His eyes blazed as he said the words, and he rose till the whole of his head was visible.
"Hush! Be cautious. You will ruin all, and we shall be tortured," answered the attendant, fretfully, and with an anxious glance down the street. "Such an attempt would cause us both to be killed. I will not help you, and if you threaten to perform such a reckless act I will have nothing more to do with your party."
"Then you will make friends once more with the Spaniards. You will fawn upon and lick the hands of these wretches who have taken your wife and child. Listen, and I will tell you my tale. I am from Cuba, where these Spaniards came, as they have come to you, with fair promises and with welcoming smiles. We formed an alliance with them at first, till it was too late. Then we became their slaves, while our wives and children were snatched from us. Our miseries were so great that thousands hanged themselves. That is what you will do. Is it better to risk death now, or to wait for slavery and for the misery which is certain to follow? Go to your masters. Tell them that they may have all that you love. We will find others to help us."
Indignation had roused Tamba thoroughly, while his anxiety for his master made him more than bitter. But he was a shrewd native, and long suffering had taught him much. By speaking as he had done he brought before the Tlascalan the full weight of the injury done him, and revived his bitterness and hatred. It was a masterly stroke, and at once converted the half-hearted native to the side of the Mexicans.
"You are right," he said humbly. "I cannot take the hand of these barbarians again. I will help, even if it be in an attack upon Malinché. But my lord is not hurt. I have spoken to him, and he will be ready to-night; but——"
"But what? Is he ill, or did he suffer a wound in the attack yesterday?"
Again Tamba stretched far out of his hiding-place, till the frantic signal of the native caused him to sink back again.
"He is well—have I not said so?" he called out testily. "But he will not be rescued unless his comrades are taken. His message to Teotlili was strict. If you come to-night, he will go only on condition that the others are taken. Otherwise he will wait and be hanged."
Tamba's dusky face went a pallid hue at the news, and this time he sank back on his knees as if some one had struck him a blow.
"Not escape unless we can take the others!" he gasped. "It is like my master. He thinks always of his comrades."