"How can it be helped?" Cacama replied. "Montezuma is supreme; and he and the priests, together, are all powerful. Roger is not like other men. Were he so, I would tell him when night falls to fly, and Cuitcatl would risk the consequences, I am sure, and act as his guide; but being as he is, where could he go, or where could he hide? Were it known in the morning that he was missing, a hundred messengers from Mexico would carry the news to every town and village in the country. Even if we colored his skin and his hair, his height would attract attention; for he is taller by half a head, and broader, by far, than any Mexican. But even did he, by traveling by night and hiding by day, get at last beyond the boundary of our kingdoms, what would then be his fate?--To die of hunger or thirst, or to be slain by wild tribes.
"What say you, Roger Hawkshaw? Will you risk these unknown dangers, or will you go to Montezuma tomorrow?"
"Were I sure that the priests would decide against me, and that I should be sacrificed to their great idol, I would risk death in any other form, rather than that," Roger replied. "But it may be that, when they see I have no evil intentions, and neither thought nor power of injuring Mexico, they may lay aside their animosity against me."
"They do not believe that you will injure Mexico," Amenche said, passionately. "They only want you for a sacrifice. They think that a being so strange and rare as a white man would be, of all, the most acceptable victim to their god.
"My brother, do not let him go," and the girl burst into tears.
"My little sister," Cacama said tenderly, "you know that I am powerless in the matter. In my grandfather's time, he would have answered a demand that a guest of his should be given up by a message of defiance; but times have changed since then, and the greater part of my kingdom no longer remains to me. My brother, who disputed my right to the throne, reigns over a large portion of it. Montezuma has seized fertile provinces. I am little more than the lord of a city; and could offer no resistance, for a single day, to the power of the Emperor.
"But you must remember that, as yet, we do not know that the priests will decide against him. I myself shall go with him, and I have already, as I have told you, taken some steps to incline the priests in his favor. When I arrive there tomorrow, I will exert myself personally. I have many friends among the highest at Montezuma's court, and will also pray these to use their influence.
"Should I fail, all will not be lost. It is likely that, if they decide upon sacrificing you, Roger, they will make you the victim to the god Tezcatlepoca, 'the soul of the world.' For him is always chosen the captive most distinguished for his appearance. For a year he is treated as the representative of the god. He is nobly cared for, he is attended by a train of royal pages, is worshiped by the people as he passes through the street, and is feasted at the tables of the nobles. Were you selected for this, as we consider it, great honor, there would be at least a year before you; and you might then, in some manner, make your escape beyond our boundaries. At any rate, some time is sure to elapse before your fate will be determined upon; and I can promise that I will do all in my power to aid you to escape, should you determine upon flight."
"I thank you most heartily," Roger said. "I have no fear of death in battle, but to me it would be very horrible to be put to death as a victim, on a festival; and I would rather escape and drown myself in the lake, than that such should be my fate. Still, if it must be so, it must; and I trust that I may behave as befits an Englishman, in such an extremity."
Amenche here stepped forward to her brother, and spoke earnestly in his ear.