Page:The Mastering of Mexico.djvu/359

Rh civility by sending two splendid mantles, with the assurance he would meet Cortes when things were ready. The message was a blind, however; Guatemoc never intended to come, and had parleyed for time in which to repair bridges, deepen canals and get fresh supplies of arms.

For us, when three days had passed, and the monarch did not appear, we concluded we had been fooled. The Mexicans, however, left us no time to vex ourselves with thought of the deceit, for they attacked us with such fierceness that we could hardly keep our ground.