The sovereign was especially protected in his marital affairs, death being visited upon the man who in the least degree usurped his place in the affections of a wife or one chosen to be a wife, and the woman concerned, we infer, was not held guiltless, but on the other hand was counted _particeps criminis_. With these few references and the information with which the narrative abounds, the reader, we feel, will be enabled to proceed intelligently and with satisfaction in its perusal. A PRINCE OF ANAHUAC. CHAPTER I. In a private and secluded apartment of his ancestral palace sat Huälc[=o]y[=o]tl,[1] the then reduced prince of Tezcuco, deeply engrossed in the mysteries of some hieroglyphical manuscript lying on a table before him. While thus engaged, his personal servant, Oz[=a], appeared at the door of his apartment, and paused in an attitude of waiting. The prince, happening to look up, saw him, and said: [1] See Preface with reference to pronunciation of names. "What is your errand, Oza?" "If it will please my master, Itzalmo would have speech with him," replied he. "Bid Itzalmo come; and, Oza, stand without; I may want you." * * * * * In the early part of the fifteenth century, and about one hundred years prior to the conquest of Mexico by Cortes, the Anahuac was just entering on its "Golden Era." It bloomed then, as it never has since, with an almost endless variety of tropical vegetation, and under the skillful hand of its inhabitants was made to appear like a vast park or garden. Its cities were marvelous in the peculiarity of their construction. On its lakes were beautiful floating gardens; emparked villas--charming landscapes within a landscape--dotted it over, and groves of magnificent forest trees--the oak, cypress, and other timbers, which raised their imposing heights toward heaven--stood sentinel, as it were, over the beautiful vales and lakes below. Of the many tribes of people then occupying the Anahuac, the Tezcucans, Tepanecs, Mexicans (Aztecs), and Tlacopans were among the larger and most prominent. Our narrative has to do with all these, but more particularly with the first named, who were the descendants of the Acolhuans, whose advent to the Anahuac took place near the close of the twelfth century, and nearly simultaneously with that of the Mexicans and Chichimecs--the latter, possibly, the race from which sprang the Tepanecs and others of the more savage tribes. The Acolhuans were a mild and peaceably disposed people, and intelligently superior. Their descendants, the Tezcucans, so called from the name of their chief city, inherited their admirable characteristics, and sustained their superiority for intelligence.