by G. A. Henty
Chapter 10: News From The Coast.
It was with a feeling of pleasure and relief that, after somehours, Roger saw the hangings drawn aside, and Cacama enter.
"Come, my friend, the council is over, and you may return with me."
Cacama was evidently anxious to be off at once, and Roger followedhim without a question. One of the pages of the palace led the waythrough a long series of passages, and at last Roger found himselfoutside the palace, where a door opened into a canal. Here Cacama'sboat was lying. The young king and Roger took their seats, and thecanoe dashed off at once.
"It has been a hard fight in the council," Cacama said. "No two menwere of the same opinion. Even the priests were divided amongthemselves; and Montezuma was as undecided, at the end, as he wasat the beginning; so that the decision is postponed. Then thequestion arose, were you to be treated as a guest or as a prisoner?And this I settled by saying that I would take you back with me toTezcuco, and produce you whenever required. So in order to avoidexcitement among the people, I sent word for the boat to be broughtround to that quiet entrance to the palace, by which means weavoided passing through the streets, altogether.
"At one time it seemed to me that the decision would go againstyou, on the ground that, had you been a supernatural being, youwould have had new arts to teach the people. Fortunately, I hadbrought with me the pictures you made for my wife and sister, andthese I showed them. I pointed out that they were altogetherdifferent from the work of our own scribes; that these drew stiffimages that looked like representations, not of men and animals,but of wooden creatures, while in your drawings it seemed as if themen and animals were moving across the paper; and that, were you toteach our scribes thus to portray objects, it would make a profoundalteration in Mexican art.
"This made a great impression upon them. Many of the nobles belongingto the Council of Education were present, and Montezuma himself isfond of art. All were greatly struck with your paintings, and thesecertainly went a long way towards strengthening my party. When we getback, you shall do some pictures of things such as they see here, andare accustomed to. Perhaps you could do even better, still, if youwere to try."
"I could make much more finished pictures," Roger said. "These wereonly sketched off in haste, and with such colors as came to hand;but if I had pigments, and could mix the colors as I wanted them, Icould produce very much better effect."
Roger, as a child, had been placed by his father, during thelatter's long absences from home, at a school kept by some monks ata monastery at Plymouth, in order that he might learn to read andwrite--as these accomplishments would be of great use to him, as amaster mariner. His fondness for painting attracted the attentionof one of the old monks, who illuminated missals; and he hadpermitted him to copy many of the manuscripts in the monastery, andhad given him instructions in the art. He had, indeed, been sostruck with the talent the boy showed, that he told Reuben Hawkshawthat if he would let his son devote himself to art, he would make afamous painter. The sailor had scoffed at the idea; and Rogerhimself, fond as he was of painting, would have been reluctant toabandon the idea of going to sea.
The instructions he had obtained, however, up to the age of twelve,when he went on his first voyage with his father, had been of greatassistance to him. Thanks to his natural talent, his visits to thechurches at the various ports at which the ship touched, and to thefact that he had plenty of time on board to practice the art, hispictures were surprisingly good, and had excited a great deal ofattention on the part of the friends and acquaintances of MasterDiggory Beggs.
Upon his return to Tezcuco, Cacama ordered the scribes to furnishhim with large sheets of the best paper, brushes, and pigments. Thecolors were all bright and glaring ones; but by mixing them, andadding some sombre dyes he obtained in the market, Roger succeededin getting the required tints. Taking his place in the garden, at apoint where he commanded the lake, near at hand, dotted withcanoes; and the city of Mexico, with its background of hills, inthe distance, Roger set to work. To the surprise of the scribe whohad been ordered to assist him, he mixed the colors with oilinstead of water, and then began his picture. He worked as long asthere was sufficient light, and recommenced it the next morning,directly after sunrise, and continued at work all day; and byevening had finished the picture, three feet by two, which,although it would not be considered remarkable in Europe, excitedthe most lively admiration on the part of Cacama and the ladies.
He explained to the king that, as he had none of the spirit thatwas used in conjunction with the oil to make it dry rapidly, itwould be some days before the picture would be sufficiently dry tobe touched. Cacama, however, sent it off the next morning undercharge of his principal scribe to Montezuma, who sent back wordthat he was astonished, indeed, at this work of art, which seemedto him to be almost magical; and he sent, in return, a large goldengoblet to Roger, in token of his satisfaction.
Cacama was summoned to a council on the following day; andreturned, saying that the picture had quite turned the scale inRoger's favor; that it had been examined by the chief scribes andthe men of science, who all agreed that no such thing had been seenbefore; and that a person who was thus able to turn, as it were, aleaf of paper into a mirror, to fix upon it the representation ofscenes just as the eye beheld them, must be possessed of powersaltogether strange and supernatural. They desired to know whetherhe would teach his methods to some of the chief scribes of theemperor.
Cacama warmly congratulated Roger on the result.
"You are now safe, for the present, at any rate," he said, "and thepriests are silenced. You may have trouble in the future, but forthe time Montezuma's love of art has overcome his doubts and fearsas to good and evil omens."
"Shall I have to take up my residence in Mexico?"
"I hardly think so," Cacama replied. "Tezcuco is still acknowledgedthe center of the arts and sciences of Anahuac. Here are the bestschools of the scribes, and they come here to be instructed inhieroglyphic writing from all parts of the kingdom. Moreover, inthat way Montezuma will have less uneasiness concerning you. Hewill think that, even if the omens be unfavorable, there will be nodanger so long as you are at a distance from his capital;therefore, I think he is more likely to order some of the scribesto take up their residence here, for a time, than he is to bid youto cross to teach them there."
Such in fact was the purport of the message received from Montezumaon the following day. Six of the most accomplished scribes ofMexico were to proceed at once to Tezcuco, there to be instructedin the new art; and the next day Roger found himself established ina room in the palace, with the six Aztec scribes, and six of thosemost celebrated for their skill in Tezcuco. Some attendants weretold off to mix colors under his directions, and to purchase forhim, in the market, all kinds of dyes and colors he might require.A male and female slave were, at Roger's request, placed at hisservice to act as models; and the attendants had orders to fetch,from the cages and aviaries, any beasts and birds he might desireto copy.
Roger had, at first, some difficulty in preserving his gravity atthus undertaking charge of an art school. At first he confinedhimself to sketching, from the models, with a burnt stick on thewhite paper, and in seeing that his pupils did the same. Theirdrawing had hitherto been purely conventional. They had alwaysdrawn a man in a certain way, not because they saw him so, butbecause that was the way in which they had been taught to draw him;and he had great difficulty in getting them to depart altogetherfrom these lines, and to draw the model exactly as he stood beforethem.
What he called his school hours lasted but four hours a day; and ashe did this work in the middle of the day, when it was too hot togo out, but very pleasant in the rooms with their thick walls andsemi-shaded windows, it interfered but little with his daily life.He had now a set of apartments next to those of Cuitcatl, withattendants to wait upon him; but his time was spent as much in theyoung noble's rooms as in his own. In the morning they walkedtogether, either in the town or beyond its walls. In the eveningthey spen
t hours upon the lake, sometimes in large canoes with gayparties, the boats decked with flowers; while at a short distanceanother boat with musicians followed in their wake, the melody,which was by no means agreeable to Roger when close, coming softlyacross the water. With Cuitcatl as a guide, Roger visited theschools where the young nobles were educated, and which remindedhim much of that at which he had, for five or six years, beentaught.
He also frequently witnessed the drilling of the soldiers. This wasof a very simple character, consisting principally in teaching themto move together in masses, and to shoot with a bow. The bows werelight and the arrows small, and Roger thought that they couldscarcely be very formidable weapons, even against men clad inquilted cotton; for although they might wound and annoy, they couldseldom kill.
One evening, about five months after his arrival, Roger had justreturned from an excursion upon the lake; and he and Cuitcatl wereseated in the latter's rooms, sipping chocolate, when the hangingsof the door were drawn aside suddenly, and Amenche entered. With anexclamation of surprise, the two young men rose to their feet andsaluted deeply.
"You must fly," she exclaimed to Roger, "and at once. The royalboat has just come from Mexico, with two nobles and a guard. Theyhave orders to carry you back with them. The news has arrived thatseveral floating castles, filled with white men with strange armsand animals, have arrived on the coast. Secret council has beenheld, and Montezuma is full of alarm. The priests have decided thatyou are undoubtedly a spy, and must be sacrificed, at once, to thegods. I happened to be behind the hanging, heard what was said, andhurried away to warn you.
"There is not a moment to lose. Go round to the garden, and concealyourself in the shrubbery near the eagle house. I will tell Cacamawhere you are, and he will come or send down to you, to say whathad best be done, and where you are to go. Do not delay an instant.The orders were urgent, and they will be here in a minute or two toseize you.
"Not a word, now. Go! I must not be found here. I will see youagain," and she was gone.
"Come, my friend," Cuitcatl said; "there is evidently not a momentto be lost."
Roger ran into his room; emptied, from a drawer where they werelying, the gold ornaments and presents he had received, and tiedthem in a cloth; caught up his sword and then, with Cuitcatl,hurried down the passage. Just as they reached the end, they saw aparty appear at the other extremity, preceded by an officialcarrying torches.
"We are but just in time," the young noble said. "The princess hassaved your life."
In two or three minutes they were in the garden and keepingcarefully in the shade of the shrubs, so as to escape the view ofany who might be sitting at the windows, or on the flat roof of thepalace, enjoying the lovely evening and the bright moonlight. Theymade their way cautiously down to the eagle house, which lay at theother end of the garden, nearly half a mile from the palace. Thewhole thing had come so suddenly upon Roger that he could scarcelybelieve, even now, that his pleasant and tranquil time had come toan end, and he was in danger of being dragged away and instantlysacrificed.
Scarce a word was spoken until they reached the spot indicated.Close to this grew a large patch of bamboos.
"We will take refuge here, for the present," Cuitcatl said. "It ishardly likely they will search the gardens at night. It would needan army to do so thoroughly. If we hear footsteps approaching, wecan take refuge inside; and meantime, let us seat ourselves here.
"These must be the people you told us of, the first night youcame."
"No doubt they are so; but, Cuitcatl, you had best return at onceto your chamber. You will be missed as well as I shall, and itwould be suspected that you had a share in my flight; and if Ishould make my escape, the emperor's vengeance may fall on you.Pray leave me at once. I should be most unhappy if my misfortunesbrought trouble upon you. You have been like a brother to me, sinceI came here."
"I should not think of leaving you," the young noble said firmly.
"But you can do me more good by going, Cuitcatl. You will see whatis taking place there, and may throw them off the scent; while hereyou can do me no good whatever, and indeed might do me harm. Were Ifound here with you, I should be forced to surrender withoutstriking a blow; for I should be afraid to resist, lest I shouldbring harm upon you; whereas, if I am alone, I would fight to thedeath rather than surrender. Besides, you will be able to consultthe princess, and can bring down such things as you may considerwill aid me in my flight--though how I am to escape the searchthere will be after me is more than I can guess. Pray go at once,for the sooner you go the sooner you can bring me back news of whatis being done up there."
Cuitcatl saw the justice of Roger's reasoning.
"I may, at least, throw them off the scent," he said, "and seeabout preparing for your flight. You promise to hide in the bamboosthere, if searchers should come in this direction?"
"Certainly I do. I will do all in my power to conceal myself, andwill only fight if there be no other way."
Cuitcatl at once glided noiselessly off, keeping as before in theshadow of the bushes. For an hour and a half Roger remained alone.He was sitting under the shadow of the bamboos, and could in amoment withdraw himself among them.
At last he thought he heard a slight noise, and drew back towardsthe thick canes. A moment later, however, he stepped forward, as afigure he at once recognized advanced across a patch of moonlightfrom the next clump of shrubs.
"All is well so far," Cuitcatl said. "Directly I entered thepalace, an attendant told me that I was being inquired for, and Iproceeded straight to the royal apartments. Montezuma's messengerswere there. They at once asked me if I had seen you. I said yes,that we had been walking together, but that you had not returnedwith me, as you said that the night was so lovely you should remainout for some time longer. They asked me if I could lead them towhere you were; but I said that you had not told me which way youshould go, and you might, for aught I knew, have taken a canoe andgone for a moonlight row on the lake, as was often your custom.
"Orders have been issued to the city guard to arrest you,immediately, wherever you might be found; and the envoys themselvesstarted at once, with the guard they had brought with them, to thewaterside. Up to that time Cacama, who had not left them, was inignorance what had become of you; and I could see he was anxious,and much troubled."
"'Do you know where he is?' he asked me, as soon as we were alone.
"'Would it not be better, your Majesty,' I said, 'that you shouldremain in ignorance? Should he escape, Montezuma will be furious;and it might be well that you should be able to affirm, on youroath, that you knew nothing of him, and were in no way privy to hisescape.'
"'But is there a chance of his escaping?' he asked.
"'We will do what we can,' I said; 'and we can do no more. With adisguise, a guide, and arms, Roger Hawkshaw may be able to make hisway through the country, in spite of Montezuma and his army. Ishould think that the best thing will be to get him into a smallcanoe, take him to the end of the lake, and land him nearTepechpan. Then he can strike up north, take to the hills there,and then journey east. All the roads direct from here will be soguarded that it will be impossible to get through. The search willbe close everywhere; but there will be more chance of escape, onthat line, than from here.'
"'But how about the guide? Whom can we trust?'
"'I have one of my hunters in the town. He brought some game downfrom my estate today, and was not to return until tomorrow. I knowwhere he lodges. He is a brave fellow, and carried my banner in thelast campaign.'
"'You will let me know before he starts?' the king asked.
"'I will, your Majesty. The moon will not be down for three hours,yet, and he cannot attempt to fly until it has set.'
"As I left the royal apartment, one of the female attendants cameup and, putting her finger on her lip, signed to me to follow her.I did so, and she led me to the apartment where the Queen andPrincess Amenche were awaiting me.
"'You have left your friend safe, Cuitcatl?' the queen said. 'T
heprincess has told me the part she has taken in the affair. It wasfoolish, but I cannot blame her, though if Montezuma knew by whosemeans the prey had slipped from his fingers, the least she couldexpect would be to be ordered to retire, for life, to one of thetemples. Have you formed any plans?'
"I told her what I had thought of.
"'That seems as good a plan as any other,' she said. 'He will needpaints to disguise himself, the dress of a peasant, and arms.'
"'He has his sword,' I said.
"'He cannot take that. Its golden handle would betray him, at once.A heavy woodman's ax, and a bow and spear, would be the mostsuitable.'
"'He shall have them,' I said. 'My hunter shall take them, andplace them in the canoe, in readiness.'
"'What are you going to do now?'
"'I am going first into the town, to give my hunter hisinstructions, and bid him be at the lake entrance to the gardens,half an hour after the moon has set. I shall want the key of thegate. Next I shall go down, and tell Roger what preparations havebeen made; and then return here, for it is best I should be seen inthe palace. Then, just as the moon sets, I shall go down again tohim.'
"'Come here on your way, Cuitcatl. I shall go down with Amenche tosay goodbye to him. This obstinate girl has determined to go, and Icannot let her go alone.'
"As soon as I left them, I went down to the town and found myhunter, who has taken a vow to lay down his life to save you, ifnecessary.
"Here are some peasant's clothes--a coarse cotton mantle, and ashort skirt. Here is a jar of dye. You had better strip at once,and let me color you, and then put on these clothes. It will be toodark to see to do it properly, when I return. Besides, time will beshort then.
"This small jar contains some dye from the juice of a plant whichwill turn your hair black--at least, as they use it for dyeing theskins of animals black, I suppose it will affect your hair."
Roger at once took off his gaudy attire, and was stained from headto foot with the contents of the jug, and then rubbed his hair withthe liquid from the smaller vessel. Then he put on the peasant'sclothes.
"You will pass well, now," Cuitcatl said, heading him out in themoonlight, so that he could obtain a good view of him. "It is onlyyour height that is against you. Still, some men are taller thanothers; though I never saw one as tall as you, and you willcertainly be stared at.
"Is there anything else in the way of arms you would like, besidethe ax and spear?"
"I shall make myself a bow and arrows, when we get fairly away,"Roger said.
"I did not know you could use them."
"I could not use such little things as those your people carry; butwe still use the bow in England, and every boy is obliged, by law,to practice with it. With such a bow as I should make, I could sendan arrow three times as far as those puny weapons of yours, andcould keep my foes at a distance; whereas, otherwise, they couldshoot me down as they chose."
"They will not shoot you down," Cuitcatl said. "You may be quitesure that the orders will be to take you alive, and this will giveyou a great advantage, if you are attacked. But I must be going upnow to the palace again, to show myself, for a time, among ourfriends. Just as the moon sets I will be here."
"Will you thank the queen and princess for their kindness," Rogersaid, "and say that, much as I should like to say goodbye to them,I would not that they should run any risks by coming to see me?"
"They will come," Cuitcatl said, "unless I am greatly mistaken. Theprincess would come, even if her uncle Montezuma were, himself,watching her."
Roger sat down again, and watched the moon going down. He felt acertain sense of exhilaration at the thought that he was about toenter upon a life of active adventure, again. It had seemed to him,lately, that his life was to be spent in this strange country, cutoff from all chances of ever returning to England; and that, sooneror later, he was assuredly destined to form a part of their hideoussacrifices. The party against him had been silenced for a moment,but would be sure to gather strength again; and he would be calledupon either to worship these bloodstained idols, or to die.
Life was pleasant enough as it was, at present, with the friendshipof the young king, and the kindness of the queen and princess; buthe would soon be tired of it, with its everlasting sunshine, andits flowers, and its idleness.
At last the moon set, and in a few minutes he heard footstepsapproaching, and Cuitcatl and two veiled figures came up. The queencame straight up to him.
"We are very sorry to lose you, Roger Hawkshaw," she said, gently;"and were there a hope of doing so successfully, we would defy thecruel orders from Montezuma. But it would bring ruin on ourpeople."
"I know that it cannot be done, Madam," Roger said. "I thank youand the king, most heartily, for all your kindness to me. If Iescape to my own country, I shall remember it all my life; and Iwill pray, to the God we worship, to give you happiness."
"Take this," the queen said, putting a small bag into his hand."You have told me that these gems are as much prized among yourpeople as they are here, and you can more easily conceal them thangold. I have taken them, with the king's permission, from the royaltreasure; and should you reach your distant home in safety, theyought to make you rich for the rest of your life.
"And now, farewell. Whatever the priests may say, Cacama and I knowthat you came as a friend, and meant us no harm.
"Now, Amenche," she said, "come and say goodbye."
The girl came forward slowly. She took Roger's hand, and gazed upinto his face. She seemed to try to speak, and then Roger felt hersway suddenly, and caught her just as she would have fallen.
"Give her to me," the queen said. "It is best so, by far.
"Hurry away, Roger. You have done harm enough, without meaning it.
"Cuitcatl, take him away, at once."
The young noble took Roger's hand, and hurried him away.
"What is the matter?" he asked, bewildered. "What did the queenmean--that I had done harm enough?"
"Do you mean to say that you have not seen that Amenche loves you?"
"I never dreamed of such a thing," Roger exclaimed.
"Cacama and the queen, and all of us who have seen her with you,knew it long ago; and had it not been for this unlucky news, today,Cacama would, in a short time, have offered you her hand. There hasbeen a scene tonight between her and her brother; for she declaredthat she would go with you, and share your dangers, whatever theymight be. She has for the last three hours been confined in herchamber, and she was only allowed to come down to say goodbye toyou, on her swearing that she would return with the queen to herroom."
"I am awfully sorry," Roger said. "I never dreamed of such a thing.The princess has always been very kind to me, but I should neverhave thought of raising my eyes so high. Besides, as I have toldyou, I am still scarce a man; and with us, one does not think ofmarriage until he is five or six years older than I am."
"No one blames you at all," Cuitcatl said. "The king and queen bothtold her that they were sure you had not thought of her in thatway; though they naturally supposed that, had you remained here,you would have gladly formed such an alliance when it was offeredyou. However, it is no use talking any more about it. You will havedifficulties enough before you, and would have had no chancewhatever of getting through them, if encumbered with her.
"Cacama told her so, but she scoffed at the idea of danger. Mexicanwomen, when they love, are ready for any sacrifice. Cacama did notpress that, but chiefly spoke of the terrible scandal it would be,were she--his sister and the niece of Montezuma--to be brought backwith you, a captive."
They were now at the gate. Cuitcatl opened it, and locked it againafter him. A figure was standing outside.
"This is my follower. You may rely upon him to serve you, to thelast.
"Bathalda, this is my white friend. You will serve him as you wouldme."
The man took Roger's hand, and carried it to his forehead.
"My life is yours, my lord," he said.
"Is everything ready, Bat
halda?" asked Cuitcatl.
"Yes, my lord. I have the canoe hidden among the rocks, with thearms and some food. It is but a few hundred yards away."
"Let us be off then, at once," Cuitcatl said.
The man led the way down to the lake, and then along the shore forsome little distance.
"There is the canoe," he said.
Cuitcatl embraced Roger.
"I wish that I could go with you, my white brother, and share yourdangers down to the coast," he said; "but I could aid you butlittle, and my life would be forfeited on my return. May the godsof Mexico, and the God you worship, protect you.
"It may be--who knows?--that some day you may return hither.Cuitcatl's heart will be rejoiced to see you."
"Thank you for all your kindness," Roger said. "Whatever befallsme, I shall never forget it. Thank Cacama for all he has done in myfavor, and say goodbye for me to the princess. Tell her that it isbetter so, for that so soft a flower would soon droop, and pineaway, in my cold country."
Roger took his seat in the canoe, Bathalda seized the paddle, andthe little boat shot out from the shore. For some distance theykept close in under the shadow of the land, Bathalda saying thattwo or three royal canoes were rowing up and down, opposite thetown, and that every canoe putting off had been stopped andquestioned. Several times, when the sound of a paddle was heard outon the lake, Bathalda stopped rowing for a time; but after keepingclose to the shore for an hour, he struck out more boldly and,after two hours' further rowing, approached the shore again.
"This is the point where we must land," he said. "Four hours'walking will take us among the hills; but before we leave the canoewe will half fill it with stones, then knock a hole in her bottomand push her out into the lake to sink. Were she found here in themorning, it might afford a clue as to the way we had taken."
This was done, and then they started for the hills. Alone, Rogerwould have had great difficulty in making his way along the pathsrunning between the cultivated fields; but his companion led theway without hesitation, seeing, apparently, as well as if it hadbeen broad daylight. Roger carried the ax, which was a heavy one,on one shoulder; and in the other hand the spear, which he used asa walking stick.
Before daylight broke they were ascending the hills, which werewild and rugged. They passed several villages lying high up onrugged hilltops, and inaccessible, save by ladders, which could bedrawn up in case of attack.
"The tribes here have only recently been conquered," Bathalda said."They pay tribute to Mexico, but are a wild race; and as there isnothing to be obtained from them but hard knocks, they are butlittle interfered with."
Getting deeper among the hills, Bathalda, just as morning wasbreaking, led the way up a ravine down which a little streamtrickled, and found a resting place among a number of great rocksthat had fallen from above.
"Here," he said, "we shall be perfectly safe for the day. It is notlikely that even a shepherd will enter this ravine, and if he does,he is not likely to come upon us here. First, let us eat ourbreakfast; and then we will lie down, and sleep till evening. Iwill keep watch if you like, but I do not think there is anyoccasion for it."
"Not the least," Roger agreed. "We had both better get what sleepwe can. We shall have a long tramp before us, tonight."
They were undisturbed during the day and, as soon as the sun set,were again on their feet. The journey was a toilsome one. Thecountry was so broken that they were continually either climbingthe steep hills or descending into the valleys. After the moon hadset they were forced to come to a halt, for some hours, finding itimpossible to climb the steep hills in the darkness. With the firstlight of day they were again in motion, and continued walking forsome hours.
"There," Bathalda said at last, as he gained the brow of the hill,"that is the plateau land. The town you see there, away on ourright, is Otompan. Now we will keep due west. There are no largetowns now, till we reach Tlatlanquitepec and Perote. From thatpoint our danger will be the greatest, for all the roads across themountains are sure to be watched. The guards at the station houseson these roads have, no doubt, by this time had orders to look foryou and arrest you; but by traveling at night, we may pass themsafely.
"We may as well enter that field of maize, and lie down untilevening. After that we will follow a path till we gain a main road,and then travel straight on. We can go so much faster on a roadthan through the fields; and I know where the post houses aresituated, so we can make a detour to avoid them."
That night they walked, as far as Roger could guess, fifty miles,and again entered a very hilly country. In the morning they leftthe road and encamped in a wood, far up the hillside. During theday they saw several parties of troops following the road; and manycouriers passed along, at a swift run.
"The whole country is up," Bathalda said. "We shall have to be verycareful, in future."
The first night, while passing through the low, hot country nearthe lake, Roger had cut a strong bamboo; together with a bundle ofsmaller rods, suitable for arrows. Bathalda had brought with him abag of sharp obsidian arrowheads, and some feathers for wingingthem, together with a bowstring of twice the ordinary strength. Hehad looked on with amusement when Roger cut the bamboo, making it,as was the custom of English archers, of his own height.
"My lord is not intending that, surely, for a bow?" he said.
"Yes, Bathalda, I think that will do well," Roger said, trying withhis knee the stiffness of the cane.
At the halt next day, Roger had cut the notches for the string.
"Now, Bathalda," he said, "can you string this?"
"No, my lord; nor can any other man."
"I think it is about the strength of the bows we use at home,"Roger said. "The stringing them is a matter of knack, as well as ofstrength."
And, to the amazement of the Aztec, he strung the bow.
"Now," said he, "let us make some arrows. They should be a clothyard in length--that is, from the middle of my chest to the end ofmy middle finger."
A dozen of the light bamboos were cut to this length. The huntsmanfitted the obsidian points to them, and Roger stepped back ahundred yards from the small tree, with a trunk some six inches indiameter, under whose shade they had been sitting. Then he fittedthe arrow to the string, bent the bow to its head, and loosed thearrow. It struck the trunk, but glanced off.
"I am out of practice, indeed," he said, "or I should have hit thatfair in the center."
To the huntsman, however, the shot seemed well-nigh miraculous, thedistance being twice as great as the Mexican bows would carry, withanything like accuracy; while the speed with which the arrow flew,and the distance it went after glancing from the tree, showed thatit would have been fatal at least fifty yards beyond the objectaimed at. Taking the bow from Roger, he fitted another arrow in andtried to bend it; but with all his efforts could only draw thearrow four or five inches.
"It is wonderful," he said, returning the weapon to Roger. "If Ihad not seen it done, I could not have believed it."
"It is merely a matter of practice," Roger said. "My people arefamous for their dexterity with the bow, and I have seen men hit amark no bigger than the palm of my hand, ten times in succession,at that distance."
The next time they halted, Bathalda made the rest of the bamboosinto arrows and, making a quiver of the bark of a tree, hung themover his shoulder. Roger left his spear behind; using the bow,which he had unstrung, as a walking staff. Bathalda offered tocarry the spear, in addition to his own weapon, but Roger told himthat he did not care about it.
"If it should come to a hand-to-hand fight," he said, "I wouldrather rely on my ax. Besides, the bow, now it is unstrung, makesan excellent quarterstaff, a weapon with which I have practiced agreat deal. With a spear your people would know quite as much as Ishould; but I fancy that, with a quarterstaff, I should astonishthem. It has the advantage, too, that it disables without killing;and as your soldiers would only be doing their duty in arrestingme, I should be sorry to do them more harm than I could help.
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"There were a great many men on the road below there, today."
"A great many, my lord; and no doubt the garrisons of the two townswe shall have to pass tonight will be all out, and on the watch.This is the most dangerous part of the journey. The mountains arerugged, and there are only certain passes by which we can travel,and they are sure to be watched narrowly. They will guess that weshall travel by night."
"I suppose it will not be possible to make a detour, either to thesouth or north?"
The Aztec shook his head.
"To the north lie terrible mountains, of whose passes I knownothing. Our provisions are exhausted, and we must, in future,depend upon maize and other things we can pick by the way. Were weto go there, we should find nothing.
"To the south lies Tlascala, whose people are independent ofMontezuma. They are fierce and warlike, and would seize and offeryou to the gods, without pity."
"Still, they would not be on the lookout for us; and we might,therefore, pass through their country without being seen."
"We might do so, my lord," Bathalda agreed.
"At any rate," Roger said, "it seems to me that there would be morechance, in that direction, than in going straight forward. Fromwhat you say, it seems well-nigh impossible for us to get throughthe passes ahead of us, without being captured."
Accordingly, when night fell they struck off to the south. Thejourney was a very toilsome one, for they were now crossing thespurs of the hills, running far down into the plateau. As before,they had to halt when the moon set, but continued their way atdaybreak.
"There is a road down in the valley there," Roger said, after threehours' more walking.
Bathalda stood looking down, for some time.
"I know it, now," he said. "It is the last road north of Tlascala,and runs from Huejotlipan to Yxtacamaxtitlan. We are already eastof Tlascala, and about fifteen miles from Yxtacamaxtitlan. If weget past that town without accident, we shall then have to crossthe Pass of Obispo, over the great range of mountains, and comedown near Naulinco. Once past that town our dangers will be over,for there are few towns and villages in the Tierra Caliente. Ourgreat danger will lie in the pass. There are but two or three roadsacross these mountains, and they will know that we must followthem."
"Well, we must take our chance," Roger said. "So far we have metwith no difficulties, whatever, and provided we don't come acrosstoo large a force, we ought to be able to manage to get through. Inoticed there were trees right through the pass I came over; and Isee the country ahead is thickly wooded. How far is the pass fromwhere we are now?"
"About thirty miles. It is where you see that cleft in the greatline of hills."
"Well, we can get near it before the moon sets, and will try topass through by daylight. It would be useless attempting to makeour way through the trees at night; and if we have to fight, Iwould rather do so in the light. We will lie down now, for I own Iam completely tired out."
