Montezuma's DaughterHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
History
Montezuma's Daughter
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Mexico -- History -- Conquest, 1519-1540 -- Fiction
avenge, that of my mother and that of Isabella de Siguenza. Indeed none
could have seen that young and lovely lady die thus terribly and not
desire to wreak her death on him who had betrayed and deserted her.
So the end of it was that being of a stubborn temper, I determined to
do violence to my own desires and the dying counsels of my benefactor,
and to follow de Garcia to the ends of the earth and there to kill him
as I had sworn to do.
First, however, I inquired secretly and diligently as to the truth of
the statement that de Garcia had sailed for the Indies, and to be
brief, having the clue, I discovered that two days after the date of
the duel I had fought with him, a man answering to de Garcia’s
description, though bearing a different name, had shipped from Seville
in a _carak_ bound for the Canary Islands, which _carak_ was there to
await the arrival of the fleet sailing for Hispaniola. Indeed from
various circumstances I had little doubt that the man was none other
than de Garcia himself, which, although I had not thought of it before,
was not strange, seeing that then as now the Indies were the refuge of
half the desperadoes and villains who could no longer live in Spain.
Thither then I made up my mind to follow him, consoling myself a little
by the thought that at least I should see new and wonderful countries,
though how new and wonderful they were I did not guess.
Now it remained for me to dispose of the wealth which had come to me
suddenly. While I was wondering how I could place it in safety till my
return, I heard by chance that the “Adventuress” of Yarmouth, the same
ship in which I had come to Spain a year before, was again in the port
of Cadiz, and I bethought me that the best thing I could do with the
gold and other articles of value would be to ship them to England,
there to be held in trust for me. So having despatched a message to my
friend the captain of the “Adventuress,” that I had freight of value
for him, I made my preparations to depart from Seville with such speed
as I might, and to this end I sold my benefactor’s house, with many of
the effects, at a price much below their worth. The most of the books
and plate, together with some other articles, I kept, and packing them
in cases, I caused them to be transported down the river to Cadiz, to
the care of those same agents to whom I had received letters from the
Yarmouth merchants.
This being done I followed thither myself, taking the bulk of my
fortune with me in gold, which I hid artfully in numerous packages. And
so it came to pass that after a stay of a year in Seville, I turned my
back on it for ever. My sojourn there had been fortunate, for I came to
it poor and left it a rich man, to say nothing of what I had gained in
experience, which was much. Yet I was glad to be gone, for here Juan de
Garcia had escaped me, here I had lost my best friend and seen Isabella
de Siguenza die.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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