"Then farewell, Nenetzin. Ill betide the man or fortune that keepeth thee from me hereafter! May I forfeit life, and the Holy Mother's love, if I see thee not again! Farewell."
He kissed his mailed hand to her, and, facing the array of scowling pabas, strode to them, and through their circle, with a laugh of knightly scorn.
At the door of the turret of Huitzil' he said to the page, "The love of yon girl, heathen no longer, but Christian, by the cross she weareth,--her love, and the brightness of her presence, for the foulness and sin of this devil's den,--what an exchange! _Valgame Dios!_ Thou shalt have the ducat. She is the glory of the world!"
"My lord Maxtla, go see if there be none coming this way now."
And while the chief touched the ground with his palm, the king added, as to himself, and impatiently, "Surely it is time."
"Of whom speak you?" asked Cuitlahua, standing by. Only the brother would have so presumed.
The monarch looked into the branches of the cypress-tree above him; he seemed holding the words in ear, while he followed a thought.
They were in the grove of Chapultepec at the time. About them were the famous trees, apparently old as the hill itself, with trunks so massive that they had likeness to things of cunning labor, products of some divine art. The sun touched them here and there with slanting yellow rays, by contrast deepening the shadows that purpled the air. From the gnarled limbs the gray moss drooped, like listless drapery. Nesting birds sang from the topmost boughs, and parrots, flitting to and fro, lit the gloaming with transient gleams of scarlet and gold: yet the effect of the place was mysterious; the hush of the solitude softened reflection into dreaming; the silence was a solemn presence in which speech sunk to a whisper, and laughter would have been profanation. In such primeval temples men walk with Time, as in paradise Adam walked with God.
"I am waiting for the lord Hualpa," the king at last replied, turning his sad eyes to his brother's face.
"Hualpa!" said Cuitlahua, marvelling, as well he might, to find the great king waiting for the merchant's son, so lately a simple hunter.
"Yes. He serves me in an affair of importance. His appointment was for noon; he tarries, I fear, in the city. Next time I will choose an older messenger."