[Illustration] Montezuma’s Daughter by H. Rider Haggard Contents I. WHY THOMAS WINGFIELD TELLS HIS TALE II. OF THE PARENTAGE OF THOMAS WINGFIELD III. THE COMING OF THE SPANIARD IV. THOMAS TELLS HIS LOVE V. THOMAS SWEARS AN OATH VI. GOOD-BYE, SWEETHEART VII. ANDRES DE FONSECA VIII. THE SECOND MEETING IX. THOMAS BECOMES RICH X. THE PASSING OF ISABELLA DE SIGUENZA XI. THE LOSS OF THE CARAK XII. THOMAS COMES TO SHORE XIII. THE STONE OF SACRIFICE XIV. THE SAVING OF GUATEMOC XV. THE COURT OF MONTEZUMA XVI. THOMAS BECOMES A GOD XVII. THE ARISING OF PAPANTZIN XVIII. THE NAMING OF THE BRIDES XIX. THE FOUR GODDESSES XX. OTOMIE’S COUNSEL XXI. THE KISS OF LOVE XXII. THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS XXIII. THOMAS IS MARRIED XXIV. THE NIGHT OF FEAR XXV. THE BURYING OF MONTEZUMA’S TREASURE XXVI. THE CROWNING OF GUATEMOC XXVII. THE FALL OF TENOCTITLAN XXVIII. THOMAS IS DOOMED XXIX. DE GARCIA SPEAKS HIS MIND XXX. THE ESCAPE XXXI. OTOMIE PLEADS WITH HER PEOPLE XXXII. THE END OF GUATEMOC XXXIII. ISABELLA DE SIGUENZA IS AVENGED XXXIV. THE SIEGE OF THE CITY OF PINES XXXV. THE LAST SACRIFICE OF THE WOMEN OF THE OTOMIE XXXVI. THE SURRENDER XXXVII. VENGEANCE XXXVIII. OTOMIE’S FAREWELL XXXIX. THOMAS COMES BACK FROM THE DEAD XL. AMEN DEDICATION My dear Jebb, Strange as were the adventures and escapes of Thomas Wingfield, once of this parish, whereof these pages tell, your own can almost equal them in these latter days, and, since a fellow feeling makes us kind, you at least they may move to a sigh of sympathy. Among many a distant land you know that in which he loved and fought, following vengeance and his fate, and by your side I saw its relics and its peoples, its volcans and its valleys. You know even where lies the treasure which, three centuries and more ago, he helped to bury, the countless treasure that an evil fortune held us back from seeking. Now the Indians have taken back their secret, and though many may search, none will lift the graven stone that seals it, nor shall the light of day shine again upon the golden head of Montezuma. So be it! The wealth which Cortes wept over, and his Spaniards sinned and died for, is for ever hidden yonder by the shores of the bitter lake whose waters gave up to you that ancient horror, the veritable and sleepless god of Sacrifice, of whom I would not rob you—and, for my part, I do not regret the loss. What cannot be lost, what to me seem of more worth than the dead hero Guatemoc’s gems and jars of gold, are the memories of true friendship shown to us far away beneath the shadow of the Slumbering Woman,[1] and it is in gratitude for these that I ask permission to set your name within a book which were it not for you would never have been written. I am, my dear Jebb, Always sincerely yours, H. RIDER HAGGARD. DITCHINGHAM, NORFOLK, _October_ 5, 1892. To J. Gladwyn Jebb, Esq. NOTE