The National tribune., 1899-04-06

stood on the lofty terrace, shooting arrow
| down on the square, such shouts OF tri
| umphant delight, as, they thought, coult
be caused by nothing but the immolatior
| of Il victim.
Grief and rage lay heavily on the hear
of Cortez; but though the apprehension
| that, il much longer over-w0rn by com
bat, his followers might be left unable
even to fly, added its sting TO the others
| shame deferred him, for a time, from Civ
ing the mortifyng order. Harassed, and
even wounded tfor defective link IL
his mail had yielded to an arrowhead
and the stone was buried in his shoulder
he nevertheless preserved good coun-
ltenance; cheered his people with the
| assurance Of victory; fought on, expos
ing himself like the meanest of his sol
diers; and several times, at the imminent
risk of his life, rescued certain fOot-Sol-
diers from the consequences OF their fool
| hardness.
There was among the infantry, man
of great courage and strength, by the
name Of Lezcano, whose only weapon
was q huge two-handed sword, the
! valiant use of which had gained him
| among his companions the title of Des
Manos, or Two-HandS. No spearman OF
his company advanced to the charge with
| more readiness than did this fellow with
his gigantic weapon, and none retreated
WIFI HlOIc COIStdilt ICiuCtuhSSs
he commonly fell back so leisurely as to
draw three or four foes upon him at once;
and it seemed to be his pleasure to meet
these in such way as should call for the
praises of his companions. His daring,
that day, would have left him with the
additional name OF the bravest OF the
brave, had it been tempered with little
discretion. Infiamed by the encOmiums
of his comrades, and not less by the COM
plimentary rebukeS of his Captain, his
raShness knew no bounds; and twice or
thrice he thrust himself into situations OF
peril, from which he was rescued with
great difficulty. He had been saved once
by Don fernando. 1t was his fate, a
second time, to draw the notice of the
General: who, falling back on the infan-
try, beheld him beset by a dozen foes,
surrounded, and using his great scimitar
furiously, yet, as it seemed, in vain; for
he was unheimed.
'What ho, Don AmadorW cried Cortez to
the cavalier, who was at his side, "let us
rescue Dos ManoS, the mad!'
In an instant OF time, the two hldalgos
had reached the group, and raised their
voices in encouragement, while each
struck down savage. AT that moment,
and while Lezcano elevated his scimitar,
to ward off the blow of maquahuitl, the
massive blade, shivered as if by a thun-
derbolt, fell to the earth; but before it
reached it the sharp glass of the indian
sword had entered his brain. The cava-
liers struck fast and hard, on either hand;
the barbarians fled; but Lezcano, tne
Two-Handed, lay rolling his eyes to heav-
en-, his head cloven TO the mouth.
"If we slay thousand foes for every
Christian man that dies, yet shall we be
vanouishedv' sad CorteZ, turning an eye
of despair on his companion, ana speak,
ing the feelings he had concealed from all
others. Indeed, he seemed to Ieloice that
destiny had given him one follower, to
whom he might unbOsom himself without
the apprehension Of creating alarm-he
hesitated not TO relieve himself OF his
grief to Don Amador; for he knew him to
be inaccessible to fear. "Be OF good heart,
my friend. have drawn thee into den
of devils. We must retreat, or die.
81 will advance or retreat, as thou VIII,
said Amador, with a visage in which
Don fernando now for the first tune be-
held an expression so wild and ghastly
that he was reminded OF CalaVar; III
matters no.hing-here or at the palace!
But it is my duty to assure thee of mine
own persuasion: Retreat may bring US
relief-there is no victory for US, to-day.
God help thee! art thou woundedf
cried Cortez.
IA little hurt by the skilless hand OF
Fabueno," said the novice, TRANQUILITY,
"who, not yet being perfected in the use
hack, while aiming at the throat oi a
cacique. But that is not it. have, tins
day. seen a s,ght, which convinces me
we are among magicians and devils; and
persuadcs me, 'al5ng with certain other
recent occurrences, that the time OF some
of us is reckoneG. Therefore I say TO thee
/ will advance with thee or retreat,
as thou thinisest hest. To me it mat
ters not. But my counsel is, to fly.
We may save others"
at is needful," replied Don Her
nando, mournfully. He gave his
orders TO certain officers; and the
retreat was commenced in the order
i'm which they had fought,-that is to
say, the infantry, drawing their lines
closer together, and facing to the
flank, began to march down the
street, preceded by Sandoval, charging
the opponents from the front, while
Cortez and his band. at intervals,
rushing back upon the pursuers, kept
the triumphant barbarians from the
rear.
The distance between the great tenn