"The friend of Hualcoyotl is shrewd. It is well. The matter shall have consideration. When the fifth sun is on its upward course, if you will come again, you shall have our answer," said the king.
"How may we be assured that Macua will be faithful to the confidence which we have reposed in him?" asked the tzin, with the object of securing some pledge from the young king.
"By the kingly honor of Macua, and this," he answered haughtily, handing the tzin a ring on which was the king's sign of distinction, the possession of which made the holder an accepted embassador, and gave him a pledge which the tzin well knew would be respected.
The position and person of an embassador was sacredly regarded among the nations of Anahuac. "They were lodged and entertained in the great towns," says the historian, "at the public charge, and were everywhere received with courtesy, so long as they kept within certain prescribed bounds." The king's signet was, therefore, a passport to the tzin in any part of Macua's kingdom, securing him the hospitality of the people, and free entertainment; it was not his purpose, however, to take advantage of it. The signet was to him only a pledge of Macua's faith.
On receiving the ring Euetzin said:
"The king's pledge is more than satisfactory to the friends of Hualcoyotl. When the fifth sun is on its upward course we will come for Macua's answer, and bring with us proofs of what Tezcuco can do." This ended the interview, and, saluting his majesty very profoundly, the young men withdrew.
The tzin was well pleased with the result of his audience with Macua, and was much encouraged by it. He felt certain that he was about to secure an important ally for Hualcoyotl in the king of Tlacopan, and went about his business with the added stimulus of a stronger confidence.
Euetzin had much to engage his attention in the time which would intervene before the advent of the day fixed for the second meeting with Macua. He decided first of all to visit a few of the chief cities for the purpose of securing data from which to proceed in carrying out the prince's instructions; and also to enable him to present an approximate estimate of Tezcuco's undiscovered but existent oath-bound hosts to the king of Tlacopan, in support of his declaration. Also to offer a word of explanation and encouragement to his coadjutors.
After calling on the leading Tezcucans in Macua's capital, he and Cacami crossed over to Tenochtitlan.