exhausted condition rendered so necessary. Meanwhile the
Spanish commander made his dispositions for the night, ordering Sandoval
to escort the prisoners to Cojohuacan, whither he proposed himself
immediately to follow. The other captains, Olid and Alvarado, were to
draw off their forces to their respective quarters.

It was impossible for them to continue in the capital, where the
poisonous effluvia from the unburied carcasses loaded the air with
infection. A small guard only was stationed to keep order in the wasted
suburbs. It was the hour of vespers when Guatemotzin surrendered, and
the siege might be considered as then concluded. The evening set in
dark, and the rain began to fall before the several parties had
evacuated the city.

During the night a tremendous tempest, such as the Spaniards had rarely
witnessed, and such as is known only within the tropics, burst over the
Mexican valley. The thunder, reverberating from the rocky amphitheatre
of hills, bellowed over the waste of waters, and shook the _teocallis_
and crazy tenements of Tenochtitlan--the few that yet survived--to their
foundations. The lightning seemed to cleave asunder the vault of heaven,
as its vivid flashes wrapped the whole scene in a ghastly glare for a
moment, to be again swallowed up in darkness. The war of elements was in
unison with the fortunes of the ruined city. It seemed as if the deities
of Anahuac,[34] scared from their ancient bodies, were borne along
shrieking and howling in the blast, as they abandoned the fallen capital
to its fate.

FOOTNOTES:

[33] A name given by the Indians to Cortes.

[34] The low water-bordered coastal region of Mexico. The name is now
applied to a part of the table-land near the city of Mexico.--ED.

LIBERATION OF SWEDEN

A.D. 1523

ERIC GUSTAVE GEIJER[35]

Gustavus Vasa, son of Eric Johanson, and hence called
Gustavus Ericson, was descended from the house of Vasa, and
before the beginning of his long reign (1523-1560) as king
of Sweden had served his country against the Danes, who were
the controlling power in the union with Sweden and Norway.
In a battle fought at the Brennkirk, July 22, 1518,
Gustavus, then twenty-two years old, bore the Swedish
banner. This battle resulted in the defeat of Christian II
of Denmark. Gustavus was given as a hostage to Christian
during his interview with the Swedish administrator, and the
Dane treach