Choose you a tongue to speak for you, and let
him set out the desire of your hearts.'
Now the tumult began again, for some shouted one name and some another,
but in the end a priest and noble named Maxtla stepped forward, a man
of great power among the Otomie, who, above all had favoured an alliance
with the Spaniards and opposed the sending of an army to aid Guatemoc
in the defence of Tenoctitlan. Nor did he come alone, for with him were
four chiefs, whom by their dress I knew to be Tlascalans and envoys from
Cortes. Then my heart sank, for it was not difficult to guess the object
of their coming.
'Speak on, Maxtla,' said Otomie, 'for we must hear what there is for us
to answer, and you, people of the Otomie, I pray you keep silence, that
you may judge between us when there is an end of talking.'
Now a great silence fell upon the multitude, who pressed together like
sheep in a pen, and strained their ears to catch the words of Maxtla.
'My speech with you, princess, and the Teule your outlawed husband,
shall be short and sharp,' he began roughly. 'A while hence you came
hither to seek an army to aid Cuitlahua, Emperor of the Aztecs, in his
struggle with the Teules, the sons of Quetzal. That army was given you,
against the wishes of many of us, for you won over the council by the
honey of your words, and we who urged caution, or even an alliance with
the white men, the children of god, were overruled.
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