Patrañas; or, Spanish Stories, Legendary and Traditional
Page 50
TRADITIONS DE ULTRAMAR.
HERNAN CORTES IN SANCTUARY.
Hernan Cortes was a Spanish gentleman whose achievements in the newworld earned him a fame almost as great and almost as fantasticas that of any of the mediaeval heroes. He was first taken out tothe West Indies as secretary to Diego Velasquez, Governor of Cuba,whose arbitrary acts excited so much discontent, that a commission ofinquiry was sent out from Spain, which established its head-quartersat Hispaniola [109]. It was a perilous enterprise to carry thecomplaint of Cuba over to the commission; and as no one could befound to undertake the service, Hernan Cortes resolved to go himself,though he had to cross the straits in an open boat. The governor hadbeen on the watch, and one of the swiftest boats under his orderssucceeded in overtaking Cortes's boat, and putting him in irons tobring him back to shore.
Hernan Cortes was one of the handsomest of men; and his beauty andmisfortunes exciting the sympathy of his keepers, he was not veryvigilantly watched. Possessing great natural pluck and dexterity, hemanaged in the night, as they neared the land, to slip his chains andgain the shore. Here he hid himself in the jungle till daybreak, whenhe found sanctuary in a little church. For several days he remainedhere in safety, but among the frequenters of the shrine was MelindaXuares, whose piety, and modest demeanour in spite of her exceedingbeauty, attracted his attention and won his heart. Her brother, JuanXuares, with whom she lived, for she was an orphan, was delighted tocultivate the acquaintance of a man he admired so much, and thereforereceived him cordially.
In his remote retreat he thought himself so safe that he ventureddaily to spend some hours at Juan Xuares' house; but the governor'sspies were down upon him. They caught him one day outside the limitsof the sanctuary, and clapped him in prison.
When he had been seized before, it was by an arbitrary stretch ofpower: now there was a formal charge against him, for having brokenprison; and he was liable to be hanged.
Melinda's grief was indescribable: but she was brave as beautiful;she no sooner heard of Hernan's imprisonment than she hastened tothe governor, and so successfully pleaded her lover's cause, that heordered him to be set free and restored to her.
Thus a noble life was spared; and Hernan Cortes afterwards becamethe conqueror of Mexico.