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

by Lew Wallace

  CHAPTER X.

  THE WAY THROUGH THE WALL.

  "Al templo, _al templo_! to the temple!" shouted Cortes, as he chargedthe close ranks of the enemy.

  "_Al templo!_" answered the cavaliers, plunging forward in chivalricrivalry.

  And from the column behind them rolled the hoarse echo, with the wordsof command superadded,--

  "_Al templo! Adelante, adelante!_--forward!"

  Not a Spaniard there but felt the inspiration of the cry; felt himself asoldier of Christ, marching to a battle of the gods, the true againstthe false; yet the way was hard, harder than ever; so much so, indeed,that the noon came before Cortes at last spurred into the space infront of the old palace.

  The first object to claim attention there was the temple against whichthe bigotry of the Christians had been so suddenly and shrewdlydirected,--shrewdly, because in the glory of its conquest the failure ofthe _mantas_ was certain to be forgotten. In such intervals of the fightas he could snatch, the leader measured the pile with a view to theattack. Standing in his stirrups, he traced out the path to its summit,beginning at the gate of the _coatapantli_, then up the broad stairs,and around the four terraces to the _azoteas_,--a distance of nearly amile, the whole crowded with warriors, whose splendid regalia publishedthem lords and men of note, in arms to die, if need be, for glory andthe gods. As he looked, Sandoval rode to him.

  "Turn thine eyes hither, Senor,--to the palace, the palace!"

  Cortes dropped back into his saddle, and glanced that way.

  "By the Mother of Christ, they have broken through the wall!"

  He checked his horse.

  "Escobar," he said, calmly, through his half-raised visor, "take thouone hundred men, the last in the column, and attack the temple. Hearestthou? Kill all thou findest! Nay, I recollect it is a people with twoheads, of which I have but one. Bring me the other, if thou canst findhim. I mean the butcher they call the high priest. And more, SenorAlonzo: when thou hast taken the idolatrous mountain, burn the towers,and fear not to tumble the bloody gods into the square. Thy battle willbe glorious. On thy side God, the Son, and Mother! Thou canst not fail."

  "And thou, Olea," he added to another, "get thee down the street, andhasten Mesa and his supports. Tell them the infidels are at the door ofthe palace, and that the captain Christobal hath scarce room to lift hisaxe. And further,--as speed is everything now,--bid Ordas out with thegun, and fire the _manta_, which hath done its work. Spare not thyhorse!"

  With the last word, Cortes shut his visor, and, griping his axe, spurredto the front, shouting,--

  "To the palace, gentlemen! for love of Christ and good comrades. Rescue,rescue!"

  Down the column sped the word,--then forward resistlessly, through theembattled gate, into the enclosure; and none too soon, for, as Corteshad said, though at the time witless of the truth, the Aztecs werethreatening the very doors of the palace.

  Escobar, elated with the task assigned him, arranged his men, and madeready for the assault. The infidels beheld his preparation withastonishment. All eyes, theretofore bent upon the conflict in the palaceyard, now fixed upon the little band so boldly proposing to scale thesacred heights. A cry came up the street: "The 'tzin, the 'tzin!" thenthe 'tzin himself came; and as he passed through the gate of the_coatapantli_, the thousands recognized him, and breathed freely. "The'tzin has come! The gods are safe!" so they cheered each other.

  The good captain led his men to the gate of the _coatapantli_. Withdifficulty he gained entrance. As if to madden the infidels, alreadyfired by a zeal as great as his own, the dismal thunder of the greatdrum of Huitzil' rolled down from the temple, overwhelming all othersounds. Slowly he penetrated the enclosure; closely his command followedhim; yet not all of them; before he reached the stairway he was fightingfor, the hundred were but ninety.

  Twenty minutes,--thirty: at last Escobar set his foot on the first stepof the ascent. There he stopped; a shield of iron clashed against his;his helmet rang with a deadly blow. When he saw light again, he wasoutside the sacred wall, borne away by his retreating countrymen, ofwhom not one re-entered the palace unwounded.

  Cortes, meantime, with sword and axe, cleared the palace of assailants;and, as if the day's work were done, he prepared to dismount. DonChristobal, holding his stirrup, said,--

  "_Cierto, Senor_, thou art welcome. I do indeed kiss thy hand. I thankthee."

  "Not so, captain, not so. By my conscience, we are the debtors! I willhear nothing else. It is true we came not a moment too soon,"--heglanced at the breach in the wall, and shook his head gravely,--"but--Ispeak what may not be gainsaid--thou hast saved the palace."

  More he would have said in the same strain, but that a sentinel on theroof cried out,--

  "_Ola, Senores!_"

  "What wouldst thou?" asked Cortes, quickly.

  "I am an old soldier, Senor Hernan,--"

  "To the purpose, varlet, to the purpose!"

  "--whom much experience hath taught not to express himself hastily;therefore, if thy orders were well done, Senor, whither would ourcomrades over the way be going?"

  "To the top of the temple," said Cortes, gravely, while all around himlaughed.

  "Then I may say safely, Senor, that they will go round the world beforethey arrive there. They come this way fast as men can who have to--"

  A long, exulting cry from the infidels cut the speech short; and theparty, turning to the temple, saw it alive with waving sashes andtossing shields.

  "To horse, gentlemen!" said Cortes, quietly, but with flashing eyes."Satan hath ruled yon pile long enough. I will now tilt with him. Letthe trumpets be sounded! Muster the army! God's service hath become ournecessity. Haste ye!"

  Out of the gate, opened to receive Escobar and his bruised followers,marched three hundred chosen Christians, with as many thousandTlascalans. In their midst went Olmedo, under his gown a suit of armor,in his hand a lance, and on that a brazen crucifix. Other ensign therewas not. Cortes and his cavalry led the column, which was of all thearms except artillery; that remained with De Olid to take care of thepalace.

  And never was precaution more timely; for hardly had the gate closedupon the outgoers, before the good captain sent his garrison to thewalls, once more menaced by the infidels.

  The preparations of Escobar, as we have seen, had been under Io's view;so the prince, divining the object, drew after him a strong support, andhastened to keep the advantage of the stairways. On one of the easternterraces he met the 'tzin ascending. There was hurried salutationbetween them.

  "Look you for Hualpa?" asked Io', observing the 'tzin search the companyinquiringly.

  "Yes. He should be here."

  The boy's face and voice fell.

  "I would he were, good 'tzin. He left me on the _azoteas_. With the lookof one who had devoted himself, he embraced me. His last words were,'Tell the 'tzin I have gone to make for him a way into the palace.'" Andthereupon Io' told the story through, simply and sorrowfully; at the endthe listener kissed him, and said,--

  "I will find the way he made for me."

  There was a silence, very brief, however, for a burst of yells frombelow warned them of the fight begun. Then the 'tzin, recalled tohimself, gave orders.

  "Care of the gods is mine now. Leave me these friends and go, and withthe people at command, bring stones and timbers, all you find, and heapthem ready for use on the terraces at the head of each stairway. Goquickly, so may you earn the double blessing of Huitzil' and Tezca'!"

  In a little time the 'tzin stood upon the last step of the loweststairway; nor did he lift hand until Escobar, half spent with exertion,confronted him shield to shield. The result has been told.

  And then were shown the qualities which, as a fighting man, raised the'tzin above rivalry amongst his people. The axe in his hand was butanother form of the _maquahuitl_; and that his shield was of theChristian style mattered not,--he was its perfect master. With a joyouscry, he rushed upon the arms outst
retched to save the fallen captain;played his shield like a shifting mirror; rose and fell the axe, now infeint, now in foil, but always in circles swifter than eye could follow;striking a victim but once, he amazed and dazzled the Spaniards, as inthe Moorish wars El Zagel, the Moor, amazed and dazzled their fathers.Nor did he want support. His followers, inspired by his example,struggled to keep pace with him. On the flanks poured the masses of hiscountrymen, in blind fury, content if, with their naked hands, theycould clutch the weapons that slew them. Such valor was not to beresisted by the lessening band of Christians, who yielded, at first inchby inch, then step by step; at length, in disorder, almost in rout, theywere driven from the sacred enclosure.

  The victory was decided; the temple was safe, and the insult punished!The air shook with the deep music of the drum; in the streets thecompanies yelled as if drunk; the temple was beautiful with wavingsashes and tossing shields and banners; and on the _azoteas_ of thegreat pile, in presence of the people, the priests appeared and dancedtheir dance of triumph,--a horrible saturnalia. The fight had been atrial of power between the gods Christian and Aztec, and lo, Huitzil'was master!

  The 'tzin felt the sweetness of the victory, and his breast filled withheroic impulses. Standing in the gate of the _coatapantli_, he saw thebreach Hualpa had made in the wall enclosing the palace, noticed thatthe ascent to the base of the gorge was easy, and the gorge itself nowwide enough to admit of the passage of several men side by side. Thetemptation was strong, the possibilities alluring, and he fixed hispurpose.

  "It is the way he made for me, and I will tread it. Help me, O God of myfathers!"

  So he resolved, so he prayed.

  And forthwith messengers ran to the chiefs on the four sides of thepalace with orders for them to pass the wall. From the dead Spaniardsthe armor was stript, and arms taken; and the robbers, fourteencaciques, men notable for skill and courage, stood up under cuirass, andhelm or morion, and with pike and battle-axe of Christian manufacture,covered, nevertheless, with pagan trappings.

  Still standing in the gateway, the 'tzin saw the companies in the streetbegin the assault. Swelled their war-cries as never before, for theinspiration of the victory was upon them also; rattled the tambours,brayed the conchs, danced the priests, and from the temple and housetopspoured the missiles in a darkening cloud. Within his view a hundredladders were planted, and crowded with eager climbers. At the gorge ofthe breach men struggled with each other to make the passage first. Hecalled a messenger:--

  "Take this ring to the prince Io'," he said. "Tell him the house of thegods is once more in his care." Then to his chosen caciques he turned,saying,--"Follow me, O countrymen!"

  With that, he walked swiftly to the breach; calm, collected, watchful,silent, he walked. His companions shouted his war-cry. From mouth tomouth it passed, thrilling and inspiring,--

  "Up, up, Tlateloco! Up, up, over the wall! The 'tzin is with us!"

  Meantime the beseiged were not idle; over the crest of the parapet theTlascalans fought successfully; through the ports and embrasures theChristians kept up their fire of guns great and small. Nevertheless, tothe breach the 'tzin went without stopping.

  "Clear the way!" he cried.

  The guns within made answer; a shower of blood drenched him from head tofoot. Except of the dead, the way was clear! A rush through the slipperygorge,--a shout,--and he was inside the enclosure, backed by hiscaciques. And as he went in, Cortes passed out, marching to storm thetemple.

  No doubt or hesitation on the 'tzin's part now; no looking about,uncertain what to do, while bowmen and gunners made a mark of him. Hespoke to his supporters, and with them faced to the right, and clearedthe banquette of Tlascalans. Over the wall, thus cleared, and throughthe breach leaped his people; and as they came, the iron shields coveredthem, and they multiplied rapidly.

  About eight hundred Spaniards, chiefly Narvaez' men, defended thepalace. They fought, but not with the spirit of the veterans, and werepushed slowly backward. As they retired, wider grew the space ofundefended wall; like waves over a ship's side, in poured the companies;the Aztecs fell by scores, yet they increased by hundreds.

  Again the sick and wounded staggered from their quarters; again De Olidbrought his reserves into action; again the volleys shook the palace,and wrapped it in curtains of smoke, whiter and softer than bridalveils: still the infidels continued to master the walls and the spacewithin. By and by the gates fell into their hands; and then, indeed, allseemed lost to the Christians.

  The stout heart of the good Captain Christobal was well tempered for thetrial. To the windows and lesser entrances of the buildings he sentguards, stationing them inside; then, in front of the four great doors,he drew his men back, and fought on, so that the palace was literallygirt with a belt of battle.

  An hour like that I write of seems a long time to a combatant; on thisoccasion, however, one there was, not a combatant, to whom, possibly,the time seemed much longer. In his darkened chamber sat the king,neither speaking nor spoken to, though surrounded by his court. He musthave heard the cries of his people; knowing them so near, in fancy, atleast, he must have seen their heroism and slaughter. Had he no thoughtin sympathy with them? no prayer for their success? no hope for himselfeven? Who may answer?--so many there are dead in the midst of life.

  At length the 'tzin became weary of the mode of attack, which, afterall, was but a series of hand-to-hand combats along lengthened lines,that might last till night, or, indeed, as long as there were men tofill the places of the fallen. To the companies crowding the conqueredspace before the eastern front of the palace, he passed an order: asimultaneous forward movement from the rear took place; the intervalsbetween the ranks were closed up; a moment of fusion,--a pressure; thena welding together of the whole mass followed. After that words may notconvey the scene. The unfortunates who happened to be engaged were firstpushed, then driven, and finally shot forward, like dead weights.Useless all skill, useless strength; the opposite lines met; blood flewas from a hundred fountains; men, impaled on opposing weapons, died,nailed together face to face. As the only chance for life, very manyfell down, and were smothered.

  The defenders broke in an instant. Back, back they went,--back to theguns, which, for a time, served as breakwaters to the wave; then pastthe guns, almost to the wall, forced there by the awful impetus of therush.

  The truly great leaders of men are those who, invoking storms, stand outand brave them when they come. Such was Guatamozin. The surge I have sofaintly described caught him foremost in the fighting line of hispeople, and flung him upon his antagonists. With his shield he broke theforce of the collision; the cuirass saved him from their points; closewedged amongst them, they could not strike him. Tossed like so muchdrift, backward they went, forward he. Numbers of them fell anddisappeared. When, at last, the impetus of the movement was nigh spent,he found himself close by the principal door of the palace. But one manstood before him,--a warrior with _maquahuitl_ lifted to strike. The'tzin raised his shield, and caught the blow; then, upon his knee, helooked up, and saw the face, and heard the exulting yell, of--Iztlil',the Tezcucan! Whirled the weapon again. The noble Aztec summoned all hisspirit; death glared upon him through the burning eyes of his hatedrival; up, clear to vision, rose all dearest things,--gods, country,glory, love. Suddenly the raised arm fell; down dropped the_maquahuitl_; and upon the shield down dropped Iztlil' himself, carryingthe 'tzin with him.

  The Tezcucan seemed dead.

  A friendly hand helped the 'tzin to his feet. He was conscious, as hearose, of a strange calm in the air; the clamor and furious stir of thecombat were dying away; he stood in the midst of enemies, but they werestill, and did not even look at him. A shield not his own covered hisbreast; he turned, and lo! the face of Hualpa!

  "Whence came you?" asked the 'tzin.

  "From the palace."

  "Thanks--"

  "Not now, not now," said Hualpa, in a low voice. "The gods who permittedme to save you, O 'tzin, have not been able to save themselv
es. Look! tothe temple!"

  His eyes followed Hualpa's directing finger, and the same astonishmentthat held his enemies motionless around him, the same horror that, inthe full tide of successful battle, had so instantly stayed hiscountrymen, seized him also. He stood transfixed,--a man turned tostone!

  The towers of the temple were in flames; and, yet more awful, the imageof Huitzil', rolled to the verge of the _azoteas_, was tottering to itsfall! A thousand hands were held up instinctively,--a groan,--a longcry,--and down the stairway and terraces, grinding and crashing,thundered the idol. Tezca' followed after, and the sacrificial stone;then the religion of the Aztecs was ended forever.

  As if to assure the great fact, when next the spectators raised theireyes to the _azoteas_, lo! Olmedo and his crucifix! The faithful servantof Christ had performed his mission; he had burst the last gate, andgained the last mountain in the way; and now, with bared head, and faceradiant with sublime emotion, he raised the symbol of salvation high upin view of all the tribes, and, in the name of his Master, and for hisMaster's Church, forever, by that simple ceremony, took possession ofthe New World.

  And marvellous to relate further, the tribes, awed if not conquered,bowed their heads in peace. Even the companies in the palace-yardmarched out over their dead, and gave up the victory so nearly won.Guatamozin and Hualpa followed them, but with their faces to the foe.Needless the defiance: as they went, not a word was spoken, not a handlifted. For the time, all was peace.