d been appointed from time
immemorial, or, at least from the time of the Spanish invasion, to
hunt down and capture all strangers of a foreign race that should
be found within a circle of twelve leagues of the city; and he
repeated the statement made to us from the beginning, that no white
man had hitherto eluded their vigilance or left their city alive.
He said there was a tradition that many of the pioneers of
Alvarado's army had been cut off in this manner, and never heard of
more, while their skulls and weapons are to this day suspended
round the altars of the pagan gods. He added, finally, that if we
wished to escape the same fate, now was our only chance; that as we
numbered thirty-five, all armed with repeating rifles, we could
easily destroy the present detachment, which amounted to but fifty,
and secure our retreat before another could come up; but that, in
order to do this, it was necessary first to shoot the dogs, which
all our Indians regarded with the utmost dread and horror.

"I instantly felt the force of this advice, in which, also, I was
sustained by Senor Hammond; but Senor Huertis, whom, as the leader
of the expedition, we were all bound and solemnly pledged to obey;
utterly rejected the proposition. He had come so far to see the
city and see it he would, whether taken thither as a captive or
not, and whether he ever returned from it or not, that this was the
contract originally proposed, and to which I had assented; that the
fine troop before us was evidently not a gang of savages, but a
body of civilized men and good soldiers; and as to the dogs, they
were noble animals of the highest blood he ever saw. If, however, I
and his friend Hammond, who seemed afraid of being eaten, in
preference to the fine beef and venison which we had seen in such
profusion on the plain, really felt alarmed at the bugbear legends
of our vagabond Indians, before any demonstration of hostility had
been made, we were welcome to take two-thirds of the men and mules
and make our retreat as best we could, while he would advance with
Antonio and the remainder of the party, to the gates of the city,
and demand a peaceable admission. I could not but admire the
romantic intrepidity of this resolve, though I doubted its
discretion; and assured him I was ready t