Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/23

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CONTENTS.
xvii
Page
CHAPTER XXIII.
UPRISING OF THE AZTECS.
May-June, 1520.
Character of the Aztecs — Spanish Quarters — The City in Arms — Growing Hatred toward the Invaders — Perilous Position of Alvarado — Montezuma Called to Interfere — Failing Provisions — Miraculous Water — Cortés to the Rescue — Rendezvous at Tlascala — The City and its People — The Army Joins Alvarado — Desperate Encounters. 419
CHAPTER XXIV.
FIGHT UPON THE TEMPLE SUMMIT.
June, 1520.
The Natives Continue the Assault — Their Fierce Bravery — The Spaniards Build Turrets — Still the Mexicans Prove too Strong for Them — Montezuma Called to Intercede — He is Insulted and Stoned by his Subjects — Cortés Attempts Egress by the Tlacopan Causeway — Failure of Escobar to Take the Pyramid — Cortés Gains the Slippery Height — The Gladiatorial Combat There. 436
CHAPTER XXV.
DEATH OF MONTEZUMA.
June, 1520.
A Living Death — The Old Imperial Party and the New Power — Aztec Defiance — Perilous Position of the Spaniards — Disappointment to Cortés — Another Sally — The Dying Monarch — He has No Desire to Live — His Rejection of a New Faith — He will None of the Heaven of the Spaniards — Commends his Children to Cortés — The Character of Montezuma and of his Reign. 449
CHAPTER XXVI.
LA NOCHE TRISTE.
June 30, 1520.
The Captive-King Drama Carried too Far — Better had the Spaniards Taken Montezuma's Advice, and have Departed while Opportunity Offered — Diplomatic Value of a Dead Body — Necessity for an Immediate Evacuation of the City — Departure from the Fort — Midnight Silence — The City Roused by a Woman's Cry — The Fugitives Fiercely Attacked on All Sides — More Horrors. 463