Higher and higher it
rose, a sound to strike terror into the bravest heart, and by degrees I
caught its purport.
'Kill them!' said the cry. 'Give the liars to the Teules.'
Otomie stepped forward to the edge of the platform, and lifting the
ebony sceptre she stood silent, the sunlight beating on her lovely face
and form. But the multitude screamed a thousand taunts and threats at
us, and still the tumult grew. Once they rushed towards her as though
to tear her to pieces, but fell back at the last stair, as a wave falls
from a rock, and once a spear was thrown that passed between her neck
and shoulder.
Now the soldiers who had carried me, making certain that our death was
at hand, and having no wish to share it, set my litter down upon the
stones and slipped back into the palace, but all this while Otomie never
so much as moved, no, not even when the spear hissed past her. She stood
before them stately and scornful, a very queen among women, and little
by little the majesty of her presence and the greatness of her courage
hushed them to silence. When there was quiet at length, she spoke in a
clear voice that carried far.
'Am I among my own people of the Otomie?' she asked bitterly, 'or have
we lost our path and wandered perchance among some savage Tlascalan
tribe? Listen, people of the Otomie. I have but one voice and none can
reason with a multitude.
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