At length
the suspense came to an end; a door was opened, and two fierce Tlascalan
Indians came through it and seized me by the hair and ears, dragging me
thus into my own chamber.
'Poor devil!' I heard one of the Spanish soldiers say as I went.
'Apostate or no, I am sorry for him; this is bloody work.'
Then the door closed and I was in the place of torment. The room was
darkened, for a cloth had been hung in front of the window bars, but its
gloom was relieved by certain fires that burned in braziers. It was by
the light of these fires chiefly that I saw the sight. On the floor of
the chamber were placed three solid chairs, one of them empty. The other
two were filled by none other than Guatemoc, Emperor of the Aztecs, and
by his friend and mine the cacique of Tacuba. They were bound in the
chairs, the burning braziers were placed at their feet, behind them
stood a clerk with paper and an inkhorn, and around them Indians were
busy at some dreadful task, directed to it by two Spanish soldiers. Near
the third chair stood another Spaniard who as yet took no part in
the play; it was de Garcia. As I looked, an Indian lifted one of the
braziers and seizing the naked foot of the Tacuban prince, thrust it
down upon the glowing coals. For a while there was silence, then the
Tacuban broke into groans. Guatemoc turned his head towards him and
spoke, and as he spoke I saw that his foot also was resting in the
flames of a brazier.
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