ather of this
people. I must and will defend them. The strangers shall be driven back,
or die. They shall never profane the temples and altars of Tenochtitlan,
by entering within its gates, or looking upon its walls. Go, marshall
your host, and prepare to meet them, before they advance a step
further."

Exulting in this sudden demonstration of his ancient martial spirit in
his royal brother, and fired with a double zeal in the cause he had so
much at heart, by the thrilling influence upon his soul of the
mysterious oracle, whose message had been uttered in his hearing,
Cuitlahua scarcely waited for the ordinary courtesy of bidding farewell
to the king, but flew with the speed of the wind, to execute the
grateful trust committed to him. Despatching his messengers in every
direction, only a few hours elapsed before his army was drawn up in the
great square of the city; and, ere the sun had gone down, they had
passed the gates, traversed the grand causeway that linked the
amphibious city with the main land, and pitched their camp in a
favorable position, several leagues on the way to Cholula.

The ardent imagination of the prince of Iztapalapan kindled at the
prospect now opened before. The clouds, so long hanging over his beloved
country, were dissipated as by magic, and the clear light of heaven
streamed in upon his path, promising a quick and easy conquest, a
glorious triumph, and a permanent peace. He had been in many battles,
but had never been defeated. He believed the Mexican army invincible any
where, but especially on their own soil, and fighting for their altars
and their hearths. Terrible as the invading strangers had been hitherto,
he had no fear of the coming encounter. He confidently expected to
annihilate them at a blow. Happily his soldiers were all animated with
the same spirit, and they took to their rest that night, eager for the
morning to come, that should light them on their way to a certain and
glorious victory.

No sooner had the army departed, than a change came over the spirit of
the ill-fated Montezuma. The demons of doubt and fear returned to
perplex and harass his soul, and to incline him again to that
vacillating policy, those half way measures, by which his doom was to be
sealed. In an agony of distrust and suspense, he recounted to himself
the history of the past, reviewing all those dark and fearful
prophecies, those oft-repeated and mysteriously significant omens,
which, for so many ye