"Donna Marina will make arrangements for a canoe to be here, after nightfall; and by staining your face, and putting on the attire of an Aztec noble--for which we have ample materials at hand--would not be noticed as you pass through the throng of yon boats on the lake.

It would be best that you did not go as a Spanish soldier.

You might be arrested on the road, and perhaps carried away and sacrificed at one of the altars.

Once at Tezcuco you must, of course, act in the matter as you think best." Marina--who was not, like the Spaniards, confined to the palace--had no difficulty in arranging for a canoe; and as soon as it became dark, Roger, dressed as an Aztec cazique, and with his face slightly stained, took his place in it.

The lake was thronged with canoes, but the craft in which he was seated passed without notice through them, and after two hours' paddling reached Tezcuco.
Telling the natives that they were to wait for his return, however long that might be, Roger proceeded to the palace.