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AS the guard passed the old lord and the princess out
of the gate opposite the teocallis, the latter looked up
to the azoteas of the sacred pile, and saw the 'tzin standing
near the verge; taking off the white scarf that covered her
head, and fell from her shoulders, after passing once around
her neck, she gave him the signal. He waved his hand in
reply, and disappeared.

The lord Cuitlahua, just released from imprisonment and
ignorant of the situation, scarcely knowing whither to turn
yet impatient to set his revenge in motion, accepted the
suggestion of Tula, and accompanied her to the temple. The
ascent was laborious, especially to him; at the top, however,
they were received by Io' and Hualpa, and with every show
of respect conducted to the 'tzin. He saluted them gravely,
yet affectionately. Cuitlahua told him the circumstances of
his release from imprisonment.

“So,” said the 'tzin, “Malinche expects you to open the
market, and forbid the war; but the king, — what of
him?”

“To Tula he gave his will; hear her.”

And she repeated the message of her father. At the
end, the calm of the 'tzin's temper was much disturbed.
At his instance she again and again recited the prophecy.
The words “Freedom and God” were as dark to him as
to the king, and he wondered at them. But that was
not all. Clearly, Montezuma approved the war; that he
intended its continuance was equally certain; unhappily,
there was no designation of a commander. And in thought

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of the omission, the young chief hesitated; never did ambition
appeal to him more strongly; but he brushed the
allurement away, and said to Cuitlahua, —

“The king has been pleased to be silent as to which of us
should govern in his absence; but we are both of one mind;
the right is yours naturally, and your coming at this time,
good uncle, looks as if the gods sent you. Take the government,
therefore, and give me your orders. Malinche is
stronger than ever.” He turned thoughtfully to the palace
below, over which the flag of Spain and that of Cortes were
now displayed. “He will require of us days of toil and
fighting, and many assaults. In conquering him there will
be great glory, which I pray you will let me divide with
you.”

The lord Cuitlahua heard the patriotic speech with glistening
eyes. Undoubtedly he appreciated the self-denial that
made it beautiful; for he said, with emotion, “I accept the
government, and, as its cares demand, will take my brother's
place in the palace; do you take what else would be my
place under him in the field. And may the gods help us
each to do his duty!”

He held out his hand, which the 'tzin kissed in token of
fealty, and so yielded the crown; and as if the great act
were already out of mind, he said, —

“Come, now, good uncle, — and you, also, Tula, — come
both of you, and I will show what use I made of the kingly
power.”

He led them closer to the verge of the azoteas, so close
that they saw below them the whole western side of the city,
and beyond that the lake and its shore, clear to the sierra
bounding the valley in that direction.

“There,” said he, in the same strain of simplicity, “there,
in the shadow of the hills, I gathered the people of the valley,
and the flower of all the tribes that pay us tribute.

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They make an army the like of which was never seen. The
chiefs are chosen; you may depend upon them, uncle. The
whole great host will die for you.”

“Say, rather, for us,” said the lord Cuitlahua.

“No, you are now Anahuac”; and, as deeming the point
settled, the 'tzin turned to Tula. “O good heart,” he said,
“you have been a witness to all the preparation. At your
signal, given there by the palace gate, I kindled the piles
which yet burn, as you see, at the four corners of the
temple. Through them I spoke to the chiefs and armies
waiting on the lake-shore. Look now, and see their answers.”

They looked, and from the shore and from each pretentious
summit of the sierra, saw columns of smoke rising and
melting into the sky.

“In that way the chiefs tell me, `We are ready,' or `We
are coming.' And we cannot doubt them; for see, a dark
line on the white face of the causeway to Cojohuacan, its
head nearly touching the gates at Xoloc; and another from
Tlacopan; and from the north a third; and yonder on the
lake, in the shadow of Chapultepec, a yet deeper shadow.”

“I see them,” said Cuitlahua.

“And I,” said Tula. “What are they?”

For the first time the 'tzin acknowledged a passing sentiment;
he raised his head and swept the air with a haughty
gesture.

“What are they? Wait a little, and you shall see the lines
on the causeways grow into ordered companies, and the
shadows under Chapultepec become a multitude of canoes;
wait a little longer, and you shall see the companies fill all the
great streets, and the canoes girdle the city round about;
wait a little longer, and you may see the battle.”

And silence fell upon the three, — the silence, however, in
which hearts beat like drums. From point to point they

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turned their eager eyes, — from the causeways to the lake,
from the lake to the palace.

Slowly the converging lines crawled toward the city;
slowly the dark mass under the royal hill, sweeping out on
the lake, broke into divisions; slowly the banners came into
view, of every color and form, and then the shields and
uniforms, until, at last, each host on its separate way
looked like an endless unrolling ribbon.

When the column approaching by the causeway from
Tlacopan touched the city with its advance, it halted, waiting
for the others, which, having farther to march, were yet
some distance out. Then the three on the teocallis separated;
the princess retired to her chinampa; the lord Cuitlahua,
with some nobles of the 'tzin's train, betook himself to the
new palace, there to choose a household; the 'tzin, for purposes
of observation, remained on the azoteas.

And all the time the threatened palace was a picture of
peace; the flags hung idly down; only the sentinels were in
motion, and they gossiped with each other, or lingered
lazily at places where a wall or a battlement flung them a
friendly shade.