hting men accompanied them, and a thousand
porters to drag the tubes and carry their baggage. They had sent
embassies to the Tlascalans, but the latter had chosen war, and
there had been some terrible battles fought. But the white men were
invincible, and had defeated the Tlascalans with great slaughter;
and the news had arrived, only that morning, that they had captured
the city.

The sensation throughout the country was that of stupefaction. It
seemed absolutely incredible that a state which had successfully
defied the armies of Montezuma and his predecessors should, after
four or five days of fighting, be overthrown by this handful of
white strangers. There seemed but one comfort. It was said that
several of the Whites had been killed, and this showed, at least,
that they were not superhuman creatures, and that it might yet be
possible to destroy them.

No sooner did Roger hear the news than he determined to start, at
once, to join the Spaniards, who were already far to the west.
Accordingly, the next morning at daybreak, he started with
Bathalda, and late on the following afternoon arrived in sight of
Tlascala. They thought it better not to enter the city until the
following morning, and therefore passed the night in a clump of
bushes.

The next day they boldly entered the town. The city was a large
one, divided into four quarters separated by lofty walls, and each
ruled over by one of the four great chiefs of the republic. Its
population was very large, and the town was strongly and solidly
built.

At ordinary times the appearance of two seeming Aztecs in the
streets would have been the signal for their instant destruction,
but at the present time the people were solely occupied with the
presence of their white conquerors; with whom, as Roger soon
learned, they had made treaties of friendship, and whom they now
viewed as friends and allies.

The whole of the Spaniards were lodged in one of the palaces. The
crowd of people proceeding in that direction was a sufficient index
to its position; and Roger and his companion, joining the throng,
were soon in front of the palace. Some Spanish soldiers were
standing as sentries at its gate, but none came out or mixed with
the people--Cortez having given the strictest orders that they
should remain in their quarters, as he feared that, did they go
abroad, some brawl might arise between them and the inhabitants,
and so break the newly-formed alliance, which was of the