CHAPTER XXVIII.
While the exciting scenes of the tourney were being witnessed on Tlacopan's tianguez, events of an entirely different nature were transpiring in the palace of Maxtla, at Azcapozalco. The embassy, consisting of three prominent persons and their attendants, which had been sent to him with the ultimatum of the allied principalities, arrived at his capital in great pomp the day preceding the one on which they were instructed to present it.
The envoys were royally entertained, as was the custom, by fete and feast, and made to feel that they were guests of a great monarch.
The nature of their mission was not known beyond the three representatives, nor was it expected to be until officially announced. Maxtla had not the slightest idea as to the significance of it.
In the forenoon of the day following their arrival at the palace, and about the time of the opening of the tourney at Tlacopan, an audience was granted the envoys; and, in the presence of the king and his counselors, the embassy's mission was made known, and the conditions of the ultimatum presented.
Maxtla was astounded and exasperated by what seemed to him the audacity of his petty neighbors. He, however, held his feelings partially under subjection. With all his fierceness and cruelty of disposition he was politic and cunning. He saw, as he thought, in the action of Tlacopan and her allies, a pretense for advancing his interests in that direction—the very thing he had been scheming to bring about, and shaped his course accordingly.
His reply to the envoys was to the effect that the action of the governments they represented was an insult, not only to his own dignity as a monarch, but that of his great empire. Tezcuco, he said, was his by conquest, and would not be relinquished except by force of arms. The enthronement of the despised Hualcoyotl, he further said, would be resisted to the last extremity.
"Go back to your masters," said he, "and say to them that we scorn their implied threats, and will resent the insult they have offered us with the whole force of our empire."
Maxtla's reply to the conditions of the ultimatum was equivalent to a declaration of war, and as such the embassy interpreted it.
Every respect was shown the envoys and their suit; and, when they departed from the Tepanec capital, they were escorted with due courtesy beyond the city's confines.
In a very short time after their departure the word went abroad throughout Maxtla's dominions that a war was imminent. His scattered forces began immediately to concentrate, and orders were issued for new levies to be made on Tezcuco and his other dependencies for additional troops.
In due time the couriers returned from Tezcuco with the startling intelligence that all the Tezcucans proper, who were subject to military duty, had gone to attend the tourney at Tlacopan, leaving only his own adherents available for immediate service.
Maxtla was thunderstruck at this information, for he saw in it the secret of Tlacopan's temerity. His eyes were opened to the fact that he had been outwitted by somebody, and that Tezcuco was about to slip away from him. His anticipations of an easy conquest of the little states opposed to him assumed a somewhat doubtful aspect, and instead of an extended empire he saw before him a struggle to maintain his supremacy over his already acquired territory. Realizing that celerity of action was imperative, if he would succeed, no time was lost in getting ready for the strife.
The circumstances attending the situation pointed to Tezcuco as the probable field of contention, and troops were therefore sent forward to that locality as rapidly as organization was effected.
While Maxtla was marshaling his hosts for war, Macua and his confederates were not idle at Tlacopan.
When the concourse of people, which had assembled to witness the tourney, quietly melted away at its close, preparations were at once begun to get the allied armies into a condition of mobility. It was not expected that Maxtla would accede to the demands made in the ultimatum, so the work of organization went on.
In the evening of the same day on which the embassy had audience with Maxtla, advance couriers reached Tlacopan with his reply. Its import was anticipated, but definite action could not be taken before it arrived.
Orders were immediately issued for the armies to be ready to move for concentration the next morning. It was no longer a secret that war was to be waged with the Tepanec king, and great excitement and bustle prevailed on the heels of the tournament. The excitement was of the profound and solemn sort which is peculiar to preparations preceding a sanguinary strife for supremacy between opposing armies, especially with a semi-civilized people. The priests were actively engaged in their incitations to self-immolation by ceremonies accompanied with dolefully tuned cantations, causing a weirdness to pervade the very heart of the multitude, which brought a hush of awe upon the scene, giving it an aspect at once ominous and funereal.
All through the fore part of the night following the tournament the secret councils of Tezcuco were moving in a disorganized but orderly procession away from Tlacopan, going to the place of armament. When the morning dawned, an army of them might have been seen massed on the border of lake Tezcuco, east of the city. Some of them were already armed, while others were arming, preparatory to marching for concentration.
The armies of the nations of Anahuac were, to say the least, picturesque, and, from a historical standpoint, worthy of a brief description.
The higher grades of warriors—caciques, chiefs, etc.—wore, as a protection to the body, a heavy, quilted, cotton tunic, over which was usually thrown and fastened their superbly elegant tilmatli—mantle of featherwork. Their legs, in most cases, were protected by leggings made from various kinds of material, and elaborately fringed with trimmings of gold and silver, or other bright substance. Short boots, made from animal skin, or close fitting moccasins encased their feet. Their headgear was varied in character, often representing the head of some animal, a fish or other object. The more grotesque and hideous it was made to appear, the nearer was its purpose attained. However, the indispensable feather decorations generally prevailed.
It is quite safe to venture the assertion that the dress of the lords of Anahuac was not only gorgeously grotesque, but truly magnificent; while, on the other hand, the uniform of the common soldiers was strikingly undress, consisting, as it did, for the most part, of a plain gird about the loins, and a band of some kind to confine the hair—nothing more. There may have been exceptions to this airiness of apparel, but, as a rule, not enough to place the very convenient costume in danger of being superseded by a more elaborate and less airy one.
The principal arms used by them in battle were the bow and arrow and javelin. They were also provided with sling and dart. These instruments of warfare were pointed with either copper, bone, or obsidian (itztli, a transparent mineral substance, very hard, and capable of being reduced to the sharpness of a razor).
The Indian sword (maquahuitl) was a heavy staff, on which were inserted, at regular intervals, short, sharp blades of obsidian. This weapon was used by the principal warriors.
The ensemble of an army consisted of battalions, divisions and grand divisions. The first named numbered four or five hundred warriors; the second, six or eight thousand; and the last, proportionately larger; each division and subdivision being under the command of a proper official—cacique, or chief. At the head of each organization was borne an appropriate banner, on which was usually to be seen the insignia of the commandant; while the national standard—the armorial ensign of the ruling house—usually indicated the position of the person in command—great chief.
The ancient standard of Tezcuco was once more unfurled to the breeze, and her patriotic hosts stood organized, and ready to receive their prince.
Hualcoyotl, accompanied by a retinue of chosen warriors, among whom were our friends Euetzin and Cacami, both having been generously remembered by the prince in the distribution of honors, was advancing to assume command. When discovered by the army, and recognized, they were received with the acclamation: "Hualcoyotl! Hualcoyotl! Long live Hualcoyotl and Euetzin!" The latter was regarded for his untiring efforts in behalf of Tezcuco's independence as being entitled to all the honor due to any Tezcucan living, and his people were ready at all times to accord it.
The hour was a proud one to the two young men: To Euetzin in view of the crowning of his labors with the grand military display which was there spread out before him; to the prince for the opportunity which placed him in position to meet his cruel persecutor on equal footing, where he could demand, at the point of the javelin, his rights as the Prince of Tezcuco. He spoke as follows:
"Warriors, men of Tezcuco: after many years of degradation and enslavement, you are again permitted to stand beneath your own loved banner, which was once the delight of our fathers and the pride of our nation. It has been trailing in the dirt for long; but your determined look assures me that it will no longer be thus dishonored. There is no need for me, as your commander, to say, stand firm in the cause of liberty, for I read upon your faces the will to do or die. Then let us waste no time until Maxtla and his hordes have been met and brought to feel the avenging power of wronged Tezcuco's arm. Let our war cry be—"
"Hualcoyotl and victory! Hualcoyotl and victory!"
The words which the prince would have spoken were left unsaid, and the acclamation with which he was interrupted passed like a wave from right to left, and back again. When quiet was restored, he only said:
"As you will, and may your victory be complete."
The order was given to march, and the army of patriotic Tezcucans was quickly in motion, and on its way to join the allied armies at the place of rendezvous.
To strike the confederate armies Maxtla was obliged to march all his forces around the north end of lake Tezcuco, and south through Tezcucan territory, as the possessions of the Mexican king were on the west, and could not be crossed except in disregard of the laws of neutrality. It therefore required several days for him to get his army into position for taking the offensive.
A day or two after the allied armies began to move, they were united on the borders of Tezcuco, south of its capital city. The combined army was formed in a hollow square, to receive its commanding general. A procession approached, which was led by an escort composed of men who were peculiarly dressed. They were dressed more like hunters than warriors. In the rear of the escort a palanquin was borne by four men who were dressed in the same manner as was the escort. When the square was reached the escort halted, and the chair was borne forward into the inclosed space.
Six men walked in front of the palanquin, in five of whom we would have recognized Hualcoyotl, Macua, tzin Euet, and the other two ruling caciques. The dress of the sixth person was the same as that worn by the men in the escort, with the addition of a tilmatli. A closer scrutiny would have made us acquainted with his identity, for in him we would have found an estimable friend. It was Tezcot. He was the chief of the escort which was composed of his friends, the mountaineers. The reason for their being there in the capacity they were will be presented later.
When the center of the closely packed square was gained the palanquin was placed on the ground, and the occupant emerged from it. Hualcoyotl advanced to his side, and, in a strong voice, addressed the army:
"Warriors, friends: When the good king, who was the father of him who now addresses you, ruled the people of Tezcuco, he was surrounded by wise men and great generals. Many of them shared his fate, which was death at the hands of the despoilers of our country. One of them, however, a wise man and great warrior, who was counted lost, escaped from Tezcuco, and became an unknown refugee. By the stipulations of coalition, under which this army is organized, I should be its commander; but, for the good of our cause, I put aside personal ambition and the honor the high position would confer upon me, and will name as your commander Ixtlilchoatl, the great warrior, to whom I have just alluded, who for more than eight years has been living alone in a fastness on yonder mountains, and known to the mountaineers as Ix, the hermit. Warriors, in this wise man, who has returned to his own," continued the prince, taking the hermit by the arm, "behold your general. Long live Ixtlilchoatl!"
The acclamation, with which the prince concluded, was taken up by the army, and vociferated with a will, when it again became still.
"For this day I have prayed," spoke Ix. "Not that I might stand where I do at this moment, but that Tezcuco might find friends to help her in a mighty effort to regain her freedom. To you, who are allied with us to-day in the cause of liberty, my heart goes out in gratitude. Our people will remember you in kindness always, no matter what may be their condition. I have faith in the patriotism of this great army, and trust in its might. Be firm when the shock of strife shall come, and the victory will be yours."
When Ix concluded, he reentered the palanquin and was borne back whence he came. At the same time the armies began to move for the purpose of taking up their respective positions, to wait for the advancing host of Maxtla to offer them battle.