with a promise to his afflicted people, that his children would
ultimately return, and claim their ancient country and crown.

CHAPTER III.

SUPERSTITIOUS FEAR AND VACILLATING POLICY OF MONTEZUMA.

~The land was ours--this glorious land--
With all its wealth of woods and streams--
Our warriors, strong in heart and hand,
Our daughters, beautiful as dreams.~

* * * * *

~And then we heard the omens say,
That God had sent his angels forth
To sweep our ancient tribes away--~

While these events were transpiring in the ever moving camp of the
victorious invaders, the imperial court of Tenochtitlan was agitated and
distracted by the divided counsels and wavering policy of the
superstitious, fear-stricken monarch, and his various advisers. At one
time, deeply offended by their audacious disregard of his positive
prohibitions, and roused to a sense of his duty as a king, by the
prophetic warning of Karee, which never ceased to ring in his ears,
Montezuma was almost persuaded to give in to the war-party, and send out
an army that should overwhelm the strangers at a blow. But, before this
noble purpose had time to mature itself into action, all his
superstitious fears would revive, and, without coming to any decision
either to move or stand still, he would pause in timid inaction, till
some new success had made the invaders more formidable than before, and
invested their mission with something more of that preternatural
sacredness, which alone had power to unman the monarch, and disarm his
craving ambition. At each advance of the conquering Castilians, he
realized the growing necessity of prompt and efficient measures of
defence, while at the same time he felt a greater reluctance to contend
with fate. The result was, that he only dallied with the foe, by
continually sending new embassies, each, with larger and richer presents
than the preceding, having no effect but to add fuel to their already
burning thirst for gold, and strengthen their determination to
accomplish their original purpose.

These royal embassies were less and less firm and peremptory in their
terms, until they assumed the tone of expostulation, and assigning
various and often conflicting reasons why the Spaniards should not
pursue their route any farther towards the imperial city. At length,
when the courier announced the arrival of the mysterious band at
Tlascala,