The spirit of the hunter was fast rising; yet he followed, listening.
“And, my friends,” the Tezcucan continued, “who better judged the conduct of the combatants that day than the king? See the result. To-night I take from the faint heart his bride, the woman he has loved from boyhood. Then this banquet. In whose honor is it? What does it celebrate? There is a prize to be awarded,—the prize of courage and skill; and who gets it? And further, of the nobles and chiefs of the valley, but one is absent,—he whose prudence exceeds his valor.”
In such strain the Tezcucan proceeded. And Hualpa, fully aroused, pushed through the company to the speaker, but so quietly that those who observed him asked no questions. Assured that the ’tzin must have friends present, he waited for some one to take up his cause. His own impulse was restrained by his great dread of the king, whose gardens he knew were not fighting-grounds at any time or in any quarrel. But, as the boastful prince continued, the resolve to punish him took definite form with the Tihuancan,—to such degree had his admiration for the ’tzin already risen! Gradually the auditors dropped behind or disappeared; finally but one remained,—a middle-aged, portly noble, whose demeanor was not of the kind to shake the resolution taken.
Hualpa made his first advance close by the eastern gate of the garden, to which point he held himself in check lest the want of arms should prove an apology for refusing the fight.
“Will the lord Iztlil’ stop?” he said, laying his hand on the Tezcucan’s arm.
“I do not know you,” was the answer.
The sleek courtier also stopped, and stared broadly.
“You do not know me! I will mend my fortune in that respect,” returned the hunter, mildly. “I have heard what you said so ungraciously of my friend and comrade,”—the last word he emphasized strongly,—“Guatamozin.” Then he repeated the offensive words as correctly as if he had been a practised herald, and concluded, “Now, you know the ’tzin cannot be here to-night; you also know the reason; but, for him and in his place, I say, prince though you are, you have basely slandered an absent enemy.”
“Who are you?” asked the Tezcucan, surprised.
“The comrade of Guatamozin, here to take up his quarrel.”