Montezuma's Daughter

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER XXX

  THE ESCAPE

  Now Otomie put the rope off her neck, and descending from the stool,stood before Marina.

  'You are Marina,' she said coldly and proudly, 'and you come to saveus, you who have brought ruin on the land that bore you, and have giventhousands of her children to death, and shame, and torment. Now, if Ihad my way, I would have none of your salvation, nay, I would rathersave myself as I was about to do.'

  Thus Otomie spoke, and never had she looked more royal than in thismoment, when she risked her last chance of life that she might pourout her scorn upon one whom she deemed a traitress, no, one who was atraitress, for had it not been for Marina's wit and aid, Cortes wouldnever have conquered Anahuac. I trembled as I heard her angry words,for, all I suffered notwithstanding, life still seemed sweet to me, who,ten seconds ago, had stood upon the verge of death. Surely Marina woulddepart and leave us to our doom. But it was not so. Indeed, she shrankand trembled before Otomie's contempt. They were a strange contrast intheir different loveliness as they stood face to face in the tortureden, and it was strange also to see the spirit of the lady of royalblood, threatened as she was with a shameful death, or still moreshameful life, triumph over the Indian girl whom to-day fortune had setas far above her as the stars.

  'Say, royal lady,' asked Marina in her gentle voice, 'for what causedid you, if tales are true, lie by the side of yonder white man upon thestone of sacrifice?'

  'Because I love him, Marina.'

  'And for this same cause have I, Marina, laid my honour upon a differentaltar, for this same cause I have striven against the children of mypeople, because I love another such as he. It is for love of Cortes thatI have aided Cortes, therefore despise me not, but let your love pleadfor mine, seeing that, to us women, love is all. I have sinned, I know,but doubtless in its season my sin shall find a fitting punishment.'

  'It had need be sharp,' answered Otomie. 'My love has harmed none, seebefore you but one grain of the countless harvest of your own. In yonderchair Guatemoc your king was this day tortured by your master Cortes,who swore to treat him with all honour. By his side sat Teule, myhusband and your friend; him Cortes gave over to has private enemy,de Garcia, whom you name Sarceda. See how he has left him. Nay, do notshudder, gentle lady; look now at his wounds! Consider to what a pass weare driven when you find us about to die thus like dogs, he, my husband,that he may not live to see me handled as he has been, and I with him,because a princess of the Otomie and of Montezuma's blood cannot submitto such a shame while death has one door through which to creep. It isbut a single grain of your harvest, outcast and traitress, the harvestof misery and death that is stored yonder in the ruins of Tenoctitlan.Had I my will, I tell you that I had sooner die a score of times thantake help from a hand so stained with the blood of my people and ofyours--I--'

  'Oh! cease, lady, cease,' groaned Marina, covering her eyes with herhand, as though the sight of Otomie were dreadful to her. 'What is doneis done; do not add to my remorse. What did you say, that you, the ladyOtomie, were brought here to be tortured?'

  'Even so, and before my husband's eyes. Why should Montezuma's daughterand the princess of the Otomie escape the fate of the emperor of theAztecs? If her womanhood does not protect her, has she anything to hopeof her lost rank?'

  'Cortes knows nothing of this, I swear it,' said Marina. 'To the resthe has been driven by the clamour of the soldiers, who taunt him withstealing treasure that he has never found. But of this last wickednesshe is innocent.'

  'Then let him ask his tool Sarceda of it.'

  'As for Sarceda, I promise you, princess, that if I can I will avengethis threat upon him. But time is short, I am come here with theknowledge of Cortes, to see if I can win the secret of the treasure fromTeule, your husband, and for my friendship's sake I am about to betraymy trust and help him and you to fly. Do you refuse my aid?'

  Otomie said nothing, but I spoke for the first time.

  'Nay, Marina, I have no love for this thief's fate if I can escape it,but how is it to be done?'

  'The chance is poor enough, Teule, but I bethought me that once out ofthis prison you might slip away disguised. Few will be stirring at dawn,and of them the most will not be keen to notice men or things. See, Ihave brought you the dress of a Spanish soldier; your skin is dark, andin the half light you might pass as one; and for the princess your wife,I have brought another dress, indeed I am ashamed to offer it, but it isthe only one that will not be noted at this hour; also, Teule, I bringyou a sword, that which was taken from you, though I think that once ithad another owner.'

  Now while she spoke Marina undid her bundle, and there in it were thedresses and the sword, the same that I had taken from the Spaniard Diazin the massacre of the noche triste. First she drew out the woman's robeand handed it to Otomie, and I saw that it was such a robe as amongthe Indians is worn by the women who follow camps, a robe with red andyellow in it. Otomie saw it also and drew back.

  'Surely, girl, you have brought a garment of your own in error,' shesaid quietly, but in such a fashion as showed more of the savage heartthat is native to her race than she often suffered to be seen; 'at theleast I cannot wear such robes.'

  'It seems that I must bear too much,' answered Marina, growing wroth atlast, and striving to keep back the tears that started to her eyes. 'Iwill away and leave you;' and she began to roll up her bundle.

  'Forgive her, Marina,' I said hastily, for the desire to escape grew onme every minute; 'sorrow has set an edge upon her tongue.' Then turningto Otomie I added, 'I pray you be more gentle, wife, for my sake if notfor your own. Marina is our only hope.'

  'Would that she had left us to die in peace, husband. Well, so be it,for your sake I will put on these garments of a drab. But how shall weescape out of this place and the camp? Will the door be opened to us,and the guards removed, and if we pass them, can you walk, husband?'

  'The doors will not be opened, lady,' said Marina, 'for those waitwithout, who will see that they are locked when I have passed them. Butthere will be nothing to fear from the guard, trust to me for it. See,the bars of this window are but of wood, that sword will soon severthem, and if you are seen you must play the part of a drunken soldierbeing guided to his quarters by a woman. For the rest I know nothing,save that I run great risk for your sakes, since if it is discoveredthat I have aided you, then I shall find it hard to soften the rage ofCortes, who, the war being won,' and she sighed, 'does not need me nowso much as once he did.'

  'I can make shift to hop on my right foot,' I said, 'and for the rest wemust trust to fortune. It can give us no worse gifts than those we havealready.'

  'So be it, Teule, and now farewell, for I dare stay no longer. I cando nothing more. May your good star shine on you and lead you hencein safety; and Teule, if we never meet again, I pray you think of mekindly, for there are many in the world who will do otherwise in thedays to come.'

  'Farewell, Marina,' I said, and she was gone.

  We heard the doors close behind her, and the distant voices of those whobore her litter, then all was silence. Otomie listened at the window fora while, but the guards seemed to be gone, where or why I do not know tothis hour, and the only sound was that of distant revelry from the camp.

  'And now to the work,' I said to Otomie.

  'As you wish, husband, but I fear it will be profitless. I do not trustthat woman. Faithless in all, without doubt she betrays us. Still at theworst you have the sword, and can use it.'

  'It matters little,' I answered. 'Our plight cannot be worse than it isnow; life has no greater evils than torment and death, and they are withus already.'

  Then I sat upon the stool, and my arms being left sound and strong, Ihacked with the sharp sword at the wooden bars of the window, severingthem one by one till there was a space big enough for us to creepthrough. This being done and no one having appeared to disturb us,Otomie clad me in the clothes of a Spanish soldier which Marina hadbrought, for I could not dress myself. What I suffered in t
he donning ofthose garments, and more especially in the pulling of the long booton to my burnt foot, can never be told, but more than once I stopped,pondering whether it would not be better to die rather than to enduresuch agonies. At last it was done, and Otomie must put on the red andyellow robe, a garb of shame such as many honest Indian women would diesooner than be seen in, and I think that as she did this, her agony wasgreater than mine, though of another sort, for to her proud heart, thatdress was a very shirt of Nessus. Presently she was clad, and mincedbefore me with savage mockery, saying:

  'Prithee, soldier, do I look my part?'

  'A peace to such fooling,' I answered; 'our lives are at stake, whatdoes it matter how we disguise ourselves?'

  'It matters much, husband, but how can you understand, who are a man anda foreigner? Now I will clamber through the window, and you mustfollow me if you can, if not I will return to you and we will end thismasquerade.'

  Then she passed through the hole swiftly, for Otomie was agile andstrong as an ocelot, and mounting the stool I made shift to follow heras well as my hurts would allow. In the end I was able to throw myselfupon the sill of the window, and there I was stretched out like a deadcat till she drew me across it, and I fell with her to the ground on thefurther side, and lay groaning. She lifted me to my feet, or rather tomy foot, for I could use but one of them, and we stared round us. No onewas to be seen, and the sound of revelry had died away, for the crest ofPopo was already red with the sunlight and the dawn grew in the valley.

  'Where to?' I said.

  Now Otomie had been allowed to walk in the camp with her sister, thewife of Guatemoc, and other Aztec ladies, and she had this gift incommon with most Indians, that where she had once passed there she couldpass again, even in the darkest night.

  'To the south gate,' she whispered; 'perhaps it is unguarded now thatthe war is done, at the least I know the road thither.'

  So we started, I leaning on her shoulder and hopping on my right foot,and thus very painfully we traversed some three hundred yards meetingnobody. But now our good luck failed us, for passing round the cornerof some buildings, we came face to face with three soldiers returning totheir huts from a midnight revel, and with them some native servants.

  'Whom have we here?' said the first of these. 'Your name, comrade?'

  'Good-night, brother, good-night,' I answered in Spanish, speaking withthe thick voice of drunkenness.

  'Good morning, you mean,' he said, for the dawn was breaking. 'Yourname. I don't know your face, though it seems that you have been in thewars,' and he laughed.

  'You mustn't ask a comrade his name,' I said solemnly and swinging toand fro. 'The captain might send for me and he's a temperate man. Yourarm, girl; it is time to go to sleep, the sun sets.'

  They laughed, but one of them addressed Otomie, saying:

  'Leave the sot, my pretty, and come and walk with us,' and he caught herby the arm. But she turned on him with so fierce a look that he lether go again astonished, and we staggered on till the corner of anotherhouse hid us from their view. Here I sank to the ground overcome withpain, for while the soldiers were in sight, I was obliged to use mywounded foot lest they should suspect. But Otomie pulled me up, saying:

  'Alas! beloved, we must pass on or perish.'

  I rose groaning, and by what efforts I reached the south gate I cannotdescribe, though I thought that I must die before I came there. At lastit was before us, and as chance would have it, the Spanish guard wereasleep in the guardhouse. Three Tlascalans only were crouched over alittle fire, their zerapes or blankets about their heads, for the dawnwas chilly.

  'Open the gates, dogs!' I said in a proud voice.

  Seeing a Spanish soldier one of them rose to obey, then paused and said:

  'Why, and by whose orders?'

  I could not see the man's face because of the blanket, but his voicesounded familiar to me and I grew afraid. Still I must speak.

  'Why?--because I am drunk and wish to lie without till I grow sober. Bywhose orders? By mine, I am an officer of the day, and if you disobeyI'll have you flogged till you never ask another question.'

  'Shall I call the Teules within?' said the man sulkily to his companion.

  'No,' he answered; 'the lord Sarceda is weary and gave orders that heshould not be awakened without good cause. Keep them in or let themthrough as you will, but do not wake him.'

  I trembled in every limb; de Garcia was in the guardhouse! What if heawoke, what if he came out and saw me? More--now I guessed whose voiceit was that I knew again; it was that of one of those Tlascalans who hadaided in tormenting me. What if he should see my face? He could scarcelyfail to know that on which he had left his mark so recently. I was dumbwith fear and could say nothing, and had it not been for the wit ofOtomie, there my story would have ended. But now she played her partand played it well, plying the man with the coarse raillery of the camp,till at length she put him in a good humour, and he opened the gate,bidding her begone and me with her. Already we had passed the gate whena sudden faintness seized me, and I stumbled and fell, rolling over onto my back as I touched the earth.

  'Up, friend, up!' said Otomie, with a harsh laugh. 'If you must sleep,wait till you find some friendly bush,' and she dragged at me to liftme. The Tlascalan, still laughing, came forward to help her, and betweenthem I gained my feet again, but as I rose, my cap, which fitted me butill, fell off. He picked it up and gave it to me and our eyes met, myface being somewhat in the shadow. Next instant I was hobbling on, butlooking back, I saw the Tlascalan staring after us with a puzzled air,like that of a man who is not sure of the witness of his senses.

  'He knows me,' I said to Otomie, 'and presently when he has found hiswits, he will follow us.'

  'On, on!' answered Otomie; 'round yonder corner are aloe bushes where wemay hide.'

  'I am spent, I can no more;' and again I began to fall.

  Then Otomie caught me as I fell, and of a sudden she put out herstrength, and lifting me from the ground, as a mother lifts her child,staggered forward holding me to her breast. For fifty paces or more shecarried me thus, love and despair giving her strength, till at last wereached the edge of the aloe plants and there we sank together to theearth. I cast my eyes back over the path which we had travelled. Roundthe corner came the Tlascalan, a spiked club in his hand, seeking us tosolve his doubts.

  'It is finished,' I gasped; 'the man comes.'

  For answer Otomie drew my sword from its scabbard and hid it in thegrass. 'Now feign sleep,' she said; 'it is our last chance.'

  I cast my arm over my face and pretended to be asleep. Presently I heardthe sound of a man passing through the bushes, and the Tlascalan stoodover me.

  'What would you?' asked Otomie. 'Can you not see that he sleeps? Let himsleep.'

  'I must look on his face first, woman,' he answered, dragging aside myarm. 'By the gods, I thought so! This is that Teule whom we dealt withyesterday and who escapes.'

  'You are mad,' she said laughing. 'He has escaped from nowhere, savefrom a brawl and a drinking bout.'

  'You lie, woman, or if you do not lie, you know nothing. This man hasthe secret of Montezuma's treasure, and is worth a king's ransom,' andhe lifted his club.

  'And yet you wish to slay him! Well, I know nothing of him. Take himback whence he came. He is but a drunken sot and I shall be well rid ofhim.'

  'Well said. It would be foolish to kill him, but by bearing him alive tothe lord Sarceda, I shall win honour and reward. Come, help me.'

  'Help yourself,' she answered sullenly. 'But first search his pouch;there may be some trifle there which we can divide.'

  'Well said, again,' he answered, and kneeling down he bent over me andbegan to fumble at the fastenings of the pouch.

  Otomie was behind him. I saw her face change and a terrible light cameinto her eyes, such a light as shines in the eyes of the priest atsacrifice. Quick as thought she drew the sword from the grass and smotewith all her strength upon the man's bent neck. Down he fell, makingno sound,
and she also fell beside him. In a moment she was on her feetagain, staring at him wildly--the naked sword in her hand.

  'Up,' she said, 'before others come to seek him. Nay, you must.'

  Now, again we were struggling forward through the bushes, my mind filledwith a great wonder that grew slowly to a whirling nothingness. For awhile it seemed to me as though I were lost in an evil dream and walkingon red hot irons in my dream. Then came a vision of armed men withlifted spears, and of Otomie running towards them with outstretchedarms.

  I knew no more.