ty was
to be assailed rather by the slow and wasting siege, than by the storm
of war, he made every possible preparation to sustain himself at his
post. The aged, the infirm, the sick, and, as far as possible, all the
helpless among the inhabitants, were sent off among the neighboring
towns, and country; while all those who were able to do service in the
army, were brought thence into the city. Provisions were collected in
great quantities, and all the resources then left to the empire
concentrated upon one point, that of making an obstinate, unyielding
defence. In this condition of affairs the siege commenced; a large part
of the fighting men of the neighboring cities and towns being in the
capital, preparing to defend it against enemies with whom those cities
and towns were now in close alliance. Though it thus brought the father
against the son, and the son against the father, in many instances, it
did not, in any case, disappoint the confidence of Guatimozin, or
undermine the loyalty of his troops. There were no deserters from his
standard. Through all the horrors of that wasting siege, they stood by
their sovereign, and their capital, as if they knew no other home, no
other friend.

In vain did the Castilian commander propose terms of accommodation to
the beleaguered city. The Emperor would not condescend even to an
interview. His chiefs and his people, whenever they had an opportunity
to do so, treated every attempt at compromise with utter scorn. They
derided Cortez upon his disastrous evacuation of the capital on "the
melancholy night," assuring him that, if he should enter its gates now,
he would not find a Montezuma on the throne. They taunted their
Tlascalan allies as women, who would never have dared to approach the
capital, without the protection of the white men.

Sustained by this spirit, the warlike Mexican did not content himself
with mere measures of defence. Frequent and desperate sallies were made
upon the outposts of the enemy, until it seemed as if the hope of the
noble Guatimozin might possibly be realized, that he might slowly and
gradually destroy an enemy, whom he could not encounter in a pitched
battle.

It was not until the last avenue to the surrounding country was cut off,
by divisions of the invading army, planted upon all the causeways,
supported in all their movements by the thundering brigantines, that the
true spirit of the besieged began to show itself. Till then, their
tables had