ere he fortunately found a girl who was reaping _chia_, a plant
whose seeds were used in making palatable drinks. Telling her who he was
and of his great danger, he got her to cover him up with a heap of the
plants she had cut, and when the pursuers came up and asked if she had
seen him, the faithful girl coolly replied that she had, and pointed out a
path which she said he had taken.

None of the natives showed any inclination to betray him, despite the
richness of the promised rewards.

"Would you not deliver up the prince if he came in your way?" he asked of
a peasant who did not recognize him.

"Not I," was the reply.

"What! not for a fair lady's hand, and a rich domain as dowry?"

The peasant shook his head decisively and laughed in disdain.

But, in spite of the loyalty of the people, the prince was in constant
danger, and his situation, in the rough fastnesses of the hills and
forests, became very distressing.

"Leave me," he said to the faithful few who kept with him in his
wanderings and shared his sufferings. "Leave me to my fate. Why should you
throw away your lives for one whom fortune steadily persecutes?"

But they clung to his fortunes still, despite their danger and the fact
that most of the great nobles of the land had sought safety and reward by
an adhesion to the usurper.

Meanwhile, events were working in favor of the fugitive. Maxtla had shown
himself an oppressor, and his ambition and military successes had caused
much alarm in the surrounding states, where his tyranny was contrasted
with the mild rule of the former monarchs of Tezcuco. The friends of the
young prince took advantage of this feeling, and succeeded in forming a
coalition against his enemy. A day was fixed for a general rising, and on
the date appointed Nezahualcoyotl found himself at the head of an army
strong enough to face that of Maxtla and the Tepanecs.

The two armies soon met and victory rested on the banner of the young
prince, the forces of Maxtla being badly beaten. No longer a hunted
fugitive, but at the head of a victorious army, he marched in triumph to
the capital which he had left with a price on his head, his joyful
subjects crowding to the route of march to render homage to their rightful
sovereign. The Mexicans, who were angry at the tyrannic conduct of Maxtla,
readily allied themselves with the young victor, and a series of bloody
battles followed, the usurper being at length defeated under the walls of