n profusion among the Spaniards. That evening Cortes
ordered a general discharge of artillery, and the noise of the guns and
the volumes of smoke filled the superstitious Aztecs with dismay,
reminding them of the explosions of the great volcano.

On the following morning he asked permission to return the emperor's
visit, and Montezuma sent officers to conduct the Spaniards to his
presence.

[Illustration: CORTES IN THE TEMPLE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI]

On reaching the hall of audience the Mexican officers took off their
sandals, and covered their gay attire with mantles of 'nequen,' a coarse
stuff made from the fibres of the aloe, and worn only by the poorest
classes; for it was thus humbly that all, excepting the members of his
own family, approached the sovereign. Then with downcast eyes and formal
obeisance they ushered the Spaniards into the royal presence. They found
Montezuma surrounded by a few of his favourite chiefs, and were kindly
received by him; and Cortes soon began upon the subject uppermost in his
thoughts, setting forth as clearly as he could the mysteries of his
faith, and assuring Montezuma his idols would sink him in perdition.
But the emperor only listened calmly, and showed no sign of being
convinced. He had no doubt, he said, that the god of the Spaniards was
good, but his own gods were good also; what Cortes told him of the
creation of the world was like what he had been taught to believe. It
was not worth while to discuss the matter farther. He added that his
ancestors were not the original possessors of his land, but had been led
there by the great Being, who, after giving them laws, and ruling over
them for a time, had withdrawn to the region where the sun rises,
declaring on his departure that he or his descendants would some day
come again and reign. The wonderful deeds of the Spaniards, their fair
faces, and the quarter whence they came all showed that they were his
descendants. If Montezuma had resisted their visit to his capital, it
was because he had heard that they were cruel, that they sent the
lightning to consume his people, or crushed them to pieces under the
hard feet of the ferocious animals on which they rode. He was now
convinced that these were idle tales, that the Spaniards were kind and
generous,--mortals indeed, but of a different race from the Aztecs,
wiser, and more valiant. You, too, he added with a smile, have perhaps
been told that I am a god and dwell in palaces of gold an