land, together with a large
number of natives as slaves, and for a time he settled down as a Cuban
planter.

His adventurous spirit would not permit him permanently to engage in so
placid an occupation, however, and he presently became involved in some
strenuous transactions which came near to making an end of him.
Precisely what happened is uncertain. Historic accounts differ.
According to Benito Martinez, he made himself the leader of a faction
opposed to Velasquez, and undertook to go from Cuba to Hispaniola in an
open boat to carry to certain royal Judges there complaints and
accusations against the Governor. As he was setting out on this venture,
however, he was betrayed and arrested, was charged with fomenting a
revolt against Velasquez, and was condemned to be hanged. Upon the
intercession of friends, however, Velasquez commuted the sentence into
exile from Cuba, and put Cortez aboard a vessel bound for Hispaniola.
Soon after the vessel sailed Cortez contrived to slip overboard
unperceived, caught hold of a floating log, and swam back to Cuba. There
he found refuge in a church, until once more his passion for the fair
sex came near to being his undoing. For one day as he was slipping out
of the church to keep a love-tryst, he was seized by an alguazil named
Juan Escudero, and returned to prison. Velasquez then again ordered him
hanged, but again yielded to intercession, and gave Cortez his freedom.
Incidentally, Cortez afterward hanged Escudero, in Mexico.

So runs one version of the story, told by Herrera and others. Gomara,
Barcia and others tell quite another. It is to the effect that Cortez
went to Cuba as an accountant for Miguel de Pasamonte, the royal
treasurer, though he also did much business for Velasquez and was in
charge of the assay office and the hospital at Santiago; and that the
feud between him and Velasquez arose over a love affair. Cortez had
engaged himself to marry Dona Catalina Suarez, one of the ladies in
waiting upon Maria de Toledo, the consort of the Admiral and Viceroy,
Diego Columbus, but either delayed to fulfil the engagement or was
suspected of an intention to break it by Velasquez, who was much
interested in the lady's sister. In the course of this feud, Cortez was
arrested and was found to have on his person papers unfriendly to
Velasquez. He escaped, and took refuge in a church. But in time he
emerged from sanctuary, married Dona Catalina, and "lived happily with
her ever afte