This was followed by a rushing noise, as of the tread of thronging
multitudes, showing that the tide of battle was turned back from its
former course, and was rolling on towards the spot where Cortes and
his little band of cavaliers were planted.
His conjecture proved too true. Alderete had followed the
retreating Aztecs with an eagerness which increased with every step of
his advance. He had carried the barricades, which had defended the
breach, without much difficulty, and, as he swept on, gave orders.
that the opening should be stopped. But the blood of the high-spirited
cavaliers was warmed by the chase, and no one cared to be detained
by the ignoble occupation of filling up the ditches, while he could
gather laurels so easily in the fight; and they all pressed on,
exhorting and cheering one another with the assurance of being the
first to reach the square of Tlatelolco. In this way they suffered
themselves to be decoyed into the heart of the city; when suddenly the
horn of Guatemozin sent forth a long and piercing note from the summit
of a neighbouring teocalli. In an instant, the flying Aztecs, as if
maddened by the blast, wheeled about, and turned on their pursuers. At
the same time, countless swarms of warriors from the adjoining streets
and lanes poured in upon the flanks of the assailants, filling the air
with the fierce, unearthly cries which bad reached the ears of Cortes,
and drowning, for a moment, the wild dissonance which reigned in the
other quarters of the capital.
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