upon us a chill went
through me at thought of the stealthy daring and truly devilish cunning
of the men who thus could do their evil work in the full light of day,
and close to the encampment of an army, and yet could get safely away
without leaving a trace of their presence save the dead bodies of their
foes.

Having made sure by carefully searching among the rocks throughout the
length of the promontory that none of the enemy was hidden there, we
hastened back to the town to tell what we had come upon, and to provide
for mounting fresh sentinels in the place of those who had been relieved
by death. We had expected that the news which we brought would stir up a
great commotion; and we were not a little troubled, therefore, knowing
how serious the matter was in its exhibition of the carelessness of our
guards, by finding that only Tizoc and a few other tried soldiers were
more than lightly discomposed by what we had to tell. The general
feeling seemed to be--inasmuch as our lucky discovery had dispelled the
danger--that there was no need to worry about a calamity which had not
occurred; and what after all was the most essential consideration--the
constant danger that threatened us by reason of the criminal laxity of
the watch maintained by our pickets--practically was lost sight of.
Apparently neither the Council nor the higher officers of the army had
the power to remedy this dangerous condition of affairs. At no time had
any very strong authority been exercised over the Tlahuicos--for all the
orders which until now had been given to them had been directed only
towards urging them along a way that they were glad enough to follow of
their own accord--and since their assertion of their will that morning,
what little control had restrained their waywardness seemed to have been
wholly lost.

However, as there was a chance in it of fighting, and as fighting was
what they longed for earnestly, our unruly soldiers were willing enough
that a strong detachment should be placed in ambush on the promontory,
to the end that the force which the enemy probably would land there that
night might be summarily dealt with. And the better to carry out our
plan of a counter-surprise the dead sentinels were left where we found
them. Tizoc was given the command of the ambushed force, and he
willingly granted our request that we might accompany him; which
request was prompted by the desire that we fully shared with the
Tlahuicos to get at c