"I will assist you. I am strong, if not very large," was the confident reply.
"You are very good, Hualla, in being so willing and anxious to help me, but I fear you will not be equal to the demands which my crippled condition will require in an effort to gain the cover of yon woods."
"You will let me try, tzin; I may be stronger than you think," said the lad, taking hold of Euetzin's arm to assist him to rise.
"Yes, you may try. Until you have done so, we will not despair; our combined efforts may prove successful," said Euetzin, getting onto his feet, with the assistance of the youth.
"Now lean on me," said Hualla, putting his arm around the tzin's body. "In this way I think we can get on."
A heroic effort was now made by both to get away from the vicinity of Maxtla's camp. The tzin suffered intensely at every step, and his face, could it have been seen, would have shown a deathly pallor. While the effort continued he found it necessary to gradually lean more heavily upon his support, until the youth, from sheer inability to proceed farther, allowed his burden to sink to the ground.
They had covered in the effort quite a little distance, and the lad, though considerably exhausted, was encouraged. But just here a new complication entered into the situation: the bandages which confined the tzin's wound had become disarranged by his exertions, and hemorrhage ensued. There was no alternative in the matter: they must stop and rearrange the disordered bandages.
Stretching himself on the ground, the tzin gave directions to Hualla as to how he should proceed, and the bleeding was checked. In performing the operation, no woman's fingers ever worked more gently than did Hualla's.
The tzin once more endeavored to rise to his feet, but failed in the attempt because of the extreme pain it caused him.
"I can go no farther, Hualla," he said, in deep distress.