service in which we are engaged, that I would most cheerfully take up
a pike with the same hand which lays down the general's truncheon, and
convince my fellow-soldiers that, though accustomed to command, I have
not forgotten how to obey."

Thus saying, he laid his commission from Velasquez upon the table, and
after kissing his truncheon, delivered it to the chief magistrate and
withdrew. This was consummate acting. The succeeding steps were all
previously arranged. He was immediately elected, by unanimous
suffrage, chief justice of the colony, and captain general of the
army. His commission was ordered to be made out in the name of Charles
V. of Spain, and was to continue in force until the royal pleasure
should be farther known. The troops were immediately assembled and
informed of the resolve. They ratified it with unbounded applause.
The air resounded with acclamations, and all vowed obedience, even to
death, to the authority of Cortez. Thus adroitly this bold adventurer
shook off his dependence upon Velasquez, and assumed the dignity of an
independent governor, responsible only to his sovereign.

There were a few adherents of Velasquez who remonstrated against these
unprecedented measures. Cortez, with characteristic energy, seized
them and placed them in imprisonment, loaded with chains, on board one
of the ships. This rigor overawed and silenced the rest. Cortez,
however, soon succeeded, by flattering attentions and by gifts, in
securing a cordial reconciliation with his opponents. He was now
strong in undisputed authority.

In the midst of these events, one day five Indians of rank came, in
rather a mysterious manner, to the camp, and solicited an interview
with Cortez. They represented themselves as envoys from the chief of
Zempoalla, a large town at no great distance. This chief reigned over
the powerful nation of Totonacs. His people had been conquered by
Montezuma, and annexed to the Mexican empire. They were restive under
the yoke, and would gladly avail themselves of an alliance with the
Spaniards to regain their independence.

Cortez listened eagerly to this statement. It presented just the
opportunity which he desired. He saw at once that by exciting civil
war, and arraying one portion of the empire against another, he might
accomplish his ends. He also judged that, in an empire so vast, there
must be other provinces where disaffection could be excited. He
therefore received these envoys most graci