f blood. Fortunately, the Aztecs,
attracted by the rich spoil that strewed the ground, did not pursue, or it
is doubtful if a man of the Spaniards, in their worn and wounded state,
would have survived. How many perished in that night of dread no one
knows. A probable estimate is about five hundred Spaniards and four
thousand natives, nearly all the rear-guard having fallen. Of forty-six
horses, half had been slain. The baggage, the guns, the ammunition, the
muskets, and nearly all the treasure were gone. The only arms left the
warriors were their swords and a few damaged cross-bows, while their mail
was broken, their garments were tattered, their proud crests and banners
gone, their bright arms soiled, and only a miserable and shattered
fragment of their proud force was left, these dragging themselves along
with pain and difficulty.

[Illustration: AZTEC IDOLS CARVED IN STONE.]

AZTEC IDOLS CARVED IN STONE.

Day after day passed as the Spaniards and their allies, the
Tlascalans,--inveterate enemies of the Aztecs,--slowly moved away from that
blood-stained avenue of death, now little molested by their foes, and
gradually recovering from their fatigue. On the seventh morning they
reached the mountain height which overlooks the plain of Otumba, a point
less than thirty miles from the capital. This plain they were obliged to
traverse on their way to Tlascala, their chosen place of retreat.

As they looked down on the broad level below them they saw with shrinking
hearts why they had not been as yet molested. A mighty host filled the
whole valley from side to side, their arms and standards glistening in the
sun, their numbers so great that the stoutest heart among the Spaniards
viewed them with dismay, and Cortez, daring and hopeful as he was, felt
that his last hour had now surely come.

But this stout leader was not the man to give way to despair. There was
nothing to do but to cut their way through this vast array or perish in
the attempt. To retreat would have been to invite sure destruction.
Fortunately, they had rested for two nights and a day, and men and horses
had regained much of their old strength. Without hesitation, Cortez
prepared for the onset, giving his force as broad a front as possible, and
guarding its flanks with his little body of horse, now twenty in all.
Then, with a few words of encouragement, in which he told them of the
victories they had won, and with or