him in the gardens. I went thither, followed by my musicians and
attendants, who would never leave me in peace, but he commanded that all
should stand aside, as he wished to speak with me alone. Then he began
to walk beneath the mighty cedar trees, and I with him, but keeping one
pace behind.

'Teule,' he said at length, 'tell me of your countrymen, and why they
have come to these shores. See that you speak truth.'

'They are no countrymen of mine, O Montezuma,' I answered, 'though my
mother was one of them.'

'Did I not bid you speak the truth, Teule? If your mother was one of
them, must you not also be of them; for are you not of your mother's
bone and blood?'

'As the king pleases,' I answered bowing. Then I began and told him
of the Spaniards--of their country, their greatness, their cruelty and
their greed of gold, and he listened eagerly, though I think that
he believed little of what I said, for his fear had made him very
suspicious. When I had done, he spoke and said:

'Why do they come here to Anahuac?'

'I fear, O king, that they come to take the land, or at the least to rob
it of all its treasure, and to destroy its faiths.'

'What then is your counsel, Teule? How can I defend myself against these
mighty men, who are clothed in metal, and ride upon fierce wild beasts,
who have instruments that make a noise like thunder, at the sound of
which their adversaries fall dead by hundreds, and who bear weapons of
shining silver in their hands? Alas! there is no defence possible, for
they are the children of Quetzal come back to take the land. From my
childhood I have known that this evil overshadowed me, and now it is at
my door.'

'If I, who am only a god, may venture to speak to the lord of the
earth,' I answered, 'I say that the reply is easy. Meet force by force.
The Teules are few and you can muster a thousand soldiers for every
one of theirs. Fall on them at once, do not hesitate till their prowess
finds them friends, but crush them.'

'Such is the counsel of one whose mother was a Teule;' the emperor
answered, with sarcasm and bitter meaning. 'Tell me now, counsellor,
how am I to know that in fighting against them I shall not be fighting
against the gods; how even am I to learn the true wishes and purposes of
men or gods who cannot speak my tongue and whose tongue I cannot speak?'

'It is easy, O Montezuma,' I answered. 'I can speak their tongue; send
me to discover for you.'

Now as I spoke thu