me there was great danger that they
might be attacked and destroyed by the powerful league then forming
against them.

A rumor had reached them that a large number of Spaniards were in
Mexico, not very far to the westward; that they were powerful in
numbers, conquering all before them, and enriching themselves with the
spoils of a majestic empire. It was consequently determined to march
with all speed in that direction, and join this Spanish army in its
career of Mexican conquest.

Early in the month of June they commenced their march in a line due
west. Their geographical knowledge was so limited that they were not
aware that they were in a latitude far above the renowned city of the
Montezumas.

[Illustration]

Day after day the troops pressed on, through many sufferings and weary
marches. On the way, one of their number, Diego De Guzman, a very
ambitious young cavalier of high rank and wealthy connections, fell so
passionately in love with the beautiful daughter of a Cacique that he
deserted from the army to remain with her. She was but eighteen years
of age, of very amiable spirit, and of unusual gracefulness of form
and loveliness of feature. Moscoso sent an embassy to the Cacique,
demanding the return of Guzman as a deserter, and threatening, in case
of refusal, to lay waste his territory with fire and sword. The chief
sent back the heroic reply--

"I have used no force to detain Diego De Guzman. I shall use no force
to compel him to depart. On the contrary I shall treat him as a
son-in-law, with all honor and kindness, and shall do the same with
any others of the strangers who may choose to remain with me. If for
thus doing my duty you think proper to lay waste my lands and slay my
people, you can do so. The power is in your hands."

It would seem that this manly reply disarmed Moscoso, for the Spanish
army continued its journey, leaving Guzman behind. Onward and still
onward the weary men pressed, wading morasses, forcing their way
through tangled forests, crossing rivers on rafts; now hungry and now
thirsty, again enjoying abundance; sometimes encountering hostility
from the natives, when they took fearful vengeance, applying the torch
to their villages; and again enjoying the hospitality of the natives,
until having traversed a region of about three hundred miles in
breadth, they supposed they had reached the confines of Mexico.

They had no suitable interpreters with them. The most contrary
impressi