CHAPTER XXXVI.
In order that the reader may be made acquainted with the circumstances in Mitla's case, which led to her appearance, so opportunely for Euetzin, in the camp of Maxtla's defeated army, it will be necessary for us to go back to the holding of the tournament at Tlacopan, and notice, briefly, a few of the incidents connected with her movements.
When Ix's mountain guard came to that city to join the army, they did so as individuals, and were accompanied by a number of their people, consisting mostly of women and men servants, who came, especially, to witness the tourney. Mitla was of the party, coming at the request of Euetzin to take part in the archers' contest, and whose skill, it will be remembered, proved such an interesting feature of the occasion.
The real object for which the tournament was gotten up had not become known beyond the circle of close-mouthed projectors of the movement against Maxtla, and Mitla, as one of the public, was therefore ignorant of what was to follow. She was to have returned to her home at the conclusion of the tourney, with her party, but when the excitement, which ensued upon the heels of it because of the unavoidable publicity of the movement, became absorbingly intense, and she learned the true situation of affairs, she determined on pursuing a different course. Her love for the tzin, which had so quickly become an irresistible, absorbing passion, and which had given added fervency by the grandeur of the scene in which he was a conspicuous figure, and she an object of special attention and admiration—together with a longing desire to be near him, which had suddenly taken possession of her—outweighed all other considerations, and she resolved on following him to the field. How to accomplish this, without her presence in the army becoming known to him, was a matter of no little moment—especially to her, an inexperienced mountain girl. However, love knows no barriers too great to be surmounted, and hers was not an exception. She settled the question by procuring the necessary apparel with which to change her appearance to that of a boy, which she carried away with her when she left the city—presumably to return to her home.
The first night out, after leaving Tlacopan, the madly infatuated maiden took advantage of circumstances to quietly slip from among her people, with a view to carrying out her determination to follow the tzin. Getting far enough away from the camp of her friends to feel reasonably secure from discovery, she made the intended transformation, at the same time deepening the color of her complexion by using a stain procured from the bark of a tree. When the disguise was completed, and her discarded clothing carefully concealed where it could be found, should the opportunity ever come around for recovering it, she started on her backward journey.
Mitla was now completely lost in the character she had assumed. Her closest friends would not have recognized her, so perfect was the disguise. Instead of a beautiful young maiden, a stoutly-built, well-appearing lad, with a very dark complexion, moved with hurried step, and eyes peering almost expectantly into the darkness ahead of him, in the direction of Tlacopan.
The adoption of a name for herself, corresponding with her disguise, before reaching her destination, now became a necessary expedient, and Mitla's genius for that kind of invention was for the first time—and, we might add, the last—brought into operation. After calling up all the names within her recollection, and, inventing not a few, she finally settled upon Hualla—very appropriate and well suited, and under it found her way into the allied army.
Fear of detection made the disguised maiden wary of getting into a too close proximity to those who knew her best. This led her to avoid the mountain guard and her Tezcucan friends, and to go in search of the gallant young leader of the Tlacopan army, for whom she had conceived quite a liking, from his genial and kindly disposition. After considerable trouble and worry she found the gracious Macua, and, on being admitted to his presence, told him that she wished to go with the army, and could think of no position which she could fill except that of messenger, in which capacity, she asked, would he kindly allow her to serve him. She made an attractive appearing youth, and readily found favor with the young chief, who immediately installed her a member of his military household. To become an attachee of Macua's official family was not to become a slave, by any means, and our mountain heroine found frequent means for gratifying her peculiar longings.
To be where she could occasionally have a look at the man she so wildly loved, her idol, was the sole object of Mitla's self-imposed masquerading. The tzin's division of Tezcucans was soon located by her, and no move or change was made by it that she was not aware of. Whenever her duty brought her near to where the young cacique—a title the tzin had acquired by virtue of his position as a leader—was stationed, she made it a point to have a good look at him, on several of which occasions he saw her, but, thinking her only an inquisitive lad, paid little attention to her actions.
When the great battle occurred, Mitla stationed herself where every move the tzin made could be watched by her unerring eye of love. When Maxtla made his attack, she saw with bated breath the terrible struggle which ensued, and when Euetzin, at the head of his Tezcucan legion, rushed to the aid of the hard pressed allies, her heart stood still from fear and dread. It was not long after this when it became a difficult matter to distinguish friend from foe, and the tzin passed from her sight to be seen not again until found by her in the enemy's camp. His disappearance relieved the nervous strain the sight of his exposure caused her to experience, yet deepened her anxiety for his safety. The time seemed an age to her in which the opposing forces struggled with each other for the mastery. Victory finally came, however, to crown the efforts of those in whom she was interested, and when it did come she was quickly mingling with the triumphant warriors of the tzin's division, to learn if he were safe or not. When it was discovered that he was missing, her feelings of grief and dread were indescribable. She could be brave while Euetzin was near and safe; but, if lost, what should she do? After learning to a certainty that her beloved was surely a prisoner, as the failure to find his body on the battle field had proven to the satisfaction of the leaders, she resolved to follow the retreating army, and, if he were discovered, to liberate him or die in the attempt. She put her resolution into execution, with the happy result already known to the reader.
Euetzin experienced a good deal of solicitude for Mitla's people after learning what had been her course. Their anxiety and distress at her strange and mysterious disappearance, he thought, could not be other than extreme, and he determined that they should be relieved at the earliest possible moment. He communicated his feelings on the subject to her, and found that she was not a little worried over the matter herself, now that her identity was revealed. It was decided, in view of the unpropitious circumstances, that she should go home so soon as arrangements for a suitable escort could be made. It was at this juncture of the situation that Cacami and his party came upon the scene.
The meeting between the two friends was very cordial, which evidenced the warm feelings of friendship which had grown up between them.
The particulars of the tzin's capture and escape, in which the invaluable services rendered by Hualla in effecting the latter were made a subject of special mention, were detailed to Cacami, who heard the account, especially that portion of it relating to the lad's conduct, with no little astonishment. His astonishment in this connection, however, was not to be compared with that which followed when he was let into the secret of Hualla's identity, and informed by the tzin that it was his purpose to make the brave girl his wife.
"I am lost in amazement," he exclaimed, "at the surprises which seem to meet me at every turn! When will they cease?"
"Not until you have found your affinity, Cacami; have made your proposal, and surprised us with a denouement," replied the tzin pleasantly, little dreaming that his friend had already found his affinity in his own dear sister, and that a surprise would come out of it, in comparison with which the surprise of Cacami at his declaration would be as nothing—but we anticipate.
Euetzin was not yet sufficiently recovered to bear moving, and as Cacami would be obliged to wait or return to Tezcuco without him, the latter, on learning of the tzin's desire that Mitla should return quickly as might be to her people, proposed that he and his men should be her escort. Euetzin thanked him for the suggestion, and accepted it as a most opportune way out of a very peculiar dilemma.
A transformation now took place, and Hualla ceased to be, except in the recollections of the tzin, as an inseparable factor in a portion of his experience which he could never forget, and which went to make up the most eventful period of his life; while Mitla, happy in the consciousness of a requited love—though realizing that her beauty was somewhat marred by the unnatural darkness of her complexion—sat by the bedside of her afflicted lover listening to the words of endearment which he was speaking.
"Hualla, the noble lad, to whom I owed so great a debt, is no more," he was saying; "yet he will never be forgotten. He has left a legacy to you, Mitla, in my gratitude for his brave conduct in my behalf. Thus you will have a double portion: my gratitude to him, and my best love for your dear self. Are you not happy, Mitla?"
"Yes, Euetzin, more happy than I can tell," was her reply; still, her actions did not warrant it. The thought that she must part from him at this time pressed heavily upon her heart, and when she had spoken, she dropped her head upon the hand which she was holding; as she did so, a tear trickled down over her cheek and fell upon it.
"Why, Mitla!" exclaimed the tzin, anxiously, "you are in tears! What has disturbed you?"
"They are tears of joy, Euetzin, mingled with sadness—sadness that I am about to leave you, and you so ill. I would remain to nurse you back to health, but you have advised, wisely, no doubt, that I should go; and I feel restrained, against inclination, to do so, that my people may no longer mourn for me as lost."
"Yes, Mitla, it will be better so. I will soon be well—thanks to you—and back in Tezcuco, where you shall early join me, to go away no more; then our happiness will be complete. You must be brave; it were not like Hualla to weep," spoke the tzin, persuasively.
"I will weep no more, Euetzin; you shall see that she whom you love is brave, even as Hualla," she replied, wiping away her tears.
Euetzin realized that the time was close at hand when the escort would come to take his loved Mitla from him, and drawing her to him, he said:
"Your unbounded love, which saved and brought me where I am, is worth more than all else in the world to me; and my life's best effort shall be to make you happy. Go from me with this assurance, and think only of the joy our reunion will bring."
The lover's parting kiss was exchanged, and Mitla disengaged herself from the tzin's embrace—none too soon either; for just then Cacami entered to say that the palanquin awaited her occupancy. A few minutes later she had taken her seat in the chair, and the little procession moved away.
Under Cacami's careful direction Mitla was transported in comfort and safety back to her mountain home. Her arrival there was the return of a loved one given up as lost. The meeting was very affecting, filled as it was with a terrible struggle between love and joy, and a feeling of injured confidence and resentment for the mastery in the hearts of the aggrieved parents. Cacami, fearful that harsh treatment might be in store for the offending daughter, pleaded her cause with earnestness and eloquence:
"Mitla, though blamable from a prudential standpoint, has proven herself a heroine. Had not her hand, O Tezcot, the hand of your child, brought succor and release to Euetzin, he would to-day, if alive, be in the hands of Maxtla, awaiting the awful fate of a prisoner of war. It was her great love that saved to us a noble friend. Such devotion is worthy the reward it has won: Euetzin's plighted troth. They will wed, and the daughter of the wise hunter, the friend of the great Ixtlilchoatl, will become the happy wife of a noble, who will assuredly be among the exalted of the king's household. Forget her imprudence, O Tezcot, O Xochitl, and forgive. Euetzin asks it, and I plead for it."
"Mitla is dear to the hearts of all her people, and we do not forget, while blaming her, that she should have our sympathy, for she was greatly affected by love for the tzin," replied the generous Tezcot. "Yes, we will forget and forgive, for our love's sake, and the sake of our friends. So say you to Euetzin."
After a day of rejoicing and feasting with the family of the hunter, Cacami and his party started on their return journey, the young warrior leader happy and exultant from the success of his efforts as a peacemaker.
In due time the little party was back with the tzin, to find him sufficiently recovered to allow of his transfer to Tezcuco.
Happy, indeed, was the hour in which Euetzin and Itzalmo were set down in the Tezcucan palace, and the little circle of friends, so ruthlessly broken up by the Tepanec despot, was again complete. To emphasize his pleasure, the prince ordered a grand reception and banquet to be given in honor of the restoration of his friends. It was a glorious time of rejoicing, hardly less affecting than were the scenes which followed the prince's return to his joyful people a victorious leader.
"Let joy be unconfined!" Hualcoyotl might have proclaimed in that hour of a happy reunion; and yet, how deep was the mental affliction which, all unknown to him, was then hanging over and threatening not only his own peace of mind, but that of nearly all the chief participants in the pleasurable event.