eight but, as they showed their heads above the parapet,
they were shot down by the Spanish arquebus men, or struck
backwards by the weapons of the Tlascalans. Failing to scale the
walls, they tried to batter down the parapet with heavy pieces of
timber. But the stonework was too strong, and they then shot
burning arrows into the palace, and hurled blazing torches over the
wall.

The palace itself was of stone, but some of the exterior works
which had been constructed were of wood, and these were soon on
fire. The defenders had no water with which to extinguish the
flames and, at the point where the new works joined the wall, the
fire was so fierce that they were afraid it would spread to the
palace; and, to extinguish it, were forced to adopt the desperate
expedient of overthrowing the wall upon the burning mass. The
breach thus made was guarded by a battery of heavy guns and a party
of arquebusiers, and these repelled every attempt of the Mexicans
to take advantage of the breach which had been thus formed.

The fight continued until night fell, and the Mexicans then drew
off. Cortez and his followers were astonished at the obstinacy with
which they had fought, and the contempt of death they had
displayed. They had obtained such easy victories, with forces but a
fourth of those which Cortez now commanded, that he had formed the
lowest opinion of the fighting powers of the Aztecs. But he now
found that a nation was not to be trampled upon with impunity.

However, he consoled himself with the thought that this was but a
temporary outbreak of fury; and he determined to sally out with all
his force, on the following morning, and to inflict a terrible
chastisement upon his assailants.

As soon as the morning broke, the Spaniards were under arms. Cortez
was speedily undeceived in his hopes that the slaughter of the
previous day would have cowed the Mexicans. The great square and
the streets leading to it were seen to be crowded with foes, who
appeared better organized than on the previous day, being divided
into regiments, each with its banners. These, the Mexican
attendants on Montezuma told them, were the cognizances of the many
cities of the plain, showing that the whole people were joining in
the movement commenced by those of the capital. Towering above the
rest was the royal standard of Mexico.

Among the crowd were numerous priests who, with excited gestures,
called upon them to avenge the insulted gods, and to