his own subjects, who, but a moment before, would have sacrificed a
hundred lives, had he possessed them, to shield the person of his
monarch from violence and dishonor.

The effect of this unexpected catastrophe seemed equally appalling to
both the belligerent parties. The Aztecs, struck aghast at their own
sacrilegious deed, dispersed in sorrow and shame to their homes; while
the Spaniards felt that they had lost their only remaining hold upon the
forbearance and regard of a mighty people, whose confidence they had
shamefully abused, and whose altars and houses they had wantonly
desecrated. It was a season of agonizing suspense. To retreat from their
post, and abandon the conquest which they once imagined was nearly
achieved, might be as disastrous as it would be humiliating. To remain
in their narrow quarters, surrounded with countless thousands of
exasperated foes, on whom they must be dependent for their daily
supplies of food, seemed little better than madness. To the proud spirit
of the haughty Castilian, the alternative was scarcely less to be
dreaded than martyrdom. It was manifestly, however, the only resource,
and he resolved to evacuate the city.

Meanwhile, active hostilities had been temporarily suspended. The
unhappy Montezuma, smitten even more severely in heart than in person,
refused alike the condolence of his friends and the skill of the
Castilian surgeon. Tearing off the bandages from his wounds, "leave me
alone," he cried, "I have already outlived my honor and the affection
and confidence of my people. Why should I look again upon the sun or the
earth. The one has no light, the other no flowers for me. Let me die
here. I feel indeed that the gods have smitten me, when I fall by the
hand of one of my own people."

In this disconsolate mood, the spirit of Montezuma took its flight. In
vain did the Castilian general endeavor to suppress, for a time, the
tidings of his death. The loud wailing of his attendants, would have
published it far and wide among the thousands of affectionate hearts,
that listened for every sound that issued from the palace, if they had
not, unknown to the Spaniards, established a kind of telegraphic signal,
by means of which they communicated to the priests on the great
Teocalli, daily reports of the progress of his disease. When the sad
signal was given, announcing the solemn fact, that the great Montezuma
had laid down his honors and his troubles together, it was responde