Montezuma's Daughter

by H. Rider Haggard

  CHAPTER XXXII

  THE END OF GUATEMOC

  Now for a while we dwelt in quiet at the City of Pines, and by slowdegrees and with much suffering I recovered from the wounds that thecruel hand of de Garcia had inflicted upon me. But we knew that thispeace could not last, and the people of the Otomie knew it also, for hadthey not scourged the envoys of Malinche out of the gates of their city?Many of them were now sorry that this had been done, but it was done,and they must reap as they had sown.

  So they made ready for war, and Otomie was the president of theircouncils, in which I shared. At length came news that a force of fiftySpaniards with five thousand Tlascalan allies were advancing on the cityto destroy us. Then I took command of the tribesmen of the Otomie--therewere ten thousand or more of them, all well-armed after their ownfashion--and advanced out of the city till I was two-thirds of the waydown the gorge which leads to it. But I did not bring all my army downthis gorge, since there was no room for them to fight there, and I hadanother plan. I sent some seven thousand men round the mountains, ofwhich the secret paths were well known to them, bidding them climb tothe crest of the precipices that bordered either side of the gorge,and there, at certain places where the cliff is sheer and more than onethousand feet in height, to make a great provision of stones.

  The rest of my army, excepting five hundred whom I kept with me, Iarmed with bows and throwing spears, and stationed them in ambush inconvenient places where the sides of the cliff were broken, and in suchfashion that rocks from above could not be rolled on them. Then I senttrusty men as spies to warn me of the approach of the Spaniards, andothers whose mission it was to offer themselves to them as guides.

  Now I thought my plan good, and everything looked well, and yet itmissed failure but by a very little. For Maxtla, our enemy and thefriend of the Spaniards, was in my camp--indeed, I had brought him withme that I might watch him--and he had not been idle.

  For when the Spaniards were half a day's march from the mouth of thedefile, one of those men whom I had told off to watch their advance,came to me and made it known that Maxtla had bribed him to go to theleader of the Spaniards and disclose to him the plan of the ambuscade.This man had taken the bribe and started on his errand of treachery,but his heart failed him and, returning, he told me all. Then I causedMaxtla to be seized, and before nightfall he had paid the price of hiswickedness.

  On the morning after his death the Spanish array entered the pass.Half-way down it I met them with my five hundred men and engaged them,but suffered them to drive us back with some loss. As they followed theygrew bolder and we fled faster, till at length we flew down the defilefollowed by the Spanish horse. Now, some three furlongs from its mouththat leads to the City of Pines, this pass turns and narrows, and herethe cliffs are so sheer and high that a twilight reigns at the foot ofthem.

  Down the narrow way we ran in seeming rout, and after us came theSpaniards shouting on their saints and flushed with victory. Butscarcely had we turned the corner when they sang another song, for thosewho were watching a thousand feet above us gave the signal, and downfrom on high came a rain of stones and boulders that darkened the airand crashed among them, crushing many of them. On they struggled, seeinga wider way in front where the cliffs sloped, and perhaps half of themwon through. But here the archers were waiting, and now, in the place ofstones, arrows were hailed upon them, till at length, utterly bewilderedand unable to strike a blow in their own defence, they turned to flytowards the open country. This finished the fight, for now we assailedtheir flank, and once more the rocks thundered on them from above, andthe end of it was that those who remained of the Spaniards and theirIndian allies were driven in utter rout back to the plain beyond thePass of Pines.

  After this battle the Spaniards troubled us no more for many yearsexcept by threats, and my name grew great among the people of theOtomie.

  One Spaniard I rescued from death and afterwards I gave him his liberty.From him I inquired of the doings of de Garcia or Sarceda, and learnedthat he was still in the service of Cortes, but that Marina had beentrue to her word, and had brought disgrace upon him because he hadthreatened to put Otomie to the torture. Moreover Cortes was angry withhim because of our escape, the burden of which Marina had laid upon hisshoulders, hinting that he had taken a bribe to suffer us to pass thegate.

  Of the fourteen years of my life which followed the defeat of theSpaniards I can speak briefly, for compared to the time that had gonebefore they were years of quiet. In them children were born to me andOtomie, three sons, and these children were my great joy, for I lovedthem dearly and they loved me. Indeed, except for the strain of theirmother's blood, they were English boys and not Indian, for I christenedthem all, and taught them our English tongue and faith, and their mienand eyes were more English than Indian, though their skins were dark.But I had no luck with these dear children of mine, any more than I havehad with that which Lily bore me. Two of them died--one from a feverthat all my skill would not avail to cure, and another by a fall from alofty cedar tree, which he climbed searching for a kite's nest. Thusof the three of them--since I do not speak now of that infant, myfirstborn, who perished in the siege--there remained to me only theeldest and best beloved of whom I must tell hereafter.

  For the rest, jointly with Otomie I was named cacique of the Cityof Pines at a great council that was held after I had destroyed theSpaniards and their allies, and as such we had wide though not absolutepower. By the exercise of this power, in the end I succeeded inabolishing the horrible rites of human sacrifice, though, because ofthis, a large number of the outlying tribes fell away from our rule, andthe enmity of the priests was excited against me. The last sacrifice,except one only, the most terrible of them all, of which I will tellafterwards, that was ever celebrated on the teocalli in front of thepalace, took place after the defeat of the Spaniards in the pass.

  When I had dwelt three years in the City of Pines and two sons hadbeen born to me there, secret messengers arrived that were sent bythe friends of Guatemoc, who had survived the torture and was still aprisoner in the hands of Cortes. From these messengers we learned thatCortes was about to start upon an expedition to the Gulf of Honduras,across the country that is now known as Yucatan, taking Guatemoc andother Aztec nobles with him for he feared to leave them behind. We heardalso that there was much murmuring among the conquered tribes of Anahuacbecause of the cruelties and extortions of the Spaniards, and manythought that the hour had come when a rising against them might becarried to a successful issue.

  This was the prayer of those who sent the envoys, that I should raise aforce of Otomies and travel with it across the country to Yucatan, andthere with others who would be gathered, wait a favourable opportunityto throw myself upon the Spaniards when they were entangled in theforests and swamps, putting them to the sword and releasing Guatemoc.Such was the first purpose of the plot, though it had many others ofwhich it is useless to speak, seeing that they came to nothing.

  When the message had been delivered I shook my head sadly, for I couldsee no hope in such a scheme, but the chief of the messengers rose andled me aside, saying that he had a word for my ear.

  'Guatemoc sends these words,' he said; 'I hear that you, my brother, arefree and safe with my cousin Otomie in the mountains of the Otomie. I,alas! linger in the prisons of the Teules like a crippled eagle in acage. My brother, if it is in your power to help me, do so I conjureyou by the memory of our ancient friendship, and of all that we havesuffered together. Then a time may still come when I shall rule again inAnahuac, and you shall sit at my side.'

  I heard and my heart was stirred, for then, as to this hour, I lovedGuatemoc as a brother.

  'Go back,' I said, 'and find means to tell Guatemoc that if I can savehim I will, though I have small hopes that way. Still, let him look forme in the forests of Yucatan.'

  Now when Otomie heard of this promise of mine she was vexed, for shesaid that it was foolish and would only end in my losing my life. Still,having given it she held with me
that it must be carried out, and theend of it was that I raised five hundred men, and with them set out uponmy long and toilsome march, which I timed so as to meet Cortes in thepasses of Yucatan. At the last moment Otomie wished to accompany me, butI forbade it, pointing out that she could leave neither her children norher people, and we parted with bitter grief for the first time.

  Of all the hardships that I underwent I will not write. For two anda half months we struggled on across mountains and rivers and throughswamps and forests, till at last we reached a mighty deserted city,that is called Palenque by the Indians of those parts, which has beenuninhabited for many generations. This city is the most marvellous placethat I have seen in all my travels, though much of it is hidden inbush, for wherever the traveller wanders there he finds vast palaces ofmarble, carven within and without, and sculptured teocallis and the hugeimages of grinning gods. Often have I wondered what nation was strongenough to build such a capital, and who were the kings that dwelt in it.But these are secrets belonging to the past, and they cannot be answeredtill some learned man has found the key to the stone symbols andwritings with which the walls of the buildings are covered over.

  In this city I hid with my men, though it was no easy task to persuadethem to take up their habitation among so many ghosts of the departed,not to speak of the noisome fevers and the wild beasts and snakes thathaunted it, for I had information that the Spaniards would pass throughthe swamp that lies between the ruins and the river, and there I hopedto ambush them. But on the eighth day of my hiding I learned from spiesthat Cortes had crossed the great river higher up, and was cutting hisway through the forest, for of swamps he had passed more than enough. SoI hurried also to the river intending to cross it. But all that day andall that night it rained as it can rain nowhere else in the world thatI have seen, till at last we waded on our road knee deep in water, andwhen we came to the ford of the river it was to find a wide roaringflood, that no man could pass in anything less frail than a Yarmouthherring boat. So there on the bank we must stay in misery, sufferingmany ills from fever, lack of food, and plenitude of water, till atlength the stream ran down.

  Three days and nights we waited there, and on the fourth morning I madeshift to cross, losing four men by drowning in the passage. Once over, Ihid my force in the bush and reeds, and crept forward with six men only,to see if I could discover anything of the whereabouts of the Spaniards.Within an hour I struck the trail that they had cut through the forest,and followed it cautiously. Presently we came to a spot where the forestwas thin, and here Cortes had camped, for there was heat left in theashes of his fires, and among them lay the body of an Indian who haddied from sickness. Not fifty yards from this camp stood a huge ceiba,a tree that has a habit of growth not unlike that of our English oak,though it is soft wooded and white barked, and will increase more inbulk in twenty years than any oak may in a hundred. Indeed I never yetsaw an oak tree so large as this ceiba of which I write, either in girthor in its spread of top, unless it be the Kirby oak or the tree thatis called the 'King of Scoto' which grows at Broome, that is the nextparish to this of Ditchingham in Norfolk. On this ceiba tree manyzaphilotes or vultures were perched, and as we crept towards it I sawwhat it was they came to seek, for from the lowest branches of the ceibathree corpses swung in the breeze. 'Here are the Spaniard's footprints,'I said. 'Let us look at them,' and we passed beneath the shadow of thetree.

  As I came, a zaphilote alighted on the head of the body that hungnearest to me, and its weight, or the wafting of the fowl's wing, causedthe dead man to turn round so that he came face to face with me. Ilooked, started back, then looked again and sank to the earth groaning.For here was he whom I had come to seek and save, my friend, my brother,Guatemoc the last emperor of Anahuac. Here he hung in the dim anddesolate forest, dead by the death of a thief, while the vultureshrieked upon his head. I sat bewildered and horror-stricken, and asI sat I remembered the proud sign of Aztec royalty, a bird of preyclasping an adder in its claw. There before me was the last of thestock, and behold! a bird of prey gripped his hair in its talons, afitting emblem indeed of the fall of Anahuac and the kings of Anahuac.

  I sprang to my feet with an oath, and lifting the bow I held I sentan arrow through the vulture and it fell to the earth fluttering andscreaming. Then I bade those with me to cut down the corpses of Guatemocand of the prince of Tacuba and another noble who hung with him, andhollow a deep grave beneath the tree. There I laid them, and there Ileft them to sleep for ever in its melancholy shadow, and thus for thelast time I saw Guatemoc my brother, whom I came from far to save andfound made ready for burial by the Spaniard.

  Then I turned my face homewards, for now Anahuac had no king to rescue,but it chanced that before I went I caught a Tlascalan who could speakSpanish, and who had deserted from the army of Cortes because of thehardships that he suffered in their toilsome march. This man was presentat the murder of Guatemoc and his companions, and heard the Emperor'slast words. It seems that some knave had betrayed to Cortes that anattempt would be made to rescue the prince, and that thereon Cortescommanded that he should be hung. It seems also that Guatemoc met hisdeath as he had met the misfortunes of his life, proudly and withoutfear. These were his last words: 'I did ill, Malinche, when I held myhand from taking my own life before I surrendered myself to you. Then myheart told me that all your promises were false, and it has not lied tome. I welcome my death, for I have lived to know shame and defeat andtorture, and to see my people the slaves of the Teule, but still I saythat God will reward you for this deed.'

  Then they murdered him in the midst of a great silence.

  And so farewell to Guatemoc, the most brave, the best and the noblestIndian that ever breathed, and may the shadow of his tormentings andshameful end lie deep upon the fame of Cortes for so long as the namesof both of them are remembered among men!

  For two more months I journeyed homeward and at length I reached theCity of Pines, well though wearied, and having lost only forty men byvarious misadventures of travel, to find Otomie in good health, andoverjoyed to know me safe whom she thought never to see again. But whenI told her what was the end of her cousin Guatemoc she grieved bitterly,both for his sake and because the last hope of the Aztec was gone, andshe would not be comforted for many days.