Only a few minutes had elapsed after Montezuma had been taken in
charge, on his first arrival at the palace with Elec, by the fair Peruvian
slave, ere another boat appeared at the palace stairs. A single individual,
richly dressed in some official costume, with his face carelessly half-concealed
in his short cloak, leaped on shore, and, ascending the steps, crossed the

[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]

moonlit court, to a gate, at the extremity, which led into the body of the palace.
A sentinel was at the gate, who merely said as he passed by,

`Ah, master steward! Thou art abroad late.'

`I have great business on my hands, friend,' answered the officer; `mine
is a weighty occupation.'

`It is, if I may judge by thyself. Methinks thou dost gain a pound of fat
a day.'

`And thou dost lose a pound. This standing by the hour on cold stones,
locked up in steel, is, methinks, no pastime. How, think you, the nobles
would like it?'

`The nobles have no need. I am but a poor man-at-arms, and like must
like with me.'

`Art thou an Aztec by birth?

`Ah, mascal, thou art merry. Am I a noble, forsooth?'

`Wouldst thou change places with one?'

`Aye, that would I.'

`Who bade thee stand here from morning till night, cased in armor?

`The captain, surely.'

`Who bade the captain hold the guard here?'

`His noble.'

`Who gave the noble his power?'

`The emperor.'

`And whence had the emperor his?'

`From the gods.'

`Thou dost lie, there, Huri,' boldly spoke a soldier, from a recess near him.
`He got it by conquest, and has held it by tyranny.'

The stranger started with an exclamation of surprise and pleasure.

`It were well the emperor got not wind of thy speech, Baqueti,' said the
soldier. `Ever since one of his guard took up on his spear-point thy little
boy, because his shout had started his horse, thou hast been growling.
Thou wilt have a spear thrust through thy tongue, yet.'

`Soldier, give me thine hand,' said the stranger, approaching; `I and
thou are of one mind. When thou seest a flame rising on yonder hill of the
temple, know that the days of the tyrant are ended.'

`Who art thou?' asked the soldier, drawing him aside to the moonlight.
`Thou art not Casipeti, the mascal.'

`No. I am Casipeti, the slave.'

`I have heard of thee. Thou wert in my thoughts that moment you came
up. What dost thou here?'

Casipeti saw he was to be fully trusted, and in a few words explained to
him the conspiracy. `Now,' said he to him, `I leave you to persuade your
comrade, and such of the guard as hold this gate, to join us.'

`I pledge my life to the cause,' answered the man firmly. `Whither go
you now?'

`Into the palace, to feel the pulses of all its inmates that I fall in with.'

`Thou wilt find many that throb rightly,' said the soldier, as Casipeti passed
on and entered upon the inner terrace of the palace.

He passed leisurely along the corridor, not forgetful of his assumed character,
towards the battlement, where Tzitzis had met Elec. Ere he reached
the winding steps, he was accosted by two or three servitors passing to and
fro, and once or twice, from his ignorance of the affairs upon which they
addressed him, he was in danger of betraying his true character. At length

[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]

he reached the platform of the tower, where the sentinel was stationed. It
was Elec himself, who had but a short time before relieved the post. A
group of soldiers were near him.

`Bless me!' said one, `if here is not the mascal climbing the stairs for
the first time in a twelvemonth.'

`Hast thou come up to shoot skylarks for the princess's dinner?' asked
another, laughingly.

`Elec, he hath seen thy sweetheart here an hour since, and hath come up
to make love to her,' added a third.

`Casipeti, an' thou hast come up hither for that, I will hold a quarrel with
thee,' answered Elec, stoutly. `No man hath aught to say to her, but I
have something to say to him.'

`Nay, good youth. I did come here but to hold a moment's discourse with
thee and breathe the cool air, ere I went to bed for the night. A good bed
for thee were better than a long night-watch. Nevertheless, I would I wore
a soldier's sword for one good hour.'

`Wherefore, stout mascal? wherefore?' asked several, in tones of raillery,
crowding around him as he stood, his features indistinctly seen in the
shadow of the battlement that towered above their heads.

`Wherefore?' repeated the disguised waterman, stoutly; `that I might
lay it down at the emperor's feet and say, — take that thou gavest me not.'

`He would be sure give it thee in thy body, an' thou didst,' answered
Elec.

`How is it he gave it to thee not?' asked one of the soldiers.

`How can a man give that which is not his to give?'

`But,' said one of the soldiers, `the sword is the emperor's, with which he
arms you — the power is his — you are his. Methinks you are in a fair
way of cutting your own weasand with your sword.'

`These are dangerous words?' said another.

`Dangerous words!' echoed Elec; `shall I put him under arrest, comrades,
for speaking such words against the emperor?'

`Nay,' said the first soldier. `The maseal hath taken wine, and come up
here to cool himself. I advise thee, Casipeti, if thou keep thy mouth open
the while, keep thy tongue still. These are words that it will do to talk to
the thoughts, and not to the winds, to be borne on their wings to the ears of
our masters.'

`What is thy name?' asked Casipeti of this man, eagerly, and speaking
in a tone only to be heard by him he addressed.

`Hast thou forgotten Thenul?'

`Then thou art he I seek. Dost thou know a fellow-soldier called
Baqueti?'

`Well.'

`Dost thou know well the mascal?'

`I could not paint thy face on canvass, sir steward, but I have seen it oft.
Let me look at thee again, and I will know thee better, if thou desirest it.'

`Look at me well,' said Casipeti, advancing a step into the light of the
moon, where it shone down upon the battlement between two turrets. He
then threw back his cape, and looked the soldier steadily in the eye.

`By the beard of Hapu! thou art not the mascal?'

`No — hist! I am a friend of Baqueti. He bade me say this to thee.
Dost thou understand me?'

`I do. But what is the fruit of this?'

[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]

`It matters not, if he and I and you have been wronged by the tyrant.'

`We shall be wronged again; and wherefore should we grieve? We are
slaves, and must endure. 'T is dangerous to speak of this, and Baqueti hath
been foolish to make the noise he hath done. He will lose his head.'

`There is redress for thee and him and me,' answered Casipeti, impressively.

`Who, then, art thou?' demanded the man, starting at the depth and
earnestness of his voice.

`I am Casipeti, the waterman.'

`The same who struck the noble?'

`I am.'

`Thou art not safe here,' cried the soldier, with anxiety for his safety.

`I venture my life here for my country's good. Listen to me, for I see
thy soul is rightly prepared for what I would pour into it.'

With these words, he led him further from the group of soldiers, and
opened to him, as he had done to Baqueti, the whole conspiracy. Thenul
listened to the spirited relation, and when he had ended, embraced him.

`Learn, brave Casipeti,' he said, impressively, `that my spirit, I know not
how, hath had some intimation that liberty would yet visit us. It may have
been the spirit of my twin-brother, who was wantonly slain by a displeased
knight, that hath whispered it.'

`Wilt thou be answerable for this post,' asked Casipeti, `that it shall give
admittance to such as Montezuma shall appoint to take possession of the
palace?'

`It shall be on our side to a soldier. They need but little to bring them
to turn their swords against the throne. Alas! the princess Eylla.'

`Alas! the sweet princess, indeed,' echoed Casipeti. `If she were alone
upon the throne, she would grant her people liberty. Not a sword would be
drawn against her. But there stand two between her, — the emperor, and
the scarcely less tyrant, Prince Palipan.'

Thus speaking, Casipeti, feeling sure that two of the gates of the palace, and
its principal entrances from the water-side, would be held by friends, to give the
insurgents admittance, left the soldier, and assuming the gait and air of the
steward, proceeded towards the interior of the palace by the vaulted corridor,
through which the lovely Peravian slave had come to diliver the message
of the princess to her lover. At the opposite extremity he beheld the
courtiers Tzitzis had seen, still lounging in the central portico, through which
it was necessary for him to pass to reach the head-quarters of the palace-guard
beyond, one or two of the soldiers composing which were known to
him. Covering more of his face with the ruff of his silken cloak, and pressing
forward with the busy pace of one not wishing to be interrupted, he had
got near the end of the gallery, when Sulukis, the jester, beholding him,
hastened to meet him.

`Ah, good Casipeti, I am glad to see thee! The knights yonder will none
o' my company, and ha' bid me go seek fools to talk with. The gods ha' sent
thee to their bidding.'

`Nay, good sir fool, I am in haste.'

`Thou shouldst never be in a hurry, gossip,' said Sulukis, taking him by
the cloak. `If thou art fat, — as thou art, — it maketh thee lean; if thou
art lean, it but worketh the bones through the skin. It is bad before dinner,
in that it taketh in wind upon the stomach; it is bad after dinner, in that it
hindereth digestion. 'T is bad of a morning, because one should never

[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]

begin the day in a hurry, lest he hurry through it; it is bad at night, as now,
because —'

`I do pray thee, let me pass, good friend; I have business of moment,' said
Casipeti, anxiously.

`Therein again thou showest thy folly. Thou shouldst have no business
left undone at this hour. If't is business of moment, it should ha'been done
earlier, and by neglect of it thou hast forfeited thy stewardship, and I will
apply for it. If —'

`Do not detain me, fool!' said Casipeti, sternly, thrusting him aside, and
endeavoring to pass on.

But Sulukis was too securely fastened to the waterman's cloak to be
shaken off.

`How! gossip Casipeti! dost thou treat the emperor's friend and council
thus? If thou hadst not lost thy wits thou wouldst keep friends with him
who hath the emperor's ear,' said Sulukis, importantly. `Two words in it,
and I'd hang thee. Say thou didst evil in thrusting me aside. Did not
yonder knights bid me come and talk with thee?'

`If thou wilt talk, then come with me,' said Casipeti, desirous to get beyond
the portico, into which the gallery led, trusting that in crossing it he
should get rid of his annoyer in the crowd.

`Art thou going to give orders to the butler about the emperor's wine, to-morrow?
'

`Yes, yes!'

`Then I am with you, gossip,' said the fool, delightedly. And thus saying
he passed his arm familiarly through Casipeti's, and walked along with him.

The waterman hastened as they came among the courtiers, and strove, by
keeping behind the columns, to avoid their notice. But Sulukis had no such
motive in view, and as he came among them cried,

`Gramercy! gentle knights! I ha' caught a fool, an' he hath turned out
a wise man.'

`How so, good fool?' asked the very nice and very youthful Count Arispe,
whose gallantry had been defeated by the more skillful Peruvian
maiden, walking up towards the pair, and gently, the while, fingering his
incipient mustache. `Resolve that for us.'

`First, he is a fool, in that I found him making haste, and no wise man
doth make haste, for reasons I have but now laid down to him for his future
profiting.'

`And how turned he out a wise man? Have us that?'

`Not as thou art likely to do, gossip,' said Sulukis, pertly.

`How is that, Sulukis?'

`He said he would nothing with me, nor would he listen a word; and I
had to hold him by his cloak to get the point o' his ear. Therefore hath he
proved himself a wise man, by not earing to listen to a fool.'

`Go to, knave. Thou art more saucy than witless.'

`And there be knights o' the court more witless than saucy,' answered the
jester, sharply.

`By the head of my father! I will lay my sword upon thy shoulders,'
answered the youth, angrily, half unsheathing the weapon.

`Wouldst know, gentle knight, asked Sulukis, adroitly getting Casipeti
between himself and the youth, `why he doth swear by the head o' his
father?'

`Wherefore, fool?' cried the young nobles about him.

[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]

`Because he hath no beard o' his own to swear by.'

Sulukis had no sooner given utterance to this than, to escape theire of the
fiery young man, he let go his hold of Casipeti, and made a leap in the opposite
direction, but at the same instant bounded back with a yell of terror
and surprise. Before him he had beheld advancing a second Casipeti, in all
points the counterpart of the Casipeti he had just sprung from. He stood
midway between the two, his head turning with the rapidity of lightning,
from one to the other, while he seemed bewildered between ludicrous terror
and the most perfect wonder. The waterman, whose situation before this
had been sufficiently critical, was not much less surprised, though he had
been in a degree prepared for such a denouément. The surprise of the
surrounding courtiers was great, but the thorough astonishment of the mascal
himself, who it was in proper person that chanced to cross the hall at
that instant, may not be pictured. He stopped as if converted into a
statue, and held up both his hands in speechless amazement. The other
Casipeti did precisely the same thing, and betrayed equal amazement. Sulukis,
at this, was thrown into an ecstasy of astonishment, and began to caper,
first to one and then to the other, bowing and gesticulating in the most
extraordinary manner. His little remaining wit seemed to have left him,
and he appeared perfectly bewitched. The knights conceived it to be some
privately understood masquerade, but were puzzled to distinguish which was
the true Casipeti, the mascal. At length the fool found his tongue.

`Two fools, masters! Sulukis hath company! Two fools! Hi, hi! ho,
ho! Are you gossip, or are you gossip? Was it you going to see the butler,
or you going to see the butler?' And he turned, as he spoke, from one
to the other, alternately, in the most ludicrous manner, while his face expressed
mingled humor and fear.

`He is an impostor,' said the mascal, trembling with fear and rage.
Thereupon Sulukis ran up and shook his fist in the waterman's face.

`He is an impostor,' repeated the other in the same tone. Sulukis returned
and shook his fist in his face, with a menacing look.

`He lies!' cried the mascal, advancing a step.

`He lies!' cried his counterpart, also advancing a step.

`I am the true Casipeti,' said the mascal of the palace.

`I am the true Casipeti,' said the waterman.

`He hath stolen my robe and cloak,' cried Casipeti, the steward, approaching
two steps nearer.

`He hath stolen my robe and cloak,' cried Casipeti, the waterman, also
approaching two steps.

`What is this?' demanded an old nobleman, approaching; `a broil within
the emperor's hearing! How is this? Is it thou? What art thou here
for, sir mascal?'

His eye, as he spoke, rested alone on the waterman, the other being partly
hidden by a column and the intervening persons of the amused and puzzled
courtiers.

`The gods, having forgot to give Casipeti brains when they made him,
have made another, and now neither know which is which,' said the jester.
`Put me to the questioning o' them both, and I'll prove you the new one,
and show if the gods ha' bettered their work.'

The noble beheld then the counterpart, and gazed from one to the other,
with surprise. `What is this mummery?' he asked, sternly.

`My Lord,' said Casipeti, the waterman, `I know not, save that this good

[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]

fool and I were walking together across the hall, when we encountered this
impostor.'

`Yes, I'll swear to it. We were going to get the emperor's wine,' said
Sulukis, decidedly.

`'T is false! my Lord Vepotani,' cried the other, with indignation. `I
was coming from my own office to —'

`Listen not to him, my Lord,' said the waterman, in a bold tone. `I pray
you have him punished.'

`He should be hanged!' cried the mascal. `I will appeal to the emperor.
'

`Now, by mine honor, I do not know which of ye is the true man,' said
Lord Vepotani, with perplexity.

`Leave me to test it, gossip?' said Sulukis; `I will show thee which is the
ass, an' they be not both asses.'

`It is my opinion, my lord,' said one of the knights, pointing to the water-man,
`that this is Casipeti, the true mascal.'

`Indeed, my Lord,' said the mascal, intreatingly, `I am the true Casipeti.'

`Friend,' said the waterman, who felt his situation had become by no
means safe or pleasant, and who knew that only the most finished address
and boldness could release him from it; `friend,' — and he approached close to
his counterpart,—`I know that you think you are the true Casipeti, the mascal
of the palace. But indeed you are deceived. You labor under one of those
delusions that sometimes afflicts men's minds. Although you have, under
this idea, assumed my dress and office, I will let it pass; and, as the injury
is only mine, trust these noble knights will overlook it, if you will retire in
peace.'

`But I am the mascal,' said the steward, faintly, actually beginning to
question his own identity, seeing the cool decision and honest assurance of
the other.

`I tell thee thou art under an illusion. If thou wilt go — go in peace. My
Lord, I beg you will let him go unpunished. I do assure you he will in the
morning come to his right mind. It is an unhappy hallucination, by which
he mistaketh himself for another.'

The steward appeared perfectly bewildered. He looked down upon his
habit, then examined one sleeve of his caftan, and then the other, surveyed
his fingers, stroked his beard, and finally, as if perfectly satisfied of his proper
identity, shook his head with a decided air.

`My lord, I am myself,' he said confidently.

`Wilt thou hang thyself,' said the fool, going up to him. `Hath not gossip
convinced thee thou art a hallucination, which is something between a
fool and a wise man?'

`Surely thou dost know me, good Sulukis,' said the mascal, coaxingly.

`Was I going with thee to the butler's just now to get me a cup o' the
emperor's wine?'

`No.'

`Then thou art a hallucination. Condemn him, righteous lord Vepotani.'

`By the black eagle! I would not swear but both should be condemned.
Who here present knoweth truly Casipeti, the mascal of the palace?'

While the latter part of this scene was passing, Montezuma, on his way
from the princess, conducted by Tzitzis, had approached the head of the
marble flight of stairs leading down to the hall. He at once detected the
true position of affairs, and saw the imminent danger in which his friend and
compatriot had involved himself.

[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]

`Tzitzis,' he said, pointing beneath to the group, `I pray thee, do me and
yonder man a service. Go down and mingle with the crowd, and if opportunity
offer to bear testimony to the true Casipeti, bear it against him
thou knowest to be the mascal of the palace, and in favor of the other. Do
me this service, and I will not forget thee. I trust to thy wit to get him free
from the dilemma in which he seems placed.'

`It will be a falsehood,' she said, hesitating.

`Thou must use deceit to save his life, which else is forfeit.'

Tzitzis obeyed, and the next instant was standing, silent and unobserved,
within a few feet of the old noble.

`If any one know the face of the mascal,' repeated he, `let him decide
between the two.'

`I do know Casipeti, the mascal, as well as any one in the palace,' answered
Tzitzis readily, presenting herself.

`Wilt thou abide by her decision?' asked the noble of the steward.

`Indeed I will,' said the steward, cheerfully. `If Tzitzis, whom I have
known from a child, cannot judge between me and yonder impostor, I will
believe I am under an illusion.'

`What sayest thou, pretty maiden?' asked the nobleman, pointing at the
mascal. `Is that the steward of the palace?'

Tzitzis advanced towards him, and deliberately surveyed him from head
to foot, Sulukis precisely imitating her. She then shook her head doubtingly,
and approached and took off his green silk bonnet, and looked him
long and earnestly in the face. She then replaced the cap, and again shook
her head gravely. Sulukis made the same scrutiny of his features, jammed
his cap down over his eyes, and also shook his head dubiously, though it
was plain, from the peculiar expression about his mouth, that the fool knew
well that he was the genuine Casipeti.

`My Lord, it is not Casipeti, the emperor's steward,' she said decidedly, and
with a sober air of certainty that was irresistible and convincing, even to
those who had thought they had really recognized the steward.

`My lord, there is not a hair o' his eye-brows that is the same color o' the
true Casipeti,' said the fool, in his turn.

The wretched mascal clasped his hands together in despair, and seemed
ready to fall to the ground; but his anxiety to learn the decision in the other
case sustained him.

`Now, Tzitzis, approach this fellow's counterpart, and see if he be the
mascal — for neither may be what he professes to be.'

The maiden advanced towards the waterman, who, after the judgment
passed on the real official of the palace, began to feel a degree of confidence
that enabled him cooly to prepare for the scrutiny. Though the resemblance
between the two was sufficiently striking to render it easy, in similar dresses,
to mistake one for the other, even by those in the habit of passing the mascal
daily, yet when the two came to be compared, there was little trace of
the general likeness. The mascal was very portly, with short gray locks
and a full gray beard — while his face was exceedingly red, or of a bright
ruby color. The waterman, who was similarly built, and broadly shaped
about the shoulders, was far less portly, and had light brown hair, but slightly
mixed with gray; while his complexion was browned by exposure to the
winds and waves.

Tzitzis surveyed him from head to foot, as deliberately as she had done
the counterpart to him, and then nodded her head very assuredly. Sulukis

[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]

made the same careful survey, and also nodded his head with approbation.
She then came up close to him, as he had done to the other, removed his
silken cap, and looked closely in his face. She then turned to the nobleman,
and said confidently and unhesitatingly,

`This is the mascal, my lord.'

`I will swear to him, cousin Vepotani,' said the jester, stoutly.

`Then let this fellow be seized,' cried the nobleman, sternly.

`My lord, my good lord,' cried the steward, falling on his knees, `I do beseech
thee, mercy.

`Thou art an impostor. Away with him!'

`Send for my wife,' he added, in despair. `If she do not know me,
then I were better hanged.'

`It were no test, my lord Vepotani,' cried the jester; `an she be a woman
she will swear to him who is not her husband, that she may get a new one.
Ne'er trust to a woman in such a matter, gossip.'

`Why art thou lingering here?' said Tzitzis, in an under tone, to the
waterman. `Haste and leave the palace! All are now regarding the steward!
Haste!'

The disguised waterman, taking advantage of the diversion she had created
in his favor, slipped from the crowd, and following her, she conducted him to
where Montezuma stood.

`Art thou here?' exclaimed Casipeti, with surprise.

`Come with me,' said Montezuma quickly and cautiously. `Lead on,
maiden. It were time we left the palace.'

She conducted them by a private passage, to a small postern, opening into
the court by the water side, and letting them forth, was closing it, when
Montezuma arrested her hand.

`Sweet maiden, I will not forget thy good services to-night. Commend
me to thy mistress, and tell her thou hast seen me safely to the portal, and
that I go without delay, to obey her commands. I pr'y thee, show me the
secret of this postern.'

`I dare not,' she said, laughing. `'T is known only to the princess and
myself, and the emperor.'

`I have to return again to the palace to-night,' he continued, in a gently
entreating tone.

`Then be it so. If the princess blame me —'

`I will take the censure, and shield thee.'

`Thou hast confidence in her grace, methinks,' she said, archly.

`Thou art too forward, pretty maiden,' he answered, in a similar tone.
`Wilt comply with my wish?'

`I am afraid to — but I will.

She then showed to him a private slide, that covered a secret bolt shutting
into the lintel, and explained to him its use. Then closing the postern upon
them, she disappeared within.

`What hast thou done in the palace, Casipeti?' asked Montezuma, as
they crossed the paved court in the shadows of a row of lime trees. `I
have much to tell thee.'

`Why art thou here?' demanded Casipeti, in reply.

`Listen, my brave friend,' said Montezuma impressively, stopping beneath
a tree that shaded the stairway to the water. `The Princess Eylla sent for
me on account of my affray to-day, and her messenger conducted me secretly
to her apartments, and was reconducting me to this spot, when I saw your
difficulty with your counterpart, the mascal.'

[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]

`And did you thus, and at such a time, venture yourself in the palace?'
asked Casipeti, with surprise.

`I did. I anticipated something, I knew not what, would grow out of it,
favorable to our cause.'

`And what is the result?' asked the conspirator quickly.

`She received me with that sweet urbanity that hath won all hearts.
Then spoke of our oppression by the nobles, and said she grieved at it, and
mourned over her father's cruel and vindictive disposition.'

`And yet she is ready to betroth herself to a man no less cruel by nature,
and whose breast is burning with a thousand imagined wrongs, to revenge
upon the people.'

`Casipeti,' said Montezuma, solemnly and decidedly, `the princess will
never wed with her cousin.'

`No?' exclaimed the conspirator with surprise and doubt. `'T is said,
indeed, she loves him not. But the emperor hath commanded it. It is as
settled as the throne itself.'

`If it be then by the emperor's command, and she love him not, good Casipeti,
censure her not. But I tell thee that the princess hath said to me, she
will never wed the prince.'

`To thee?'

`To me, who am unworthy to speak in her presence. Listen, but hold thy
feelings. I unfolded to her the whole of our conspiracy.'

`Betrayed us?' cried the insurgent leader, with fierce surprise. `Traitor!
'

`No, Casipeti,' answered Montezuma, calmly. `The princess spoke of our
wrongs, and said she would redress them, when she came to the throne. I
reminded her of her husband, the prince, who would then hold the power.
Her eye flashed, and she said in the most spirited and decided manner, she
would never espouse the prince; that the happiness of her subjects was
too dear to her, and she would reign for them. At these words, Casipeti, I
remembered what we were contemplating, and filled with remorse, and subdued
by her gentle virtues, I cast myself at her feet, and told all.'

`Go on,' said Casipeti, who seemed to be struggling with the strongest
emotion.

`She was overwhelmed with grief and terror. She demanded what we
wanted. I told her — to be free.'

`What answered she?'

`That if I would stay the revolt in its birth, she would grant all we asked.'

`All?'

`Every thing that human liberty contends for.'

`Save her sceptre and her throne, her body-guard of nobles, and her
whole imperial power,' answered Casipeti, with irony.

`Wouldst thou overthrow the throne, Casipeti? Was it not understood,
that the empire should remain in unity, and only the chains that bound us to
its wheels, be broken. Thou wouldst not live in anarchy?'

`No, Montezuma. If the power of the throne could be checked by a
balance of power with the people, it might stand. This proposition of the
princess should be considered.'

`There is but little time. It is either revolution and anarchy, or freedom,
with a healthy government, Casipeti! I trust to your patriotism and wisdom
in this crisis. If I get not your influence on the side I have espoused, I
shall deeply grieve, and give up my country as lost: for I shall fear, indeed,

[figure description] Page 095.[end figure description]

that you love a dangerous power of your own creation, better than the true
happiness of your country.'

`Montezuma,' cried Casipeti, embracing him, `you are right. I am with
you in heart and hand. But I fear 't is too late to turn back the tide. 'T is
near midnight. Let us hasten and see what can be done. If the gods give
us bloodless liberty, then it will be far dearer to us. How shall we proceed?
'

`Let us every where proclaim the princess' promise, and be ready to offer
ourselves hostages for its performance. We have kindled the elements of
conflagration — we must do our best to smother them, ere they burst into
a blaze. What have you done in the palace?'

`Obtained many willing ears. I will hasten to the gates and battlements,
and but whisper, we are discovered, and bid them keep all quiet. I will then
follow you to the other side. I fear there will be more difficulty there than
we imagine. Depend upon my faithfulness, and life, if need be — for I am
convinced I should sacrifice it as much for my country in seeking to suppress,
as if I should lose it in leading on the revolt. Farewell. The gods be with
us.'

The two chiefs of the insurrection parted, and the next moment, Montezuma
was in a boat on his way to the scene of revolt. It was now within less
than an hour of midnight, and all the city seemed to be buried in deep repose.
But as he approached the opposite shore at the foot of net-makers'
street, he distinctly heard a low deep murmur, like that of bees disturbed in
their hives. The waterman hastened towards the gate, to seek, by giving
the alarm of the discovery of the conspiracy, to render harmless the seeds of
it, he had there scattered.