The National tribune., 1899-07-06

bod and true: II Were slain, but nere am !
untouched. Ey flint. unbrnised by stone,
unhlirt by arrow. foIgat three screeching
infiie,s in the water, hard by To where two
valiant cavaliers We're pulled of their
horses, and so smothc-ed; and yet strang,ed
| my neathenS, without horse to heip. or
friend to say God speed me. Tire life that
Is charmed IS invulnecabie; the star shlnes,
the eag.c leaves her nest, and Kalidon-
Sadabath laughs in the crystal. Viva!
Lo now, how Sandoval, the valiant. will
scatter mo yon imps in the boats. he
spurs into the water; Catalan the Lett
handed, Juan of Salamanca, Torpo the
Growier, Ferdinand of Biiboa, and DE
Old the Devils Ketch, they spring after
him!-There they go! Dance, kalidon!
thy brothers shall have soulsto be fetched
up from the mud as one rakeS up clans
of a fish-day.
Never before had such life possessed the
spirits of Botello. He stool on the edge
of the cauSey, shouting loud viyaS. as the
bod cavaliers rushed among the canoes
that blocked I'D the sluice. the novice,
though shocked at such untimeiy exulta-
ton, vas not abe to avoid it; for he was
enfeeb,ed, and Botelio he'd him with a fast
and determined grire.
IS inland me, con Jurar, he cried, and L
will swim the ditcii.' -
'sTary lite, till the path be made clear:
thou wilt be murdered else
Il shall be murdered, if / remain here;
and 50 wilt thou.-Hah! did that shaft hurt
taee?"
"Never iot; how could it? There flies
not the arrow this night. there waves NOT
the biudSeoa, that can shed my blood
Art tnou be5otted?-Goi forgive thee!-
this is impiety."
The magician held his peace; for about
this tine, the MeXicaHs, knowing that this
haGa diminished, disyriered, and divided
nv, f4s Il TO-, int tu-r w
tfe so'e remaining fragment of oppression,
and determined that no invader should
escape alive, rushed upon the cauSeway on
al sides with such savage violence as
Sc ,Tned irresistible. Those who had not
yet crossed, broke in alright, and flung
Themselves into the sluice with such speed
that, III few moments. Dol Amador began
10 tick that he and Bote.lo We're the only
Christians left.
Why dost thou hold me. madman?' he
criel. Let ME free
"Har,sl dost thou not hear?-there are
Christian men behind Us" said Botello.-
Courage. What if these devils be thicker
ti;al tae thoughts of sin in mans heart,
fiercer than conscience, deadlier than re-
morse: ye. shall We pass tIen unharmed.--
Patieroe! 'Tis the voice OF . Spaniard, i
tel thee, and bchind!"
at is in front:-hark! It's Don Hernandez
sit is behind, and it is the cry of A!vara-
do! Let us return. aod give him cid. Ho,
ye that flyi return! the TO Iatiuii is shout
ing behind us: will ye desert hiEl?-Return.
re.urni"
Eefo-e Amador conld rcaionstrate. the
luna:ic, for at this moment, more than any
other, Doie,lo seemed to deserve that name,
had dragged him to tie top of the dixie,
where lie stool. exposed to the view and the
shots of tie foe. A thousand arrows were
aimed at the pair.
"IhoY art dead manr' said Amador.
"Do:t tiou 10. see the starr cried the
magician, impatientiy. Not bird hath
yet flappei her wing, not Al eagle hath fled
from her cliff; and my star, my star -
AS he spoke, he let go his hoidof the cava-
iier, to point exHltingiy at the diminutive
luminary. At that very instant, an arrow,
aimed close at hand, struck the peophyte on
the breast, entering the mail al q place rent
by blows OF 4 previous day. and, without
wounding him, forced its way out through
links hitnerto uilinjUred.
+Hahi" sad t,3e cavalier, as the arm of
Boteiio fell heavily OF his shoulder
cart thou taught wisdom and humility, at
last? Let US descend, and swim.
As he novel. he became SenSi hle that the
shaft was still sticking in his hauberk.
He grasped the featlered notch-the head
was in the astroioger's heart. The stout
wool snapped. as Boteiio fell. 1t struck
BIN in the moment Of lis greatest hope.
He dropped down dead man. -.
Nfiiie Amador, stood confounded and
lstrucE with horror, he was seized, he knew:
I not 81 Wifoin, and siddeniy BuTf Himself
dragged through the water. Before he
could well commend his soul to heaven, for
he thought himself in the hands Of the
enemy, he beleld himself on firm land,
while the voice of Cortez shouted in his
ear: --'-F' So. -"
Rouse thee, and die not like n sleeperl
Hold me by the hand, and my good horse
shall drag thee through the melee-I would
sooner that my arm were hacked off than
that thou shouldst sleep in the accursed
lake: enough of thy blood rests in it, with
Don Gabriel
"Ay," thought the unhappy cavalier,
| 4enough of my blood, and all of my heart.
Don Gabriel, De Morla, LaZaro, Lorenzo,
and--ay, and Leila! Better that / were
with them!"
A sudden cry from beyond the ditch
interrupted his griefs.
Pause, pause" cried the voice. Leave
me not!-I am night am Alvaradow
The cavaliers looked back at these words,
and beheid a man come flying, as it were,
through the air over the ditch, perched on
the top of a long Chnantlan spear, the
bottom of which was hidden in the water.
He fell quite clear of the sluce, after MAX
ing leap which even his comrades, who
had not individually seen it, held impossible
for mortal man, and which, even to this
day, has preserved to the spot the name
| of the Sa!to, or leap, of Aivarado.
The appearance of the Tonatiuh was
hailed with shouts of joy; and the Spaniards
receiving it as n good omen, closed their
ranks, and slowly, for every inch was
contested, fought their way TO the shore
When they troje upon the firm ground, the
little star had vanished in the gray beams
of morning; and a thick mist rising up from
the water like u curtain, concealed from
| the eyes of the fugitives. along with the
accursed signalfre, the fatal towers and
temples OF Mexico.
| Thus closed night Of horror and wo
memorable as the Noche Triste, or Sor
rowful Night, Of Mexican history, and
paraileled perhaps, in modern days, if We
| consider the loss of the retreating army az
compared with its numbers, only by the
| famous and most lamentable passage OF
the Berezina. More than 1000 Tjasca
| lans and 800 Spaniaf1s were left dead or
i the causeway, or in the lake. Of the pris
oners, but two or three ESCAPED; two sons
and as many daughters of MonteZ,lma
with five tributary kings, as well as many
princes and MOBILES, perished. All Tho
| cannon were utterly lost, left to rust ant
rot in the salt flood that had so often re
| sounded to their roar; and of more than al
| hundred proud war-Steeds that champet
the bit so fiercely at midnight, scarce u
jaded hacks snuffed the breath OF morning
| With this broken and lamenting force
| with foes still hanging on his rear, ant
ever flying from his front, Cortez set out T.
seek path, by new and unknown mount
aims, to the distant Tlascala. He turne,
his eyes but once towards the lake,-th,