THE ROMANCE OF MEXICO
triumphant sense of owning the country was theirs no more. Sullen, threatening looks met them in the streets, and every moment they expected an attack. Constant watch and guard were kept as if in a siege, the soldiers never sleeping out of their armour. "Without meaning to boast," says old Diaz, "I may say of myself that my armour was as easy to me as the softest down, and such is my custom, that when I now go the rounds of my district, I never take a bed with me unless I happen to be accompanied by strange cavaliers, in which case I do it only to avoid the appearance of poverty, but, by my faith, even when I have one I always throw myself on it in my clothes; such it is to be a true soldier! Another peculiarity I have is, that I cannot sleep through the night, but always awaken and get up in order to contemplate the heavens and the stars, and thus I amuse myself, walking backwards and forwards, as I used to do when on guard without hat or cap; and glory be to God, I never yet caught cold, nor was a jot the worse for it. I mention these things that the world may understand of what stuff we, the true conquerors, were made, and how well drilled we were to arms and watching."
