hered the meaning
of not a few of the words of their strange tongue. What she has once
heard she never forgets. Presuming that no one could understand them,
they have talked freely and boldly in her presence. And it is from her
that I learn, that the Castilian general said to one of his officers, as
he crossed the court yard, this morning--'While we have the Emperor with
us, we are safe. We must see to it, he does not escape.'"

"Escape?" shrieked the agitated Princess; "then he is indeed a prisoner.
But these white men are gods, are the gods treacherous?"

"The gods of the deep are all treachery, but not those of the blue
fields and bright stars above us. But, be they gods from below, or gods
from above, they are not the gods of Anahuac, nor shall they claim a
foot of its soil, till it is drenched with the blood of the Aztec.
Farewell. Fear not. I will yet see you return in triumph to the imperial
halls of Tenochtitlan."

CHAPTER VII.

TREACHERY AND RETRIBUTION--MASSACRE OF THE AZTEC
NOBILITY--DEATH OF MONTEZUMA.

~And bloody treason triumphed.~

* * * * *

~Feeling dies not by the knife;
That cuts at once and kills; its tortured strife
Is with distilled affliction, drop by drop
Oozing its bitterness. Our world is rife
With grief and sorrow; all that we would prop,
Or would be propped with, falls; where shall the ruin stop?~

Passing lightly over some of the subsequent incidents of this stirring
period, we must hasten to the catastrophe of our long drawn tale.

Secure in the possession of his royal prisoner, Cortez now thought he
might safely leave the capital, for a while, and respond to a demand
which pressed urgently upon him, to relieve his little colony at Vera
Cruz, threatened with destruction, not by the natives, but a new band of
adventurers from Spain, who had come to dispute the spoils with the
conquerors. Leaving one of his principal officers in command, with a
part of the forces, he placed himself at the head of the remainder, and
marched quietly off on his new expedition.

Alvarado was a brave knight, but of a rash and headlong disposition, and
utterly destitute of that cool prudence and far-seeing sagacity which
was requisite for so important a station. He soon involved himself in a
most wicked and unjust quarrel with the Aztecs, which had well nigh
overwhelmed him and his diminished band in utter ruin.

No