d the palace, and was covered with Mexican warriors. And next
day Cortez sent a party to storm it. They tried to get up the winding
stairs, and were driven back three times with fearful loss. Cortez,
though he had but one hand to fight with, sallied out and cleared the
pyramid himself, after a fearful hand-to-hand fight of three hours, up
the winding stairs, along the platforms, and at last upon the great
square on the top, an acre in breadth. Every Mexican was either killed,
or hurled down the sides. The idol, the war god, with its gold disc of
bleeding hearts smoking before it, was hurled down and the whole accursed
place set on fire and destroyed. Three hundred houses round were also
burnt that night; but of what use?

The Spaniards were starving, hemmed in by hundreds of thousands. They
were like a single wasp inside a bee-hive. Let him kill the bees by
hundreds, he must be killed himself at last. He made up his mind to
evacuate the city, to leave all his conquests behind him. It was a
terrible disappointment, but it had to be done.

They marched out by night in good order, with all their guns and
ammunition, and with immense plunder; as much of poor Montezuma's
treasures as they could carry. The old hands took very little; they knew
what they were about. The fresh ones from Narvaez's army loaded
themselves with gold and jewels, and had to pay dear for them. Cortez, I
ought to tell you, took good care of Dona Marina. He sent her forward
under a strong guard of Tlascalans, with all the other women. The great
street was crossed by many canals. Then the causeway across the lake,
two miles long, was crossed by more canals, and at every one of these the
Indians had taken away the bridges. Cortez knew that, and had made a
movable bridge; but he had only time to make one, and that of course had
to be taken up at the rear, and carried forward to the front every time
they crossed a dyke; and that made endless delay. As long as they were
in the city, however, all went well; but the moment they came out upon
the lake causeway, out thundered the serpent-skin drums from the top of
every temple, the conch shells blew, and out swarmed the whole hive of
bees, against the one brave wasp who was struggling. The Spaniards
cleared the dyke by cavalry and artillery, and got to the first canal,
laid down the bridge, and over slowly but safely, amid a storm of stones
and arrows. They got to the second canal, fifteen or