The Infidel Volume Ii Part 5

"The religion that my lord loves, is good; and Zelahualla shall know no other."

"G.o.d be praised for this then," said Juan, fervently; "for now is the desire of my heart fulfilled, mine errand accomplished; and I will die, when I am called, cheerfully; knowing that thou wilt follow me to heaven. Now do I perceive that heaven works good in our misfortunes. The miseries that I have lamented,--the hatred of Don Hernan, the malice of my foes, my downfall, my condemnation,--what were they but the steps which have led me to effect thy conversion and salvation? G.o.d be praised for all things! and G.o.d grant that the seeds of the true faith, now sown in thy heart, may grow and flourish, till transplanted into paradise!"

Thus saying, Juan fell upon his knees, and invoked blessings upon the proselyte, who knelt beside him, confirmed greatly in her new creed by the evident pleasure her conversion, if it could be so called, had given him.

"Know now, Zelahualla," he said, as he raised her from the ground, and folded her in an embrace that had more of the gentle affection of a brother, than the ardent pa.s.sion of a lover, "that now thou art dearer to me than all the world beside. While thou wert a wors.h.i.+pper of idols, I wept for thee; now that thou art a Christian, I love thee; and through this storm of war, that is gathering around thee, I will remain to protect thee, and, if need be, to perish by thy side."

"What my lord is, that will I be," said the young princess, with such looks of confiding affection as belong to the unsophisticated child of nature--"Yes, Zelahualla will be a Christian,--Juan's Christian,"--for she had been long since instructed to p.r.o.nounce the name of her young friend--"and she will think of none but him--"

She paused suddenly, and disengaged herself from the arms of the Castilian, who, looking round, beheld almost at his side, surveying him with manifest satisfaction, the young king of Mexico. The gorgeous mantles of state were upon his shoulders, the golden sandals and _copilli_, or crown, bedecked his feet and head; and though no sceptre-bearers or other n.o.ble attendants followed at his heels, his appearance was not without dignity, and even majesty.

He stepped forward, and taking the princess by the hand, said to Juan,

"The Centzontli is the king's sister;--thus said I, when Montezuma lived no more; for the Spaniards have killed the sons of the king, and who remains to be her brother? It is enough--the Eagle of the east is the king's brother.--The king will speak with his brother."

At this signal, the maiden stooped humbly over Guatimozin's hand, kissed it with mingled love and respect, and immediately stole from the mound.

"My brother beheld me among my people," said Guatimozin, as soon as she was gone. "What thinks he of the warriors of Mexico?"

"They are numerous as the sands and leaves. But hear the words of him who knows the Spaniards as well as the Mexicans. Before a blow is struck, speak good things to Cortes. Acknowledge thyself the va.s.sal of Spain, and rule for ever."

"Is my brother yet a Spaniard? and does he tell me this thing?"

"If I anger thee, yet must I speak! for I speak with the heart of one grateful to thyself and friendly to the race of Montezuma. As a true Spaniard, I should counsel thee to resist; for resistance would excuse rapacity. How wilt thou fight upon this island, with thine enemies round about thee? They will sit down and sleep, while the king perishes with hunger."

"The houses are garners," replied Guatimozin, proudly: "There is food provided for many days; and how shall the big s.h.i.+ps see the peasant's canoe, when it brings corn in the night-time?"

"The lake is broad, but thou knowest not of all the craft and skill of thy foes. Think then of _this_: Can a man drink the water of the salt lake and ca.n.a.ls? Are the pipes of Chapoltepec under the mountains? The Spaniards will tear them up from the causeways; and the warriors will despair for drink."

"Is Guatimozin a fool?" exclaimed the royal barbarian, with a laugh.

"The rains have begun to fall; and for seven[13] months, the sky will be my fountain. Is not Malintzin mad, that he should besiege me at this season? He is not a G.o.d!"

[Footnote 13: Mexican months, of twenty days each.]

"Were it for thrice seven months," said Juan, "be a.s.sured that Cortes will still remain by thy city, awaiting its downfall."

"And what shall be done by the warriors of Mexico? Will they look from the island, and wring their hands, till he departs? For every grain of corn in the garners of Tenocht.i.tlan, there is an arrow in the quivers of the warriors. Count the bones that lie in the ditches of Tacuba,--number the bearded skulls that are piled on the Huitzompan, the trophies gathered from the Spaniards in the night of their flight,--there are not so many living men in the camp of Malintzin, as perished that night when we drove them from Mexico."

"Dost thou hold, then, for nothing the two hundred thousand Tlascalans, Tezcucans, Chalquese, Totonacs, and other tribes, that follow with Cortes?"

"There are but three roads to Mexico.--Can they hurt me from the sh.o.r.es?"

"The s.h.i.+ps are fourteen more; and by and by, there will be no canoe that swims the lake, but will bear the soldiers of Don Hernan. Think not resistance can do aught but protract the fate of thine empire, and incense the miseries of its subjects. Its history is written. Heaven is angry with your G.o.ds and with your acts. The blood of human sacrifices, detestable in the eyes of divinity, calls for revenge. Alas, thou didst this day condemn a poor Spaniard to the altar, and thus stain thine installation with cruelty! G.o.d will punish the Mexicans for this."

The eyes of Guatimozin flashed in the moonlight with indignation.

"Is not the prisoner," he cried, "the prey of the victor? The Spaniard burns the captive in the shoulder, and makes him a slave. Which is cruel? The prisoner and the felon we give to the G.o.ds--it is good. Did the Eagle ever behold a Mexican chain men to a stake, and burn them with fire? Yet he saw Malintzin burn the Chief of Nauhtlan and the fifteen warriors, in the palace-yard, in a great fire made with Mexican bows and arrows! Which, then, is cruel?"

"This act I will not defend," said Juan, "and it was my presumption in censuring it, that made Cortes my enemy. But, prince, let us speak of these things no more, for our arguments shake not each other's minds.

Let me speak of myself, for it is just thou shouldst know my resolve. I am thy friend, but I will not lift my hand against my countrymen."

The countenance of the king darkened:

"Is not the Great Eagle brave? He fears his enemies!"

"I fear _nothing_," said Juan, with conscious dignity, "else would I speak no words to lose thy favour. I will be thy prisoner, thy sacrifice, if thou wilt.--I lament the fate that is coming upon thee, but I cannot fight in thy cause."

Guatimozin eyed him earnestly, as if to read his soul; and then said, a little softly,

"The Great Eagle knows all things: he shall rest in the palace all day, and at night, speak wise things to the king."

"Neither in this can I aid thee," replied Juan, resolutely. "What I know of religion and moral duties,--nay, all that I know of civilized arts, that are not military,--this much I am free to communicate; but nothing more. I can no more help thee to fight with my knowledge, than with my arm."

This was a declaration of principles somewhat above the powers of the infidel to appreciate, and it filled him, as Juan saw, with serious displeasure. He took him by the arm, and spoke sternly and even menacingly:

"The faith of a Christian is not that of a Mexican. The Indian kills his foes and the foes of his friend: the Christian forgets his friend, when his friend is in trouble."

Juan was stung by the reproach, and replied with emphasis:

"The king took me from the prison-house of Tezcuco: the block was in waiting for me. Who talked to me of prisons and of blocks, before Olin came to the garden?"

Guatimozin grasped his hand, and spoke with impetuosity,--

"I have said the thing that was false, and my brother does _not_ forget his friend. He did a good deed to Olin; why should he turn his face from Guatimozin? Was Olin in greater distress than the king, beset by enemies who cannot be counted? My brother has looked in the face of the Centzontli, my sister.--The princes of the city, and the kings of the tribes, have said, each one, 'Give me the daughter of Montezuma, and I will die for Mexico.' But the king thought of his brother. Thus it shall be: the Great Eagle shall take the princess for his wife, and be a Mexican; and then, when Guatimozin entreats him to strike his foe, he will call upon his G.o.d of the cross,--the Mexitli of the Spaniards,--and strike with all his force. Is it not so?"

"Prince!" said Juan, sadly, "even this cannot be. According to our thoughts, there are sins of the deepest turpitude in acts which your customs cause you to esteem virtues. The Spaniard may change his country, but he cannot become the foe of his countrymen. What wouldst thou think of one of thine own people,--thy friend, thy subject--whom thou shouldst find among the Spaniards, and aiming his weapon against thee?"

"There are many thousands of them," said Guatimozin, giving way to pa.s.sion. "Malintzin fights with weapons more destructive than the big thunder-pipes. He goes among the serfs that pay tribute, and he says, 'Pay no more--Is it not better to be free?' Thus he seduces them. But my brother shall think of this again. And now he shall eat and sleep."

So saying, and perhaps thinking it unwise to pursue his designs at the present moment, he drew Juan from the mound, and was leading him towards the palace, when the sound of voices and footsteps came from the bottom of the garden, accompanied by the fierce barking of Befo, who was still confined in the cage.

"Now do I remember me," said Juan, with a feeling of shame, "that I have suffered the n.o.ble animal--"

But his words were cut short by an unexpected circ.u.mstance. No sooner had his voice sounded, than a wild cry burst from a neighbouring copse, and a female figure, pursued by Mexican warriors, rushed forwards, calling upon him by name, and by a t.i.tle that had never before blessed his ears.

"Juan! Juan! my brother! oh, my brother!"

It was Magdalena,--her hair disordered and drooping in the damp air of evening, her face, as far as it could be seen in the imperfect light, pale and distracted. No sooner did her eyes behold him than she redoubled her speed, and throwing herself upon his neck, she cried, with transports of emotion, while the pursuers gathered round in no little amazement.

"Oh, Juan! my brother! pardon me and forgive me; for I am your sister,--yes, your sister, your own sister,--and I have come to die with you!"

Confounded as much by the strange declaration as by her presence, Juan endeavoured gently to disengage himself from her embrace, but all in vain. She clasped his neck with tenfold strength, weeping and exclaiming he scarce knew what; and, though much affected, he began to think that sorrow and pa.s.sion had turned her brain. What therefore was his surprise, when he gathered from her incoherent exclamations, that Camarga, the masking stranger, who had, on three several occasions, betrayed such an unaccountable desire to take his life, had, even with his dying lips, p.r.o.nounced them brother and sister. His heart thrilled at the thought; for his affection for the singular being whose destiny of mourning was so like his own, had ever been great, though chilled and pained by the belief of her unworthiness. He pursued the idea with a thousand questions, the answers to which provoked his curiosity, while they damped his hope. Was Camarga their father? and was he dead? What did he say? What,--no more than _this_--'He was her brother?' No more?

And no one alive to confirm the story? "Alas," he said, his thoughts reverting to what he remembered of his childhood; "this fancy has made me as distracted as thyself. Camarga was a dreamer--an evident madman.

_My_ father died at Isabela in the island; for was not I at his side?

This cannot be, Magdalena;--deceive thyself no longer."

"Speak not to me of deceit, my brother--for my brother thou art," said Magdalena, vehemently. "Can my heart deceive me? Is it not the work of heaven, seen in our whole life? Heaven kept thee--yes, Juan, while heaven punished _me_ the sin of neglected vows with the torments of unavailing affection--it kept thee from loving me as much, because thou wert my brother. Yes, this it is! The angels spoke with the lips of that man, who now lies dead on the lake-side! But what of that, Juan? We will go to Cortes--I can win thy forgiveness. Alas, alas! I could have saved thee before, but thou madest me mad. Why didst thou treat me so, Juan? I was innocent--indeed I was; and Hilario's recantation--oh believe me, I knew not of his murder, till it was accomplished! Villafana killed him from fear, for Hilario had discovered how he scuttled the s.h.i.+p; and thus it was that Hilario gained Villafana to corroborate the falsehoods he spoke of me. I can make all clear to thee, indeed I can.--But now, dear Juan, cast me not off again,--for you are my brother. We will go to Cortes,--he will pardon thee. We will find out the friends of Camarga, and it must needs be that we shall discover all. And then I will go to a convent again,--and then I care not what befalls me; for I shall have a brother in the world left to love me."

While Magdalena was pouring forth these wild expressions, for a time almost unconscious of her situation in the heart of the pagan city, and in the presence of so many barbarians, Guatimozin, who had looked on with an astonishment that was soon converted into the darkest displeasure, turned to the capturers of Magdalena, who had ceased their pursuit the moment they beheld the king, and flung themselves reverently at his feet. The Lord of Death, who made the like prostration, had a.s.sumed an erect posture, in virtue of his high rank. But his looks wandered from the king to the Christian pair, whose endearments he watched with exceeding great satisfaction, and indeed with exultation.