CHAPTER XXI

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THE COUP DE MAÎTRE OF CORTÉS. May, 1520.

Dismal Prospects—Empire to Hold, Invasion to Repel—The Army Divides—Alvarado Guards Montezuma, while Cortés Looks after Narvaez—The March Seaward—The Rendezvous—The Chinantecs and their Pikes—Cortés Sows Alluring Words in the Camp of the Enemy—Proposals of Peace—Defiance—Night Attack—Cortés Captures Narvaez and his Army 374

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