CHAPTER XVIII.
Some two hours after nightfall, as the unhappy Lerma lay in darkness andsolitude, (for Befo was no longer permitted to be his companion,) thedoor of the prison opened, and the Alguazil, Villafana, entered, bearinga lantern, which emitted just sufficient light to allow his features tobe distinguished, together with what seemed a flask of wine--a luxurynow to be occasionally obtained, since vessels arrived not unfrequentlyfrom the islands.
"How now, what cheer, senor?" he exclaimed, setting down the flask uponthe table, and turning the light full upon Juan's face; "are you sayingyour prayers? Here's that shall give you better comfort,--something fromthe vineyards of Xeres de la Frontera,--stout Sherry, that shall makeyour heart bounce, were it broken twice over.--Come, faith, it will makeyou merry."
"I shall never be merry more," said Juan; "and why should I? It isbetter I should not. I thank you for your good-will, Villafana; but Iwould that, instead of this wine, if it be not contrary to your duty,you would fetch me the good father Olmedo, to finish the confession,begun upon the block, and so abruptly interrupted, this morning."
"Pho, be not in such a hurry: you have time enough. The priest is busy,and knowing he must shrive you to-morrow, he will be ill inclined totrouble himself superfluously to-night. Come, sit up, drink, laugh, andcurse thy foes. Come, now,--a merry God's blessing! may you live athousand years!--Dzoog! bah! dzoog!--Now could I fight seven tigers!"
"It is better thou shouldst drink it than I," said Juan, observing thestrong and somewhat fantastic gestures with which the Alguazil expressedhis approbation, after having taken a hearty draught of the liquor; "yetbethink thee, Villafana,--"
"'Slid!" interrupted the jailer, "bethink thyself! and bethink thee thatthis will make thee a good fellow of a warhorse mettle, whereas, now,thou art but a sick lambkin. What makes a beggar a king, hah? a tailor's'prentice a Cid Ruy Diaz of Castile,--a doughty Campeador? Pho, there ismore of this, and to-morrow it will flow: Dost thou not know, DonDemonios, our king, has invited us to a banquet to-morrow? Thou shalthear this banquet spoken of for a thousand years. Ah, the good ship! thegood ship! there is a better thing she brings us than wine.--But that isneither here nor there. Why dost thou not drink?"
"Am I not condemned to death for the infraction of a decree?" said Juan,somewhat sternly, for he thought he perceived in Villafana's levity asymptom of undue excitement; "and dost thou not remember that there is adecree also against drunkenness? Thou hast suffered somewhat from thisalready."
"Dost thou suppose there is a hell?" said Villafana, with some such lookas that which had appalled Juan, when he walked with him over themeadows beyond the city: "For, if thou dost, know then, that I make mypromise to the infernal fiend, to broil with him seven times seventhousand years, if I do not, with a stab for every lash, make up myreckoning with the man who degraded me! _Ojala_ and Amen!--So now,there's enough to keep thee quiet.--Hast thou any gall any where but inthy liver?"
"Thou art besotted, or insane, I think," said Juan, angrily. "I am adying man: begone, and suffer me to make my peace with heaven."
"Come, you think I am drunk," said Villafana, somewhat more rationally:"I grant you; but it is with a stuff stronger than strong drink;--ay,faith, for, to-morrow, I see my way to heaven!--Answer me, truly: haveyou no thirst for vengeance on those who have brought you to thispass?--You see I am sober, hah? One would not die like a sheep.--You mayplay the wolf yet. What if you had an opportunity--"
"Tempt me not, knave," said Juan, turning away his face--"Avoid thee,Satan!"
"What if I should knock open thy doors, and put a sword into thy hand?"said Villafana, bending over, so as to whisper into his ear; "whatwouldst thou do with it?"
"Break it," replied the prisoner, wrapping his mantle about his head, asif to shut out all further temptation.
"Thou art a fool," said the Alguazil, with a growl, and left theapartment.
Juan heard his retreating steps, followed by the clanking of the chain,which, with a strong padlock, on the outside, secured the door of theprison; yet he neither raised his head, nor removed the mantle from hisface, but endeavoured to drive from his heart the thoughts of passion,excited by the words of the tempter. From this gloomy task he was rousedby a soft voice, murmuring, as it seemed to him from the air, for he wasnot aware of the presence of any human being in the apartment,--
"Does the Great Eagle fear the face of his friend?"
He started to his feet, and beheld in the light of the lantern, whichVillafana had left on the table, the figure of an ancient Indian,standing hard by.
"Techeechee!" he exclaimed--"But no; thy speech is pure, thy tongue isanother's. Who art thou, gray-head of Mexico?"
"To-day, Cojotl, the cunning fox of scribes,--yesterday, Olin, thetongue of nobles,--but before, and hereafter, Guatimozin, the friend ofthe Great Eagle," replied the Indian, and as he spoke, he exchanged thedecrepit stoop of age for the lofty demeanour of youth, and parted thegray locks which had hitherto almost concealed his countenance.
"Rash prince," said Juan, "will you yet wear the chains of Montezuma?Why dost thou again entrust thyself among Spaniards?"
"How came the Great Eagle into the place of Guatimozin?" demanded theyoung Mexican, expressively: "Shall he die for Guatimozin, andGuatimozin stand afar off?"
"Alas, prince," said Juan, "thy friendship is noble, but can do me nogood. Leave this place, where thou art in great danger, and think of meno more. I am beyond the reach of help. Think of thyself,--of thypeople, (for, surely, it is thy duty to protect them,) and depart whilethou canst."
"And what am I, that I should do this thing?" said Guatimozin. "Listento me, son of the day-spring: the children of Spain are wolves andreptiles; the iztli is sharp for them, and it must not spare. But thou,the young Eagle, shalt remain the friend of Guatimozin. Has notMalintzin eaten of thy blood? is he not like the big tiger that takes bythe throat? and who shall draw him away? Canst thou remain, and smile onanother sunset? I bring thee liberty."
"How!" said Juan; "is Villafana this traitor, that he will permit me toescape?"
"He is a rat with two faces," said the prince, significantly; "he fearsthe wrath of Malintzin; he loves gold, but he says thou shalt not gotill to-morrow, and to-morrow thou wilt be in Mictlan, the world ofcaves. But Guatimozin can do what the traitor Christian will not. TheEagle is very brave: he shall kill his foe."
As Guatimozin spoke, he drew from his cloak a Spanish dagger, long,sharp and exceedingly bright,--a relic of the spoils won from theinvaders in the Night of Sorrow,--and offered it to the prisoner,adding,
"When I depart, a soldier will fasten the door. If thou artstrong-hearted, thou canst rush by, dealing him a blow. At the water'sedge, by the broken wall, thou wilt find a friend with a canoe; it isTecheechee. Is not Tenochtitlan hard by? Guatimozin, the king of Mexico,will make his friend welcome."
"Prince," said Juan, sadly, "this thing cannot be. Why should I strikedown the poor sentinel? He has done me no wrong. What would become ofthee? Thou couldst not escape. What would become of Villafana, who,knave though he be, has yet done much to serve me? And what, toconclude, would become of _me_, escaping from Christians, to take refugeamong thy unbelieving people? I can die, prince, but I can be neitherrenegade nor apostate."
"Is there nothing in Tenochtitlan, that dwells in the thoughts of thecaptive? I will be very good to thee; and thou shalt drink the blood ofthy foe."
"Prince," said Juan, firmly, "thine eye cannot search the soul of aChristian. Malintzin has done me a great wrong, yet would I not harm ahair of his head; no, heaven is my witness! I can forgive him even mydeath, however unjust and cruel."
"It is a dove of Cholula that speaks in the voice of my friend," saidthe infidel, struck with as much disdain as surprise at the want ofspirit, which his barbarous code of honour discovered in a lack ofvindictiveness: "Is a man a worm that he should be trampled on?"
"No," said Juan, bitterly,--for he could not resist his feelings ofindignation, when he suffere
d himself to consider his degradation inthis light. "Had I resisted him in his first anger, had I resented hisfirst injustice, had I provoked him by any complaint, then might I thinkof his course with submission. But I have not; I have been, indeed, asthou sayest, a worm, at all times helpless, at all times unresisting.Others have complained, some have defied him, but they passedunpunished. I, who have yielded, like a woman, escape not: I creep fromthe path of his anger, but his foot follows me,--turn which way I will,it crushes me. Even Befo will show his teeth sometimes--I have seen himgrowl when Cortes struck him--and by mine honour, I think he struck him,because he was once mine!"
How far, by indulging such thoughts, he might have wrought himself intothe very spirit which Guatimozin was surprised to find absent, we willnot venture to say. He was interrupted by the sudden re-entrance ofVillafana, who immediately exclaimed,
"Will you have my brother Najara diving in upon you? Pho, you talk tooloud: 'tis well you were gabbling in Mexican. Hark ye, Olin, you knave,get you gone! to your den, sirrah!--Pray, senor Juan, tell this rascal,in his own gibberish, that he cannot remain a moment longer from hislock-up, without being discovered.--Come, fellow, come: you shall havemore talk to-morrow."
So saying, the Alguazil conducted the Mexican away. A few moments after,he returned alone. Juan, still disordered and brooding over his wrongs,paced to and fro over the narrow limits of his cell. His agitationIncreased with each step, and, at last, finding that Villafana did notspeak, he exclaimed,
"Come, Villafana,--I know what thou wilt say,--am I not used dog-like?He disdained even to sit upon the trial, to ask me what I had to urge inexcuse of my folly; but left this to judges, who were content to ask'Didst thou this?' and 'Didst thou that?' without permitting me a wordof defence. Surely, I had much provocation in the matter of Guzman; andas for the decree, it should have been remembered, that I was come intothe camp too short a time to have made it as fast in my mind as others,who had heard it daily proclaimed for months. I must die for this!--dielike a hunted assassin!--my hand stuck against the prison-door, my bodygiven, perhaps, to fatten the lean hogs that will fatten my judges! Oh,by heaven, this is intolerable to think on!"
"Thou wilt believe, now, that thou wert sent to the South Sea for nogood?"
"Ay, I will believe anything," said Juan, in increasing excitement. "And_this_ too! scarce an hour returned from my sufferings, endured forhim,--endured to regain his good-will! Ay, and before I had donespeaking, he would have sent me to Mexico, to be sacrificedthere!--before I had eaten and drunk! before I had rested my weariedbody, before I had recruited my exhausted strength!--Tell me, Villafana!was it not by his design I was entrapped into giving shelter to--But,no! that could not be; in that, at least, he must be innocent. But, inthe rest, it is oppression, grinding, intolerable oppression!"
"Well, I marvel he did not let thee off with a scourging," saidVillafana, swallowing another draught from the neglected flask. "Come,drink, and we will discourse together."
"A scourging!" said Juan, seizing the Alguazil's arm with a grasp whichshowed that imprisonment and sorrow had not altogether robbed him ofstrength; "dare you talk to me of scourging?"
"Ay, marry," said Villafana, whose object seemed to be to excite theslumbering fury of the young man, and who now, in the effect of a wordused for another purpose, discovered a point on which his equanimity wasnot impregnable; "ay, faith; for the whole army cries out upon hisbarbarity, saying that he is murdering you; so that he already talks ofletting you off with a scourging.--He was as good with me."
"By the saints of heaven!" cried Juan, snatching up the dagger whichGuatimozin had left, and striking it into the table with a fury whichsplit the plank in twain, "were it his own, I would drive this steelinto the breast of the man that designed me such dishonour. Scourge me!Thanks be to heaven, that sends this weapon!"
"Oho, senor!" said Villafana, with counterfeited indignation, "you willresist, will you! Hah! and you have a dagger, too! Come, senor, give itup."
"Fool," said the prisoner, "thy bitter words have unchained me at last,and driven me to desperation. I will not yield this weapon but with mylife. Wo betide him that comes to me with a scourge, were it Don Hernanhimself!"
"You will resist him then?--Why now you are a man again! Sit down; fearnot: you shall have a better weapon. Come, let us drink a little: 'tis araw night, and rainy. Here's success to our vengeance--a quart of bloodapiece! Methinks, you are more wronged than myself--Therefore, you shallstrike the first blow. I give you this privilege, out of friendship. Thesecond is mine."
While Villafana held forth in these extraordinary terms, Juan, shockedinto composure, became aware that the wine, which the Alguazil pliedwith characteristic infatuation, had already made serious inroads uponhis brain. He ogled and smiled, with a stupid contortion of countenance,which was meant to be significant; his articulation was impeded, and hisexpressions coarser than usual; and without being positively drunk, hewas reduced to that condition in which the natural propensities get thebetter of all artificial qualities. Hence, he became fierce andbloody-minded, without displaying any of the subtle cautiousness andcunning inquisitiveness, that were common to him in his sober hours. Itwas for this reason that he proceeded to unfold the secrets of hisbreast, without being in any degree abashed by the looks of horror, withwhich Juan heard him.
"Know then, brother Juan," said he, "that thou shalt lap the blood ofDon Demonios to-morrow morning, at the banquet-table; and afterwardshang up Guzman with thine own hands. Thou art too white-livered, or thoushouldst have known of the matter earlier. Also, thou shalt have thyfair nun again, as before:--that is, upon condition she likes theebetter than me; which may be, or may not, for who can tell whether thestar will shoot into the marsh, or fall upon the mountain?--Bah! it is apity I brought thee not another flagon. Busta! I will drink no more; forthis is no time to be thick-witted.--Know then, _Juanito querido_, wehave brought our conspiracy to a head; and out of the nine hundredChristians in this town there are two hundred and forty sworn on dirk,buckler, and crucifix, to our whole game,--three hundred, who will winkand stand by, till the play is over,--three hundred who will swear faithto the devil himself, when Don Demonios lies hid in his pocket,--and asfor the rest, why we must e'en have some hanging and stabbing."
"In heaven's name," said Juan, "what dost thou mean? Art thou reallymad? Bethink thee what thou art saying!"
"Hah!" cried Villafana, "wilt thou skulk backwards, after all? Dost thoupretend to oppose us? We had some thoughts of making thee one of thethree chief captains. This Olea stands to; for he swears thou art thebest leader in the camp."
"Is Gaspar sworn among you?" said Juan, with a faint voice, hisdetestation of the bloody scheme arousing him to the necessity ofsifting it to the bottom--for he forgot his captivity, and thought onlyof arresting the progress of a treason so fearful.
"Ay," returned the Alguazil; "and better men than he. Come, clap thyname to the paper, and I swear thou shalt have a command among us,though I should kill thy rival-candidate Gil Gonzales, with my own hand.Dost thou not know these fellows? We have hidalgos among us."
As he spoke, he pulled from his bosom a paper, on which Juan read withaffright the names of several men of rank, mingled with those of commonsoldiers, with many of which he was familiar. His first thought was tosecure this dreadful list, and calling to the guards about the prison,arrest the Alguazil upon the spot. A moment's consideration determinedhim to take further advantage of the communicativeness of the traitor,until made acquainted with all the details of the conspiracy. He bridledhis anger, therefore, and concealing his horror under an appearance ofdoubt and hesitation, to which his trembling agitation gave no littleforce, he said,
"How is this? Are these names good and true?"--
"See you not Barba Roxa's sign-manual, near the bottom of the list? Hesubscribed it last night. He draws the figure of a knife well, as onewho knows how to use it. But as for thee, _nino mio_, thou art able towrite thy signature in full."
; "Stay," cried Juan. "What are you to do? You spoke of a banquet, and themorning. Assassination, hah?"
"Did I not tell thee before? Look," said the Alguazil, with a harshlaugh, displaying a letter, well secured with wax and fillet, on whichwas written the name of the Captain-General. "Know, that this letter,written carefully on the outside, by mine own hand, (for there isnothing within,) comes from the senor's sire, old Don Martin, whom thedevil take to his rest, for fathering so ill-tempered a son. Thisletter, thou must know," he went on with a chuckle of self-approvingcraft, "came in the ship of Seville that brought this good wine, andwas, by an evil accident, detained on the way. Know, sirrah, and this ismy device: The general hath forgotten to invite me to his feastto-morrow, in honour of his saint-day, or some other thing--_Quiensabe?_ It is very rude. But he has invited all my caballeros on thispaper, and some four score soldiers, who are down likewise. The restwill take their ease in the vestibule, and on the square, to be ready.What do I then? Marry, this: I break in upon the revel with the letterin my hand, and a dagger in my sleeve; the others crowd round withcongratulations, and I strike him under the ribs--Pho! I forgot; thoucanst not have the _first_ blow, as I promised thee; but thou shaltfollow, cloaked up to the eyes, and be free to take the second.--Whatdost thou think of my plot, hah, dear devil? Hah!--"
"That it is the most damnable and dastardly ever devised by villain, andshall bring thee to a villain's death. Rogue! didst thou think thoucouldst tell this to _me_, and live? I have thy treason in my hand, andwill use it as it becomes an honourable man and Christian. What ho,guards! treason, treason!"
Greatly astounded as Villafana was by this unexpected defection, theshock served rather to sober than affright him. He gave the prisoner alook of unspeakable malice, and whipping out his sword and calling forhelp as clamorously as Juan, he assaulted him with the utmost fury. Atthe same time, five or six of the guardsmen rushed in, and to Juan'sutter dismay, instead of aiding him to secure the Alguazil, rushed uponhim, some with their spears, to transfix him against the wall, whileothers, springing behind him, secured him in their arms, and hurled himupon the floor. In an instant, he had lost both the fatal list and thedagger of Guatimozin, and was at the mercy of Villafana, who knelt uponhis breast, and shortened his sword, to despatch him with a thrust. Butat the very moment when he had given up all hope, and was commending hissoul to his Maker, the savage and exulting laugh with which the Alguazilaimed at his throat, was changed to an exclamation of alarm and pain. Upstarted the assassin, and Juan, springing also to his feet, he beheld,with surprise, the figure of La Monjonaza standing betwixt him and theassailants. The gray mantle had fallen from her head and shoulders,revealing a form of the finest symmetry, and a countenance convulsedinto beauty, such as might have become a warring Bellona; to whom shemight have been well compared, only that in place of the whip and torchwhich a moralizing mythology has put into the hands of the goddess, sheheld an emblem equally expressive, in a short dagger, gleaming withblood from the shoulder of Villafana.
"Villain!" she cried, after looking as if she would have repeated theblow, "art thou not yet requited? Begone!"
And the discomfited traitor, scowling and pointing at the bloodtrickling from his arm, and yet obviously quailing before her sternfrown, left the prison, followed by the guards, who seemed even moreterrified than himself.
The Infidel; or, the Fall of Mexico. Vol. I. Page 18
