The Infidel; or, the Fall of Mexico. Vol. I. Read online

  Produced by Julia Miller, Mary Meehan and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

  THE INFIDEL;

  OR, THE FALL OF MEXICO.

  A ROMANCE.

  BY THE AUTHOR OF "CALAVAR."

  SECOND EDITION.

  IN TWO VOLUMES.

  VOL. I.

  Philadelphia: CAREY, LEA & BLANCHARD. 1835.

  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by CAREY, LEA & BLANCHARD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

  PHILADELPHIA

  C. SHERMAN & CO. PRINTERS, NO. 19 ST. JAMES STREET.

  --Un esforcado soldado, que se dezia _Lerma_--Se fue entre los Indios como aburrido de temor del mismo Cortes, a quien avia ayudado a salvar la vida, por ciertas cosas de enojo que Cortes contra el tuvo, que aqui no declaro por su honor: nunca mas supimos del vivo, ni muerto, mala suspecha tuvimos.

  BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO--_Hist. Verd de la Conquista_.

  No hay mal que por bien no venga, Dicen adagios vulgares.

  CALPERON--_La Dama Duende_.

  THE INFIDEL.

  CHAPTER I.

  The traveller, who wanders at the present day along the northern andeastern borders of the Lake of Tezcuco, searches in vain for thosemonuments of aboriginal grandeur, which surrounded it in the age ofMontezuma. The lake itself, which not so much from the saltness of itsflood as from the vastness of its expanse, was called by Cortes the Seaof Anahuac, is no longer worthy of the name. The labours of that unhappyrace of men, whose bondage the famous Conquistador cemented in the bloodof their forefathers, have conducted, through the bowels of a mountain,the waters of its great tributaries, the pools of San Cristobal andZumpango; and these, rushing down the channel of the Tula, or river ofMontezuma, and mingled with the surges of the great Gulf, support fleetsof modern argosies, instead of piraguas and chinampas, and expend uponfoundering ships-of-war the wrath, which, in their ancient beds, waswasted upon reeds and bulrushes. With the waters, which rippled throughtheir streets, have vanished the numberless towns and cities, that oncebeautified the margin of the Alpine sea; the towers have fallen, thelofty pyramids melted into earth or air, and the palaces and tombs ofkings will be looked for in vain, under tangled copses of thistle andprickly-pear.

  The royal city of Tezcuco is now, though the capital of a republicanstate, a mean and insignificant village. It was originally themetropolis of a kingdom once more ancient and powerful than that ofMexico; and which, when it had shared the fate of all others within thebounds of Anahuac, and acknowledged the sway of the Island Kings, stillpreserved the reputed, and perhaps the real possession of superiorcivilization. Its princes, in becoming the feudatories, became also theelectors, of Mexico; and thus added dignity to an independence which wasonly nominal. The polished character of these barbarous chieftains, asthe world has been taught to esteem them, may be better understood, whenwe know, that they sowed the roadside with corn for the sustenance oftravellers, and the protection of husbandmen, built hospitals andobservatories, endowed colleges and formed associations of literatureand science, in which, to compare small things with great, as in thelearned societies of modern Europe and America, encouragement was givento the study of history, poetry, music, painting, astronomy, and naturalmagic. The various mechanical trades were divided into corporate bodies,and assigned, each, to some particular quarter of the city; courts andcouncils were regularly established, and the laws which they dispensed,digested into uniform and written codes, some of which are stillpreserved. The kings of Tezcuco themselves mingled in the generousrivalries which they fomented: there are still in existence,--at least,in the form of translation,--several of the odes of Nezahualcojotl, aroyal Tezcucan poet; and his hymns to the Creator, composed half acentury before the advent of the Spaniards, were admired and chanted bythe Conquerors, until devoted by misjudging and fanatical missionariesto the flames which consumed the written histories and laws of thekingdom, as well as the idolatrous rituals of the priests, with whichlast the others were unfortunately confounded.[1]

  [Footnote 1: These poems, we presume, were handed down _orally_. We knownot how far the picture-writing of the Mexicans (the art of interpretingwhich appears to be now lost,) was capable of conveying any suchthoughts as could not be represented by an absolute _portrait_. Nosystem of writing that is not essentially _phonetic_ or _dialectical_,(i. e. representative of sounds, or of language,) can be made to expressabstract ideas, which may be defined to be such as admit of noideographic or metaphoric representation. If they could, mankind might,at once, enjoy the benefits of the _universal language_, (or, to speakstrictly, a substitute for it; for it would convey ideas not words,)which Leibnitz dreamed of, and Bishop Wilkins, and many others afterhim, so vainly attempted to construct.

  When, therefore, we relate any very curious and marvellous matters,appertaining to Mexican _literature_, though we speak upon the authorityof historians, we invite the reader to receive our accounts with somegrains of allowance. With the exception of a few arbitrary symbols,expressive of numerals, and a few other objects of constant recurrence,the picture-writing of Mexico spoke in ideas, not words; and it maytherefore be assumed, that it could express nothing that did not, or bya stretch of ingenuity, could not be made to, address and explain itselfto the eye.]

  A few ruins--a cluster of dilapidated houses--a galloping Creole on hishigh Spanish saddle, with glittering _manga_ and rattling_anquera_,--and, now and then, an Indian skulking moodily along, in hissqualid _serape_,[2]--are all that remain of Tezcuco.

  [Footnote 2: The Manga and Serape are Mexican cloaks wornscapulary-wise, the one of richly embroidered cloth, the other ofblanket, or some such coarse material. The Anquera is a leather housing,embossed and gilt, with a jingling fringe of brass or silver ornaments.]

  In the spring of 1521, the year that followed the flight of theSpaniards from Mexico, the city of the Acolhuacanese presented all itsgrandeur of aspect, and, to the eye, looked full as royal andimperishable as in the best days of its freedom. But the molewarp wasdigging at its foundations; and the cloud which had ravaged the Mexicanvalley, and then passed away into the east, where it lay for a timestill and small, 'like to a man's hand,' had again crept over themountain barriers to its gates, and was now brooding among itssanctuaries. A group of Christian men sat under a cypress-tree, withoutthe walls, regarding the great pyramid, on whose lofty terrace,overshadowing the surrounding edifices, floated a crimson banner ofvelvet and gold, on which, besides the royal arms of Spain, wasemblazoned, as on the Labarum of the Constantines, a white cross, withthe legend, imitated from that famous standard of fanaticism, _In hocsigno vincemus_. If other proof had been wanting of the return of theSpaniards to the scene of their discomfiture, their presence in Tezcuco,and their unchangeable resolution to complete the work of conquest sodisastrously begun, it might have been traced abundantly in the strangespectacle, which, equally with the desecrated temple, divided theattention of the group of Castilians at the cypress-tree. They sat on alittle swell of earth,--a natural mound which jutted into the lake,whose waters, agitated by a western breeze, dashed in musical breakersat its base; while the rustling of the leaves above, mingled with thesesounds of waves, a tone that was both melancholy and harmonious. Thebeautiful prospect of Tezcuco, rising beyond fertile meadows in thelivery of spring, flanked, on the right hand, by a sheet of dark andglossy wa
ter,--with white towers, turrets, and temple-tops, painted, asit seemed, on a background of mountains of the purest azure, was enoughof itself to engross the admiration of a looker-on, had there not beenpresented, hard by, a scene still more singular and romantic.

  A train of warriors, artificers and labourers, the latter bending undersuch burthens as had never before descended to the verge of Tezcuco, wasseen passing, at a little distance, towards the city, into which, as wasdenoted by a sudden explosion of artillery and the blast of trumpets onthe top of the pyramid, the leaders were just entering, while the rearof the procession, extending for miles, and winding like some mightysnake, over hill and meadow, was lost among distant forests.

  The martial salutation from the town was answered by the whole trainwith a yell, filling the air, and causing the distant hills and lakes totremble with the reverberation. In this, the ear might detect, besidesthe war-cry of Indians, "Tlascala, Tlascala!" the not less piercingshouts of Spaniards, "In the name of God and Santiago!" as well as theflourish of bugles, scattered at intervals among the train. If the broadSea of Anahuac trembled at the sound, it was with good reason; for theclamour of triumph indicated the approach of those unknown navalengines, which were to plough its undefiled bosom, and convert everybillow into the vassal of the stranger. On the shoulders of eightthousand Tlascalans, were borne the materials for the construction ofthirteen brigantines, with which the unconquerable Spaniard, capable ofevery expedient, meditated the complete investment and the certainreduction of Tenochtitlan. The iron, the sails, and cordage of thatfleet which he had caused to be broken up and sunk in the harbour ofVera Cruz, were added to planks, spars, and timbers from the sierras ofTlascala, and to pitch and rosin from the _pinales_, or pine-forests, ofHuexotzinco,--a gloomy and broken desert, notorious, in the present day,as the haunt of bandits, the most brutal and merciless in the world.

  The brawny carriers of these massive materials were protected, on thefront and in the rear, by legions of their countrymen, armed, aftertheir wild and romantic way, and clad in tunics of cotton or magueycloth, with tiaras of feathers; who passed by in successive bodies ofspearmen, archers, slingers, and swordsmen, arranged and divided in themanner of their Christian confederates. Besides these guards of frontand rear, of whom the historian Herrera asserts, there were 180,000,while even the modest Clavigero computes their numbers at full one-sixthof this vast host, there were on either flank, bodies of pickedwarriors, marching in company with small bands of Spaniards, andpersonally led by distinguished Christian cavaliers. A military man mayform a juster estimate of the numbers of the train, by being told, thatit formed a line more than six miles in length, the whole marchingcompactly, and in strict order, so as to be best able to resist anattack of enemies.

  The Spaniards under the cypress-tree, surveyed this striking spectaclewith interest, but not with the grave wonder and absorbing admiration ofmen unfamiliar with such scenes. On the contrary, it was evident, fromthe tone of the remarks with which they wiled away the time ofobservation, (for it was many a long hour before the last of the traindrew in sight,) that they were of that levity of spirit, or in thatwantonness of mood, which can find matter for ridicule in the mostserious of occurrences. Thus, they beheld, or fancied they beheld,somewhat that was diverting in the persons, or motions, of the stern andwarlike Tlascalans, and especially in the zealous eagerness with whichthese barbarians strove to imitate the bearing and gait, as well as theevolutions, of their disciplined associates. Nay, their raillery wasextended even to the Spanish portion of the train; and, sometimes, whena comrade passed by, if near enough to be made sensible of the jest, hewas saluted with some such outpouring of wit, as put to the proof eitherhis gravity or his patience.

  These happy individuals, to whom we desire to introduce the reader, werefive in number, and, with a single exception, though betraying none ofthe submissiveness of inferior personages, were evidently of no veryexalted rank in the Christian army. Their attire was plain, andconsisted, for the most part, of the cumbrous escaupil, orcotton-armour, over which, in the case of one or two, at least, werebuckled a few plates of iron. Most of them had on their heads, helmets,or rather caps, of the same flimsy material, sometimes so thickly paddedas to assume the bulk, as well as the appearance of rude turbans; allwore swords, and two had crossbows hanging at their backs. Nodistinction of station could have been inferred from their manner ofdiscoursing one with another; and it was only by the morion of brightsteel, richly inlaid with gold, on the head of one, and the polishedhauberk on his chest, worn more for display than for any presentservice, that the wearer would have been recognized as of a gradesuperior to that of his companions. He was a tall and athletic cavalier,with a long chin, and cheeks broad and bony; and a singular and ratherunpleasing expression was added to his countenance by eyesdisproportionably small, though exceedingly black, keen, and resolute. Asmall, sharply peaked beard,--mustaches so thin, long, and straight,that they looked rather like the drooping locks of a woman than thefavourites of a vain gallant,--a narrow but lofty forehead, on eitherside of which, divided and smoothed with effeminate care, fell masses ofstraight black hair, touched, yet almost invisibly, with the traces ofmatured manhood,--a small mouth,--a prominent nose,--and a complexionexceedingly dark, yet rather of the hue of iron than mahogany, completeda visage which a stranger would not have hesitated to attribute to a manof decided character, but without daring to determine whether that wasof good or evil.

  The individual who would have been the second to attract the notice of awayfarer, owed this distinction rather to his personal deformity than toany other very striking characteristic. He was a hunchback, with much ofthe saturnine and sour expression which distinguishes the countenancesof the deformed, and yet of a spirit so much belied by his looks, thathe heard, recognized, and constantly replied to, without anger, thenickname of _Corcobado_, or the humpbacked, to which his misfortuneexposed him. The most observable peculiarity in his countenance, was theuncommon length of his nose, which so far intruded upon the lower partof his visage, as to give this a look of age, which was contradicted,not only by other features, but by the prodigious muscularity of hisshoulders and arms. It must be confessed, however, that his lowerextremities were entirely unworthy to compare with the upper, being bothso short and thin, that when he stood upon his feet, his arms crossedbehind,--which was their ordinary position,--with the stout iron platesprotruding from both back and breast, he looked rather like a bundle ofarmour and garments, exposed to the air and supported above the earth ontwo broken pikestaves or javelins, than a living and human creature.

  The next individual was a man of good stature, who would have beenconsidered, notwithstanding his grey hairs, the strongest man in thecompany, had it not been for his general emaciation and an expression ofsuffering on a countenance over which disease, contracted among the hotand humid swamps of the coast, had cast the sickliest hues of jaundice.Indeed, this discolouration, on a visage naturally none of the fairest,was of so deep a tint, that it had gained for the invalid, as well asfor a whole ship's crew of his companions, the significant title of _OjoVerde_, or the Green Eye. And here we may as well observe, that, in thearmy of Cortes, the wit which shows itself in the invention of suchdistinctions, was so prevalent, that there was scarce a man, from thegeneral down to his groom or scullion, who had not been honoured by atleast _one_ sobriquet.

  The fourth personage was a man of indifferent figure, remarkable forlittle save the marvellous sweetness of his eyes, which were set amongfeatures exceedingly sharp and harsh, and the volubility of his tongue.

  The fifth sat apart from the others, a little down the slope of thehillock, with tablets in his hands, yet so plunged in abstraction, or somuch wrapped up in the contemplation of the dark lake, the littlepiraguas dancing over its billows, and the far-distant turrets of theinfidel city, that he seemed to have forgotten, not only the presence ofhis companions, and the passing procession, but the purpose for which hehad drawn forth his writing implements.

  T
he sound of the cannon, as we have said, was immediately responded toby the shouts of the train; which, commencing at the gates of the city,were continued and prolonged by the various bodies that composed thehuge and moving mass, until they died away in the distance, like pealsof rolling thunder. At the same time, the Indians struck their tabours,and sounded their conches and cane-flutes, in rivalry with the Spanishbuglers; and a din was made, which, for a time, put a stop to theconversation of the four Castilians. It also startled the solitary manfrom his meditations, but only for an instant. He rose, turned his eyelistlessly towards the procession, and then again resuming his seat, hewas presently sunk in as profound abstraction as before.

  In the meanwhile, the cavalier of the helmet had bent his gaze upon thepyramid, from the top of which the cannon-smoke was driving slowly awaylike a cloud, and revealing the proud banner, which it had for a momentenveloped. He could see, even at this distance, that the two stoneturrets,--the idol-chambers,--on the summit, were crowned with crosses,and that the flag-staff,--a tall cedar, that might have made a mast foran admiral's ship,--was surrounded by a tent, or rather pavilion, ofnative white cloth, broadly striped with crimson, which glitteredbrilliantly at its foot. As he looked he stroked his beard, andmuttered, addressing himself to the hunchback,

  "Harkee, Najara, man! give me the benefit of thy thoughts, and care notif they come out like crab-apples. What thinkest thou of Cortes now? Isthere not something over-stately and very regal-like in the presentcondition of his temper?"

  "Why dost thou ask that of _me_, when thou hast Villafana at thy elbow?"replied the hunchback, with a voice worthy the acerbity of his aspect:"if thou wilt have dirty water, get thee to the ditch."

  "You call me _Grunidor_, and grumbler I am," said he of the sweet eyes,with a laugh. "I grumble when I am in the humour; and I care not whoknows it. Am I a ditch, old sinner? I'faith, I must be, when I have suchill weeds as thyself growing about me. Wilt thou have _my_ thoughts,senor Guzman, on this subject? I can speak them."

  "Be quick, then," said the cavalier; "for Corcobado is digesting ananswer to thy fling, which will leave thee speechless."

  "Pho, I will bandy mudballs with him at any moment," said Villafana: "Icare not for the buffets of a friend. As for the noble senor, theCaptain General, what you say is true. The king's letter hath set himmad. While the Bishop of Burgos was still in power, and his enemy, hewas e'en a good companion,--a comrade, and no master. Demonios! 'twas abetter thing for us, when his authority rested on our good-will, and noroyal patent."

  "Ay," said Guzman; "when we were but rebels and exiles, denounced by thegovernor, cursed by the priest, and outlawed by the king, Cortes was themost moderate, humble, and loving rogue of us all. I do think, he issomewhat altered."

  "Oh, senor, there is no such bond for our friendship as a consciousnessof dependence upon those who love us; and nothing so efficacious incooling us to friends, as the discovery that we can do without them. Hisauthority is no longer our gift; the bishop has fallen; the king hasacknowledged his claims, and sent him, besides a fair, lawful commissionand goodly reinforcements both of men and arms, a letter of commendationwritten with his own royal hands. May his majesty live a thousand years!but would to heaven his letter were at the bottom of the sea. It hasbrought us a hard master. Can your favour solve me the riddle of theking's change? What argument has so operated on his mind, that he nowdoes honour to a man he once condemned as a traitor, and advances himinto such power as leaves him independent even of the Governor of theIslands?"

  "The very same argument," replied Guzman, "which has turned thee--afriend of Velasquez--into the most devoted, though grumbling adherent ofour Captain--_interest_, sirrah, interest. It is manifest, that thisempire was made to be won; and equally apparent, that the man who couldhalf subdue it, though trammelled and opposed by all the arts and powerof Velasquez, was the fittest to conclude the good work; and what was noless persuasive, it was plain, our valiant Don was fully determined todo the work himself, without much questioning whether the king would ornot."

  "Why, by heaven!" cried Villafana, "you make out the general to be atraitor, indeed!"

  "Ay;--for, in certain cases, there is virtue in treason."

  "Hark now to Villafana!" cried the hunchback, abruptly: "he will thankyou for the maxim, as if 'twere a mass for his soul."

  "_I_, curmudgeon?" exclaimed the grumbler. "There were a virtue in it,could it bring such fellows as thyself to the block. What I aver, is,that the king's honours have spoiled our general. By'r lady, I see notwhat good can come of sending us a Royal Treasurer, Franciscan friarswith bulls of St. Peter, and Lady Abbesses to build up nunneries, unlessto make up more state for our leader."

  "Then art thou more thick-pated than I thought thee," replied thecavalier. "The bulls will make us somewhat stronger of heart, andtherefore better gatherers of gold in a land where gold is not to be hadwithout fighting. La Monjonaza will sanctify our efforts, by convertingthe women; and the king's Treasurer will see that we do not cheat theking, after we have got our rewards, as, it is rumoured, we have donesomewhat already."

  "Santos! I know what thou art pointing at, Don Francisco," saidVillafana, significantly. "The four hundred thousand crowns that havevanished out of the treasury, hah! This is a matter that has stained theGeneral's honour for ever. And as for La Monjonaza, thou knowest thereare dark thoughts about her."

  "Have a care," said Don Francisco. "We are friends, and friends mayspeak their minds: but I cannot hear thee abuse Don Hernan."

  "Hast thou never been as free thyself?" cried Villafana, with a laugh,which mingled a careless derision with good-humour. "Come, now,--confessthou wert pleased to be appointed Grand Guardian and Chamberlain,--or,if thou wilt, Grand Vizier,--to his god-son, the young king of Tezcuco;and that, since he gave thee Lerma's horse, thou hast been bettermounted than any other cavalier in the army."

  "Thou art an ass. Cortes has ever been my friend; and when I havecomplained, as I have sometimes done, it was only like a good house-dog,who howls in the night-watches, because he has nothing better to amusehim. But hold,--look! the carriers are passed. The rear-guardapproaches. Now is my friend Sandoval yonder, betwixt the two Tlascalanchiefs, glorified in his imagination. 'Slid! he would have had meexchange my brown Bobadil for his raw-boned Motacila!--Come, Najara, rubup thy wit; fling me some sweet word into the teeth of the Tlascalangenerals. Dost thou perceive with what solemn visages they approach us?"

  "I perceive," said Najara, "that Xicotencal is in no mood for jesting.It is said, he comes to join us with his power reluctantly. Dost thousee how he stalks by himself, frowning? A maravedi to a ducat, he wouldsooner take us by the throat than the hand!"

  "Why then, be quick, show him thy scorn in a fillip."

  "Hast thou forgotten it has been decreed a matter for the bastinado, toabuse an ally?"

  "Ay!" cried Villafana, "there is another fruit of a king's patent. Onemay neither laugh nor scold, gamble nor play truant, but straight he istold of a decree. Faith, when Cortes was our plain Captain, it wasanother matter: if there was aught to be done or not to do, it was then,in simple phrase, 'I commend to your favours,' or, 'I beg of yourfriendships, do me this thing,' or, 'do it not,' as was needful. But nowthe Captain-General deals only in decrees or proclamations, wherein wehave commands for exhortations, prohibitions in place of dissuasions,and, withal, a plentiful garnishing of stocks and dungeons, whips andhalters, all in the king's name. By Santiago! there is too much state inthis."

  "Pho! thou art an Alguazil; why shouldst thou care?" said the Cavalier."The decrees are wholesome, the restrictions wise. It is right, weshould not displease the Republicans: they are our best friends,--veryquick and jealous too; and we were but a scotched snake without them."

  "If they fight our battles," said Villafana, "they divide our spoil. Inmy mind, that black-faced Xicotencal is a villain and traitor."

  "Thy judgment is better, in such matters, than another's," said thehunchback.

  "Right!"
cried Guzman; "the Alguazil will be presently in his ownstocks, if thou dost heat him into a quarrel. We are not forbidden toabuse one another. Let the red jackalls pass by unnoticed; we have mirthenough among ourselves,--we will worry our Immortality. Look, Najara,man; dost thou not see in what perplexity of cogitation he isinvolved,--yonder dull Bernal? Rouse him with a quip, now; pierce himwith a jest. Come, stir; rub thy nose, make thy wit as sharp as a goad,and prick the ox out of his slumber."

  "Ay, good Corcobado," cried Villafana, turning from the procession, andmischievously eyeing their solitary and abstracted companion, "fling outthe legs of thy understanding, like a rough horse, and see if thou canstnot strike fire out of his flinty brain. All the scratching in the worldwill not do it."

  "Now, were you not both besotted, and bent upon self-destruction," saidthe deformed, regarding the pair with a commiserating sneer, "you wouldnot ask me to disturb our Immortality; who is, at this moment,meditating by what possible stretch of benevolence he can hand yournames down to posterity; a thing, which if _he_ do not effect, you maybe sure, nobody else will. Senor Guzman, 'twas but a half-hour since,that he asked me, if I could, upon mine own knowledge, acquaint him withany act of thine worthy of commemoration."

  "Ay, indeed!" said the cavalier, laughing; "was Bernal of this mind,then? He asked thee this question? By my faith, have I not killed asmany Indians as another? Have I not encountered as many risks, andendured as many knocks? Out upon the misbelieving caitiff! he asked theethis question? Thy reply now? pr'ythee, thy learned answer to thisfoolish interrogatory? What saidst thou, now, in good truth?"

  "In good truth, then," replied Najara, with a sour gravity, "I told him,I had it, upon excellent authority, though I believed it not myself,that thou wert a cavalier, equal to any, in the virtues of asoldier,--bold, quick, and resolute,--cool and fiery,--a lover of peril,a relisher of blood; one that had won more gold than he could pocket,more slaves than he could make marketable, and more renown than he caredto boast of; a prudent captain, yet a better follower, because of theardour of his temper, which was, indeed, upon occasion, so hot, that,sometimes, it was feared, he might take Cortes by the beard, for beingtoo faint-hearted."

  "Oh, thou rogue, thou merry thing of vinegar, thou hast belied me!"cried Guzman; "thou knowest, I would sooner eat my arms,--lance,buckler, and all,--than lift my hand against the General: I would, by mytroth, for I love him. But come, now,--thou saidst all this, upon goodauthority? You jest, you rogue,--we are all jealous and envious. We havegood words from none but Cortes.--What authority?"

  "Marry, upon that of thine own lips," replied the hunchback; "for I knownot who else could have invented so liberally."

  "Out!" cried the cavalier, somewhat intemperately; "you presume--"

  "Ha! ha! a truce, a truce, Don Francisco!" exclaimed Villafana; "a fairhit--no quarrelling; for captain though thou be, thou knowest I am swornAlguazil, as well as head-turnkey, chief executioner, and the Lord knowswhat beside. No wrath among friends--A very justifiable, fair hit!Najara must have his ways. Thou wilt see, by and by, how he will lay_me_ by the ears. Come, Corcobado, begin.--He who plays with colts, mustlook to be kicked.--Come now, be sharp, fear not; I am a dog, and lovethee all the better for cudgelling."

  "I know thou art, and I know thou dost," said Najara; "for I remember,that ever since Don Hernan had thee scourged, for abusing the Tlascalanwoman, thou hast been a more loving hound than any other of theVelasquez faction."

  "Fuego de dios! Pho,--Good! Ha! ha! very good!" exclaimed Villafana,laughing, though somewhat disconcerted. "I confess the beating; but thenI have a back to endure it--Hah! A Roland for an Oliver, a kick for abuffet! Thou liest, though, as to the cause: 'twas for taking the oldsenator they call Maxiscatzin by the beard, when he had given me thefirst sop of the Maguey-liquor. I was drunk, sirrah, broke rules,disobeyed orders, and so deserved my guerdon. Wilt thou be satisfied? Bythis hand, I grumble not. I should trounce thee for the likemisdemeanour,--that is, if I could find whereon to lay my scourge. Aha!wilt thou pull noses with me? Come, what saidst thou of me to Bernal? Ibear thee no malice, man;--no, no more than the general.--Drunk indeed?He should have struck my head off!"

  "I told him," said Najara, "that thou wert, in some sense, worthy to bechronicled."

  "Many thanks for that," said Villafana, "were it only on account of thebeating."

  "For though thou wert as naturally given to grovelling as a football,yet wouldst thou as certainly mount, at every kick, as that same bag ofwind."

  "Bravo! bravo!" cried the Alguazil, with a roar of delight, in which hewas joined by Guzman; "thou art as witty and unsavoury as ever, and thoudingest me about the ears as with a pine-tree. What else, cielo mio?what else saidst thou to Bernal?"

  "Simply, that thou hadst more boldness than would be thought of thee,more dreams than would be reckoned of thy dull brain, and such skill atrising, notwithstanding the clog of thy folly, that it was manifest thouwouldst not be content, till thy feet were two fathoms from the earth,and thy crown as near to the oak-bough as the rope would."

  "Oh, fu! fy!" said Villafana, "hast thou no better trope for hanging?Have you done? Am I despatched? Get thee to better game, then; and seethou art more metaphoric. Hast thou no verjuice for our good friendhere, Camarga?"

  The individual thus alluded to, though giving his attention to theconversation, had maintained a profound and unsympathetic silence duringall. He stood leaning against the tree, folding over his breast, andeven wrapping about his chin, the long cloak of striped cottoncloth--the product of the country,--the bright and gaudy colours ofwhich contrasted unnaturally with the sickly hue of his visage.Throughout all, when not particularly noticed, his countenance wore anexpression of as much mental as bodily pain; but when thus accosted byVillafana, it changed at once, and in a remarkable degree, from gloom togood-humour, and even to apparent gayety. It is true, that, at themoment when his name was pronounced, he started quickly with a sort ofnervous agitation; and a sudden rush of blood into his face, minglingwith its bilious stain, covered it with the swarthiest purple: but thisimmediately passed away--perhaps before any of his comrades had notedit.

  "I cry you mercy, senor Villafana," he said; "I am as unworthy to bemade the butt of wit as the subject of history. My ambition runs notbeyond my conscience; the month that I have spent in this land,--and itis scarce a month,--has been wasted in disease and idleness. A yearhence, I shall be more worthy your consideration. But tell me, goodfriends, is it true, as you say, that yonder worthy soldier hath beenappointed the historian of your brave exploits? By mine honour, his headseems to me better fitted to receive blows than to remember them, andhis hand to repay them rather than to record."

  "He is, truly," said Villafana, "our Immortality, as we call him, or ourHistorian, as he denominates himself. As to his appointment, it comes ofhis own will, and not of our grace; but we quarrel not with his humours.He conceives himself called to be our chronicler. Who cares? He can dono harm. I am told, he doth greatly abuse Cortes, especially in thematter of the slaves, and the gold we fetched from Mexico in the Flight.By'r lady, I have heard some sharp things said about that."

  "You said them yourself," muttered Najara. "It is well you are infavour."

  "Ay, by my troth," cried Guzman; "_Cuidado_, Villafana! Don Hernan willbe angry. Good luck to you! You are the lion's small dog: seize not hismajesty by the nose."

  "Pho, friends! here's a coil," said the Alguazil, stoutly: "Don Hernanknows me: I will say what I think. I have maintained to his face, thatthere was foul work with the gold, and that we have been cheatedof our shares; I have told him what ill work was made of bothRepartimientos,--the partition of the slaves,--at Segura-de-la-Frontera,and here at Tezcuco,--scurvy, knavish work, senores: One may fetchangels to the brand, but, ay de mi! the iron turns them into beldames!"

  "Ay, there is some truth in that," said Guzman, a little thoughtfully."No man honours Don Hernan more than myself; and yet did he suffer me tobe choused out of the princess I fetched
from Iztapalapan."

  "Ay, the whole army witnessed it, and there was not a man who did notcry shame on you for taking it so--"

  "Good-humouredly," interrupted the cavalier. "Rub me as thou wilt for ajest, Villafana; but touch me not in soberness."

  "Pshaw! can I not abuse thee as a friend, without the apology of a grin?Thou hadst been used basely, had not Cortes made up the loss withLerma's horse. I have heard thee complain as much as another; and evennow, thou art as bitter as any against this mad scheme of the ships.Demonios! our general will have us rot in the lake, like our friends ofthe Noche Triste!"

  "Thou errest," said the cavalier, gravely. "I have changed my mind, onthis subject: I perceive we shall conquer this city."

  "Wilt thou be sworn to that?" exclaimed the Alguazil, earnestly. "I tellthee, as a friend, we are all mad, and we are deluded to death. If welaunch the brigantines, we are but gods' meat--food for idols andcannibals. We were fools to come from Tlascala. Would to Heaven we haddeparted with Duero! We are toiled on to our fate, to make Cortesfamous: he will win his renown out of our corses. What sayst thou,Najara, mi Corcobado, mi Hacedor de Tropos?"

  "Even that the will-o-th'-wisps, the Ignes-fatui, rising out of ourdecaying bodies, will forsake each honest man's corse, to gather,glory-wise, about the head of our leader.--Is that to thy liking?"

  "Marvellously! Thy wit explains and gives tongue to my thoughts. Thouseest things clearly--I am glad thou art of my way of thinking. This isour destiny, if we continue our insane enterprise."

  "A pest upon thee, clod!" cried the Hunchback; "I did but supply thee asimile, in pity of thine own barrenness. _I_ of thy way of thinking?Dost imagine I will hang with thee? _I_ see things clearly? Marry, I do.Give tongue to thy thoughts? Ratsbane!"

  As Najara spoke, he bent his sour and piercing looks on the Alguazil;who, much to the surprise of Camarga, grew pale, and snatched at hisdagger, in an ecstasy of rage, greatly disproportioned to the offence,if such there could be in what seemed idle and unmeaning sarcasms. Thewrath of Villafana, however, was checked by the mirth of the cavalier,Don Francisco, who exclaimed with the triumph of retaliation,

  "A fair knock, by St. Dominic! Art thou laid by the heels, now? SirrahAlguazil, if thou showest but an inch more of thy dudgeon, I will havethee in thine own stocks,--ay, faith, and on thine own block, into thebargain. Forgettest thou the decree? Death, man, very mortal death toany one who draws weapon upon a christian comrade: thy hidalgo blood,(if thou hast any, as thou art ever boasting,) will not save thee. Pho!thou art notoriously known to be a plotter. Why shouldst thou be angry?"

  "_Hombre!_ I am not angry _now_: but, methinks, Corcobado hath the artof inflaming whatever is combustible in man's body. A good friend werehe for a poor man, in the winter. Why, thou bitter, misjudging,remorseless, male-shrew, here is my hand, in token I will not maul thee.Why dost thou ever persecute me with thy hints? By and by, men will cometo believe thou art in earnest. _What_ dost thou see, that I care not tohave exposed? I am a plotter? I grant ye; so Cortes hath called me to myface a dozen times, or more. I am a grumbler? So he avers, and so Iallow. I must speak what I think; ay, and I must growl, too. All this isapparent, but it harms me not with the general: he scolds me very oft;but who stands better in his favour?"

  "Thou takest the matter too seriously," said Guzman. "Hast thou nosuspicion that thy self-commendations are tedious?"

  "In such case, hadst thou ever any thyself?" demanded the unrelentingNajara. "Pray, let him go on. Let him draw his dagger, if he will, too.What care I? I have a better fence than the decree."

  "Pshaw, man," said Villafana, "why dost thou take a frown so bitterly? Iwill not quarrel with thee. But I would thou couldst be reasonable inthy fillips: call me a knave openly, if thou wilt; thy insinuations havethe air of seriousness. But come; you have robbed the senor Camarga ofhis diversion with Bernal. Lo you now, if our wrangling have disturbedhim a jot! He sits there, like an old horse of a summer's day, patientand uncomplaining; and, all the time, there are gadfly thoughtspersecuting his imagination."

  "Methinks, senores," said Camarga, "you should be curious to know inwhat manner the good man records your actions. For my part, I should bewell content to be made better acquainted with them; especially withthose later exploits, since the retreat from Mexico, of which I haveheard only confused and contradictory accounts. Will he suffer us toexamine his chronicles?"

  "Suffer us!" cried Guzman; "if you do but give him a grain ofencouragement, never believe me but he will requite you with pounds ofhis stupidity. What, have you any curiosity?--Harkee, Bernal, man!--Youshall see how I will rouse him,--Bernal Diaz! Historian! Immortality!what ho, senor Del Castillo! Are you asleep? Zounds, sirrah, here arethree or four dull fellows, who, for lack of better amusement, arewilling to listen to your history."