Calavar; or, The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico
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CHAPTER XLV.
Whether it was that this attack was caused by an ebullition of popularfury, which yielded to some mysterious and religious revulsion offeeling, or whether, indeed, the leaders of the barbarians, persuaded ofthe madness of fighting the Christians hand to hand, and resolved toconquer them rather by famine than arms, had called off theirforces,--was a secret the Spaniards could never penetrate. No sacredhorn was sounded on the pyramid; but, in the very midst of what seemedtheir triumph, when the cavaliers were nearly exhausted and despairing,it became manifest that the Mexicans were giving way, and vanishing, notone by one, but in great clusters, from the field.
The Christians had no longer the spirit to pursue. They found the streetopen; and, dashing through the few foemen that lingered on the field,they made their way good to the palace. Before they reached it, theywere joined by a powerful detachment, sent out to their assistance. Theyreturned together. At the gate of the court-yard, stood Baltasar,Lazaro, and the secretary, looking eagerly for the appearance of DonAmador. His horse was led by a cavalier, whose countenance was moredejected than the rest. It was De Morla; and as he flung the bridle toLazaro, he said,--
"Hadst _thou_ been with thy master, this thing had not happened; for,though a serving-man, thou wouldst have remained behind him, when acavalier deserted."
"Dost thou accuse _me_ of deserting the noble youth?" said Alvarado,fiercely. "God forbid, I should shed Christian blood! but, with mysword's point, I will prove upon thy body, that thou liest!"
"And upon thine," said De Morla, with calm indignation, "I will makegood the charge I have uttered, that thou didst abandon in extremity,when he called upon thee for aid, the man who had just preserved thineown life."
"Are there not deaths enow among the infidels?" cried Cortes, angrily,"that ye must lust after one another's blood?--Peace! and be ye friends,lamenting our valiant companion together; for, De Morla, thou doest awrong to Alvarado; and, Don Pedro, thou art a fool, to quarrel with thepeevishness of a mourning friend."
The secretary listened to the cavaliers with a face of horror; not aword said Lazaro, but as he wiped the foam from the steed, and, with it,the blood of his master, he eyed Don Pedro with a dark and vindictivescowl. As for Baltasar, his rugged features quivered, and he did nothesitate to stand in the way of the Tonatiuh, saying,--
"If any cavalier have, indeed, been false to my young lord, I, who ambut a serving-man, will make bold to say, he has played false to agentleman who would have perilled his life for any Christian in need;and the act, though it be answered to man, God will not forgive.--Whowill tell this to my master, Don Gabriel?"
Alvarado, extremely enraged, had raised his spear to strike the oldsoldier; but he dropped his arm, at the last words, and said with greatmildness,--
"Thou art a fool to say this.--I lament thy lord; I loved him, and I didnot desert him----"
For the remainder of that day, the garrison were left in peace. No foesappeared on the square; but, twice or thrice, when parties were sent outto reconnoitre, they were met, at a distance from the palace, by herdsof Mexicans, and driven back to their quarters.
The desperate situation of the army was now evident to the dullestcomprehension. The barbarians had removed from the reach of theartillery, and drawn, with their bodies, a line of circumvallation roundtheir victims, patiently waiting for the moment, when famine shouldbring them a secure vengeance. All day, there were seen, on the top ofthe pyramid, priests and nobles, now engaged in some rite of devotion,and now looking down, on the besieged, like vultures on their prey; butwithout attempting any annoyance.
The murmurs of the garrison, exasperated by despair and want of food,were loud and stern; but Don Hernan received them only with bitingsarcasms. He bade those who were most mutinous, to depart if they would;and laughed scornfully at their confessions of inability. To those whocried for food, he answered by pointing grimly to the stone walls, andthe carcasses that lay on the square; or he counselled them to seek itamong their foes. In truth, the general knew their helplessness, and inthe bitterness of his heart at being thus foiled and jeoparded, he didnot scruple to punish their discontent, by disclosing the full misery oftheir situation. They were dependent upon him for life and hope, and hesuffered this dependence to be made apparent. He revealed to them noscheme of relief or escape; for, in fact, he had framed none. He was,himself, as desperate as the rest, seeing nothing before him butdestruction, and not knowing how to avoid it; and what measures he didtake, during these sorrowful hours, were rather expedients to divert histhoughts, than plans to diminish the general distress.
Notwithstanding the memorable fate of the burro, and the disinclinationof the soldiers to die the death of its garrison, he obstinatelycommanded those which were unfinished to be completed, with someadditional contrivances to increase their strength and mobility. He sentout parties to ransack the deserted houses in the vicinity, forprovisions, though hopeless of obtaining any; and he set the idlers tomending their armour of escaupil, and the smiths to making arrow-heads,as if still determined rather to fight than fly. He held no councilswith his officers, for he knew they had no projects to advise; and thedesperate resort over which he pondered, of sallying out with his wholeforce, and cutting his way through the opposing foe, was too full ofhorror to be yet spoken. Moreover, while Montezuma yet lived, he couldnot think his situation entirely hopeless. The surgeon, upon are-examination of the king's wounds, had formed a more favourableprognostic; and this was strengthened, when Montezuma at last awoke fromstupor, and recovered the possession of his intellects. It was told him,indeed, that the royal Indian, as if resuming his wits only to cast themaway again, had no sooner become sensible of his condition, andremembered that his wounds had been inflicted by his people, than hefell into a frenzy of grief and despair, tearing away the bandages fromhis body, and calling upon his gods to receive him into Tlacopan, theplace of caverns and rivers, where wandered those who died the death ofthe miserable. Don Hernan imagined that these transports would soon ravethemselves away, and persuaded himself that his captive, yielding atlast to the natural love of life, would yet remain in his hands, thehostage of safety, and perhaps the instrument of authority.
Sorrow dwelt in the palace of Axajacatl; but her presence was moredeeply acknowledged in the chamber of Calavar. From the lips ofBaltasar,--and the rude veteran wept, when he narrated the fall of theyoung cavalier, whom he had himself first taught the knowledge ofarms,--Don Gabriel learned the fate of his kinsman. But he neither weptlike Baltasar, nor joined in the loud lamentations of Marco. His eyesdilated with a wild expression, his lip fell, he drooped his head on hisbreast, and clasping his hands over his heart, muttered anunintelligible prayer,--perhaps the ejaculation which so often, and sopiteously, expressed his desolation. Then falling down upon his couch,and turning his face to the wall, he remained for the whole day andnight without speaking a word.