Birth, 135; enters the army, 135; visits Cuba, 135--An attractive portrait, 135--Defects of character, 136--Velasquez and Grijalva's expedition, 136--A love story, 137--Cortés receives a commission, 137; his companions, 137--Jealousy of Velasquez, 137--The squadron, 138--Jérome d' Aguilar, 138--First conflict with the Aztecs, 139--Palm Sunday, 139--A happy people, 140--Rumors of danger, 140--Presents to the strangers, 141--Cortés as Quetzalcoatl, 141--Easter, 141--A perplexed council, 142--Mistaken policy, 142--Vera Cruz, 142--Cortés visits Cempoallan, 143--Tlaxcalla, 143--The ships destroyed, 144. XIV. MALINTZI 145-150 Her birthplace, 145--The little duchess is made a slave, 145--Life in Tabasco, 146--Arrival of Cortés, 146--Treaty of alliance, 146--The heiress-slave becomes a Christian, 146--Marina or Malinche, 146--A new interpreter, 147--A beautiful picture, 147--Splendid gifts, 148--Malintzi's beauty, 149; her devotion to Cortés, 149; its result, 149. XV. TLAXCALLA 151-157 An isolated province, 151--Exaggerated reports, 151--Efforts for the friendship of the Tlaxcallans, 152--A trap for the Spaniards, 152--A battle, 152--Defeat of the Tlaxcallans, 153--Peace concluded, 153--Christianity introduced, 153--Cholula, 154--Slaughter of the Cholultecas, 154--Alliance with Ixtlilxochitl, 154--Cacamatzin imprisoned, 155--Cortés reaches Mexico, 156--Cortés and Montezuma, 157--A lesson and a vow, 157. XVI. LA NOCHE TRISTE 158-165 Overtures of friendship, 158--Bold measures, 159--Montezuma in the power of the Spaniards, 159--A rival in the field, 159--Alvarado, 160--The feast of Huitzilopochtli, 160--The Spaniards in danger, 160--Death of Montezuma, 161--Mexican traditions, 162--Cortés abandons the city, 163--A desperate struggle, 163--_La Noche Triste_, 164--The scene of the battle, 164; the losses, 165. XVII. CONQUEST 166-179 An interval of peace, 166--The new emperor, 166--A legacy of the Spaniards, 167--Cortés _in extremis_, 167--The Aztec army, 168--Battle at Otumba, 170--The Spaniards victorious, 170--Preparations for defence, 171--The Spaniards in Tlaxcalla, 171--Ixtlilxochitl, 171--Cortés at Texcuco, 172--A new army and a new fleet, 172--The campaign against Mexico, 173--Suffering in the city, 174--Surrender, 174--The city destroyed, 175--Cortés at Coyoacán, 175--Search for treasures, 175--The kings tortured, 175--Military rule, 176--Subjugation of Michoacan, 176--Later conquests, 177--Death of the Aztec kings, 178--Later life of Cortés, 178; return to Spain, 178; death, 178; burial in Mexico, 179. XVIII. DOÑA MARINA 180-183