The National tribune., 1899-06-15

had been prisoner in the hands of rene
gade Moor in the service of the Mexican
mobiles, has made his escape and rejoined
his friends. Cortez has resolved upon
retreat from the city and the final struggle
between the Spaniards and the AZtecs is at
hand.
The day of Don Amador de Leste's re-
turn to the garrison was marked by an
event momentous to the Spaniards-the
death of Montezuma.
On the following morning, it was known
to all the garrison, that they were, at night,
to depart from Tenochtitlan. The JOY,
however, that might have followed the an
nouncement, was brief; for, at tie same
moment that the exhausted Christians were
reused from Slumber and bidden to prepare,
the warders sent down word from the tllr-
retS, that their enemies were again ap-
preaching. The Shrewdest of all could per
ceiya no other mode of retreat than by cut
ting their way through the kesiegers: and
it required but little consideration in the
dulleSt, TO disclose the manifold dangers of
such an expedient. They manned the
walls and the courtyard, therefore, with but
little alacrity, and awaited the MeXicanS in
sullen despair.
AS the Mexicans advanced, with whist
ling and shouts, filling the square with up
roar, those who looked down from the bat
Elements, beheld a funeral procession issue
from the courtyard.
i bier, constructed rudely of the handles
cf partisans, but its rudeness in measure
concealed by the rich robes of state flung
over it, was borne on the shoulders Of six
native mobiles, all of them of high degree in
Tenoehtitlan. 1t supported the body of
the Emperor, which was covered only by
the umatlI, leaving the countenance ex-
posed to view The royal sandals were on
his feet, and the copilli, with the three
scepters, lay upon his breast. The pagan
priest in his sable garment, his face covered
by the cowl, and his head bending so low,
that his hideous locks swept the earth,
stepped upon the square, chanting low
and mournful requiem; and the bearers,
stalking slowly and sorrowfully under their
burden, followed after.
The murmurs were hushed in the palace:
and the square, SO lately filled with the
savage shouts of the enemy, became sud
denly as silent as the grave. The mo-
notonous accents of the priest were alone
heard, conveying TO the Mexcans, in the
hymn that uShercd spirit into the pres
ence of the deities, the knowledge of the
death Of their king.
For awhile, the barbarians stood in
stupid awe; but, at last, as the train ap-
preached them, and they perceived with
their own eyes the swarthy features of their
monarch fixed in death, they uttered a cry
of grief, low indeed, and rather moan than
a Lament, but which, being caught and con-
talued by the voices of many thousand
men, was heard in the remotest parts of the
city. They parted before the eorse of one
to whom, before the days of his degrada-
ton, they had been accustomed to look as
to an incarnate divinity. They fell upon
their knees, and bowed their faces to the
earth, as he was carried through them: and
again the Spaniards befeld the impressive
spectacle, OF great multitude PROSTATE in
The dust, as II in the act OF alteration
When the bearers and the body were
alike concealed from their view, the Mexi-
cans rose, and burning towards the palace,
Mandislied their weapons with fierce pes-
turcs, and many exclamations of hatred.
against the destroyers of their king For a
moment Cortez doubted if his expedient
had not served rather to increase, than to
divert, the fury of his opponents; and he
beekoned from his stand on the terrace, to
the cannoneers, to prepare their matches.
But an instant after, he revoked the COM
mand: the MeXicanS were retiring: a great
army was suddenly converted into funeral
train, and thus they departed from the
square, after the body OF their ruler, with
put striking blow at the invader
This circumstance reassured the gar
rison; and the prospect of speedy release
from lntolerabc suffering and from destruc-
lion, wrought such a change over all, that
visages, emaciated. by famine, and hag-
gard from despair, were lit I'D With smiles.
and songs and laughter re-echoed through
chambers which, but the night before, had
resounded with prayers, groans, and curses
Nothing was now thought of but the bread
and fruits of Tlascala, the mines and fan.
uan8oS OF Cuoa; and many sedate and
6uiien veteran clapped his hands with a
sudden joy, as he bethought him of the
urchlns sporting in the limpid Estero, OF
climbing the palm that grew at his cabin
door. Escape from the miseries which had
enVlroned them, and the privilege to dis
for lfO .rs 1,
ltlan,-of the beauty Of its valleys, the
magnificence Of its cities, the wealth of its
rulers, the ferocious yalor of its citizens
to wondering listeners, were the only offsets
thought OF 10 the many labors, sufferings
and risks OF the campaign. The little
property amassed by each-the share oI
MonteZuma's presents, and the spoils
stripped from the dead, were stored, along
with such trifieS as might add the interesi
OF locality TO legends Of battle, in the sacks
OF the soldiers. All made their prepara
tions, and all made them in hope.
The only melancholy men in the palace
that day, were Cortez and Don Amador de
Leste. The latter remembered his knight
falling ingloriously and alone on the cause
way; and the General pondered over the
grlefs OF defeated ambition.
But whatever were the panps of Dor
HERNANDEZ, lie forgot not the duties of {
General. Besides other precautions, h.
caused his carpenters to construct q porta
bic bridge OF sufficient strength TO suppor
the weight OF his heaviest artillery. and vet
not SO ponderous but that it might be car
ried on the shoulders of some half a hun
dred strong men. This he provided. fear
ing lest the barbarians had DESTROYED tn,
bridges not only of the great dixie of Izta
palapan, but of that of Tacuba. on which
1t was his determination to attempt hi,
flight, and which, running westward from
the island, was, as has been intimateJ. bu
two miles in length.
In accordance with the advice of tn,
necromancer, the hour of departing wa,
put OFF until midnight,-a period of tim
which had the double ADVANTAGE of beip,
recommended by Botello, and OF ensurin.
the least molestation. Each Individual
therefore, made his preparations, and look
ed forward to that hour.
The melancholy that oppressed the spir
It's Oh the neophyte, was so great, that h
betrayed little curiosity either to acouain
himself with the events which had occurre
during his captivity, or even to inquir
further into the mysterious knowledge an
acts OF the page. But however indiSpose
TO conversation, he could not resist the al
tentions of De Morla, and on the day befor
the departure OF the army, on his invitatio
visited the treasury, in the sleeping apar
ment of Don Hernando.
OF the wealth that was there disnIaved-
the stores OF golden vessels and of preciou
stones, as well as Of ingots melted from In
tribute-dust long since wr,lng from In
unhappy Montezuma-it needs not
speak. The whole treasury Of an ayar
clous king, predecessor Of the late ca ntiy,
n form Il