Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-09-19

ors, dressed in their magnificent robes,
and of the lesser council of confirmation of
| 300 lords and princes, who sat without the
! circle but in hearing Of all that passed.
| Very solemn also was the prayer of the
| high priest, who clad in his robes of sable,
seemed like blot Of ink dropped on gilt
ter of gold.
When the high priest had made an end
of his prayer the first of the four great
electors rose, saying:
"Guatemoc, in the namc Of God and with
the voice Of the people Of Anahuac, we
summon you to the throne OF Anahuac.
Long may you live, and justly may you
rule, and may the glory be yours of beat
ing back into the seq those foes who would
destroy us. Hail to you, Guatemoc, en-
peror of the Aztecs and of their vassal
tribes" And all the 300 Of the council of
confirmation repeated in voice Of thun-
der 'Hail to you, Guatemoo, emperor"
Now the prince himself stood forward
and spoke:
"You lords of election and you, princes,
generals, mobiles and captains of the coun-
Gil of confirmation, hear me. None can
say what the gods have in store for u.s. 1t
may be victory, or 1t may be destruction,
but be 1t triumph or death, let us swear
o great oath together, my people and my
brethren. Let us swear to fight the Teules
| and tho traitors who abet them, for our
| cities, our hearths and our altars, till the
cities arc smoking ruin, till the hearths
are numbered with their dead and the al
tars run red with the blood of their wor-
shippers. So, If we are destined to conquer,
our triumph shall be made sure, and If we
arc doomed to fail, at least there will be
story to be told of u.s. Do you swear, my
| people and my brethrenS"
''We swear" they answered, with
shout.
lit is WE'LL, said Guatemoc. "And
now may everlasting shame overtake him
who breaks this oath!'
Thus, then, was Guatemoc the last and
greatest of tho Aztec emperors, elected to
the throne Of his forefathcrs.
When all was done, hurried to the pal
ace to tell Otomie what had come to pass
and found her in our sleeping chamber ly-
ing on her bed.
"What ails you, Otomie'" I asked.
"Alas, my husband, " she answered, 1.-THE
pestilcnce has stricken me! Come not near
me, pray you; como not near. Let INC oe
nurscd by the women. You shall not FISK
your life for me, beloved "
"Peace, said and camc to her. 1t
| was too true. I, who am physician,
knew the symptoms we'll. Indeed had 1t
not been for my skill Otomic would have
died. For three long weeks fought with
death at her bedside, and in the end l con-
ouered. The fever left her, and, thanks
to my treatment there was no single scar
upon her lovely faco. During eight days
| her mind wandered without ccasing, and
| it was then I learned how deep and per-
feet was her love for me. For all this,
| while sho did nothing but rave OF me, the
secret terror Of her heart was disclosed
that should cease to care for her; that her
beauty and love might pail upon me so
that I should leave her; that the flower
maid" for so she named Lily, who dwc!t
across the sea should draw nc back to her
by magic-this WAS the burden OF her mad
ness. At length her senses returned, and
she spoke, saying:
How long have I lain i'll, hushand!'
told her, and she said, And have yon
nurscd me all this while and through so
foul sickness"
Yes, Otomic, have tended you.
What have done that you should be
so good to mc?" she murmurcd. Then
some dreadful thought seemed to strike
her for she moancd as though in pain and
said: "a mirror! Swift, bring me mir
ror!''
gavo her one, and rising on her arm
eagerly she scanned her face in the dim
light of the shatlowcd room, then let tho
plate of FURNISHED gold fall and sank back
with faint and happy cry:
II feared" she said, Il feared that I
had become hidcous, as those arc whom
the pestilencc has smitten, and that you
would cease to love me- than which it had
been better to die. "
"For shame" I said ''Do you, then,
think that love can be frightened away by
somo few scars?"
Eyes" Otomie answered.; "that is, the
| love of man-not such love as mine,
husband. Had been thus-ah, shudder
| to think of it-within q year you would
have hated me- Perhaps it had not been
so with another, tho fair maid Of far away,
but me you would have hated. Nay, know
It, though know this also-that should
not have lived to feel your hate. Oh, am
| thankful, thankful!'
So Otomie recovered from her great sick
ness, and shortly afterward the pcstilcnce
passed away from Tenoctitlan. And now
| l had many other things to think of, for
tho choosing Of Guatemoc, my friend and
blood brother, as emperor meant much ad-
| vancement to me, who was made gen.
eral of the highest class and principal
| adviser In his councils Nor did I spare
| myself In his service, but labored by day
! and night in the work of preparing the
| city for siege, and In the marshaling OF
| the troops, and moro especially OF that
| army of Otomies, who came, as they had
| promised, to the number of 10000. Tho
work was hard indeed, for these Indian
| tribes lacked discipline and powers of
| unity, without which their thousands were
of little avail in war with white men;
also there were great jealousies between
| their leaders which must be overcome, and
1 was myself an object of jealousy. More
| over, many tribes took this occasion Of the
| trouble of tho Aztccs to throw off their al
| legiance or vassalagc, and, even if they did
| not join the Spaniards, to remain neutral,
watching for the event Of the war Still
\ we labored on, dividing the armies into
| regiments after the fashion of Europe, and
stationing each in its own quarter, drill
ing them to the better use of arms, provi-
sioning the city for q siege and wedding
out as many useless mouths as we might,
and there was but one man In Tcnoctitlan
who toiled at these tasks more heavily
than I, and that was Guatemoc, the cm-
peror, who did not rest day or night. I
tried even to mako powder with sulphur
which was brought from the throat of tho
volcan Popo, but having no knowledge of
that art I failed. Indeed 1t would have
availed us little had I succeeded, for hay
ing neither arquebuses nor cannon and
no skill to cast them we could only have
used it In mining roads and gateways, and
| perhaps in grcnadcs to be thrown with tho
| hand.
And so the months went on til! at
length spies came in with the tidingS that
the Spaniards were advancing in numbers,
| and with them countless hosts of allies.