on their shoulders," that is, looking from
side to side, constantly. There was no hurry and there was no need to
tire out the force which was thus facing the danger of a long, hard and
rash adventure.

By the aid of Marina and Aguilar, Cortes speedily learned of places
like Cempoalla, which were hostile to Montezuma and he took in as many
of these places on his march as possible, always with incidents
instructive and valuable. At Cempoalla, for instance, he met the
tax-gatherers of Montezuma. He persuaded the Cempoallans to refuse
payment of the tax--an action which would ordinarily have brought down
upon them the fury of the Aztec monarch and would have resulted in
their complete and utter extermination. He did more. He caused the
Cacique of Cempoalla--a man so fat and gross, that, like "the little
round belly" of Santa Claus, he "shook like a jelly" so that the
Spaniards called him "The Trembler"--actually to raise his hand against
the tax-gatherers and imprison them. They would undoubtedly have been
sacrificed and eaten had not Cortes, secretly and by night released
three of them and allowed them to go back to their royal master, after
he had sent two into a safe ward at Vera Cruz.

Montezuma's messengers met him at every town. "Bearing rich gifts,
they disclosed the possibilities of the _Hinterland_ and germinated in
the brain of Cortes the idea of conquest. One revelation was confirmed
by another, and, as the evidence of Aztec wealth multiplied the proofs
of internal disaffection throughout the {136} empire stimulated the
confidence of the brooding conqueror. Disloyalty among the Totonacs,
treachery that only waited an opportunity in Texcoco, an ancient
tradition of hate in Tlascala, and the superstition that obscured the
judgment and paralyzed the action of the despotic ruler--these were the
materials from which the astute invader evolved the machinery for his
conquest."

Montezuma was in a pitiable state of superstitious indecision. It was
popularly believed that Quetzalcoatl would some day return, and it was
more than probable to the Aztec monarch and his counsellors that he
might be reincarnated in the person of Cortes and his followers.
Indeed, the common name for them among the Mexicans was Teules, which
means gods. If Cortes was a god it was useless to fight against him.
If he and his were men, they could of course be easily exterminated,
but were they men? There were a few bold spirits who i