The Infidel; or, the Fall of Mexico. Vol. II.

by Robert Montgomery Bird

  CHAPTER XII.

  As Guatimozin had confessed to Juan Lerma, the three suburbs of thecauseways were already demolished, and their ruined walls, battered bycannon and blackened by smoke, peered over the lake, along thecauseways, in melancholy ruins. The hand of desolation had extendedstill further; at least, in the quarter that was pierced by the dike ofIztapalapan. Here Cortes commanding in person, and fighting every day atthe head of his army, he had infected the whole division with a share ofhis own energy. While Alvarado and Sandoval were contending for afoothold on the very borders of the city, he had already penetrated itto the distance of half a mile, destroying many houses, though withoutbeing able to effect a secure and permanent lodgment upon any portion ofthe island.

  It must not be supposed, that, having reached the island, the Spaniardscould exchange the narrow and ditched causeways for firm and spaciousstreets. On the contrary, the causeways, so to speak, were continued upto within half a mile of the principal square which was in the verycentre of the city, and contained the great pyramid, as well as thechief temples of Mexico. On either side was a canal both broad and deep,dividing the road from the houses; and others, running from intersectingstreets, perforated the causeways with chasms, the number of which theMexicans had long since greatly increased. The island, which wascircular, did not exceed three miles in diameter, of which the centralthird only was dry and solid. Hence the advanced posts of the threedivisions were at no considerable distance from each other; and if thecall of Cortes in the morning was not absolutely heard and answered byhis two lieutenants, the bugles of each could be easily distinguished,cheering one another as they advanced to the daily assault.

  The labour of Cortes in destroying the suburb in his quarter, was lessthan that of the others; for here, the lake being deeper, the housesextended but a short distance from the island. His advanced post wasalmost within the limits of the suburb, and separated from the island byonly one ditch, which he had twice or thrice taken and filled up, butwas as often obliged to yield again to the foe, subduing his impatience,until his lieutenants had advanced equally far in their quarters.

  The outposts were always guarded with the most jealous vigilance,particularly in the later hours of the night, after the rains, which, inthis climate, commonly prevail with the greatest violence between thehours of noon and midnight. A guard of forty men, with two pieces ofartillery, kept watch until midnight; when, yielding their places toforty more, but not retiring, they threw themselves to sleep upon thedamp stones and clay. Two hours before dawn, the post was strengthenedby another company of forty, who watched until morning, the othersflinging themselves in their cloaks among the first watchmen. Thus,there were ready, before day, one hundred and twenty men, the strongestand boldest of their divisions, who, in case of sudden attack, couldpreserve the station, until reinforced by the whole strength of thedivision, from the towers of the gates, which were still thehead-quarters of the several divisions. The causeway between the gatesand the pickets, was occupied by patrols of horsemen, who watched lestthe enemy, coming in canoes, should make a descent behind the advancedpost, and thus cut it off.

  Two hours after midnight, upon the night in which Juan revealed hispurpose of escaping, the second guard on the causeway of Iztapalapan wasrelieved from watch by the coming of the third; and the soldiers flungthemselves, as usual, upon the earth, to prepare for a morning, which,it was known to all, was to witness a general assault, madesimultaneously by all the divisions, from their three several quarters.

  The watchfires were replenished, and two subalterns, the leaders of theparty, advanced a little beyond them, to reconnoitre the condition ofthe enemy. Three hundred paces in front, the causeway was intersected bythe ditch, held by the Mexicans; and beyond it, on a strong rampart,blazed a great fire, in the light of which the pagan sentinels could beseen, squatting upon the mound, or stalking idly about. The gap wasbridgeless, as was well-known; but this the Spaniards could not observewith their own eyes, not thinking it prudent to advance within the rangeof a Mexican arrow.

  As they returned, they conversed together in low voices; and it wasworthy of remark, as indicating how little their spirits were occupiedby the dangers around them, that they bestowed more words upon theordinary scandal of the camp than upon the horrible conflicts throughwhich they had passed, or in which they were yet to mingle.

  "They lay this thing of Camarga entirely to the door of Guzman," saidone; "and, in my mind, the imputation were reasonable, could we discoverany cause for enmity between them. They say, that Guzman smothered himwith pillows of cottontree-down. Wherefore--"

  "Pho, Najara," said the other, bluffly; "blame not a man upon these vainfancies; for Camarga was killed by a hard weapon, and by no pillows ofcotton-down or feathers. I found him myself."

  "Ay," said Najara, for it was the hunchback, whose companion was noother than the worthy historian, Bernal Diaz del Castillo,--"Ay, senoramigo, but he was not dead; and we are speaking of two very differentevents: to make which palpable to thy historical wits, we must e'en goback to the starting point. It is with a man of ill mind as with acannonier; who, if he look for the mark of his ball in a forest, must goback to the place whence he shot it, and take the range over again."

  "I do not understand thy trope," said Bernal, "nor what thou meanest byan 'ill mind,' not having one myself, but one that harbours animositiesagainst none but Indians. As for Camarga, I found him myself. It waswhen we marched out of Tezcuco, by the northern road; for I was thenwith Alvarado, going to Tacuba. I say it, and it is to my honour, notshame, that Cortes, when he left the brigantines, demanded me ofAlvarado; 'for,' said he, 'Bernal Diaz is one of my best friends, and asoldier second to none:' which is true, though I say it myself. De Olidwas with us, with his men. The story is this: When we passed by thecypress-tree on the hill, I bethought me of a chapter of my book, whichI had lost, I knew not where nor when. 'Now,' said I, 'perhaps I left itunder this tree;' for what with the sudden coming of Juan Lerma, poorfellow, and the quarrel I had with Gaspar on his account, I departedfrom that place, without much thought of what might be left behind me.But pondering on this, as we passed, I dropped from the ranks, andhunting about, I saw Camarga lying mangled at the bottom of the hill;and when we came to examine him, it was plain he had been strugglingthere for many hours,--perhaps, all night. We thought he was dead; butJuan Catalan, the cannonier, who is so good at a fresh wound, said, hisheart was yet beating, and he might live. So we sent him back toTezcuco, then in charge of Guzman, that the Indian doctors might seewhat could be done for him. And there he died."

  "Ay, if we can believe Guzman," said Najara; "and no doubt, he did: but_how_? Know now, Bernal, for thou art too innocent to look further thanthy nose, that this man's death has made a great noise at head-quarters;for, somehow, they have come to associate it with the marvellousdisappearance of La Monjonaza; for which there are but two ways ofaccounting."

  "As how?" said Bernal, gravely. "Gil Ortaga told me, he saw her ghost,six nights after, in Iztapalapan, dragging the spirit of Villafana bythe hair; which frightened him very much."

  "The first thought," said Najara, "is, that she drowned herself for thelove of Juan Lerma, of which--that is, of her love, at least--there issome proof that might be mentioned, were there any wisdom in speakingit; and the second, that Guzman hid her in some den about Tezcuco,trusting to the departure of Cortes on the morrow. It is well known thatGuzman will play rival with the devil himself, if he have taken a fancyto a woman."

  "Fu," said Bernal, "that is a foolish thought."

  "Dost thou not know," demanded the hunchback, "that he is in disgrace,for acts still darker than these? He abused the Indians in the palace,robbing them of their gold and women, at his will, and greatly incensedthe young king Ixtlilxochitl, who complained to Cortes. Cortes sailed toTezcuco in person, and removed him from his government; and now he is insuch disgrace, that were it not for some old friendship between him andthe Captain-General, it is thought, Cortes would utterly renounce him.T
he Indians say, that he murdered Camarga, when the poor man wasrecovering. But this is improbable. Camarga was a stranger, and withoutfoes. Yet his fate has greatly troubled the general. As for the ladyInfeliz, Don Francisco persists in averring that he knows nothing abouther. He brought a Tlascalan, who swore he saw both her and Camarga walkout from the northern gate together, during the review; whereby he wouldhave us believe they fell into the hands of the Mexicans; but Indianswill swear anything, if you tell them how. It is said, that Guzman hasgot permission to serve in the fleet with Garci Holguin, his old friend.They are two dare-devils together, and neither in very good odour; sothey will doubtless do some desperate act to regain favour.--Hark,Bernal! dost thou hear nothing?"

  "Nothing but the whistling of the Indians at the fire;--for that is theway they make their signals. We shall have hot work to-morrow,Najara."--

  "Hark!--Ah, 'tis the sound of oars! One of the night-ships isapproaching the dike. What's in the wind now?--Hah, sirrah! what bringsthee out of limits?"

  These words were directed to a tall man, cloaked to the eyes, whom theyhad not before noticed, who stood hard by, peering into the lake, as ifhe sought to discover the approaching vessel. Najara hobbled up to him,in no little dudgeon, and repeated the question, before the strangerdeigned to answer him. He then turned, and replied, with great coolness,

  "Curiosity, crookback, curiosity,--some little itching to know how thouand thy brother ass, Bernal Diaz, discourse of thy betters. Well,rogues, have you done? have you despatched mine honour twice over again?I am not in good odour, hah? I have murdered Camarga, and subornedIndians to invent fables of La Monjonaza? Out upon ye, fools! I thoughtthou wert not so sodden-brained, Najara!"

  As if his voice were not enough to make him known, the cavalier removedthe cloak from his visage, and exhibited the iron features of DonFrancisco de Guzman, illuminated by the watchfire hard by. There wassomething about his countenance unusually dark and fierce; yet he didnot speak angrily, although Najara perceived he must have overheard someof his concluding expressions. But Najara was not a man to be dauntedeven by a stronger arm and a sterner eye. He replied therefore, withcomposure,

  "What we have said, senor Don Francisco, we have said, and may take thesame liberty again. But under your favour, senor, I am, just now, thecaptain of the guard; and as I cannot number you among my company, Imust e'en make bold to ask your will, as well as your business, here, inadvance of the post?"

  "Thou shalt ask, and be answered," said Guzman, clapping his fingers tohis lips, and whistling with a strength that might have done honour tothe neighbouring infidels, though in a manner differing entirely fromany of their signals. "One, two,--three,--and _too-whit! too-whit!_ likea hungry kite in the morning! Dost thou understand _that_, mi Corcobado?If thou dost not, then _poco a poco, y paciencia_, as we say afterdinner; for presently thou shalt be made wiser. After which, get thee tothy dogs there, in the mud, and snore with them.--Ah, _amigo y hermano_!Garci, _mi corazoncito_! I will know thy pipe among a thousand, for itwhistles out of the nose, like the hiss of a serpent!--Fare ye well,patches; and heaven send ye a rough rouse in the morning."

  While the cavalier was yet speaking, a little boat from the brigantine,the heavy oars of which they had long since heard, though they couldscarce trace it in the gloom, shot against the causeway; and an officerof a powerful frame and forbidding aspect, just rendered visible by thefire, rising up, extended his hand to Guzman, who immediately jumpedaboard, and took a seat at his side. It was then pushed off, and soonvanished on the lake.

  "There they go," said Najara, not without admiration, "two imps afterthe devil's own liking, strong-handed, tough-headed, hard-hearted! Wobetide ye, brown lambkins of Mexico! for these wolves have scented ahole in your pinfold. I tell thee, Bernal, man, we shall have rare workto-morrow, and these men will make it rarer. When the gall comes fromGuzman's lips, the devil is waked up in his liver. 'A rough rouse in themorning!' For thy good wish, mayst thou have as rugged a couch in theevening--Amen! for I love thee not."