And the king, listening, said to himself, “I remember my own youth, and its earliest victory, and how I passed from successes at first the most trifling. Ah! who but Huitzil’, father of all the gods, can tell the end? Blessed the day when I can set before him the prospect of a throne instead of a shield!”
The target was brought him, and he measured the distance of each arrow from the centre; and when he saw how exactly Hualpa’s was planted between the others, his subtile mind detected the purpose and the generosity.
“The victory is yours, O my son, and so is the shield,” he said, slowly and thoughtfully. “But ah! were it given you to look with eyes like mine,—with eyes sharpened by age for the discovery of blessings, your rejoicing would be over a friend found, whose love is proof against vanity and the hope of reward.”
Hualpa understood him, and was proud. What was the prize lost to Montezuma gained?
“It grows late; my time is sacred,” said the king. “Lord Hualpa, stay and guide me to the palace. And Io’, be you my courier to the ’tzin. Go before, and tell him I am coming.”
The boy ran ahead, and as they leisurely followed him, the monarch relapsed into melancholy. In the shade of a ceiba tree he stopped, and said, “There is a service you might do me, that lies nearer my heart than any other.”
“The will of the great king is mine,” Hualpa replied, with a low reverence.
“When I am old,” pursued Montezuma, “when the things of earth begin to recede from me, it would be pleasant to have a son worthy to lift the Empire from my shoulders. While I am going up the steps of the temple, a seeker of the holy peace that lies in worship and prayer, the government would not then be a care to disturb me. But I am sensible that no one could thus relieve me unless he had the strong hand of a warrior, and was fearless except of the gods. Io’ is my only hope. From you he first caught the desire of greatness, and you can make him great. Take him as a comrade; love him as a brother; teach him the elements of war,—to wield spear and maquahuitl; to bear shield, to command, and to be brave and generous. Show him the ways of ambition. Above all,”—as he spoke he raised his head and hand, and looked the impersonation of his idea,—“above all, let him know that a king may find his glory as much in the love of his people as in his power. Am I understood?”
Hualpa did not look up, but said, “Am I worthy? I have the skill of hand; but have I the learning?”
“To make him learned belongs to the priests. I only asked you to make him a warrior.”