Gerund made one of his comical grimaces. "My lord, there is no knowing who is nearest the throne," he answered. "Put not your trust in princes. Cortez has sent embassadors to Spain. "What if he has? Have not I done the same?"

But, with his embassadors, Cortez sent great treasures of gold and precious stones, and I have been told that even the good king, like other Spaniards, is afflicted with a disease of the heart which naught save gold will cure."

"What the knave says has truth in it," said the governor. At this moment the very man above all others whom he wished to see, Panfilo de Narvaez, entered the room.

"I am glad you have come, Narvaez, for I wish to consult with you on a matter of great moment. Gerund, leave us."

"Don't make the stew so hot it will burn your lips," laughed the jester on quitting the room.

"The rascal has more wisdom than he gets credit for," said the governor. "But to business, Narvaez. You have heard of the rebel Cortez?"

"Have you heard from your embassadors ?" "No."

Cortez, having conquered the richest nation in the world, has sent embassadors to Spain loaded with treasure to buy a good opinion of himself.”

"I have feared as much," returned Velasquez.

"Report says that he has Montezuma a prisoner in his own city, and something must be done, governor, or all the glory and renown of this conquest will belong to Cortez."

"What can be done?"

"You have power to send and bring the rebel back."

"Whom shall I send?"

"Send me."

"Would you go?"

"That I would."

The governor rose and, grasping his hand, gazed a moment into his face to make sure he was in earnest.

66

Narvaez, you are the very man I would have chosen," he declared, "and I only await authority from Spain to raise an army

66

'Why wait, governor, when you may take measures for redress in your own hand. The week Cortez sailed, a capitulation was signed by Charles V., conferring on you the title of Adelantado, with great augmentation of your original powers. Do not hesitate to send such a force to Mexico as will enable you to assert your new authority, and take vengeance on your rebellious officer."

Velasquez, deeply moved by the reports of treasure sent by Cortez to Spain, was in the mood

for such advice. Rage, mortification, disappointment, and avarice distracted his mind.

He could not forgive himself for trusting the conquest to such hands. The governor, who was a very corpulent man, rose and paced the floor for several moments, his florid face flushed with excitement and rage.

"I cannot go myself," he panted. "I am too fat to endure the hardships incident to such an expedition, and besides, my tenderness for my Indian subjects, who are wasting away with this epidemic, forbids that I should leave Cuba. You must relieve me at this trying hour and take the command."

Narvaez, who had longed for an opportunity to distinguish himself, did not hesitate. The compact was made at once, and, exercising his new authority, Velasquez commissioned Narvaez to command the expedition. The governor and his lieutenant were unwearied in their efforts to assemble an army. They visited every considerable town in the island, fitting out vessels, laying in stores and ammunition, and encouraging volunteers to enlist.

Of course Christina and her son learned of these efforts, and were alarmed at the formidable expedition which threatened the death of the husband and father. One day the lad was accosted by Narvaez himself in St. Jago.

"Do you know why all these preparations are being made?" the general asked.

"Yes, for a failure."

"No, we are going to hang the rebel Cortez, and your father to the same mast.'

"Have a care, lieutenant, that you do not come back the worse for having met my father."

"Your father?

him?"

Do you imagine that I fear

"I know that you do not; but I am quite certain he has no fears of you, and would advise you to have a care, as you may not return as well in body and mind as you go."

Gerund, who was near enough to overhear the boy, put in:

"'Tis an old saying I learned in my youth

That fools and children speak the truth."

The

Narvaez was more annoyed than he would have admitted, though he continued his efforts to raise an army and fleet suitable for the expedition. report of these proceedings soon spread through the islands, and drew the attention of the Royal Audience of San Domingo. This body was, at that time, intrusted not only with the highest judicial authority in the colonies, but with a civil jurisdiction, which, as "the admiral" complained, encroached on his own rights. The tribunal saw

with alarm the proposed expedition of Velasquez, which, whatever might be its issue in regard to the parties, could not fail to compromise the interests of the crown. Accordingly, one of their number was chosen, a licentiate named Ayllon, a man noted for prudence and resolution, and dispatched to Cuba with instructions to interpose his authority and prevent, if possible, the sailing of the expedition. But Ayllon found that the flame had been fanned too long and the fire had gained too much headway for him to extinguish it. He accompanied the fleet of eighteen sail, but before he had gone far he was arrested and sent back in a ship to Cuba, though he prevailed on the captain to land him at San Domingo.

"I will hang the rebel Cortez," Narvaez declared; "all the licentiates in Hispaniola cannot prevent me."

On the 23d of April, 1520, the hostile fleet an chored off San Juan de Ulua, the spot where Cortez first landed on the sandy waste now covered by the city of Vera Cruz. From a Mexican, taken on board his ship, Narvaez gathered the particulars of all that had occurred since the departure of the envoys from Vera Cruz, including the march into the mountain, the bloody battles with the Tlascalans, the occupation of Mexico, the rich treasures found in it, and the seizure of Montezuma.