CHAPTER XXII
THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS
'Otomie,' I said presently, 'when will they kill us?'
'When the point of light lies within the ring that is painted over
your heart,' she answered.
Now I turned my head from her, and looked at the sunbeam which
pierced the shadow above us like a golden pencil. It rested at my
side about six inches from me, and I reckoned that it would lie in
the scarlet ring painted upon my breast within some fifteen
minutes. Meanwhile the clamour of battle grew louder and nearer.
Shifting myself so far as the cords would allow, I strained my head
upwards and saw that the Spaniards had gained the crest of the
pyramid, since the battle now raged upon its edge, and I have
rarely seen so terrible a fight, for the Aztecs fought with the
fury of despair, thinking little of their own lives if they could
only bring a Spaniard to his death. But for the most part their
rude weapons would not pierce the coats of mail, so that there
remained only one way to compass their desire, namely, by casting
the white men over the edge of the teocalli to be crushed like
eggshells upon the pavement two hundred feet below. Thus the fray
broke itself up into groups of foes who rent and tore at each other
upon the brink of the pyramid, now and again to vanish down its
side, ten or twelve of them together. Some of the priests also
joined in the fight, thinking less of their own deaths than of the
desecration of their temples, for I saw one of them, a man of huge
strength and stature, seize a Spanish soldier round the middle and
leap with him into space. Still, though very slowly, the Spaniards
and Tlascalans forced their way towards the centre of the platform,
and as they came the danger of this dreadful end grew less, for the
Aztecs must drag them further.
Now the fight drew near to the stone of sacrifice, and all who
remained alive of the Aztecs, perhaps some two hundred and fifty of
them, besides the priests, ringed themselves round us and it in a
circle. Also the outer rim of the sunbeam that fell through the
golden funnel, creeping on remorselessly, touched my painted side
which it seemed to burn as hot iron might, for alas, I could not
command the sun to stand still while the battle raged, as did
Joshua in the valley of Ajalon. When it touched me, five priests
seized my limbs and head, and the father of them, he who had
conducted me from the palace, clasped his flint knife in both
hands. Now a deathly sickness took me and I shut my eyes dreaming
that all was done, but at that moment I heard a wild-eyed man, the
chief of the astronomers whom I had noted standing by, call out to
the minister of death:
'Not yet, O priest of Tezeat! If you smite before the sunbeam lies
upon the victim's heart, your gods are doomed and doomed are the
people of Anahuac.'
The priest gnashed his teeth with rage, and glared first at the
creeping point of light and then over his shoulder at the advancing
battle. Slowly the ring of warriors closed in upon us, slowly the
golden ray crept up my breast till its outer rim touched the red
circle painted upon my heart. Again the priest heaved up his awful
knife, again I shut my eyes, and again I heard the shrill scream of
the astronomer, 'Not yet, not yet, or your gods are doomed!'
Then I heard another sound. It was the voice of Otomie crying for
help.
'Save us, Teules; they murder us!' she shrieked in so piercing a
note that it reached the ears of the Spaniards, for one shouted in
answer and in the Castilian tongue, 'On, my comrades, on! The dogs
do murder on their altars!'
Then there was a mighty rush and the defending Aztecs were swept in
upon the altar, lifting the priest of sacrifice from his feet and
throwing him across my body. Thrice that rush came like a rush of
the sea, and each time the stand of the Aztecs weakened. Now their
circle was broken and the swords of the Spaniards flashed up on
every side, and now the red ray lay within the ring upon my heart.
'Smite, priest of Tezcat,' screamed the voice of the astronomer;
'smite home for the glory of your gods!'
With a fearful yell the priest lifted the knife; I saw the golden
sunbeam that rested full upon my heart shine on it. Then as it was
descending I saw the same sunbeam shine upon a yard of steel that
flashed across me and lost itself in the breast of the murderer
priest. Down came the great flint knife, but its aim was lost. It
struck indeed, but not upon my bosom, though I did not escape it
altogether. Full upon the altar of sacrifice it fell and was
shattered there, piercing between my side and that of Otomie, and
gashing the flesh of both so that our blood was mingled upon the
stone, making us one indeed. Down too came the priest across our
bodies for the second time, but to rise no more, for he writhed
dying on those whom he would have slain.
Then as in a dream I heard the wail of the astronomer singing the
dirge of the gods of Anahuac.
'The priest is dead and his gods are fallen,' he cried. 'Tezcat
has rejected his victim and is fallen; doomed are the gods of
Anahuac! Victory is to the Cross of the Christians!'
Thus he wailed, then came the sound of sword blows and I knew that
this prophet was dead also.
Now a strong arm pulled the dying priest from off us, and he
staggered back till he fell over the altar where the eternal fire
burned, quenching it with his blood and body after it had flared
for many generations, and a knife cut the rope that bound us.
I sat up staring round me wildly, and a voice spoke above me in
Castilian, not to me indeed but to some comrade.
'These two went near to it, poor devils,' said the voice. 'Had my
cut been one second later, that savage would have drilled a hole in
him as big as my head. By all the saints! the girl is lovely, or
would be if she were washed. I shall beg her of Cortes as my
prize.'
The voice spoke and I knew the voice. None other ever had that
hard clear ring. I knew it even then and looked up, slipping off
the death-stone as I looked. Now I saw. Before me fully clad in
mail was my enemy, de Garcia. It was HIS sword that by the good
providence of God had pierced the breast of the priest. He had
saved me who, had he known, would as soon have turned his steel
against his own heart as on that of my destroyer.
I gazed at him, wondering if I dreamed, then my lips spoke, without
my will as it were:
'DE GARCIA!'
He staggered back at the sound of my voice, like a man struck by a
shot, then stared at me, rubbed his eyes with his hand, and stared
again. Now at length he knew me through my paint.
'Mother of God!' he gasped, 'it is that knave Thomas Wingfield, AND
I HAVE SAVED HIS LIFE!'
By this time my senses had come back to me, and knowing all my
folly, I turned seeking escape. But de Garcia had no mind to
suffer this. Lifting his sword, he sprang at me with a beastlike
scream of rage and hate. Swiftly as thought I slipped round the
stone of sacrifice and after me came the uplifted sword of my
enemy. It would have overtaken me soon enough, for I was weak with
fear and fasting, and my limbs were cramped with bonds, but at that
moment a cavalier whom by his dress and port I guessed to be none
other than Cortes himself, struck up de Garcia's sword, saying:
'How now, Sarceda? Are you mad with the lust of blood that you
would take to sacrificing victims like an Indian priest? Let the
poor devil go.'
'He is no Indian, he is an English spy,' cried de Garcia, and once
more struggled to get at me.
'Decidedly our friend is mad,' said Cortes, scanning me; 'he says
that this wretched creature is an Englishman. Come, be off both of
you, or somebody else may make the same mistake,' and he waved his
sword in token to us to go, deeming that I could not understand his
words; then added angrily, as de Garcia, speechless with rage, made
a new attempt to get at me:
'No, by heaven! I will not suffer it. We are Christians and come
to save victims, not to slay them. Here, comrades, hold this fool
who would stain his soul with murder.'
Now the Spaniards clutched de Garcia by the arms, and he cursed and
raved at them, for as I have said, his rage was that of a beast
rather than of a man. But I stood bewildered, not knowing whither
to fly. Fortunate it was for me indeed that one was by who though
she understood no Spanish, yet had a quicker wit. For while I
stood thus, Otomie clasped my hand, and whispering, 'Fly, fly
swiftly!' led me away from the stone of sacrifice.
'Whither shall we go?' I said at length. 'Were it not better to
trust to the mercy of the Spaniards?'
'To the mercy of that man-devil with the sword?' she answered.
'Peace, Teule, and follow me.'
Now she led me on, and the Spaniards let us by unharmed, ay, and
even spoke words of pity as we passed, for they knew that we were
victims snatched from sacrifice. Indeed, when a certain brute, a
Tlascalan Indian, rushed at us, purposing to slay us with a club,
one of the Spaniards ran him through the shoulder so that he fell
wounded to the pavement.
So we went on, and at the edge of the pyramid we glanced back and
saw that de Garcia had broken from those who held him, or perhaps
he found his tongue and had explained the truth to them. At the
least he was bounding from the altar of sacrifice nearly fifty
yards away, and coming towards us with uplifted sword. Then fear
gave us strength, and we fled like the wind. Along the steep path
we rushed side by side, leaping down the steps and over the
hundreds of dead and dying, only pausing now and again to save
ourselves from being smitten into space by the bodies of the
priests whom the Spaniards were hurling from the crest of the
teocalli. Once looking up, I caught sight of de Garcia pursuing
far above us, but after that we saw him no more; doubtless he
wearied of the chase, or feared to fall into the hands of such of
the Aztec warriors as still clustered round the foot of the
pyramid.
We had lived through many dangers that day, the princess Otomie and
I, but one more awaited us before ever we found shelter for awhile.
After we had reached the foot of the pyramid and turned to mingle
with the terrified rabble that surged and flowed through the
courtyard of the temple, bearing away the dead and wounded as the
sea at flood reclaims its waste and wreckage, a noise like thunder
caught my ear. I looked up, for the sound came from above, and saw
a huge mass bounding down the steep side of the pyramid. Even then
I knew it again; it was the idol of the god Tezcat that the
Spaniards had torn from its shrine, and like an avenging demon it
rushed straight on to me. Already it was upon us, there was no
retreat from instant death, we had but escaped sacrifice to the
spirit of the god to be crushed to powder beneath the bulk of his
marble emblem. On he came while on high the Spaniards shouted in
triumph. His base had struck the stone side of the pyramid fifty
feet above us, now he whirled round and round in the air to strike
again within three paces of where we stood. I felt the solid
mountain shake beneath the blow, and next instant the air was
filled with huge fragments of marble, that whizzed over us and past
us as though a mine of powder had been fired beneath our feet,
tearing the rocks from their base. The god Tezcat had burst into a
score of pieces, and these fell round us like a flight of arrows,
and yet we were not touched. My head was grazed by his head, his
feet dug a pit before my feet, but I stood there unhurt, the false
god had no power over the victim who had escaped him!
After that I remember nothing till I found myself once more in my
apartments in Montezuma's palace, which I never hoped to see again.
Otomie was by me, and she brought me water to wash the paint from
my body and the blood from my wound, which, leaving her own
untended, she dressed skilfully, for the cut of the priest's knife
was deep and I had bled much. Also she clothed herself afresh in a
white robe and brought me raiment to wear, with food and drink, and
I partook of them. Then I bade her eat something herself, and when
she had done so I gathered my wits together and spoke to her.
'What next?' I said. 'Presently the priests will be on us, and we
shall be dragged back to sacrifice. There is no hope for me here,
I must fly to the Spaniards and trust to their mercy.'
'To the mercy of that man with the sword? Say, Teule, who is he?'
'He is that Spaniard of whom I have spoken to you, Otomie; he is my
mortal enemy whom I have followed across the seas.'
'And now you would put yourself into his power. Truly, you are
foolish, Teule.'
'It is better to fall into the hands of Christian men than into
those of your priests,' I answered.
'Have no fear,' she said; 'the priests are harmless for you. You
have escaped them and there's an end. Few have ever come alive
from their clutches before, and he who does so is a wizard indeed.
For the rest I think that your God is stronger than our gods, for
surely He must have cast His mantle over us when we lay yonder on
the stone. Ah! Teule, to what have you brought me that I should
live to doubt my gods, ay, and to call upon the foes of my country
for succour in your need. Believe me, I had not done it for my own
sake, since I would have died with your kiss upon my lips and your
word of love echoing in my ears, who now must live knowing that
these joys have passed from me.'
'How so?' I answered. 'What I have said, I have said. Otomie, you
would have died with me, and you saved my life by your wit in
calling on the Spaniards. Henceforth it is yours, for there is no
other woman in the world so tender and so brave, and I say it
again, Otomie, my wife, I love you. Our blood has mingled on the
stone of sacrifice and there we kissed; let these be our marriage
rites. Perhaps I have not long to live, but till I die I am yours,
Otomie my wife.'
Thus I spoke from the fulness of my heart, for my strength and
courage were shattered, horror and loneliness had taken hold of me.
But two things were left to me in the world, my trust in Providence
and the love of this woman, who had dared so much for me.
Therefore I forgot my troth and clung to her as a child clings to
its mother. Doubtless it was wrong, but I will be bold to say that
few men so placed would have acted otherwise. Moreover, I could
not take back the fateful words that I had spoken on the stone of
sacrifice. When I said them I was expecting death indeed, but to
renounce them now that its shadow was lifted from me, if only for a
little while, would have been the act of a coward. For good or
evil I had given myself to Montezuma's daughter, and I must abide
by it or be shamed. Still such was the nobleness of this Indian
lady that even then she would not take me at my word. For a little
while she stood smiling sadly and drawing a lock of her long hair
through the hollow of her hand. Then she spoke:
'You are not yourself, Teule, and I should be base indeed if I made
so solemn a compact with one who does not know what he sells.
Yonder on the altar and in a moment of death you said that you
loved me, and doubtless it was true. But now you have come back to
life, and say, lord, who set that golden ring upon your hand and
what is written in its circle? Yet even if the words are true that
you have spoken and you love me a little, there is one across the
sea whom you love better. That I could bear, for my heart is fixed
on you alone among men, and at the least you would be kind to me,
and I should move in the sunlight of your presence. But having
known the light, I cannot live to wander in the darkness. You do
not understand. I will tell you what I fear. I fear that if--if
we were wed, you would weary of me as men do, and that memory would
grow too strong for you. Then by and by it might be possible for
you to find your way back across the waters to your own land and
your own love, and so you would desert me, Teule. This is what I
could not bear, Teule. I can forego you now, ay, and remain your
friend. But I cannot be put aside like a dancing girl, the
companion of a month, I, Montezuma's daughter, a lady of my own
land. Should you wed me, it must be for my life, Teule, and that
is perhaps more than you would wish to promise, though you could
kiss me on yonder stone and there is blood fellowship between us,'
and she glanced at the red stain in the linen robe that covered the
wound upon her side.
'And now, Teule, I leave you a while, that I may find Guatemoc, if
he still lives, and others who, now that the strength of the
priests is shattered, have power to protect you and advance you to
honour. Think then on all that I have said, and do not be hasty to
decide. Or would you make an end at once and fly to the white men
if I can find a means of escape?'
'I am too weary to fly anywhere,' I answered, 'even if I could.
Moreover, I forget. My enemy is among the Spaniards, he whom I
have sworn to kill, therefore his friends are my foes and his foes
my friends. I will not fly, Otomie.'
'There you are wise,' she said, 'for if you come among the Teules
that man will murder you; by fair means or foul he will murder you
within a day, I saw it in his eyes. Now rest while I seek your
safety, if there is any safety in this blood-stained land.'
