Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/365

245 upon the enemy as they climbed the sides of the pyramid. But there was little use in this. Quickly they were driven by the sword from the platform into the chapel tower. Not caring to lose time in a siege, the Spaniards offered them their lives. One alone is said to have surrendered. The rest, inspired by the presence of the idols, spat defiance. It was their last effort, for the next moment the torch was applied, and enfolding the building, the flames drove the besieged, frenzied with terror and excitement, upon the line of pikes inclosing them, or head-foremost down the dizzy heights. To the last could be seen a priest upon the highest pinnacle, enveloped in smoke and glare, declaiming against the idols for having abandoned them, and shouting: "Now, Tlascala, thy heart has its revenge! Speedily shall Montezuma have his!"

During the first two hours of the slaughter over three thousand men perished, if we may believe Cortés, and for three hours more he continued the carnage, raising the number of deaths according to different estimates to six thousand or more. The loss of life would have been still greater but for the strict orders issued to spare the women and children, and also the less hostile wards, and for the eagerness of the Tlascaltecs to secure captives as well as spoils, and of the Spaniards to hunt for treasures. The hostile wards had besides been pretty well cleared of inhabitants by the time Cortés returned to his quarters