Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/21

 

Tenochtitlan had fallen, its splendor buried with the blood-stained altars that had so long been a terror to Anáhuac. And the proud Aztecs lay trodden under foot, beaten back into their original abasement, as serfs and refugees, to form with their emblazoned prestige a pedestal for the victor's fame. The promise of Cortés to the king, made two years before, was fulfilled, and his prospects were very bright. Little fear now of dungeons, of a traitor's fate; he could boldly face his arch-enemy and rival, and point to all justifying success as an advocate for the attainment even of the coveted governorship of this empire, the largest and richest so far acquired for his sovereign. Proudly exultant, he hugged himself as his mind dwelt upon the foremost conqueror in the Indies.

But his cup was not wholly free from bitterness even now; whose is? His soldiers and companions expected also their reward, and that quickly and in

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