by Lew Wallace
CHAPTER XII.
IN THE INTERVAL OF THE BATTLE--LOVE.
The _chinampa_, at its anchorage, swung lightly, like an Indian cradlependulous in the air. Over it stooped the night, its wings of darknessbrilliant with the plumage of stars. The fire in the city kindled byCortes still fitfully reddened the horizon in that direction,--a direfulanswer to those who, remembering the sweetness of peace in the beautifulvalley, prayed for its return with the morning.
Yeteve, in the hammock, had lulled herself into the sleep of dreams;while, in the canoe, Hualpa and the oarsmen slept the sleep of thewarrior and laborer,--the sleep too deep for dreams. Only Tula and the'tzin kept vigils.
Just outside the canopy, in sight of the meridian stars, and where thenight winds came sighing through the thicket of flowers, a _petate_ hadbeen spread for them; and now she listened, while he, lying at length,his head in her lap, talked of the sorrowful time that had befallen.
He told her of the _mantas_, and their destruction; of how Hualpa hadmade way to the presence of Nenetzin, and how she had saved his life;and as the narrative went on, the listener's head drooped low over thespeaker's face, and there were sighs and tears which might have beenapportioned between the lost sister and the unhappy lover; he told ofthe attack upon the palace, and of the fall of Iztlil', and how, whenthe victory was won, Malinche flung the gods from the temple, and soterrified the companies that they fled.
"Then, O Tula, my hopes fell down. A people without gods, broken inspirit, and with duty divided between two kings, are but grass to betrodden. And Io',--so young, so brave, so faithful--"
He paused, and there was a long silence, devoted to the prince's memory.Then he resumed,--
"In looking out over the lake, you may have noticed that the city hasbeen girdled with men in canoes,--an army, indeed, unaffected by theawful spectacle of the overthrow of the gods. I brought them up, and intheir places sent the companies that had failed me. So, as the sun wentdown, I was able to pour fresh thousands upon Malinche. How I rejoicedto see them pass the wall with Hualpa, and grapple with the strangers!All my hopes came back again. That the enemy fought feebly was not afancy. Watching, wounds, battle, and care have wrought upon them. Theyare wasting away. A little longer,--two days,--a day even,--patience,sweetheart, patience!"
There was silence again,--the golden silence of lovers, under the stars,hand-in-hand, dreaming.
The 'tzin broke the spell to say, in lower tones and with longerintervals,--
"Men must worship, O Tula, and there can be no worship without faith. SoI had next to renew the sacred fire and restore the gods. The first waseasy: I had only to start a flame from the embers of the sanctuaries;the fire that burned them was borrowed from that kept immemorially onthe old altars. The next duty was harder. The images were not ofthemselves more estimable than other stones; neither were the jewelsthat adorned them more precious than others of the same kind: theirsanctity was from faith alone. The art of arts is to evoke the faith ofmen: make me, O sweetheart, make me master of that art, and, as theleast of possibilities, I will make gods of things least godly. In theplaces where they had fallen, at the foot of the temple, I set theimages up, and gave each an altar, with censers, holy fire, and all thefurniture of worship. By and by, they shall be raised again to the_azoteas_; and when we renew the empire, we will build for themsanctuaries richer even than those of Cholula. If the faith of ourpeople demand more, then--"
He hesitated.
"Then, what?" she asked.
He shuddered, and said lower than ever, "I will unseal the caverns ofQuetzal', and,--more I cannot answer now."
The influence of Mualox was upon him yet.
"And if that fail?" she persisted.
Not until the stars at the time overhead had passed and been succeededby others as lustrous, did he answer,--
"And if that fail? Then we will build a temple,--one without images,--atemple to the One Supreme God. So, O Tula, shall the prophecy of theking, your father, be fulfilled in our day."
And with that up sprang a breeze of summery warmth, lingering awhile towanton with the tresses of the willow, and swing the flowery island halfround the circle of its anchorage; and from the soothing hand on hisforehead, or the reposeful motion of the _chinampa_, the languor ofsleep stole upon his senses; yet recollection of the battle and itscares was hard to be put away:--
"I should have told you," he said, in a vanishing voice, "that when thecompanies abandoned us, I went first to see our uncle, the lordCuitlahua. The guards at the door refused me admittance; the king wassick, they said."
A tremor shook the hand on his forehead, and larger grew the great eyesbending over him.
"Did they say of what he was sick?" she asked.
"Of the plague."
"And what is that?"
"Death," he answered, and next moment fell asleep.
Over her heart, to hush the loudness of its beating, she clasped herhands; for out of the chamber of the almost forgotten, actual as inlife, stalked Mualox, the paba, saying, as once on the temple he said,"You shall be queen in your father's palace." She saw his beard offleecy white, and his eyes of mystery, and asked herself again andagain, "Was he indeed a prophet?"
And the loving child and faithful subject strove hard to hide from thealluring promise, for in its way she descried two living kings, herfather and her uncle; but it sought her continually, and found her, andat last held her as a dream holds a sleeper,--held her until the starsheralded the dawn, and the 'tzin awoke to go back to the city, back tothe battle,--from love to battle.