The Lost Treasure of Montezuma, Part I [pp. 409-417; system: 408-417]

414 THE LOST TREASURE OF MONTEZUMA.
"If thou wilt, thou canst grant me
two," answered the Tlaxcalteca, gently.
"Thou knowest how dearly I love my
wife and son; promise me that thou wilt
care for them."'
"They shall be of my own household,"
answered Montezuma, eagerly. "And
for the rest 1"
"Grant, 0 king! that I may not be
slaughtered tamely, like a bound beast,
upon the sacrificial stone; but that I may
die like a warrior, slaying thine enemies,
in the gladiatorial games."
Still weeping, Montezuma granted this
last favor; and having sent for his son,
Cacamatzin, and intrusted him to the
care of the king, and impressed upon
the mind of the child his duty to his sovereign, and above all his obligation to preserve inviolate the secret of the hidden
treasure, Tlahuicole departed, to disseminate abroad his determination to die
upon the eighth day of the festival of the
war god, Huitzilopochtli.
These eight days were spent in high
festival throughout the city, less in honor
of the god himself, than of his noble
and self-immolated victim; and at the
time appointed, tearing himself from the
embraces of his wife and son, yet bidding the latter follow him, that he might
see how a brave man should die, Tlahuicole repaired to the atritzn of the
temple, where already sat Montezuma,
surrounded by the guard of honor; with
which, seemingly in courtesy alone, the
Spaniards had provided him. The immense space that day was crowded to
suffocation. Cortez, looking from the
roof of his intrenched palace, over the
city, beheld all its streets deserted, and
even the gardens upon the lake floating
idly. Naught of life was to be seen or
heard within the vast extent of Anahuac,
save at its very heart, within the precincts of the magnificent temple. For
hours the silence and the solitude continued; but about three hours after noon,
there was a mighty roar of voices, and
the king and his glittering retinue were
seen issuing forth from the gates of the
temple, and proceeding slowly to the
magnificent dais placed in the shadow
of the building itself, and commanding,
a view of the great square which fronted
it. Within a few seconds, the square
was as crowded as the temple had been,
and then, Tlahuicole, magnificently attired in a suit of armor which had been
presented him by the king, walked slowly and firmly through the crowd, and
knelt before his lord.
All through that long day had he devoutly worshiped the gods within the
temple, and unshudderingly watched a
hundred human sacrifices made upon
the fatal stone where he himself should
die, but not ingloriously, as they had
done.
"Tlahuicole," said the king, "thou
knowest the rules of the gladiatorial sacrifice: thou art entitlec to choose six
of my bravest subjects, and to challenge
them, one by one, to fight thee. If the
gods befriend thee, and suffer that thou
slayest them all, it is a sign that they
wish not thy death, and thou mayst safely live, in honor."
"Great king!" answered the Tlaxcalteca, "thou knowest that I have begged from thee, and from the most holy
priests, a suspension of these rules. The
prisoners who have heretofore fought
upon the gladiatorial stone have found
in thy people enemies, and with willing
heart and hand could they oppose them.
With me it is not so; the Mexican people are my brethren; to them I cannot
oppose my strength; and so I have
chosen to fight the prisoners thou hast
made among thine enemies, the Otomies; and because it well may be that
they equal not thine own brave people,
either in skill or valor, I will contend
successively with nine of them, instead
of six; and if all the nine fall before me,
then, 0 king! will I believe that the
gods desire not my death, and will re
[Nov.