“He that studieth revenge, keepeth his own wounds green.”—Bacon. Tolta had not been idle since the shipwreck. The restraint which the presence of the Spaniards had hitherto imposed upon him, was now removed. He was rarely seen with them, and indeed often disappeared for weeks at a time.
Kiana had never liked him. Tolta felt it at heart and resented it. At the bottom of this feeling was no doubt the attachment both had for Beatriz. We have seen the nature of Kiana’s; generous and profound, more from deep respect than from positive love, because in reality, while her character compelled, it at the same time repelled his passion. He had striven to win her, for he could not help it. In one sense, he was not disappointed at the result, because his reason told him it could not be otherwise. Having therefore obeyed both his own and her will, he now, in continuing his kindness, left her as free to act as himself.
It was different with Tolta. The Aztec saw even deeper into the impassable gulf between their two natures, but he was drawn to her with the[135] tenacity of the bloodhound to his scent. In her presence he was gentle and serviceable. The passions which excited him when apart from her, became with her like those of a little child. He would gaze upon her for hours with eyes intense with his fiery emotions, but the moment she spoke to him the fire left them, and the good in him illumined his countenance.
Beatriz read his character, and while from sympathy in his misfortunes she exerted herself to soothe, she never could so overcome her repugnance as to trust in him as she did in Kiana. With the latter she felt safe; with Tolta never. The very fierceness which he was ever ready to display in her defence, might at any moment be turned upon her. It was well that her instincts prompted her to distrust him as much as she did, for often the only barrier between them was her own moral superiority. Tolta felt this to be indeed a far stronger obstacle than would have been the jealous precautions of lock or duenna. The possibility of Beatriz loving him as he did her never deluded him. He knew that was hopeless. Still his passion rather grew than abated, especially in the freedom of his new life, which brought back the pride and ambition of his race. So long, however, as he saw that Beatriz did not love another, he was reconciled. She had so wisely avoided the subject whenever he sought to suggest his feelings, that he had all but persuaded himself that she was of a different mould from other women. She might be worshipped, but not sought in love.
[136]
He hated Juan and the seamen with all the intensity of an Aztec’s revenge, for their share in the conquest of his country. Olmedo he had ever respected for his virtues, and would have exempted from the fate he cherished at heart for the others. In his excursions about Hawaii, he had come in contact with some of Pohaku’s warriors. Gradually their intercourse had ripened into an intimacy with their chief, with whom he now conspired to overthrow Kiana and get possession of the Spaniards. So adroitly had he concealed his designs, that he had retained the friendship and confidence of all except a few individuals about him, for his manner was the same it had ever been. Their own consciousness of the opportunities he now had, and the provocation they had often given him, were more the causes of their secret distrust than anything they saw. His frequent absences were a relief rather than a cause of suspicion, for he was then forgotten.
He had no difficulty in obtaining a willing auditory to his plans in Pohaku, and the chiefs leagued with him. His inmost desire was to sacrifice the Spaniards to the war-god of Mexico, under any name his allies mig............