A CHALLENGE, AND ITS RESULT. 127

rider was so dependent on the steadiness of his horse,
that on the back of any but his own Motilla, even
Sandoval often failed to strike the tiny circle.
With Motilla’s aid failure seemed impossible, and
of the plaudits that the feat drew from admiring
throngs, it is doubtful if horse or rider received the
most.

Nor was Huetzin at all behind his newly-adopted
brother in deeds of warlike skill. Standing at thirty
paces from the same target used by Sandoval, he
would hurl javelin after javelin through the tiny
mark, each passing through the opening made by its
predecessor without enlarging it. He could also
shoot one, two, or even three arrows at a time from
his bow, with equal precision, and could split the
shaft of one, quivering in a mark, with the keen
blade of another. Such feats, though rare, were not
unknown to the Tlascalans; but to the Spaniards
they seemed little short of supernatural, and, on
account of them, Huetzin was treated with a greater
respect by the white soldiers than any other native
of the land.

During this time the young Toltee was eagerly
acquiring two other accomplishments. From Marina
he took daily lessons in the Spanish tongue, which
she had learned to speak fluently during her six
months. of intercourse with the conquerors. From