Were it not for these unsubstantial terrors that haunted him, the Spaniards had never won a foothold in Tenoctitlan, and the Aztecs would have remained free for many a year to come.

But Providence willed it otherwise, and this dead and disgraced monarch was but its instrument.
Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I gazed upon the body of the great Montezuma.

But Otomie, ceasing from her tears, kissed his clay and cried aloud: 'O my father, it is well that you are dead, for none who loved you could desire to see you live on in shame and servitude.

May the gods you worshipped give me strength to avenge you, or if they be no gods, then may I find it in myself.

I swear this, my father, that while a man is left to me I will not cease from seeking to avenge you.' Then taking my hand, without another word she turned and passed thence.
As will be seen, she kept her oath.
On that day and on the morrow there was fighting with the Spaniards, who sallied out to fill up the gaps in the dykes of the causeway, a task in which they succeeded, though with some loss.