 'em; they're plenty 'round here, 'specially on the mountains."

  "Your very liberal with your advice, hunter, which may be good, butthink we can take care of ourselves."

  "All right, soldier; ef ye want to furnish a meal or two fur the hungrybeasts, don't 'low me to hinder ye."

  "Never mind the beasts, hunter; we care nothing for them. We're lookingfor a different kind of animal--a run-away prince, who is known to behiding somewhere in these mountains. Haven't come across such a fellowin your travels, eh?" questioned the soldier.

  "Wull, now, wouldn't be sure, but think I've seen the man ye're lookin'fur," returned Menke, making a show of trying to recall thecircumstance. "Yesterday--yes, 'twas yesterday, on th'other side o' themountain. Tall chap--"

  "Yes," interjected the soldier.

  "Kind o' dark skin?"

  "Exactly, hunter," again put in the soldier.

  "Was lookin' fur somethin' to eat," pursued Menke.

  "Just what he'd most likely be doing. Think you've seen our man,"replied the soldier. "Could you tell us," he continued, "about where tolook for him?"

  "Wull, now, soldier, I might guess at it, but 'twould be like shootin'an arrer at the moon--I'd come 'bout as close to one as th'other. GuessI can't enlighten ye. Sorry, soldier, but I can't," concluded Menke,moving on, and giving no heed to the scowling looks which followed him.

  The meeting with the soldiers caused the hunter to modify his planssomewhat. It wou
ld not be prudent to build a fire on the mountain, withwhich to cook food, while the soldiers remained in such uncomfortablyclose proximity. This made it necessary to procure it in a preparedstate.

  The provisions could be obtained at Menke's home, but to go there wouldconsume much time. Then, there was danger of the soldiers going up intothe mountain in their search for the prince. He ought to be informed oftheir presence. And yet, he must have something to eat.

  All this was thought over by the hunter, who finally determined to takethe risk of leaving Hualcoyotl to look out for himself, and started toprocure the victuals from his own home.

  The trip was accomplished as quickly as possible; nevertheless,darkness overtook them before they got back; and it was well for themthat it did, for they came very near running into a band of soldierswho were camping close to the point where the hunter had intendedbeginning the ascent of the mountain. This made it necessary for themto retreat and make a detour in order to reach cover.

  The soldiers were becoming numerous on the plateaus, and Menke realizedthat sharp practice would be required to elude them. Having becomedeeply interested in the welfare of the fugitives, he decided, in viewof the gravity of the situation, to return with Oza to their retreat;and, with the prince's approval, conduct them to a place ofconcealment, at or near his home.

  After some delay a bushy undergrowth, which grew thickly at the foot ofthe mountain, was reached, into which, followed by Oza, the mountaineerdisappeared.