The return of Cortéz to his camp, after all the toils of his arduous expedition, was not hailed with unanimous delight by those who had hitherto shared his dangers and successes, since the loss of the capital. There were persons in the small band of Spaniards,--especially among those who had been added from the troops of Narvaez,--who still brooded over the disaffection and mutinous feelings which had been manifested at Tlascala before the march to Tezcoco. They were men who eagerly flocked to the standard of the conqueror for plunder; whose hearts were incapable of appreciating the true spirit of glorious adventure in the subjugation of an empire, and who despised victories that were productive of nothing but fame. These discontented men conspired, about this period, under the lead of Antonio Villafaña, a common soldier; and it was the design of the recreant band to assassinate Sandoval, Olid and Alvarado, together with Cortéz, and other important men who were known to be deepest in the General's councils or interests. After the death of these leaders,--with whose fall the enterprise would doubtless have perished,--a brother-in-law of Velasquez, by name Francisco Verdugo, who was altogether ignorant of the designs of the conspirators, was to be placed in command of the panic-stricken troop, which, it was supposed, would instantly unite under the new general. It was the project of these wretched dastards to assault and despatch the conqueror and his officers whilst engaged in opening despatches, which were to be suddenly presented, as if just arrived from Castile. But, a day before the consummation of the treachery, one of the party threw himself at the feet of Cortéz and betrayed the project, together with the fact, that, in the possession of Villafaña, would be found a paper containing the names of his associates in infamy. Cortéz immediately summoned the leaders whose lives were threatened, and, after a brief consultation, the party hastened to the quarters of Villafaña accompanied by four officers. The arch conspirator was arrested, and the paper wrested from him as he attempted to swallow it. He was instantaneously tried by a military court,--and, after brief time for confession and shrift, was swung by the neck from the casement of his quarters. The prompt and striking sentence was executed before the army knew of the crime; and the scroll of names being destroyed by Cortéz, the memory of the meditated treachery was forever buried in oblivion. The commander, however, knew and marked the men whose participation had been so unexpectedly revealed to him; but he stifled all discontent by letting it be understood that the only persons who suffered for the shameful crime had made no confession! He could not spare men from his thin ranks even at the demand of justice; for even the felons who sought his life were wanted in the toils and battles of his great and final enterprise. * * * * *