Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/250

230 at his gardens, a league from Mexico, whither he led them with great pomp.

In the midst of this turmoil, on the night of Sunday, the 28th of January, 1526, a man in laborer's attire, knocked at the gate of San Francisco convent, and was admitted. In a close conference with the inmates he revealed himself as a messenger from Cortés. He related how poignant had been his master's grief and anger on receiving from the exiled Zuazo an account of the outrages and misrule in Mexico; how he had prepared to come in person to restore order, but had been deterred by a succession of mishaps wherein he perceived the desire of God for him to remain and achieve the conquest of Honduras. He had accordingly contented himself with sending instructions by the hand of his groom, Martin de Orantes, a man of great intelligence, who left Trujillo during the new-year celebrations, accompanied by several cavaliers and chiefs, through whom the statement of the messenger might be verified. The captain and pilots of his vessel had been well paid to observe every precaution, and Orantes was landed alone, some distance above Vera Cruz, while his companions sailed onward to the safer district of Pánuco. Disguising himself as a workingman, in bushy beard, with the despatches concealed round his body, he proceeded to Mexico on foot, avoiding Spaniards as much as possible. The despatches which he now exhibited revoked the existing gubernatorial commissions, and invested Casas with the supreme command. In case of his absence, Pedro de Alvarado should govern. If neither appeared, Orantes was to institute inquiries,