n from this arrangement, was contrary to the plainest
laws of nature.

CHAPTER X.

RETURN OF CORTEZ--SIEGE OF TENOCHTITLAN--BRAVERY AND
SUFFERINGS OF THE AZTECS.

~What will not man endure, and woman too,
To guard the hearth and altar? Give to each
A thousand lives, and hedge them close around
With all that makes it martyrdom to die,
And agony to suffer--freely still,
With all their wealth of blood, and love, and tears,
They'll yield them every one, and dying, wish
They had a thousand more to give--~

Guatimozin was kept constantly informed of the preparations and
movements of the Spaniards. His faithful spies followed them in all
their marches, and found no difficulty in divining their general
intentions and plans, as their courage revived on their arrival at
Tlascala, and still more on the accession of a large reinforcement of
Spaniards at Vera Cruz. Cortez was now as resolute as ever in his
purpose of conquest, and determined to regain his position in the
capital, or perish in the attempt. He went with the sword in one hand
and the olive-branch in the other, if that can be called an
olive-branch, which admits of no answer but submission, and offers no
alternative but slavery or death. With a large increase of cavalry and
artillery, an ample supply of ammunition, and a force both of Castilian
and Indian allies, more than double of that which accompanied him on his
former expedition, he took up his line of march from the friendly city
of Tlascala, to cross the mountain barrier that separated him from his
prey. Previous to his departure, he gave orders for the construction of
a considerable number of brigantines, under the inspection of
experienced Spanish shipwrights, conceiving the singular and original
idea of transporting them, on the shoulders of his men, across the
mountains, and launching them upon the lake of Tezcuco, to aid him in
laying siege to the city. His march was unchallenged till he arrived on
the very shores of the great lake, and stood before the walls of
Tezcuco.

Here he halted, and sent a message to the governor to throw open his
gates, and renew his allegiance to the crown of Castile. The messenger
returned with a request that the Spaniard would delay his entry into the
city, until the next morning, when he should be prepared to give him a
suitable reception. Cortez, suspecting that all was not right, ascended
one of the Teocalli in the neig