d to
carry out a most daring and unprecedented scheme--a purely "Napoleonic
movement," such as could scarcely have entered the brain of any general
ancient or modern. He argued with himself that a quarrel might at any
moment break out between his men and the citizens; the Spaniards again
could not remain long quiet unless actively employed; and, thirdly,
there was still greater danger with the Tlascalans, "a fierce race now
in daily contact with a nation that regards them with loathing and
detestation." Lastly, the Governor of Cuba, already grossly offended
with Cortes, might at any moment send after him a sufficient army to
wrest from him the glory of conquest. Cortes therefore formed the daring
resolve to seize Montezuma in his palace and carry him as a prisoner to
the Spanish quarters. He hoped thus to have in his own hands the supreme
management of affairs, and at the same time secure his own safety with
such a "sacred pledge" in keeping.

It was necessary to find a pretext for seizing the hospitable Montezuma.
News had already come to Cortes, when at Cholula, that Escalante, whom
he had left in charge of Vera Cruz, had been defeated by the Aztecs in a
pitched battle, and that the head of a Spaniard, then slain, had been
sent to the Emperor, after being shown in triumph throughout some of the
chief cities.

Cortes asked an audience from Montezuma, and that being readily granted,
he prepared for his plot by having a large body of armed men posted in
the courtyard. Choosing five companions of tried courage, Cortes then
entered the palace, and after being graciously received, told Montezuma
that he knew of the treachery that had taken place near the coast, and
that the Emperor was said to be the cause.

The Emperor said that such a charge could only have been concocted by
his enemies. He agreed with the proposal of Cortes to summon the Aztec
chief who was accused of treachery to the garrison at Vera Cruz; and was
then persuaded to transfer his residence to the palace occupied by the
Spaniards. He was there received and treated with ostentatious respect;
but his people observed that in front of the palace there was constantly
posted a patrol of sixty soldiers, with another equally large in the
rear.

When the Aztec chief arrived from the coast, he and his sixteen Aztec
companions were condemned to be burned alive before the palace.

The next daring act of the Spanish general was to order iron fetters to
be fastene