yest
courts in Europe.

Conspicuous among the gay multitude that flitted about the court, was
Nahuitla, Prince of Tlacopan, a young chief of the Tepanecs. He was just
ripening into manhood, of an uncommonly lithe and agile frame,
exceedingly fair and graceful, and gifted with unusual powers of
intellect. He was one of the rarest geniuses of the age, and astonished
and amused the court with the variety and beauty of his poems, and other
works of taste. Nor did his intellectual accomplishments exceed his
heroism and loyalty. Guatimozin had not an abler or more devoted
chieftain in all his realm. It was he who fought side by side with the
Emperor in all his after conflicts, endured with him the horrors of the
wasting siege and painful captivity which followed, and finally shared
his cruel and shameful martyrdom, at the hands of the then
terror-stricken and cowardly Cortez, declaring with his last breath,
that he desired no better or more glorious lot, than to die by the side
of his lord.

Nahuitla, like all good knights and brave soldiers, to say nothing of
true poets, had a heart warmly susceptible of tender impressions, and
could not resist the bright eyes and witching smiles, that illuminated
the saloons and gardens of the imperial palace. Promiscuous flirtation
was less hazardous in Tenochtitlan than in most of the capitals of
Christendom. The wealthy nobles being allowed to marry as many wives as
they could support, the young prince could win the affections of all the
bright daughters of the valley, without at all apprehending a suit for
breach of promise, or a conspiracy against his own life, or that of his
favorite, by some disappointed rival. How many conquests he made in one
brief campaign, does not appear in the chronicles of the day. Atlacan, a
princess of Tezcuco, was his first trophy. She was very fair and highly
gifted, resembling in many points of person and character, the guardian
genius of the young Empress, the talented Karee.

At his first encounter with the Tezcucan princess, Nahuitla was deeply
impressed with a peculiar expression of thoughtfulness, shading a
brilliantly beautiful countenance, and imposing a kind of constrained
awe upon the stranger. This shadow gradually disappeared upon a further
acquaintance, till the whole face and person were so lighted up with the
fire of her genius and wit, that it seemed as if invested with a
supernatural halo. Their intercourse was a perfect tournament of w