The ancient standard of Tezcuco was once more unfurled to the breeze, and her patriotic hosts stood organized, and ready to receive their prince.

Hualcoyotl, accompanied by a retinue of chosen warriors, among whom were our friends Euetzin and Cacami, both having been generously remembered by the prince in the distribution of honors, was advancing to a.s.sume command. When discovered by the army, and recognized, they were received with the acclamation: "Hualcoyotl! Hualcoyotl! Long live Hualcoyotl and Euetzin!" The latter was regarded for his untiring efforts in behalf of Tezcuco's independence as being ent.i.tled to all the honor due to any Tezcucan living, and his people were ready at all times to accord it.

The hour was a proud one to the two young men: To Euetzin in view of the crowning of his labors with the grand military display which was there spread out before him; to the prince for the opportunity which placed him in position to meet his cruel persecutor on equal footing, where he could demand, at the point of the javelin, his rights as the Prince of Tezcuco. He spoke as follows:

"Warriors, men of Tezcuco: after many years of degradation and enslavement, you are again permitted to stand beneath your own loved banner, which was once the delight of our fathers and the pride of our nation. It has been trailing in the dirt for long; but your determined look a.s.sures me that it will no longer be thus dishonored. There is no need for me, as your commander, to say, stand firm in the cause of liberty, for I read upon your faces the will to do or die. Then let us waste no time until Maxtla and his hordes have been met and brought to feel the avenging power of wronged Tezcuco's arm. Let our war cry be--"

"Hualcoyotl and victory! Hualcoyotl and victory!"

The words which the prince would have spoken were left unsaid, and the acclamation with which he was interrupted pa.s.sed like a wave from right to left, and back again. When quiet was restored, he only said:

"As you will, and may your victory be complete."

The order was given to march, and the army of patriotic Tezcucans was quickly in motion, and on its way to join the allied armies at the place of rendezvous.

To strike the confederate armies Maxtla was obliged to march all his forces around the north end of lake Tezcuco, and south through Tezcucan territory, as the possessions of the Mexican king were on the west, and could not be crossed except in disregard of the laws of neutrality. It therefore required several days for him to get his army into position for taking the offensive.

A day or two after the allied armies began to move, they were united on the borders of Tezcuco, south of its capital city. The combined army was formed in a hollow square, to receive its commanding general. A procession approached, which was led by an escort composed of men who were peculiarly dressed. They were dressed more like hunters than warriors. In the rear of the escort a palanquin was borne by four men who were dressed in the same manner as was the escort. When the square was reached the escort halted, and the chair was borne forward into the inclosed s.p.a.ce.

Six men walked in front of the palanquin, in five of whom we would have recognized Hualcoyotl, Macua, tzin Euet, and the other two ruling caciques. The dress of the sixth person was the same as that worn by the men in the escort, with the addition of a _tilmatli_. A closer scrutiny would have made us acquainted with his ident.i.ty, for in him we would have found an estimable friend. It was Tezcot. He was the chief of the escort which was composed of his friends, the mountaineers. The reason for their being there in the capacity they were will be presented later.

When the center of the closely packed square was gained the palanquin was placed on the ground, and the occupant emerged from it. Hualcoyotl advanced to his side, and, in a strong voice, addressed the army:

"Warriors, friends: When the good king, who was the father of him who now addresses you, ruled the people of Tezcuco, he was surrounded by wise men and great generals. Many of them shared his fate, which was death at the hands of the despoilers of our country. One of them, however, a wise man and great warrior, who was counted lost, escaped from Tezcuco, and became an unknown refugee. By the stipulations of coalition, under which this army is organized, I should be its commander; but, for the good of our cause, I put aside personal ambition and the honor the high position would confer upon me, and will name as your commander Ixtlilchoatl, the great warrior, to whom I have just alluded, who for more than eight years has been living alone in a fastness on yonder mountains, and known to the mountaineers as Ix, the hermit. Warriors, in this wise man, who has returned to his own,"

continued the prince, taking the hermit by the arm, "behold your general. Long live Ixtlilchoatl!"

The acclamation, with which the prince concluded, was taken up by the army, and vociferated with a will, when it again became still.

"For this day I have prayed," spoke Ix. "Not that I might stand where I do at this moment, but that Tezcuco might find friends to help her in a mighty effort to regain her freedom. To you, who are allied with us to-day in the cause of liberty, my heart goes out in grat.i.tude. Our people will remember you in kindness always, no matter what may be their condition. I have faith in the patriotism of this great army, and trust in its might. Be firm when the shock of strife shall come, and the victory will be yours."

When Ix concluded, he reentered the palanquin and was borne back whence he came. At the same time the armies began to move for the purpose of taking up their respective positions, to wait for the advancing host of Maxtla to offer them battle.

CHAPTER XXIX.

In order to make plain certain things which have come under our notice in the last two chapters, it will be necessary for us to go back to Tezcot's, and the hermit's cave, and note the doings of our mountain friends in the interim between the departure from there of Euetzin and Cacami and the holding of the tournament at Tlacopan.

Mitla became a changed girl. She had lived to learn that older hearts than Oxie's were liable to impressions that wound, and that to fall in love with a n.o.ble was, indeed, a serious matter for a mere mountain girl to do. Her formerly bright and joyous life was clouded. She went about her duties with a half-heartedness, and seemed most contented when alone. Her parents and sister divined the cause of the great change in her disposition, and left her to occupy the time as best suited her. Knowing so well her generous nature, and how deep was her grat.i.tude to the tzin for her rescue from the rascally Tepanec soldiers, they were not surprised that her feelings toward him had become those of a consuming pa.s.sion. They treated her with true sympathy, deeply regretting the circ.u.mstances which had led to her unfortunate condition of mind.

Tezcot became an almost constant companion of the prince and Ix, and appeared to have lost all interest in his hunting exploits.

The management of the surveillance over the hermitage, which had been established for the protection of the prince, had been intrusted to Menke, who performed the duty faithfully, securing the vicinity of the cavern-retreat from intrusion.

The prince, on being introduced to the hermitage, thought he saw something familiar about its mysterious occupant, and, becoming interested, finally discovered who he was. He was at a loss to understand why the hermit, for several days, persistently avoided all allusions to himself, unless it was to satisfy a whim. The fact of the matter was that Ix wished to fathom the character and disposition of the prince before openly declaring himself. When he found Hualcoyotl to be a worthy son of his ill.u.s.trious father, the hermit gave him his cordial adherence and valuable counsel.

It is true that Ix gave the prince and tzin his invaluable a.s.sistance on the occasion of the latter's first visit to the hermitage; and it was he that inserted certain signs and language in the doc.u.ment which Euetzin bore away with him, that a.s.sured the king of Tlacopan of its genuineness, and secured his confidence in the bearer. Of this, however, the prince and tzin were not aware at the time.

Though only a boy, with no particular interest in government affairs, when his father's sovereignty was so suddenly and disastrously terminated, the prince remembered Ixtlilchoatl as a person who stood high in the councils of the king. His discovery of so wise and experienced an adherent was highly gratifying to him, for he felt that he needed just such a man to give him counsel. So, after due consideration, he decided to make him his supervisor of military affairs, which, subsequently, led to his being placed in command of the allied armies.

Tezcot was taken into the secret of Ix's ident.i.ty, which brought an acknowledgment from him as to his own nativity. He was a descendant of the Acolhuans, whose gentle nature he inherited, though not a born Tezcucan. The prince and Ix welcomed him to their councils, and he became an almost daily partic.i.p.ant in their deliberations.

Hualcoyotl had always been of a thoughtful turn of mind, and, as an occupant of a lonely hermit's cave, could scarcely have been expected to put aside a habit which had become a characteristic. In the hours of restraint which he was compelled to endure he might have been found often in a state of abstraction, when visions of future weal, and, perhaps, exaltation to the high position which his royal ancestors had filled, would occupy his thoughts. In these absent moods, which were only waking dreams, it was natural that his favorites should be brought into an imaginary existence, to give to his fancies a semblance of reality. Who but Itlza, of Zelmonco, could have shared his dreamings as a queen, the partner of his fancied exaltation, since the affectionate regard of his boyhood for her had, through a later contact, suddenly developed into a pa.s.sionate desire to possess her for his own. And now that there was reason to hope for the early restoration of Tezcuco to her former place among the nations of Anahuac, this desire was further strengthened by the possibilities to which such a state of affairs would give rise.

On the occasion of his brief stop at Zelmonco villa, while journeying toward the mountains, he resolved, as may be remembered, that, should the circ.u.mstances warranting it ever obtain, she should become his queen; and the resolution had lost none of its force, but, on the other hand, had become a fixed purpose. So it happened that the drifting of events, and the conditions attending them, pointed to the wrecking of somebody's hopes, which, apparently, only waited a convenient season for their realization.

Successful beyond his most sanguine expectations in the achievements which crowned his second visit to Macua, King of Tlacopan, on which occasion he found himself a conspicuous figure in the midst of an a.s.sembly of men high in authority, who only required the encouragement of a promise of success to make them the determined allies of Tezcuco in a war with Maxtla, Euetzin's first impulse was to go immediately and communicate the good news to the prince; but, after calmly weighing the matter, changed his mind, and proceeded first to arrange for the ma.s.sing and equipping of the secret councils of Tezcuco preparatory to their joining the allied army. When this work was about completed he left the chiefs of councils to finish it, and, with Cacami and a strong guard of Tlacopan soldiers, set out with a view to escorting Hualcoyotl in from the mountains. At the same time he carried an urgent request from Macua, the King, for the prince to repair to his palace, to remain the guest of his majesty until the beginning of hostilities, when he could take his proper position at the head of the army.

On arriving in the vicinity of Tezcot's, a suitable spot was found for an encampment, and the soldiers were left to occupy it, while the tzin and his companion went on to the hunter's alone.

The friends arrived at the mountaineer's house in the afternoon, and, as luck would have it, found the hunter at home. They were received in a very friendly manner by the family, and made to feel that they were most welcome. Mitla was not so demonstrative as the others, but not less happy that such was the case. She could suppress all outward exhibition of her feelings, but could not obscure the pa.s.sionate light which shone from her dark eyes as they rested on him whom she loved to the verge of idolatry. Euetzin saw the expression of gladness, intense in its fervidness, which greeted him, and, while Cacami occupied the attention of the rest of the family, found opportunity to say:

"I read my welcome in your eyes, Mitla, which are wonderfully bright to-day, and full of gladness. Their language is better than words, for words are sometimes deceptive."

"My eyes would always betray my feelings, yet I do not care now, for I would have you know how truly glad I am that you are here," she replied, the expression of pleasure deepening, if possible, in its intensity.

"I am glad if I bring you pleasure. It is worth a longer journey than we have made to see you looking so happy," he returned.

"I wish that words were not sometimes deceptive," she replied, putting a marked stress on the expression which she borrowed from him, "then would I, indeed, be happy at hearing you say that."

"You do not doubt my sincerity, Mitla?" he questioned, slightly confused at having his own words applied to himself.

"No, I do not doubt your sincerity; at least, not your desire to be so--that would be ungenerous; yet I can not help feeling that your desire to give me pleasure causes you to say what your mind, not your heart, suggests." This was said, accompanied by an appealing look which the tzin could not fail to observe. He said, feelingly:

"I am very, very sorry that you feel so, for nothing that I can say will make you feel differently." These words were true, and yet not true. Doubting, as he did, the character of the sentiment which her presence ever inspired, honor still forbade the utterance of the declaration which would have made them untrue, yet the declaration might have been consistently made. It was doubt alone, then, which made them true.

"I am sure you speak truly, and that you will be generous in your thoughts, forgiving a feeling in me which is beyond my control," she said, giving him a look at once tristful and yearning.

"I shall not try to controvert your feelings, for they may be just," he answered, kindly. "But, Mitla, I must be about my business. Our stay must be very short on the mountains; the time allowed us for coming and returning will not admit of an hour's extension. However, I will try to find a little time in which to talk with you before we go away." Her answer to this was an approving smile; and the tzin turned to Tezcot and informed him as to the object of their mission, and the necessity of its hasty accomplishment. The hunter was quick to appreciate the situation, and immediately set about getting ready to accompany them to the hermit's cave.

Pa.s.sing over the explanations which followed the party's arrival at the cavern, and the arrangements which led up to the situation as we left it at Tlacopan, except to say that Euetzin and Cacami learned with astonishment and pleasure the true character of the hermit, and rejoiced with Hualcoyotl in view of the prospective restoration to Tezcuco of her great general.

All saw the importance of Ix's presence, and as well that of the prince, at Tlacopan, and not a moment was lost in getting ready to leave the hermitage.

Ix was loth to part from his friend Tezcot, who had done him uncounted acts of kindness, and relieved many of his lonely hours with his presence. He conceived the idea of forming a bodyguard for himself, and proposed that his friend should be made its chief. The project was warmly seconded by the prince and tzin, and pressed so earnestly by all, that the hunter finally yielded, with the proviso, however, that his friends, the mountaineers, should be asked to form the guard. This was agreed to, which resulted in the acquiescence of the hunters, and their appearance with the army, as we have seen.

The friends left the hermitage with varied emotions, which we will not try to interpret. They went slowly down the side of the mountain into the long ravine, thence out upon a more cheerful lay of the ground, where they found the walking more to their liking. They were in no hurry to reach the hunter's home; for darkness, they decided, should cover their entrance to it.

A half hour after the arrival of the party at Tezcot's found Cacami on his way to the camp of the soldiers to inform them of the intended early departure for the valley on the morrow; and also to make a detail of men to be at the hunter's at an early hour in the morning, to bear the palanquin in which the hermit was to make the journey. At the same time Euetzin and Mitla were out for a quiet talk. They were just approaching the little knoll where their last meeting occurred some weeks before, and he was saying:

"This spot would presently become memorable to us if our meetings on it should be continued."

"Yes, and you might add, for me, at least, not less endeared than memorable," she replied.

"I shall take pleasure in looking back to it, be a.s.sured, Mitla, and will try to imagine that I see you seated upon it in quiet happiness,"