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174 of the city, noted, as they strolled about, signs of pitfalls familiar to an Indian's eye. The Tlascalans very naturally said, "Did we not tell you so?" It was Marina, however, who actually discovered the plot which many had suspected. She had found a friend among the women of Cholula, a chieftain's wife, who in her anxiety for Marina's safety warned her to leave the camp and take refuge with her. She hinted that the Aztecs were at hand, waiting to join the Cholulans in a massacre of the Spaniards and their allies, and that women, children and valuables were about to be sent out of the city.

Hearing this confirmation of his own fears, Cortez requested a meeting of the city council. He told them that he saw he had become a burden to them and that he had made up his mind to leave Cholula for Mexico the next day, and asked that they would furnish him with two thousand men to transport his artillery and baggage. After some consultation among themselves this request was granted. Cortez next sought an interview with the Aztec embassy and told them of the plot he had discovered, charging Montezuma with it. They feigned great surprise and declared that neither their chief nor the council knew anything about it; the fault lay entirely with the Cholulans. Cortez, although satisfied that they were deceiving him, affected to believe the Aztecs. At the same time, he kept them apart from the people of the city, lest his plan to take vengeance upon the latter should fail of execution.

That was a sleepless night for the Spanish general; his little army seemed to be standing over a magazine. They were in the heart of an enemy's country and surrounded by friends quite as capable of treachery as were the foes