that we shall proceed to the
coast, and take ship for Europe?"

Marina tossed her head scornfully.

"You do not know Cortez," she said, "or you would not ask such a
question. He is already thinking how he can return, and capture the
capital."

"But unless he receives large reinforcements, that would seem
impossible," Roger said. "You have yourself told me that, had it
not been for the fall of the Mexican leader, nothing could have
saved you from destruction. The Aztec loss was heavy, no doubt; but
they can fill up their ranks and take the field again, in a week or
two, with a force as large as that which fought at Otompan. They
will not be dispirited, for they will know that it was but an
accident which deprived them of victory, and will no longer deem
the Spaniards invincible."

"It matters not," Marina said, carelessly. "Cortez will manage
things. Whatever he undertakes, that he will carry out."

Late in the afternoon, the army arrived at the barrier across the
road that marked the boundary of the Tlascalan territory. As they
passed it, the native allies burst into cries of gladness; and the
Spaniards joined in the shout, for to them, too, it seemed that
their dangers were at an end, and that they had reached rest and
abundance.

Cortez and the leaders, however, were by no means sanguine as to
the reception they should meet with. Their alliance had brought
misfortune upon the Tlascalans. Little more than one thousand out
of the eight thousand men who had marched with them had returned to
tell the tale. The rest had fallen in the defense of the palace, in
the fighting in the streets of Mexico, in the passage of the
causeway, or in the battle of Otompan.

What would the Tlascalans think, when they saw the broken remnant
of the army, which had marched out so proudly, and knew that they
brought on themselves the bitter enmity of the whole of the people
of Anahuac? Might they not well be tempted to avert the wrath of
the Aztecs, by falling upon the strangers, whose alliance had cost
them so dearly?

At the place at which they halted for the night, a town of some
fifteen thousand inhabitants, they were so kindly received by the
natives that these apprehensions were somewhat laid to rest. The
people came out to meet them, invited them to their houses, and
treated them with the greatest hospitality. Here they remained
three days, resting after their terrible fatigues.

They were visited here by Maxixca, the most