And ready they were,—matches lighted, steel-cords full drawn. Every drum-beat welded them a firmer unit.
The roar of the combat in progress around the palace had been all the time audible to the returning party; now they beheld the teocallis covered with infidels, and the street blockaded with them, while a cloud of smoke, slowly rising and slowly fading, bespoke the toils and braveries of the defence enacting under its dun shade. Suddenly, Alvarado stood in his stirrups,—
“Ola! what have we here?”
A body of Aztecs, in excellent order, armed with spears of unusual length, and with a front that swept the street from wall to wall, was marching swiftly to meet him.
“There is wood enough in those spears to build a ship,” said a horseman.
A few steps on another spoke,—
“If I may be allowed, Señor, I suggest that Mesa be called up to play upon them awhile.”
But Alvarado’s spirit rose.
“No; there is an enemy fast coming behind us; turn thy ear in that direction, and thou mayest hear them already. We cannot wait. Battle-axe and horse first; if they fail, then the guns. Look to girth and buckle!”
Rode they then without halt or speech until the space between them and the coming line was not more than forty yards.