Page:About Mexico - Past and Present.djvu/230

222 angry bees all along the road, pelting them with stones and taunting them with their defeat. What with their wounds, the horses overloaded with disabled men, the entire want of artillery and the ceaseless fighting, this first day's march was not over nine miles. Their road led north, around several small lakes, and then east through a mountainous country which gave the Indians every advantage. Huge stones were rolled down from the heights on the fleeing host. Sharpshooters hidden behind rocks and trees let fly their arrows as the Spaniards dragged themselves along or strayed into the fields for an ear of corn wherewith to appease their hunger. Famine might have been added to the other perils of the way but for the wild cherry trees, then in fruit, which everywhere grew in abundance. So many of these hungry men were killed that Cortez was obliged to punish stragglers in order to save the remnant of his army from those of the relentless enemy who hovered around them like birds of prey. Two nights and a day were spent in camp, to rest the wornout men and horses. During this time crutches were made for those who were too lame or too weak to walk, so that in case of attack the horses would be free for duty. Cortez marched with his men, cheering them on with his own unfailing courage and that faith in his own mission which he never seemed to lose. Most of those with him were veterans who had come with him from Cuba. The recruits he gained from Narvaez, being in the rear in the flight from Mexico, had borne the brunt of the battle, and most of them fell on that "sorrowful night." The poor Tlascalans, too, were nearly all gone, but those who still lived pushed bravely on with their companions in arms, seeming to forget that it was for the