eneral he had
been bound to pursue such a course, for, if he had not taken some active
step, the example of revolt set by Oli would have been followed by other
officers. Besides which, he had previously announced his intention to
his majesty of marching thither."

After this explanation the licentiate touched upon the defeat and
imprisonment of Narvaez, the capture of Garay's vessels, the loss of his
troops, and his sudden death; and, lastly, on the manner in which he had
obliged Christobal de Tapia to reembark; besides these, he questioned
him on various other matters, which I will not enumerate here. To all of
which Cortes gave such excellent answers, that Ponce de Leon appeared
pretty well satisfied.

I have above remarked, there was no one present during this conference
excepting father Thomas Ortiz. This person, immediately after it was
ended, called upon three intimate friends, and assured them, in all
confidence, that it was Leon's intention to sentence Cortes to
decapitation, in accordance with the commands of his majesty, and that
it was for this purpose only he had put the above-mentioned questions to
him. Ortiz, the next morning, very early, called upon our general
himself, and said to him: "Senor capitan, the great respect I entertain
for you, my spiritual office, and the rules of the order I belong to,
make it imperative on me to warn people in cases like these; I will
therefore not hide from you that his majesty has given Leon full power
to put you to death."

This communication appeared to affect Cortes very much, nor could he
think lightly of it when he considered the questions which the
licentiate had put to him; yet, on the other hand again, he was well
aware that this monk was an evil-minded person, and that very little
reliance could be placed in what he said. Perhaps he had made up this
story himself, that Cortes might ask him to intercede for him with Leon,
for which the former, he naturally supposed, would not fail to
remunerate him with some gold bars. There were several persons who even
affirmed that Leon himself had secretly desired Ortiz to communicate
this to our general, to alarm him into a supplication of mercy. However,
Cortes replied to father Ortiz in the most courteous manner, thanked him
for the communication, and concluded by saying, "He had always
entertained hopes that his majesty would reward him for the many great
services he had rendered to the crown, and that he should still