by G. A. Henty
Chapter 12: The Fugitives.
At nightfall Roger and his guide continued their journey, but nowmoved with great caution, keeping but a short distance from theroad. Several times they saw fires burning, and had to take longdetours to avoid them. Consequently the moon had set when they werestill more than ten miles from the pass. Next morning theycontinued their journey, avoiding as much as possible crossingtracts of cultivated land; and when forced to do so, lying down andcrawling between the rows of the maize or yuccas.
"They are sure to have scouts, high up on the mountainside,"Bathalda said; "and they thence can look down upon all thesefields; and although, as we cross them we are perfectly hidden frompeople standing on the same level, they can see us clearly enoughfrom there."
"The distance is very great to make out a man."
"The air is very clear, my lord, in these mountains; and a figurecan be seen a vast distance off. However, we can do nothing butwhat we are doing, and must take our chance."
"If we are attacked," Roger said, "we must make straight up themountains. Steep as they may be, there are few places where activemen cannot climb, and numbers would avail nothing if we once got upamong those heights."
They were now mounting rapidly towards the pass. The country wasstill thickly wooded, but Bathalda said that in the narrowest partof the pass there were no trees, and it was here that the dangerwould be greatest.
As they neared the mouth of the gorge they moved with the greatestcare, keeping their eyes in every direction. Presently Bathaldastopped, and held up his hand. Roger listened.
"They are coming behind us," Bathalda said. "They must have made usout in the distance, and have sent a party down the road to enterthe wood behind us, and so prevent us from retreating."
"Then we had better bear away to the left, Bathalda. They are sureto be in force in the pass; and since they are behind us, also, ouronly hope is to try and scale the hill to the left."
Bathalda, without a word, moved forward in the direction indicated.The trees grew thinner in front, and through them they could seerocky ground rising steeply up. They issued out and began to climb,when the sound of a horn rose loudly in the air, and a momentafterwards a number of men were seen, running from the right alongthe edge of the trees.
"They will not shoot," Roger said. "They want to take me alive.Never mind their arrows, it is a question of legs, at present."
The rocks were extremely steep, and in many places they had to usetheir hands, as well as their feet, in making the ascent. TheAztecs, who had on first seeing them broken into loud cries, werenow silent, and were toiling up the hillside in pursuit.
"Now," Roger said, after a very severe piece of climbing, "we muststop them."
He strung his bow and, placing an arrow to the string, shouted tothe Aztecs that he should shoot unless they desisted from pursuit.They paid no attention, their officer shouting to them to press on.They were now less than a hundred yards behind.
Roger drew his bow to the fullest, and the arrow whizzed throughthe air. It struck the officer in the throat, and he fell prone. Acry of astonishment broke from the soldiers; however they did nothesitate a moment, but pushed on with loud shouts. Roger dischargedsix arrows in rapid succession, and five of them flew true to themark.
The Aztecs paused, the distance to which the arrows were sent, andthe accuracy of the shooting struck them with consternation; and itwas evident to them that before they could climb the steep ascent,the greater portion of them would be shot down. Some took shelterbehind rocks, and began to discharge their arrows. Others fell backin haste.
"Now we will be moving on again, Bathalda," Roger said. "We havetaught them a lesson of caution."
They proceeded on their way, until they reached a shoulder whichled straight up the mountain. Just as they stopped to draw breaththere was a shout, and a party of twenty men, who had evidentlyclimbed straight up from the pass to cut them off, rushed at them.Roger rapidly discharged five arrows into the midst of them, andthen slipped the string from the notch, and seized the bamboo as aquarterstaff.
At the order of their leader, the Aztecs threw down their spearsand flung themselves on him, with the intention of dragging him tothe ground; but making his quarterstaff swing round his head, hebrought the ends down upon them with tremendous force, strikingthem to the ground as if they had been ninepins. Bathalda secondedhim well, by guarding him from attack behind.
Finding that, in spite of his efforts, he could not keep back hisassailants, Roger threw down the quarterstaff and seized his ax.Four more of them fell, cleft through the head; and then four ofthem sprang upon him together, but Roger's practice in Devonshirewrestling now stood him in good service; and although in a momentthe four were hanging upon him, they could neither get him off hislegs, nor hold his arms; and he beat three of them down with heavyblows on their faces, while Bathalda freed him from one on hisback, by a thrust with his spear.
Roger again caught up the ax, which he had let fall to have the useof both of his fists, but the fight was over. The five Aztecs stillremaining on their feet, appalled at the, to them, supernaturalstrength of their gigantic foe, fled to join their comrades, whohad now nearly reached the crest on which the combat had takenplace.
"Come on, Bathalda," Roger exclaimed. "We have not a moment tolose. They will shoot now, seeing that they have little chance oftaking me alive."
And they accordingly started up the steep ascent, as rapidly astheir breathless condition would allow. Their pursuers paused amoment on gaining the brow to get their wind, and then followed;but as soon as the ground again became too steep to allow of rapidmovement, Roger turned and, betaking himself to his bow and arrows,speedily checked the pursuit; the Aztecs being unable to standagainst these terrible weapons, whose force and accuracy seemed tothem supernatural.
The sight, too, of the heap of their comrades lying on the slopehad greatly cooled their courage. Their officers had all fallenunder Roger's arrows, together with most of their bravest comrades;and although the rest still continued the pursuit, it was at adistance that showed that they had no intention, whatever, ofclosing again.
Paying no further heed to them, Roger and his companion nowdirected their whole attention to the work of climbing. At timesthey came on perpendicular precipices, and had to make long detoursto surmount them. After some hours' labor they reached the snow.They were now near a shoulder between two lofty peaks, and after anhour's climbing stood on its crest. The Aztecs were now mere spots,far behind them.
"They will be an hour before they are here," Roger said. "We needfear no more trouble with them. It was a sharp fight while itlasted, Bathalda."
These were the first words they had spoken, beyond a momentaryconsultation, now and then, as to the best mode of surmountingdifficulties.
"My lord is wonderful," the hunter said. "Never did I see suchstrength and skill. It was like a mountain tiger attacked byjackals."
"You did your share, too, Bathalda. Your spear rid me of several ofthem."
"I did what I could, my lord; but that was little enough. A few menlike you would defeat an army."
"Well, Bathalda, now we will be moving on again. We will keepstraight down this slope, until we are off the snow; for they canfollow our footsteps. Beyond that we must press on until we getinto the woods again, and there we can turn right or left, as weplease, and throw them off the scent altogether. We shall then besafe until we leave the forest, and begin to descend into the hotcountry."
Another hour, and they had left the snow behind them; and after twomore hours on the rocky hillside, they again entered a forest. Assoon as they were well among the trees, they turned to the rightagain, and after traveling through the wood for two or three milesthey halted, secure now against any search on the part of theirpursuers.
Just before halting they had the good luck to come across a smallbear, which Roger wounded with an arrow, and his companiondispatched with his spear. Bathalda speedily made a fire by rubbingtwo sticks together, and after s
kinning the bear, cut it up; andwhile Roger was superintending the roasting of some pieces over thefire, Bathalda searched in the wood, and speedily returned withsome roots, which he placed in the ashes, and which turned outexcellent eating with the bear's flesh.
As it was now far on in the afternoon, and as they had alreadyperformed a very fatiguing day's work, they resolved to wait wherethey were until the morning.
"What do you think would be our best course, now?" Roger asked,after they had eaten their meal, and were stretched close to thefire for warmth--for at this elevation the cold was great.
Bathalda did not reply, but sat pouring out volumes of smoke fromthe pipe he had just filled. At last Roger repeated the question.
"I am ready to go where my lord wills."
"Yes, Bathalda; but that is no answer to my question. You know theways of your people, and I do not. We have had a sharp fight withthem today. What is likely to come of it?"
Bathalda shook his head.
"The news will, long before this, have been sent by swift runnersto every town and village on this slope of the mountains. Thegarrisons of Perote, Tlatlanquitepec, Xalapa, and Naulinco will allbe in movement. Naulinco is but some eight or ten miles away downthe pass; and not only the soldiers, but every man in the town willbe ordered out. They will be posted as thick as blades of grass atthe mouth of every valley leading down from the mountains.
"You have resisted the emperor's officers, and have killed numbersof his soldiers. They will know that the wrath of Montezuma will beterrible, if they fail to arrest you."
"Then you think that it will almost be impossible to make our waythrough them?"
Bathalda nodded his head.
"And in time, I suppose, they will search these woods?"
"Every foot of them, wide though they are, my lord."
"Then what is your advice, Bathalda?"
"It depends whether my lord's mind is altogether set upon joiningthe white men of the sea, at once."
Roger, in turn, was silent for a time. The Spaniards would havelearned the wealth of the land. It was not likely they wouldspeedily depart; but if they did, it would only be to return again,in far greater force than at present. Other opportunities wouldoccur for rejoining them, and it would be folly to throw away hislife, and that of his companion, in an attempt that the latterevidently felt to be desperate. He had already had proof of thevigilance of the Aztec scouts, and doubtless that vigilance wouldnow be redoubled.
"No, Bathalda," he replied at last; "I should be content to remainin hiding for a time, and to risk the departure of the white men."
"Then, my lord, my advice is, that we retrace our steps across tothe other side of the mountains. Then we will head north, avoidingthe towns, and take refuge for a time in the forests, that stretchfor many leagues over the mountains. There we can build a hut andhunt. There are turkeys and other game in abundance. From time totime I can go down to a town and gather news, and bring back suchthings as may be necessary for you. Then, when the search for youabates, we can strike down thence to the seacoast, if the white menare still there. At any rate, we can live by hunting as long as youmay find it necessary to remain in concealment."
"That will be by far the best plan, Bathalda. I have no objectionto a few weeks of life in the woods, and you can teach me yourcraft of a hunter. What do you say: shall we start back thisevening?"
"If my lord is not too wearied, it would be well if we could getacross the crest before morning. They will have sentries at everypoint whence they can command a view of the hills; and our figurescould be made out, on the snow, at a great distance away."
"I should have preferred a night's rest, Bathalda; but it would befoolish to lose a day, and no doubt parties will be searching thewoods in the morning. We have still four hours before the sun goesdown, and that should be enough to fit us for starting again."
The hunter was pleased at Roger's decision.
"Let my lord sleep at once," he said. "I will watch. I amaccustomed to long journeys, and to pass my nights in search ofgame. It is nothing to me. I used dry sticks for the fire, and butlittle smoke will have made its way through the trees. Still it maypossibly be noticed, and it were best one of us should remain onwatch."
Roger felt that he should never be able to make the ascent over thecrest of the hill, unless he had some rest; and therefore, withoutargument, he wrapped himself in his cotton mantle, and lay downbefore the fire.
It seemed to him that he had but just closed his eyes, when hiscompanion touched him.
"It is time that we should be moving, my lord. The sun has justset."
"Why, it appears to me to be night already, Bathalda."
"It has been dark here for the last hour, my lord; but on the otherside of the mountains the sun has but now gone down. See, the fullmoon has just risen in the east."
"That is so, Bathalda; and we shall have her light till morning.Well, I am ready, though I could have slept on comfortably untilsunrise. Have you heard anything?"
"I have heard the sound of horns, far down the hillside; butnothing near us save animals, disturbed by the voices below, andpassing up towards the rocks. I have cooked some more flesh. It isalways best to make a good meal when one can. We have a roughjourney before us, and the cold will be great. Fortunately, the airis still. Were it blowing, I should say that there was less dangerin waiting here than in crossing the mountain."
The meal was quickly eaten. Bathalda slung a large piece of bear'sflesh over his shoulder, and they started. So bright was themoonlight that they had no more difficulty in climbing than if ithad been day, and after six hours of severe toil they again camedown upon the forest, on the other side of the mountains.
They proceeded among the trees for some little distance, till theycame to some very thick undergrowth, where Bathalda thought itwould be perfectly safe to light a fire. This he accordingly did,as Roger said he would rather run any danger than go without afire.
In spite of the exertions they had made, they were chilled to thebone. Their clothes were stiff with the frozen moisture from theirbodies, and the cotton mantles offered but small protection againstthe cold. A pleasant glow stole over them, as the fire burnt up.
"I will watch now, Bathalda, and you shall sleep."
"I do not think that there is any danger, my lord. They believe usamong the woods on the other side of the mountains, and it is notat all likely there will be any vigilant watch kept upon this side.We can both sleep without fear."
Roger was glad to hear his companion's opinion, and in a fewminutes was fast asleep.
When he awoke it was day. Bathalda was cooking some flesh over theembers of the fire.
"You have been asleep, I hope, Bathalda?" Roger said, as he rose tohis feet and shook himself.
"I have slept, my lord," the hunter said, although in fact it wasnot until morning began to break that he had relaxed hiswatchfulness. "We will be off as soon as we have eaten. It ispossible that parties may, as soon as it is daybreak, go along bythe edge of the snow line, to assure themselves that we are stillon the other side of the mountain; and if so, they will probablycome across our footsteps--therefore we had best be moving, atonce."
Two long days' marches took them deep into the woods lying north ofTlatlanquitepec. Here they set to work to construct a rough hut ofboughs, near a mountain spring; and when this was completed, theyset to work hunting.
Turkeys abounded. These they generally obtained by shooting them atnight, as they roosted in the trees; but they sometimes hunted themby day, Bathalda imitating their call so accurately that they cameup within easy shot of them, without the least suspicion of danger.They killed several small bears, which were useful, not only fortheir flesh, but for the warmth of their skins at night. Once ortwice they shot deer, and obtained other game in abundance.
At night they frequently heard the roar of the mountain tiger. Onceor twice, when the sounds approached too close to their hut, theyleft it and took refuge in trees, as the hunter said that evenRoger'
s arrows would scarcely slay these fierce beasts at once; andthat, when wounded, they were terrible enemies.
Roger enjoyed the life much. The air was fresh and bracing, theforest magnificent in its varied foliage, and the abundance of gameso great that it needed no special exertion to keep themselves wellsupplied with food. Two or three times, at intervals of a week orten days, Bathalda went down to Tlatlanquitepec, with a load ofturkeys and other game slung on a pole over his shoulder, andreturned with maize, flour, chocolate, and pulque, and otherarticles of food; and--which was of much greater importance toRoger--news of the white strangers.
The first time he learned that they had arrived in several floatingcastles, and had landed at once. The natives had received them withkindness, and the chief of that district, Teuhtlile, had on thefollowing day had an interview with their chief. Presents had beenexchanged. Five days later an embassy, with many very rich giftsfrom the emperor, arrived at the camp. They were the bearers offriendly messages from Montezuma; who, however, had declined toallow them to proceed into the country, and had requested them toleave the coast at once. The white men had sent back a message toMontezuma praying him to alter his determination, and showed nosigns of obeying his orders, and re-embarking on board their ships.By the orders of Montezuma's envoys, the people had now abstainedfrom visiting the camp, or bringing in supplies.
Three weeks after, Bathalda returned from the town with the newsthat another embassy from Montezuma had visited the white camp,with another great store of valuable presents; but that Montezumapositively prohibited them advancing towards the capital. Two dayslater they were visited by envoys from Cempoalla, the chief town ofthe Totonacs, who had been lately conquered by the Aztecs, and hadinvited the white men to visit their city. They had accordinglymarched there, and were now dwelling in this town. It was said thatthe Aztecs were extremely indignant at the action of the Totonacs,and that dire vengeance would be taken upon them, for daring to actin this manner without the permission of Montezuma.
The next news was, that the white men had marched farther north toChiahuitztla, that they were founding a city there, and that theyhad actually seized and imprisoned a party of Aztec envoys. Thewhite men had visited other towns, and at Cempoalla had insultedthe gods, rolled the idols down from the tops of the temples, andhad erected altars to their own gods there.
This act had created a profound impression throughout the country;and the greatest astonishment was felt that Montezuma did not, atonce, put his armies in motion to crush these profane and insolentstrangers. A still greater sensation had been caused by the newsthat the Spaniards had destroyed all their floating castles, andthat it was therefore evident that they intended to remain,permanently, in the land.
This news greatly surprised Roger. The reports were unanimous thatthere were, at the utmost, but three or four hundred of the Whites;and that the Spaniards should dream of matching themselves againstthe whole force of Mexico, seemed almost incredible.
"How do the white men communicate with the natives?" Roger asked.
"They have with them some slaves, whom they obtained at Tabasco.Among them was one who was a Mexican by race. They say that thewhite men speak to another white man who understands the languageof Tabasco, and that he speaks to this young woman, who speaks inMexican what she is told. She is treated with great honor by thewhite men."
"What is her name--did you hear?"
"The natives say she is called Malinche, but the white men call herMarina."
"That is good news, indeed, Bathalda," Roger said; "for when I wasat Tabasco, I knew a Mexican slave girl of that name, and if it isthe same she will befriend us."
It was nearly three weeks before Roger again obtained news.Bathalda had injured his leg in a fall down a precipice, whilestalking a deer; and was obliged to lie up in the hut for more thana fortnight. As soon as he was well enough to get about again, hejoined Roger in a turkey hunt, and started the next day for thecity.
He returned with surprising news. The white men had marched fromthe coast through Naulinco and the Pass of Obispo. They had beeneverywhere well received by the natives, who all belonged to theTotonac tribe. They had gone to Yxtacamaxtitlan, a great city,where they had stayed three days. They had then marched on towardsTlascala, the republic that had so long resisted the strength ofall Mexico.
They were said to number four hundred foot and fifteen strangecreatures, who were partly man and partly some fleet animal; andthey had seven great black tubes that made thunder. Thirteenhundred Totonac fighting men accompanied them, and a thousandporters to drag the tubes and carry their baggage. They had sentembassies to the Tlascalans, but the latter had chosen war, andthere had been some terrible battles fought. But the white men wereinvincible, and had defeated the Tlascalans with great slaughter;and the news had arrived, only that morning, that they had capturedthe city.
The sensation throughout the country was that of stupefaction. Itseemed absolutely incredible that a state which had successfullydefied the armies of Montezuma and his predecessors should, afterfour or five days of fighting, be overthrown by this handful ofwhite strangers. There seemed but one comfort. It was said thatseveral of the Whites had been killed, and this showed, at least,that they were not superhuman creatures, and that it might yet bepossible to destroy them.
No sooner did Roger hear the news than he determined to start, atonce, to join the Spaniards, who were already far to the west.Accordingly, the next morning at daybreak, he started withBathalda, and late on the following afternoon arrived in sight ofTlascala. They thought it better not to enter the city until thefollowing morning, and therefore passed the night in a clump ofbushes.
The next day they boldly entered the town. The city was a largeone, divided into four quarters separated by lofty walls, and eachruled over by one of the four great chiefs of the republic. Itspopulation was very large, and the town was strongly and solidlybuilt.
At ordinary times the appearance of two seeming Aztecs in thestreets would have been the signal for their instant destruction,but at the present time the people were solely occupied with thepresence of their white conquerors; with whom, as Roger soonlearned, they had made treaties of friendship, and whom they nowviewed as friends and allies.
The whole of the Spaniards were lodged in one of the palaces. Thecrowd of people proceeding in that direction was a sufficient indexto its position; and Roger and his companion, joining the throng,were soon in front of the palace. Some Spanish soldiers werestanding as sentries at its gate, but none came out or mixed withthe people--Cortez having given the strictest orders that theyshould remain in their quarters, as he feared that, did they goabroad, some brawl might arise between them and the inhabitants,and so break the newly-formed alliance, which was of the mostextreme importance to them.
Presently some Spanish officers, and several richly dressed chiefs,came out from the palace. The people raised a shout, and it wasevident to Roger that, in spite of the terrible losses suffered bytheir troops in the attacks upon the white men, their admirationfor their visitors far outweighed any animosity for the defeatsinflicted upon them.
Near the officer, whom Roger judged to be the leader of theexpedition, were an elderly man and a young woman. The Spaniardaddressed the old man, who spoke to the girl, and she translated itto the chiefs.
Roger recognized her at once--it was certainly his friend, theslave girl of Tabasco. In the eight months since he had seen her,she had grown to complete womanhood; and now--richly attired as shewas, and evidently regarded as a person of great importance, bothby the Spaniards and the native chiefs--carried herself with an airof confidence and pride; and was, Roger thought, the most beautifulwoman he had seen in Mexico.
As the party moved down the steps of the palace, and along thestreet, evidently discoursing on some important business, Rogerfollowed them closely. He waited until Malinche happened, for amoment, to be at the outside of the party, then he pressed forwardand said to her:
"Malinche, do you remember your white friend?"
She looked up, and would have cried out with astonishment, had henot touched his lips.
"I want to speak to you alone, first. Where can I meet you?"
"In an hour I shall be able to slip away from their meal," shesaid; "be near the palace gate."
Roger at once fell back into the crowd, and soon took anopportunity to extricate himself from it, and to go down a sidestreet. He and Bathalda then ascended to the top of the wall, wherethey were likely to be undisturbed, and waited there for an hour.They then went back to the palace.
The square in the front of it was almost deserted now; for theSpaniards had retired, half an hour before, and were not likely toappear again until the evening; especially as it was known that, atnoon, there was to be a great council held in the palace.
Ten minutes later Malinche appeared at the entrance. As soon as hereyes fell on Roger she raised her hand and, leaving Bathalda, he atonce went up to her. The two sentinels looked with some surprise atthis tall native, but as they saw that he was known to Malinche,they offered no opposition to his entering the palace with her.
She led him down some corridors and then out into a garden. As soonas she saw that they were in a spot where they could not beoverlooked, she turned and seized his hands; and would have pressedthem to her forehead, had not Roger prevented her doing so, and puther hands to his lips.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. "How happy you have made me, today! I havewondered so much how it has fared with you, and have dreamed atnight, so often, that you were being sacrificed on the altars ofthe gods."
"I have thought of you very often, also, Malinche; and I wassurprised, indeed, when I heard that you--for I felt sure that itwas you--were with the Spaniards, and were not only an interpreter,but in high honor with them."
"But why do you not join them?" she asked. "Why do you come to mefirst? What can I do for you? I will take you at once to Cortez,and when I tell him that you were my friend, and were so kind andgood to the slave girl, he will welcome you most warmly."
"Yes, Malinche; but that is why I wanted to see you first alone.You remember that I told you all about the Spaniards, and how theyowned the islands, and would some day surely come to Mexico; butthat I belong to another white people, who are forbidden by theSpaniards, under pain of death, to come to these parts. They mustnot know that I am not of their nation.
"You see, I cannot speak their tongue. I see that you have learnedit fast, for I saw Cortez speaking to you."
"What are we to do, then?" the girl asked, with a puzzled look."When they find that you cannot speak their language, they will, ofcourse, see that you are not of their people."
"Yes, Malinche; but they might think that I had forgotten it. Thatis just where I want you to help me. If you take me to Cortez, andtell him that, years ago, a ship was wrecked on the coast ofTabasco, and that all were drowned except a little white boy; andthat he was brought up at Tabasco, and that you were great friendswith him, until he was sold to some Mexican traders--they willthink that I have altogether forgotten my native language. They arenot likely to ask you how many years ago it is, or how big I wasthen, and will imagine that I was quite a child, and that Ibelonged to a Spanish ship, for they will not dream of an Englishvessel having been in these parts. When you introduce me to Cortez,you must tell him that I have quite forgotten the language, save afew words--for I picked up a few sentences when in their ports."
"They will easily believe that you may have been wrecked," saidMalinche; "for they rescued a man who had been living many yearsamong a tribe at Yucatan, to the west of Tabasco. There were otherwhite men living among them, though these they could not recover.You saw him by me this morning--he is an old man, a priest; and hetranslates from the Spanish into the Yucatan dialect, which is solike that of Tabasco that I can understand it, and then I tell thepeople in Mexican.
"There will be no difficulty at all. Cortez and the Spaniards knowthat I love them, and they trust me altogether, and I am able to dogood to my country people, and to intercede with them sometimeswith Cortez. Now tell me what has happened since I last saw you."
Roger gave her a sketch of what had happened in Mexico, and how hehad escaped, by flight, from being sacrificed.
"It is terrible--these sacrifices," Malinche said, shuddering. "Idid not think so in the old days, but I have learned better fromthe Spaniards and from their priests; and I rejoice that the whitemen will destroy these horrible idols, and will teach the people toworship the great God and His Son. They will suffer--my heartbleeds to think how they will suffer--but it will be good for themin the end, and put a stop to rivers of blood that flow, everyyear, at their altars."
Although Roger was not imbued with the passion for conversion whichanimated the Spaniards, and led them to believe that it was themost glorious of all duties to force their religion upon thenatives, he had been so filled with horror at the wholesalesacrifices of human victims, and the cannibal feasts that followedthem, that he was in no way disposed to question the methods whichthe Spaniards adopted to put a stop to such abominations. But forthe friendship of Cacama he would himself, assuredly, have been avictim to these sanguinary gods.
He and his father had--like the Beggs, and many other of hisfriends at Plymouth--been secretly followers of Wycliffe, but theywere still Catholics. They believed that there were many and deepabuses in the Church, but had no thought of abandoning italtogether. The doings of the Inquisition in Spain were regarded byall Englishmen with horror, but these excesses were as nothing tothe wholesale horrors of the Mexican religion.
He talked for some time with Malinche, and saw that she wascompletely devoted to the Spaniards, and regarded Cortez as a hero,almost more than mortal; and was in no slight degree relieved atobserving that, although ready to be friendly in every way, andevidently still much attached to him, the warmer feeling which shehad testified at their parting no longer existed, but had beentransferred to her present friends and protectors.
"Come with me," she said at last. "The meal will be over, now. Iwill take you to an apartment near the banqueting hall, and willleave you there while I tell Cortez about you, and will then leadyou to him."
Seeing how confident Malinche was as to the reception she couldprocure for him, Roger awaited her return, to the chamber where shehad placed him, with little anxiety. In a quarter of an hour shereturned, and beckoned him to follow.
"I have told him," she said. "It did not seem to him strange thatsome vessel should have been driven by the storms and wrecked here.He asked no questions as to how many years ago it was. I told himyou were a young boy at the time, and have forgotten all but a fewwords of the language; and how, when you grew to be a man, you weresold to some Mexican merchants, and would have been sacrificed tothe gods had you not made your escape. As I had told him, before,that there had been a white man living at Tabasco, who had beenvery good to me, he was not surprised at the story."
She took Roger to an apartment in which Cortez, and several of hisprincipal officers, were standing. As Malinche had told them thathe was painted, and disguised as a native, they were not surprisedat his appearance; although his height, which was far beyond thatattained by Spaniards, somewhat astonished them.
Roger approached the group, and at once fell on one knee beforeCortez, took his hand and kissed it. Cortez raised him, andembraced him warmly.
"I am delighted to find another of my countrymen," he said; "andall the more, since Marina tells me that she knows you well, andthat you were most kind and good to her."
"Senor," Roger said, in broken Spanish, "I do not understand. Ihave forgotten."
"You will soon recover it," Cortez said.
"Tell him, Aquilar, that he will soon learn to speak his nativelanguage again."
The interpreter repeated the words to Roger in the Yucatan dialect,adding that he himself had been a prisoner for eight years amongthe natives; and that, although a man when captured by them, hadwith difficulty spoken Spanish when restored to his friends; but ithad now quite come back to
him.
"You were but a boy when you were wrecked, Marina tells me?" Cortezsaid.
"Only a boy," Roger repeated, when Marina translated this to him.
"Do you remember anything of Spain?" Cortez asked.
Roger shut his eyes, as if considering.
"I seem to have a remembrance," he said, "of a place with manygreat ships. It was a city built on a rock rising from the sea. Ithad high walls with great guns upon them, which fired sometimes,with a terrible noise, when vessels came in and out."
When this was translated by Aquilar, Cortez said:
"It was Cadiz, of course. Doubtless the ship he was wrecked insailed from that port."
A murmur of assent passed round the other Spaniards.
"Show him a cross, Aquilar. See if he remembers his religion."
Aquilar took out a cross from under his doublet, and held it outtowards Roger, who, after looking at it for a moment, fell on hisknees and kissed it.
"He remembers much, you see," Cortez said. "Father Aquilar, youwill succeed soon in making a good Catholic of him, again.
"Well, gentlemen, I think we may congratulate ourselves upon thisnew companion. Every arm is of assistance; and if he is as brave ashe is big and strong, he will prove a doughty comrade. Besides, hewill be able to tell us something of Mexico; although, as Marinasays, he was only once at the capital.
"Question him, Aquilar, and find out from him whether itsmagnificence is as great as we hear."
Roger told all he knew of the capital, and said that, although hehimself could not say more than that it was a great city, he hadheard that its population was nearly three hundred thousand; andthat it certainly seemed to him fully three times as large as thatof Tezcuco, where he said there were one hundred thousand people.
"And it stands on an island in a lake?" Cortez asked.
"There are three causeways leading to the land, each wide enoughfor six horsemen to ride abreast," Roger replied; "but it would bea difficult thing to force an entrance, by these, in the face ofMontezuma's army."
"Well, gentlemen," Cortez said, "it is time for us to be going tothe council.
"Marina, do you take your friend to my private apartment, and bidJuan furnish him with a suit of clothes; and with armor, from thatbelonging to our friends who fell in the fights the other day. Wewill soon make a true cavalier of him."
As soon as Roger was equipped, he went out to the steps of thepalace, and presently descried Bathalda in the crowd. He beckonedto him and, taking him into the garden, had a long talk with him.He would have rewarded him largely for his services, but Bathaldarefused to accept anything.
"I came at my lord's orders," he said; "and am rejoiced to havebeen of service to one who is at once so kind, so strong, and sovaliant."
"As you will. We shall have further opportunities of meeting,Bathalda. Do you now make your way back to Tezcuco. Tell your lordall that has happened, and that I am with the Spaniards, and shallaccompany them if, as I believe, they go forward to Mexico; that Ihope to see all my friends again, before long; and that I alwaysthink of their kindness to me."
