these our friends?"

To these reproaches, in which his own blind father joined, the younger
Xicotencatl replied, that he persevered in his opinion that, under the
present circumstances, it would be most politic to form an alliance with
the Mexicans; and allowed himself many other impudent expressions, which
so enraged the old chiefs that Maxixcatzin, Chichimeclatecl, and the
elder Xicotencatl, notwithstanding his blindness, rose up from their
seats, then fell upon the young man, and pushed him down the steps of
the building, under the most abusive language. He would certainly have
been killed on the spot, if respect for his aged father had not withheld
them. In the meantime they imprisoned all those who had sided with him.
To punish Xicotencatl himself, this was not exactly the time, and Cortes
refused in any way to meddle in the matter. I have mentioned this
circumstance to convince the reader how loyal and honest the Tlascallans
were towards us, and how much we were indebted to them, particularly to
the elder Xicotencatl, who, it is even said, had given orders for his
son to be put to death, as soon as he had been informed of all his
intrigues and treacherous designs.[98]

We had now rested twenty-two days, and had patiently awaited the cure of
our wounds; and Cortes now determined upon making an incursion into the
neighbouring province of Tepeaca, where several of Narvaez's men and
some of ours had been killed on their march to Mexico. He accordingly
told our officers what his plan was; but when Narvaez's men heard of a
new campaign, they became quite low-spirited. The latter were not
accustomed to war, and had had a sufficient taste of it in our overthrow
at Mexico, the carnage at the bridges, and in the battle of Otumpan; and
were very clamorous in their requests to our general to return to their
commendaries and their gold mines in Cuba. They peremptorily refused to
obey him any longer, and declared they would take no further part in his
conquests; and Duero, who, from the very beginning, had been in secret
understanding with Cortes, protested most loudly against this
contemplated invasion of Tepeaca. They cursed the gold Cortes had given
them, which had all been lost again in their flight from Mexico, and
assured him they were glad enough to have escaped with their lives from
that terrific battle. They were unanimously determined to return to
Cuba, and said they were not desirous of suffering any further losses