Author: Joseph Holt Ingraham

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-16

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 9781330128251

Excerpt from Montezuma, the Serf; Or the Revolt of the Mexitili, Vol. 1: The Tale of the Last Days of the Aztec Dynasty 'Stand aside, serf!' were the stern tones of an officer, addressed to a youth. With a thousand others, he was watching the procession of the Priests of the sun, headed by the emperor and his nobles, on the way to offer sacrifices at each gate of the city, to propitiate the wrath of their Deity - for rain had not fallen on the earth for the space of eleven weeks, and the fierce sun had burned up the harvests. The eyes of this youth seemed to be fixed more particularly on the princess Eylla, than on the spectacle, gorgeous as it was, with its seas of plumes and banners; its glittering helms and golden shields; its trains of knights in silver armor, and brazen chariots, with silken canopies of green and gold, containing beautiful virgins of the sun, glorious in their robes of white, and beaming coronets of stars. 'Stand aside, serf!' cried the officer a second time to the unheeding youth, and, at the same instant, the glittering point of a long, slender spear he carried, pricked the breast of the young man, who, ere it could penetrate, caught it in his hand, wrenched it from his grasp, broke it in twain, and caste pieces disdainfully at his feet. 'Ha! It is the slave Montezuma!' cried the infuriated officer. 'He has mocked us full long. Cut him down!' But ere the soldiers which formed the guard about the emperor and his daughter, and which the officer commanded, could obey, the crowd opened to the right and left and received the destined victim into its bosom. 'Hew your way to him,' cried the emperor, whose attention had been drawn to the scene, and who now beheld the citizens protecting the offender; 'cut the slaves in pieces!' 'Nay, my father, will you let blood be spilled on this sacred time?' plead the sweet and earnest voice of the princess Eylla, who, riding in the imperial chariot beside the emperor, also witnessed the affray. 'They are my slaves, and it is in their blood that I float above their heads,' was the stem reply of the tyrant. "Nay, father! see how the poor people fall before the weapons of the fierce guards! And look! others, as fast as their fellows are slain, press up to fill the gap, and, with their devoted hearts, place a barrier between thy vengeance and its victim!' 'Therefore should they die for thus daring to thwart my will! On your life, noble,' he called to the governor of his guard, 'let not the insolent slave escape!' 'Spare him - O, spare them! For my sake, aire, hid them hold,' plead the princess earnestly. 'Dost thou plead for a few bondmen, daughter! If I let this pass, the slaves will beard me on my throne!' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.