The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico

ter of the night was gone. Few heard the cry without pleasure; for to-morrow wa

led C?s, was of but one story, and had but one tower. At the south its base was washed by a canal; on all the other sides it was enclosed by stone walls high, probably, as a man's head. The three sides so walled were bounded by streets, and faced by

t, where a flight of steps, wide as the whole building, led from the ground to the azoteas, a paved area constituting the roof, crowned in the centre by a roun

ended into a court-yard, around which, in the shade of a colonnade, were doors and windows of habitable apartments and passages leading far into the interior. And there, shroud

oms, and long, winding halls

f a king could better make a god than custom, the people abandoned the old ones to desuetude. Up in the ancient cupola, however, sat the image said to have been carved by Quetzal's own hand. Still the fair face looked out benignly on its realm of air; carelessly the winds waved "the plumes of fire" that decked its awful head; and one stony hand yet

rner of which Mualox stood, his beard white and flowing as his surplice. Thought of da

mn of the choir? Where the prayer? Where the holiness that rested, like a spell, around the altar? Is the valley fruitless, and are the gardens without flowers, that he should be without offering or sacrifice?... Ah! well ye know that the day is not distant when

ried a javelin, and a shield with an owl painted on its face. Indeed, one will travel far before finding, among Christians or unbelievers, his peer. He was then not more than twenty-five years old, tall and nobly proportioned, and with a bearing truly royal. In Spain I have seen eyes as large and lustrous, but none of such power and variety of expression. His complexion

id the pries

and knelt, and ki

slave! He was dream

ntezuma, throwing back the hood that covered his head.

of lore profound, and monarch wise of thought, for whom Heaven was prep

orehead was broad and full, while he seemed possessed of height and strength. His neck was round, muscular, and encircled by a collar of golden

th downcast eyes, and hand

from Montezuma. Gloom of clouds in a vale of firs is not darker than the mood of Quetzal'; but to

d up at the fi

image. His priests are proud; and they say he is happy, and that whe

ured to raise his eyes to the k

l' himself? The new pyramid may be grand; its towers may be numberless, and its fires far reaching as the sun itself; but hope not that will sati

but in the eyes of the venerable man there was t

you are!" Then, laying his hand on the 'tzin's arm, the monarc

now that his religion and god are mocked; but the 'tzin is faithful. A

he

into t

arch fa

you it is as hard to be faithful to a kin

ed. "Let us go," he