being rapidly spread amongst the people, and there would certainly have been an uprising and attempted rescue had not Montezuma commanded his nobles to threaten with death any one who should attempt it, and declared that the visit to the Spanish quarters was made of his own free will.
His domestics preceded him and hung an apartment with fine tapestry and transported furniture from the royal palace. They ministered to his wants as before, and he preserved the same state, giving audiences to his subjects in the same manner as when he was in supreme control. But he was now a monarch only in name, as the subsequent dealings of Cortez with him fully show.
The officers bearing the signet of the god returned in fifteen days with the culprits, Quetzalpopoca, his son, and fifteen others. They were richly dressed; putting off their shoes and covering their fine garments with coarser ones, they came into the presence of Montezuma. He received them coldly, reprimanded them for attacking the Spaniards, and then delivered them over to Cortez.
If there is anything that can reconcile us to the ignoble treatment of Montezuma by the Spanish chief, it is his baseness in delivering his vassals up to torture in order to shield himself from the consequences of his own policy and commands. There is no doubt that he commanded this lord to reduce the Totonacs to obedience—as he had a right to do, as rebellious subjects—but he had not the spirit to admit as much to the Spaniards.
Quetzalpopoca and his officers were handed over to the Spaniards, to be dealt with as traitors to the Spanish king, of whom they—the subjects of Montezuma—had never heard before in their lives! In the centre of the square a large collection was made of darts, arrows, bows, and shields, from the royal armory, which Cortez was anxious to get rid of, as they might be of use against him in the hands of the
