The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico

by Lew Wallace

  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE BATTLE OF THE MANTAS.

  The report of a gun awoke the 'tzin in the morning. The great uproar ofthe assault, now become familiar to him, filled the chamber. He knelt onthe step and prayed, for there was a cloud upon his spirit, and over theidol's stony face there seemed to be a cloud. He put on his helm andmantle; at the door Hualpa offered him his arms.

  "No," he said, "bring me those we took from the stranger."

  Hualpa marked the gravity of his manner, and with a rising heart and asmile, the first seen on his lips for many a day, he brought a Spanishshield and battle-axe, and gave them to him.

  Then the din below, bursting out in greater volume, drew the 'tzin tothe verge of the temple. The warriors made way for him reverently. Helooked down into the square, and through a veil of smoke semilucent sawCortes and his cavaliers charge the ranks massed in front of the palacegate. The gate stood open, and a crowd of the Tlascalans were pouringout of the portal, hauling one of the towers whose construction had beenthe mystery of the days last passed; they bent low to the work, andcheered each other with their war-cries; yet the _manta_--so called byCortes--moved slowly, as if loath to leave. In the same manner the othertower was drawn out of the court; then, side by side, both were starteddown the street, which they filled so nearly that room was hardly leftfor the detachments that guarded the Tlascalans on the flanks.

  The fighting ceased, and silently the enemies stared at thespectacle,--such power is there in curiosity.

  At sight of the structures, rolling, rocking, rumbling, and creakingdismally in every wheel, Cortes' eyes sparkled fire-like through hisvisor. The 'tzin, on the other hand, was disturbed and anxious, althoughoutwardly calm; for the objects of the common wonder were enclosed onevery side, and he knew as little what they contained as of their useand operation.

  Slowly they rolled on, until past the intersection of the streets; therethey stopped. Right and left of them were beautiful houses covered withwarriors for the moment converted into spectators. A hush of expectancyeverywhere prevailed. The 'tzin shaded his eyes with his hand, and leanteagerly forward. Suddenly, from the sides of the machine next the walls,masked doors dropped out, and guns, charged to the muzzle, glared overthe house-tops, then swept them with fire.

  A horrible scream flew along the street and up to the _azoteas_ of thetemple; at the same time, by ladders extended to the coping of thewalls, the Christians leaped on the roofs, like boarders on a ship'sdeck, and mastered them at once; whereupon they returned, and were abouttaking in the ladders, when Cortes galloped back, and, riding from oneto the other, shouted,--

  "Ordas! Avila! _Mirad!_ Where are the torches I gave ye? Out again!Leave not a stone to shelter the dogs! Leave nothing but ashes! _Pronto,pronto!_"

  The captains answered promptly. With _flambeaux_ of resinous pine andcotton, they fired all the wood-work of the interior of the buildings.Smoke burst from the doors and windows; then the detachments retreated,and were rolled on without the loss of a man.

  Behind the _mantas_ there was a strong rear-guard of infantry andartillery; with which, and the guards on the flanks, and the cavaliersforcing way at the front, it seemed impossible to avert, or eveninterrupt, an attack at once so novel and successful.

  The smoke from the burning houses, momentarily thickening and widening,was seen afar, and by the heathen hailed with cries of alarm: not soCortes; riding everywhere, in the van, to the rear, often stopping bythe _mantas_, which he regarded with natural affection, as an artistdoes his last work, he tasted the joy of successful genius. The smokerising, as it were, to Heaven, carried up his vows not to stop until thecity, with all its idolatries, was a heap of ashes and lime,--aholocaust to the Mother such as had never been seen. The cheeriness ofhis constant cry, "_Christo, Christo y Santiago!_" communicated to hispeople, and they marched laughing and fighting.

  Opposition had now almost ceased; at the approach of the _mantas_, thehouse-tops were given up without resistance. A general panic appeared tohave seized the pagans; they even vacated the street, so that thecavaliers had little else to do than ride leisurely, turning now andthen to see the fires behind them, and the tall machines come lumberingon.

  As remarked, when the _mantas_ stopped at the intersection of thestreets, the 'tzin watched them eagerly, for he knew the time had cometo make their use manifest; he saw a door drop, and the jet of flame andsmoke leap from a gun; he heard the cry of agony from the house-tops,and the deeper cry from all the people; to the chiefs around him hesaid, with steady voice, and as became a leader,--

  "Courage, friends! We have them now. Malinche is mad to put his peoplein such traps. Lord Hualpa, go round the place of combat and see thatthe first bridge is impassable; for there, unless the towers have wings,and can fly, they must stop. And to you, Io'," he spoke to the ladtenderly, "I give a command and sacred trust. Stay here, and take careof the gods."

  Io' kissed his hand, and said, fervently, "May the gods care for me as Iwill for them!"

  To other chiefs, calling them by name, he gave directions for therenewal of the assault on the palace, now weakened by the sortie, andfor the concentration of fresh companies in the rear of the enemy, tocontest their return.

  "And now, my good lord," he said to a cacique, gray-headed, but ofmagnificent frame, "you have a company of Tezcucans, formerly the guardsof king Cacama's palace. Bring them, and follow me. Come."

  A number of houses covering quite half a square were by this time onfire. Those of wood burned furiously; the morning, however, was almostbreathless, so that the cinders did little harm. On the left side of thestreet stood a building of red stone, its front profusely carved, andfurther ornamented with a marble portico,--a palace, in fact, massivelybuilt, and somewhat higher than the _mantas_. Its entrances werebarricaded, and on the roof, where an enemy might be looked for, therewas not a spear, helm, or sign of life, except some fan-palms and longbanana-branches. Before the stately front the _mantas_ were at lengthhauled. Immediately the door on that side was dropped, and the ladderfixed, and Avila, who had the command, started with his followers totake possession and apply the torch. Suddenly, the coping of thepalace-front flamed with feathered helms and points of bronze.

  Avila was probably as skilful and intrepid as any of Cortes' captains;but now he was surprised: directly before him stood Guatamozin, whomevery Spaniard had come to know and respect as the most rodoubted of allthe warriors of Anahuac; and he shone on the captain a truly martialfigure, confronting him with Spanish arms, a shield with a face of ironand a battle-axe of steel. Avila hesitated; and as he did so, the end ofthe ladder was lifted from the wall, poised a moment in the air, thenflung off.

  The 'tzin had not time to observe the effect of the fall, for a score ofmen came quickly up, bringing a beam of wood as long and large as thespar of a brigantine; a trailing rope at its further end strengthenedthe likeness. Resting the beam on the coping of the wall, at a word,they plunged it forward against the _manta_, which rocked under theblow. A yell of fear issued from within. The Tlascalans strove to haulthe machine away, but the Tezcucans from their height tossed logs andstones upon them, crushing many to death, and putting the rest in suchfear that their efforts were vain. Meantime, the beam was again shotforward over the coping, and with such effect that the roof of the_manta_ sprang from its fastenings, and nearly toppled off.

  The handiwork so rudely treated was not as stout as the ships MartinLopez sailed on the lake. It was simply a square tower, two storieshigh, erected on wheels. The frame was enclosed with slabs, pinned onvertically, and pierced with loopholes. On the sides there wereapertures defended by doors. The roof, sloping hip-fashion, had an outercovering of undressed skins as protection against fire. The lower floorwas for the Tlascalans, should they be driven from the drag-ropes; inthe second story there was a gun, some arquebusiers, and a body ofpikemen to storm the house-tops; so that altogether the contrivancecould hardly stand hauling over the street,
much less a battery likethat it was then receiving. At the third blow it became an untenablewreck.

  "Avila!" cried Cortes. "Where art thou?"

  The good captain, with four of his bravest men, lay insensible, if notdead, under the ladder.

  "Mercy, O Mother of God, mercy!" groaned Cortes; next moment he washimself again.

  "What do ye here, men? Out and away before these timbers tumble andcrush ye!"

  One man stayed.

  "The gun, Senor, the gun!" he protested.

  Spurring close to the door, Cortes said, "As thou art a Christian, getthee down, comrade, and quickly. I can better spare the gun than so gooda gunner."

  Then the beam came again, and, with a great crash, tore away the side ofthe _manta_. The gun rolled backward, and burst through the oppositewall of the room. The veteran disappeared.

  By this time all eyes were turned to the scene. The bowmen andarquebusiers in the column exerted themselves to cover their unfortunatecomrades. Upon the neighboring houses a few infidels, on the watch,yelled joyously,--"The 'tzin! the 'tzin!" From them the shout, spreadthrough the cowering army, became, indeed, a battle-cry significant ofsuccess.

  To me, good reader, the miracles of the world, if any there be, are notthe things men do in masses, but the sublimer things done by one manover the many; they testify most loudly of God, since without him theycould not have been. I am too good a Christian to say this of aheathen; nevertheless, without the 'tzin his country had perished thatmorning. Back to the roofs came the defenders, into the street pouredthe companies again; no leisure now for the cavaliers. With the other_manta_ Ordas moved on gallantly, but the work was hard; at some houseshe failed, others he dared not attack. From front to rear the contestbecame a battle. In the low places of the street and pavement the bloodflowed warm, then cooled in blackening pools. The smoke of the consuminghouses, distinguishable from that of the temples, collected into acloud, and hung wide-spread over the combat. The yells of Christians andinfidels, fusing into a vast monotone, roared like the sea. Twice Mesawent to the front,--the cavaliers had need of him,--twice he returned tothe rear.

  The wrath of the Aztecs seemed especially directed against theTlascalans tugging at the ropes of the _manta_; as a consequence, theirquilted armor was torn to rags, and so many of them were wounded, somany killed, that at every stoppage the wheels were more difficult tostart; and to make the movement still more slow and uncertain, thecarcasses of the dead had to be rolled or carried out of the way; andthe dead, sooth to say, were not always Aztecs.

  Luis Marin halted to breathe.

  "_Ola, companero!_ What dost thou there?"

  "By all the saints!" answered Alvarado, on foot, tightening hissaddle-girth. "Was ever the like? It hath been strike, strike,--kill,kill,--for an hour. I am dead in the right arm from finger to shoulder.And now here is a buckle that refuseth its work. _Caramba!_ My glove isslippery with blood!"

  And so step by step,--each one bought with a life,--the Christians wontheir way to the first bridge: the floor was gone! Cortes reined hishorse, bloody from hoof to frontlet, by the edge of the chasm. Sincedaybreak fighting, and but a square gained! The water, never so placid,was the utmost limit of his going. He looked at the _manta_, now, likethat of Avila, a mocking failure. He looked again, and a blasphemybeyond the absolution of Olmedo, I fear, broke the clenching of hisjaws,--not for the machines, or the hopes they had raised, but the daystheir construction lost him. As he looked, through a rift in the cloudstill rising along the battle's track, he saw the great temple; gaybanners and gorgeous regalia, all the splendor of barbaric war, filledthat view, and inspired him. To the cavaliers, close around and inwaiting, he turned. The arrows smote his mail and theirs, yet he raisedhis visor: the face was calm, even smiling, for the will is a qualityapart from mind and passion.

  "We will go back, gentlemen," he said. "The city is on fire,--enough forone day. And hark ye, gentlemen. We have had enough of common blood. Letus go now and see of what the heathen gods are made."

  His hearers were in the mood; they raised their shields and shouted,--

  "To the temple! To the temple! For the love of Christ, to the temple!"

  The cry sped down the column; and as the men caught its meaning theyfaced about of their own will. Wounds, weariness, and disappointmentswere forgotten; the rudest soldier became a zealot on the instant. _Altemplo! Adelante, adelante!_ rose like a new chorus, piercing thebattle's monotone.

  Cortes stood in his stirrups, and lo! the enemy, ranked close, like cornin the full ear, yet outreaching his vision,--plumed, bannered,brilliant, and terrible.

  "Close and steady, swords of the Church! What ye see is but grass forthe cutting. Yonder is the temple we seek. Follow me. _Adelante! Christoy Santiago!_"

  So saying, he spurred in deep amongst the infidels.