The White Conquerors: A Tale of Toltec and Aztec by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XXVI.
TIATA'S BRAVE DEATH AND SANDOVAL'S GRIEF
So untiring were the efforts of Sandoval and his associates during theremainder of that night, that by sunrise the army of rescue had leftCempoalla. It consisted of about one thousand infantry, of whom nearlyone hundred were armed with muskets, and as many more with cross-bows,a hundred cavalry, and a well-provisioned train of artillery. In threedays they reached Tlascala; and Huetzin, who had obtained permission tohasten to this point in advance of the army, rejoined it with a welcomereinforcement of two thousand Tlascalan warriors, all eager to be ledagainst their hereditary foe.
While the army halted at Tlascala, the aged chieftain of Titcalaoffered to one of the newly arrived cavaliers so great a sum in golddust for his horse, a dainty sorrel mare, that the offer was promptlyaccepted. This purchase was immediately transferred to Huetzin, of whomhis grandfather was so proud, that he was determined to give the youngwarrior an opportunity for making as brave an appearance as any of hiswhite comrades. Thus Huetzin, raised to a pinnacle of proud happinessby his new possession, became the first native of the new world to ownand bestride one of those marvellous animals which, but a year before,had been spoken of throughout all Anahuac as either gods or devils.He named his mare "Cocotin" (little girl), and, under the skilfulteachings of Sandoval, who was almost as delighted to see him mountedas he was to be so, he soon became an expert horseman.
From Tlascala the conquerors made all speed over the ruggedCordilleras, though this time, as a measure of precaution, taking amore northerly route than that traversed before. On the western brow ofthe mountains it presented the broad Mexican valley from an entirelydifferent point of view. It gave, however, the same exquisite pictureof shimmering lakes with white-walled cities and villas resting ontheir bosoms, fire-tipped teocallis, dark groves, blooming fields,and encircling walls of distant blue, that some of them had gazed onbefore. At their feet lay the city of Tezcuco, shaded by cypresses,while, far across the shining waters, rose the inscrutable walls ofTenochtitlan, either the prison or the grave of their friends.
Their fears that it was the latter were aroused, as they descended intothe valley, by the coolness and even rudeness of their treatment by itsinhabitants. As they entered the city of Tezcuco, where they proposedto rest for the night, their reception was even more chilling than anyyet experienced. No one came forth to give them welcome, and, as theymarched through the silent streets, only a furtive face, peering nowand then from a doorway, proved that any living soul still remainedin the city. These things raised uneasy forebodings, not only in themind of Cortes, but throughout all his army, as to the fate of Alvaradoand those with him, and they would have given much for news from thedistant city. Not only would it put an end to their suspense, but by ittheir future movements could be determined. At a time and in a mannerthat they least expected it, the news came.
The night had passed quietly, and Huetzin, who had charge of themorning watch, stood on the shore of the lake, noting the rosy flush ofmorning redden the snow-fields of towering Popocatepetl. A mist hungover the waters that hid their farther shore and the city in whichhe had dared and suffered so much. As he gazed in the direction ofTenochtitlan, he became aware of moving forms out on the lake, dimlydisclosed through the lifting fog. They were advancing toward him, andsoon resolved themselves into two canoes, one behind the other. In amoment Huetzin saw that in the first a slight youth was paddling with adesperate energy, and evidently endeavoring to escape from the other.In the second a man, clad in the white robe of a priest, was laboringwith an equal effort, and, by his superior strength, was surelygaining on the other. After them more canoes shot out of the mist, allcoming from the same direction, and all advancing at their utmost speed.
A light craft lay drawn up on the shore, not far from where the youngToltec stood, and, as a wild cry for aid came quavering across thewaters from the foremost canoe, Huetzin, first giving an alarm tohis own men, sprang into it, and put forth to the assistance of thehard-pressed fugitive. As he did so, the man robed like a priest, wholed the pursuit, dropped his paddle, seized a bow lying in the bottomof his boat, and stood up, with a copper-tipped arrow drawn back to itshead. Huetzin uttered a cry of horror as the cruel shaft sped on itsdeadly errand, and sank deep in the back of the flying youth, strikinghim squarely between the shoulders. As the stricken lad fell forward,there came an exultant cry across the still waters: "Thus deals Topilwith the enemies of his gods!" Then his canoe was spun around, andjoined those of the other pursuers in an unharmed flight across thelake, though a dozen bullets were sent whistling after them, by the fewmusketeers who had been attracted to the shore.
Although Huetzin heard the priest's words plainly enough, he did not,at the moment, realize their full meaning. Filled with sorrow for theyoung stranger whom he had just seen so cruelly shot down, and who hefelt must be a friend, he drove his own craft rapidly to where theother lay drifting. Its occupant, who seemed a mere boy, clad in thepicturesque costume of a king's page, lay, face downward in a pool ofhis life's blood that was forming in the bottom of the canoe. The arrowhad been sped truly, and with a deadly force.
As Huetzin, stepping into the canoe, lifted the lad to an easierposition, a filmy scarf wound about his head, fell off, and a wealth ofauburn hair tumbled over his shoulders. Then a pair of glorious, browneyes were opened, and fixed full on the face of the Tlascalan warrior.The latter grew rigid, as though from a numbing shock. The very bloodin his veins turned chill. A voice that he had thought never again tohear, came to his ears. It was very faint, but the words were clear anddistinct:
"Huetzin, my brother! My dear, dear, brother! I knew you wouldcome, though they said you were dead. You are fighting for the truefaith, for the old faith, are you not, dear? I, too, have done whatI could. Now I am dying for it. Gladly. Help me to make the sign,Huetzin. The holy sign of the Toltecs. There. Now it--is well.Huetzin!--Father!--Mother!----" The brown eyes closed gently, likethose of an infant dropping into peaceful slumber. The queenly headsunk back on the strong arm supporting it; there came a soft sigh,and, as the rising sun burst in full glory from behind snow-crownedPopocatepetl, the spirit of Tiata mingled with its flood of brightness.
Like one who dreams, Huetzin sat with the light burden in his arms,gazing at the calmly beautiful face of his dead sister, but seeming tosee far beyond it. There was that in his expression that caused thosewho came to his assistance to respect his silence, though they knew notthat the form, which he held, was other than what it appeared. Verygently they led his canoe to land, and, when its prow grated on thebeach, he rose and stepped out, still bearing his burden. They offeredto relieve him of it, but he paid no heed. As he lifted it a letteraddressed to the Spanish commander fell to the ground. It was fromAlvarado, and it contained the news, so longed for, that the garrisonstill held out. It concluded: "Were it not that I realize the greatimportance of this word to you, and that your movements will be guidedby it, I should not strive to send it. Almost certain death awaits anymessenger who attempts to pass the lines that the priests, who areheading this insurrection, have drawn about us. No ordinary despatchbearer could cross them. I am sending this by a king's page, a bravelad, who has volunteered for the service, and will get through thelines if it be in the power of mortal to do so. I heartily recommendhim to your favor, and pray that no harm may befall him."
While this letter, borne hastily to Cortes, was being read by him,Huetzin, taking no notice of proffered assistance, and still appearinglike one in a dream, bore his dead to his own quarters, and laid theslender form on his own bed. He had barely deposited his sorrowfulburden, when Sandoval, who, hearing that something had gone amiss withhis friend, had hastened with ready sympathy to find him, entered theroom.
"What has happened thee, Don Juan, my brother?" he began. Then,catching sight of the dead girl, lying so peacefully, he stopped asthough struck with an instant dumbness, clutched at his own throat, andstaggered back so that, but for the wall, he must have fallen.<
Surprised from his own grief for the moment, Huetzin sprang to hisfriend, crying: "What is it? What ails thee, my brother? Art thoustricken with death?"
With a mighty sob, that sounded like the breaking of a heart, Sandovalanswered: "Thou hast said it, for I am indeed stricken with death.There lies she who held my life, and if she has taken it not with her,still it is gone from me, so that none other may ever hold it. I knownot even the name by which she was called, yet did I know her soul asthough it were mine own."
"She was Tiata, my sister," answered Huetzin, in a whisper.
"Then are we indeed brothers, and more than brothers," repliedSandoval. With these words he left the room, nor was he seen again byliving soul that day.