A few priests, clad in their usual wild
and blood-stained vestments, were to be seen lingering on the terraces
which wound round the stately sides of the pyramid, chanting hymns
in honour of their god, and encouraging the warriors below to battle
bravely for his altars.
The Spaniards poured through the open gates into the area, and a
small party rushed up the winding corridors to its summit. No
vestige now remained there of the Cross, or of any other symbol of the
pure faith to which it had been dedicated. A new effigy of the Aztec
war-god had taken the place of the one demolished by the Christians,
and raised its fantastic and hideous form in the same niche which
had been occupied by its predecessor. The Spaniards soon tore away its
golden mask and the rich jewels with which it was bedizened, and
hurling the struggling priests down the sides of the pyramid, made the
best of their way to their comrades in the area. It was full time.
The Aztecs, indignant at the sacrilegious outrage perpetrated
before their eyes, and gathering courage from the inspiration of the
place, under the very presence of their deities, raised a yell of
horror and vindictive fury, as, throwing themselves into something
like order, they sprang by a common impulse on the Spaniards. The
latter, who had halted near the entrance, though taken by surprise,
made an effort to maintain their position at the gateway.
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