rom a sling,
smiting him on the head with such violence that he fell insensible.
When the Aztecs saw him fall, their brief outburst of indignation
was succeeded by one of sorrow; and with a cry of grief the whole
multitude dispersed, and in a minute or two the crowded square was
wholly deserted.

Montezuma was carried to his chamber. When he recovered
sensibility, he refused absolutely to allow his wounds to be
dressed, and tore off the bandages. Not a word passed his lips. He
sat in an attitude of the deepest dejection. His own people
despised him, and had raised their hands against him. He had drunk
deeply of the cup of humiliation, at the hands of the Spaniards;
but this last drop filled it to overflowing. There was nothing for
him but to die.

The Spanish leaders tried, but in vain, to persuade him to submit
to surgical treatment. He paid no attention to their words, and
they were soon called away by fresh danger from without.

The Aztecs had speedily recovered from their emotion at seeing the
fall of the emperor, and a body of five or six hundred of them,
including many nobles and military leaders of high rank, had taken
possession of the great temple; and now from its summit, a hundred
and fifty feet high, opened a rain of missiles upon the palace. The
Spaniards could not effectually return their fire, for the Aztecs
were sheltered by the sanctuaries on the summit of the pyramids.

It was absolutely necessary, for the safety of the defenders, to
dislodge them from this position; and Cortez ordered his
chamberlain, Don Escobar, with a hundred men, to storm the teocalli
and set fire to the sanctuaries. But the little force were three
times repulsed, and forced to fall back with considerable loss.
Cortez then, though suffering much from the wound in his left hand,
determined himself to lead the assault. As he was incapable of
holding his shield, he had it strapped to his left arm; and with
three hundred picked men, and some thousands of the Tlascalans,
sallied out from the palace, and attacked the Aztecs in the temple
at the foot of the pyramid.

The Spaniards made their way through these without much difficulty,
and then commenced the ascent of the pyramid. This offered great
facilities for defense. There were five terraces connected by
steps, so placed that those mounting the pyramid had to make the
whole circuit, on each terrace, before reaching the steps leading
to the next. It was thus necessary to pass