the other
side; put it at a quarter, altogether. Our natives will be
dispirited by their defeat today, and the Aztecs will have gained
in confidence.

"By Saint James, but those fellows fight well! Who would have
thought, when we saw them bowing and smiling when we first arrived
in the city, and submitting so meekly to everything, that they
could fight like fiends? Never did I see men so reckless of life.

"Pedro has fallen. I loved him as a son. But far better dead than
here."

"I am sorry, indeed, to hear that he has fallen, Juan. I feared
that he had, for he would not have let you be captured, had he been
alive.

"I don't give up all hope for ourselves. The Mexicans fight like
heroes, but in the end we must win, in spite of their valor. Even
if we do not take the town by storm, which I don't think we ever
should do, if it were provisioned, we shall take it by hunger. They
must be well-nigh starving now. In another month there will not be
a soul alive in the city.

"You do not think there is any chance of our making our escape?"

"Not unless wings could sprout out from our shoulders," Juan said,
"and we could fly through the air. You may be sure these fellows
will keep too sharp a lookout upon us to give us the shadow of a
chance; besides, if we were to get out, we could not go on foot
without being detected.

"You might manage, lad, with a dark night to hide your color, and
with the aid of a native dress, for you can speak their tongue; but
as for me, the idea is hopeless, and not to be thought of. No, no,
lad, I do not delude myself. My time has come; and I shall bear it,
I hope, like a man, and a Christian."

From time to time, Aztecs came in to see that the prisoners were
safe. From their conversation with the guards, Roger gathered that
the attack had everywhere failed, and that the Spaniards had
retired to their camps.

Late in the afternoon some priests entered. Two of the prisoners
were selected by them, their bonds cut, and they were taken away.
Soon afterwards, the sound of the great war drum reverberated
through the city.

The Spaniards in their camps started to arms, on hearing the sound;
but they were not long in understanding its meaning, for from their
camps they beheld a great procession winding up the principal
pyramid. Alvarado's camp, which was the nearest to the city, was a
short mile away from the temple; and in the clear evening air the
troops could see that there were five or si