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

by Robert Montgomery Bird

  CHAPTER XIII.

  The two subalterns now rejoined their companions, and passing them, asthey stood patiently to their arms, waiting for the dawn and the battle,they crept through the sleepers towards the cannon, which were placed inthe rear, the cannoniers sleeping around them. Here, they found asolitary individual of the watch they had relieved, leaning moodilyagainst one of the pieces, instead of sharing the slumber of hiscomrades.

  Bernal Diaz surveyed him for a moment, and then touched him on theshoulder:

  "Townsman," said he, "it is but a foolish thing of thee to stand uponthy legs, watching, when thy guard duty is over. Sleep a little,Gaspar--We shall have toilsome work to-morrow."

  "Sleep thyself, Bernal," replied Gaspar Olea. "What care I for sleep?Come, get thee into the mud, and I will take thy place. Thou shalt havemy cloak, too, if thou wilt, to keep the rain out--I can warm me bywalking."

  "I will do no such thing," said Bernal, grasping the hand of his friend,though Gaspar turned from him, and seemed desirous to continue theconversation no longer; "if thou wilt wake, why well. I will talk theeout of thy melancholy. Thou art very much changed, Gaspar. I know notwhy thou shouldst grieve after this boy. Thou must now confess, he isunworthy thy friendship."

  Gaspar returned no answer, and Bernal continued to give consolation byinflicting pain,--which is the common way.

  "It is allowed by all, that he is a renegade; and doubtless, also, hehas become a worshipper of false gods; for he who will turn his swordagainst his countrymen, is a rogue and a blasphemer--That is my opinion.Gil Ortaga said--"

  "The fiend seize Ortaga, and thee into the bargain!" said Gaspar,angrily. "If a deer be wounded, and hide himself in a by-way, hisfellows will not hunt after him, to gore him!--Why shouldst thou haveless humanity than a deer?"

  "Come, Gaspar, if I have offended thee, I ask thy pardon," said BernalDiaz; "for thou art my townsman and friend, though we have quarrelledsometimes; and what I say, I say with a good meaning."

  Gaspar looked over his shoulder, and finding that Najara had returned tothe front, he grasped Bernal's hand, and said earnestly,

  "Let there be ill will and ill words between us no more; for who knowswhat may come to us to-morrow? I know what is said of Juan Lerma. He iswith the infidels--but what drove him among them? He is a renegade,too,--yet what made him so? He teaches the enemy to cut ditches andthrow up ramparts, to lay ambushes and attack ships, and a thousandother feats and stratagems, not to be looked for among barbarians. Thisthey say,--all say; and some swear they have seen him, in a Mexicancloak, fighting at the head of the pagans, and knew him by his statureand voice. Let us believe all this--What then? Bernal, it is a thoughtthat preys upon me, remembering his honour, his goodness, andtruth,--and this it is,--that a damnable malice has driven him, againsthis own will, into the den of perdition. Hark thee, here, in thineear--Thou rememberest the expedition to the South Sea? Before that, thouknowest, I was in great favour with Cortes, whom I loved well, for hehad done me many good deeds in Cuba. About that time, Juan Lerma lostfavour, and no one knew why; for as to censuring the indignities offeredto Montezuma, that was a crime committed by some hundreds besides, whowere never punished. The cause, Bernal, the true cause,--I would I mighttell thee the true cause: but I swore an oath never to breathe it tomortal man. But _this_ I may speak, (and thou must afterwards forgetit.) I see things more clearly than I did before; and methinks, thisnight, mine eyes are further opened. I see very well, that we are alldeluded and abused, and Juan Lerma an innocent man. Hearken then to whatI say. One night, Cortes came to me, looking more like a demon than aman, and he said to me, 'Gaspar Olea, thou must kill me a snake, thathas stung me upon the breast.' And with that he told me a thing, which Icannot speak; but this followed--I agreed that I would kill Juan Lerma."

  "Thou art beside thyself, Gaspar!" said Bernal, with the utmostastonishment.

  "I had good reason given to me," continued Olea; "and at that time I hadbut little acquaintance with the young man, and no love; and I was boundvery strongly to Cortes. Understand me, Bernal: I did not consent toplay the part of an assassin, for that was no part for Gaspar Olea. Butbeing convinced the thing was just, and that the young man was a knavedeserving death, I agreed to exasperate him into a quarrel; wherein Iappeased my conscience, by thinking of the risk I ran, he being reckonedvery good at all weapons. But what dost thou think? The very next nightcomes me Cortes again, with quite another story. 'Gaspar,' said he, 'thething I told thee was false, and I have done the young man a wrong.Wherefore, quarrel with him not, and forget what I have told thee;'adding many things which satisfied my mind, that the youth was aninnocent man, very basely slandered. This caused me to think well ofhim; and I consented to go with him to the South Sea. There, Bernal, Ilearned to love him, for he was brave, and noble, and good;--ay, by myfaith, I loved him better than ever I had loved the general. But 'Whatthen?' you will say; 'Whereto tends this?' To this--and it is damnableto think upon: The General deceived me,--he repented having made me hisconfidant; but he still longed for the blood of Juan Lerma. Hence theSouth Sea scheme, devised for our destruction--(At this moment, I see itplainly,)--for Juan's, because of the General's hate, and for _mine_,Bernal, because he had confided to me a secret of which he was ashamed.Ay, by my faith! he repented him that passion had made him soindiscreet; and therefore designed to put me out of the way. Thesoldiers have a story that he was angry with me for some freedom ofspeech. This is false. He smiled on me to the last, and thus lulled myfears. Neither Juan nor myself had any suspicion of evil intentions. Hemade it appear, that the expedition was given to us, because of hisregard for our courage; and he deigned to tell me in secret, that hischief reason for sending Lerma, was that he might be angered no longerby his censures,--Juan being then very melancholy and peevish, inconsequence of the death of some old companion he had killed inEspanola. But, Bernal, he deceived us both, as I can now see clearly. Hemade it appear to the soldiers, that he was sorry to punish Juan--Naysome said he shed tears, among the Indians, when he signed thedeath-warrant. But this was hypocrisy. I know that he was rejoiced; forhe remembered the old cause, and abhorred him."

  "Marry," said Bernal Diaz, "it cannot be doubted he did. But the cause,Gaspar? I do not ask thee, what it was: but was it enough to excuse suchrancour?"

  "If true, _yes_," replied Gaspar, with deep emphasis: "But it was nottrue. Juan was innocent. I have probed his heart a thousand times, whilewe were in the desert together, and when he knew not what I was doing.He has not wronged Cortes--no, nor any other living creature. This Itold the General, when we returned to Tezcuco, after the campaign roundthe lake. But what wouldst thou think? He averred that he had forgot thething;--that it was very foolish;--a groundless slander brought againstJuan by an enemy;--that he loved him as well as ever, and proceededagainst him only on account of broken laws and decrees;--that he durstnot pardon him, since his affection was well known, (his _affection_,Bernal!) and the men would cry out against his favouritism. I knew hespoke falsely, and so I told him. He hardened my heart; and then I ranto Villafana, who had the power to save him, and promised to make himour chief captain."

  "Now that you speak of Villafana," said Bernal, "it reminds me of this:Why, had Juan Lerma been a man of honour and a Christian, should he havejoined in the murderous plots of that detestable traitor?"

  "Thou shouldst ask that of _me_," said Gaspar, fiercely. "But it mattersnot. Who says that Juan Lerma joined him? Najara avers that he kept themfrom speech together; and Luis Rafaga, who died of the wounds he gotamong the piraguas, a week since, declared to his comrades as well asthe priest, (and being of the prison-guard, he knew all,) that Juanfought in the prison with Villafana, about the list, the very night thatVillafana was hanged, and would have been killed, but for the coming ofLa Monjonaza. I saw the traitor, myself, when he came among thecavaliers; and he was hurt in the shoulder. Does this look like joininghim? Trust me, Bernal, we have done a great wrong to my young captain;and I cannot die, without thinking t
hat I leave behind me one man, atleast, to do him justice. This is what I say:--Not his crime, but thegeneral's secret malice, has driven him among the infidels. He is aprisoner with them, or perhaps he has already died the death ofsacrifice. They lie, who say they have seen, or will see him in armsagainst us. On this I will gage my life; and I pray heaven to take it,the moment the pledge is forfeited! I swear it--Amen."

  The worst point in the character of a dog, is that, in all the quarrelsbetwixt others of his species, he always takes part against the feebler.In this particular, he is sometimes aped by his master,--not, indeed, inan absolute conflict between man and man; for ninety in a hundred will,in such case, befriend the weaker party,--but in those combats which anindividual wages with an evil destiny. Ill thoughts naturally followupon ill luck; and it is the curse of misfortune to be followed byungenerous suspicion and still more odious crimination. As the wholearmy were acquainted with the manner of Juan's flight, or rathercaptivity, they did not hesitate to believe him up in arms against them;and every repulse which they endured from the barbarians, they traced tothe malignance and activity of the exile's treason. Fear and inventiontogether clothed him with the vestments of a fallen angel; and if somesavage, more gigantic and ferocious than the rest, distinguished himselfin the front of battle, straightway a dozen voices invoked curses uponthe head of the unhappy Lerma. There were few who did not forget hissorrows and wrongs, and speak of him only with execrations; and many hadalready begun to anticipate, as the chief triumph of victory, and themost delightful of all their hopes, the privilege of burning him aliveon the temple-top, or even sacrificing him to their vengeance, after theequally horrific manner of the Mexicans.

  While Bernal Diaz was thus conversing with the outcast's only friend,there came from the distant gates of Xoloc, a suppressed hum, as of anarmy arising from its slumbers. This was soon followed by the sound ofheavy bodies of men, approaching over the causeway; and it soon becameevident, that the morn was to be ushered in with the usual horrors ofcontention.

  "Up, knaves!" cried the voice of the hunchback, "ye grumbling, growling,wallowing, swine, that call yourselves lions and tigers! up, and shakethe clay from your cloaks, before it is trodden off by the hoofs of thehorsemen!"

  As he spoke, a cavalier galloped up to the party, and drawing in hissteed, while the men rose to their feet, he exclaimed,

  "_Halon_, Najara, man! where art thou? Dost thou talk thus in thysleep?"

  "Ay, may it please your excellency," said the hunchback, recognizing thevoice of Cortes; "for it is well, on such a post, that a soldier shouldhave the faculty of issuing commands asleep, as well as waking."

  "Dost thou hear, Diaz?" muttered Gaspar in his companion's ear. "Wouldstthou think now to what the devil has tempted me, ever since I have seenclearly that of which I have spoken? I tell thee, man, I have sometimesthought it were but a turn of good friendship, to kill the man who hasbrought these things upon Juan Lerma!"

  "Thou art mad!" said the historian in alarm. But his furtherremonstrance was cut short by Cortes riding by, and even urging hischarger, though at a cautious pace, beyond the watchfire, as if toreconnoitre with his own eyes, the situation of the foe.

  "Fear me not," said Gaspar, bitterly. "You shall see me do what I havedone before at Xochimilco,--pluck him out of the jaws of the devourers,if need be. I think I was then enchanted; for, when I saw the Indianshave him off his horse, I said to myself, 'If I let him die now, no harmhappens to Juan Lerma.' But come--let us follow after him. And bid someof your dull sluggards along with us, lest the pagans should make asally from the rampart. Hark! he has ridden up, till their fire shineson his armour, and they see him! He will have the villains upon us,before the reinforcements arrive!"

  The Captain-General did, indeed, advance so far that he was seen by thepagan sentinels, who whistled out a shrill note of alarm, and then benttheir bows against him, till his corslet and the iron buckler which hecarried before his face, rattled under the crashing arrowheads. Thusadmonished, he rode a little back, and was joined by three or four othercavaliers, who came galloping up from the causeway.

  "What say ye, cavaliers?" he cried. "Methinks there is not even a ducklying near the causey-side, much less a brace or two of my brigantines."

  "If your excellency be looking for the ships," said Najara, "I cansatisfy your mind. There were some five or six here an hour since: Iheard the plunging of their anchors on both sides of the dike."

  "Ah! I will set thine ears against mine eyes any dark morn,Corcobado.--Fetch up the Indians, Quinones; and bid the horsemen followat their heels. And hark ye, Najara,--let your drowsy knaves take poston the causey-sides, lest they be trampled to death under the feet of myred pioneers. Wheel up the pieces some ninety or an hundred paces inadvance; and see that your matchsticks be dry and combustible. Wheredidst thou hear the sound of the anchors?"

  "But a little distance on the lake; and methinks I can see two of thevessels on the left, betwixt us and the Indians.--His valour, Don GarciHolguin, did but now take up the senor Guzman--"

  "A pest upon Guzman!" said the general, sharply. "Get thee to thy men,and move me the ordnance without delay."

  "'A pest upon Guzman?'" muttered Gaspar. "I have a thought of him also;but I know not that he has done Juan a wrong. At all events, methinks,his case is like mine.--The general's secrets are unlucky."

  With that, he retired, and took post among the soldiers.

  In a few moments, a numerous body of Indian auxiliaries made theirappearance, bearing, besides their ordinary weapons, which were slung ontheir backs, certain hoes and mattocks, called _coas_, some of stone,others of copper, but most of them of some hard wood. It was thebusiness of these men to fill up the ditches, after the defenders hadbeen driven away by a fierce cannonade from the ships, and by incessantdischarges of stones and arrows from fleets of piraguas, manned by otherIndian confederates, which lay near the brigantines. And here it may beobserved, that the labour of filling a ditch was much inferior to thatof re-opening it; and the causeways being constructed of stones as wellas clay, it was not possible to remove the former to any great extent.Hence, the gaps that had been once or twice filled, remained,notwithstanding the toil of the besieged, so shallow, that they might,at almost any period, be forded; though this, usually, was not done,until they were filled above the level of the water.

  Immediately after these pioneers, came a small body of horsemen, behindwhom were ranged the lancers and swordsmen; the musketeers andcross-bowmen being chiefly distributed among the ships.

  These arrangements having been made, and the Tlascalans halting withinthe distance of two hundred paces from the ditch, and throwingthemselves flat upon their faces on the causeway, to guard against thefirst volleys of the foe, all were directed to remain in repose, untilthe coming daylight should give the signal for battle.

  Nothing now broke the silence of the hour, save the dropping sound ofpaddles from two numerous squadrons of canoes, filled with allies, whichwere stationed on the flanks of the rear.