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TITLE: MONTEZUMA'S DAUGHTER
AUTHOR: H. RIDER HAGGARD
EBOOK: E03390 (O'Briens Book Cellar)

Montezuma's Daughter

by

H. Rider Haggard

NOTE

The more unpronounceable of the Aztec names are shortened in many
instances out of consideration for the patience of the reader; thus
'Popocatapetl' becomes 'Popo,' 'Huitzelcoatl' becomes 'Huitzel,'
&c.  The prayer in Chapter xxvi. is freely rendered from
Jourdanet's French translation of Fray Bernardino de Sahagun's
History of New Spain, written shortly after the conquest of Mexico
(Book VI, chap. v.), to which monumental work and to Prescott's
admirable history the author of this romance is much indebted.  The
portents described as heralding the fall of the Aztec Empire, and
many of the incidents and events written of in this story, such as
the annual personation of the god Tezcatlipoca by a captive
distinguished for his personal beauty, and destined to sacrifice,
are in the main historical.  The noble speech of the Emperor
Guatemoc to the Prince of Tacuba uttered while they both were
suffering beneath the hands of the Spaniards is also authentic.

DEDICATION

My dear Jebb,

Strange as were the adventures and escapes of Thomas Wingfield,
once of this parish, whereof these pages tell, your own can almost
equal them in these latter days, and, since a fellow feeling makes
us kind, you at least they may move to a sigh of sympathy.  Among
many a distant land you know that in which he loved and fought,
following vengeance and his fate, and by your side I saw its relics
and its peoples, its volcans and its valleys.  You know even where
lies the treasure which, three centuries and more ago, he helped to
bury, the countless treasure that an evil fortune held us back from
seeking.  Now the Indians have taken back their secret, and though
many may search, none will lift the graven stone that seals it, nor
shall the light of day shine again upon the golden head of
Montezuma.  So be it!  The wealth which Cortes wept over, and his
Spaniards sinned and died for, is for ever hidden yonder by the
shores of the bitter lake whose waters gave up to you that ancient
horror, the veritable and sleepless god of Sacrifice, of whom I
would not rob you--and, for my part, I do not regret the loss.

What cannot be lost, what to me seem of more worth than the dead
hero Guatemoc's gems and jars of gold, are the memories of true
friendship shown to us far away beneath the shadow of the
Slumbering Woman,* and it is in gratitude for these that I ask
permission to set your name within a book which were it not for you
would never have been written.

I am, my dear Jebb,

Always sincerely yours,

H. RIDER HAGGARD.

DITCHINGHAM, NORFOLK, October 5, 1892.

To J. Gladwyn Jebb, Esq.

NOTE

Worn out prematurely by a life of hardship and extraordinary
adventure, Mr. Jebb passed away on March 18, 1893, taking with him
the respect and affection of all who had the honour of his
friendship.  The author has learned with pleasure that the reading
of this tale in proof and the fact of its dedication to himself
afforded him some amusement and satisfaction in the intervals of
his sufferings.

H. R. H.

March 22, 1893.

* The volcano Izticcihuatl in Mexico.

CONTENTS

I        WHY THOMAS WINGFIELD TELLS HIS TALE

II.      OF THE PARENTAGE OF THOMAS WINGFIELD

III.     THE COMING OF THE SPANIARD

IV.      THOMAS TELLS HIS LOVE

V.       THOMAS SWEARS AN OATH

VI.      GOOD-BYE, SWEETHEART

VII.     ANDRES DE FONSECA

VIII.    THE SECOND MEETING

IX.      THOMAS BECOMES RICH

X.       THE PASSING OF ISABELLA DE SIGUENZA

XI.      THE LOSS OF THE CARAK

XII.     THOMAS COMES TO SHORE

XIII.    THE STONE OF SACRIFICE

XIV.     THE SAVING OF GUATEMOC

XV.      THE COURT OF MONTEZUMA

XVI.     THOMAS BECOMES A GOD

XVII.    THE ARISING OF PAPANTZIN

XVIII.   THE NAMING OF THE BRIDES

XIX.     THE FOUR GODDESSES

XX.      OTOMIE'S COUNSEL

XXI.     THE KISS OF LOVE

XXII.    THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS

XXIII.   THOMAS IS MARRIED

XXIV.    THE NIGHT OF FEAR

XXV.     THE BURYING OF MONTEZUMA'S TREASURE

XXVI.    THE CROWNING OF GUATEMOC

XXVII.   THE FALL OF TENOCTITLAN

XXVIII.  THOMAS IS DOOMED

XXIX.    DE GARCIA SPEAKS HIS MIND

XXX.     THE ESCAPE

XXXI.    OTOMIE PLEADS WITH HER PEOPLE

XXXII.   THE END OF GUATEMOC

XXXIII.  ISABELLA DE SIGUENZA IS AVENGED

XXXIV.   THE SIEGE OF THE CITY OF PINES

XXXV.    THE LAST SACRIFICE OF THE WOMEN OF THE OTOMIE

XXXVI.   THE SURRENDER

XXXVII.  VENGEANCE

XXXVIII. OTOMIE'S FAREWELL

XXXIX.   THOMAS COMES BACK FROM THE DEAD

XL.      AMEN

Montezuma's Daughter

CHAPTER I

WHY THOMAS WINGFIELD TELLS HIS TALE

Now glory be to God who has given us the victory!  It is true, the
strength of Spain is shattered, her ships are sunk or fled, the sea
has swallowed her soldiers and her sailors by hundreds and by
thousands, and England breathes again.  They came to conquer, to
bring us to the torture and the stake--to do to us free Englishmen
as Cortes did by the Indians of Anahuac.  Our manhood to the slave
bench, our daughters to dishonour, our souls to the loving-kindness
of the priest, our wealth to the Emperor and the Pope!  God has
answered them with his winds, Drake has answered them with his
guns.  They are gone, and with them the glory of Spain.

I, Thomas Wingfield, heard the news to-day on this very Thursday in
the Bungay market-place, whither I went to gossip and to sell the
apples which these dreadful gales have left me, as they hang upon
my trees.

Before there had been rumours of this and of that, but here in
Bungay was a man named Young, of the Youngs of Yarmouth, who had
served in one of the Yarmouth ships in the fight at Gravelines, aye
and sailed north after the Spaniards till they were lost in the
Scottish seas.

Little things lead to great, men say, but here great things lead to
little, for because of these tidings it comes about that I, Thomas
Wingfield, of the Lodge and the parish of Ditchingham in the county
of Norfolk, being now of a great age and having only a short time
to live, turn to pen and ink.  Ten years ago, namely, in the year
1578, it pleased her Majesty, our gracious Queen Elizabeth, who at
that date visited this county, that I should be brought before her
at Norwich.  There and then, saying that the fame of it had reached

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