Hernandez only hesitated for a further tenth of a second, and then retired. The big brass bound door closed silently behind him.
That is the only way to deal with these people, said el Supremo, lightly. They are no better than beasts. Any kind of refinement is wasted upon them. Doubtless you saw on your way here various criminals suffering punishment?
I did.
My ancestors on earth, said el Supremo, went to much trouble in arranging elaborate punishments. They burned people to death with elaborate ceremonial. They cut out their hearts to the accompaniment of music and dances, or pressed them to death in wrappings of raw hide exposed to the sun. I find all that quite unnecessary. A simple order to have the man tied up to die of thirst is sufficient. The man dies, and there is an end of him.
Yes, said Hornblower.
They are incapable of absorbing even the simplest of conceptions. There are some who to this very day cannot understand the very obvious principle that the blood of Alvarado and Moctezuma must be divine. They still cling to their absurd Christs and Virgins.
Indeed? said Hornblower.
One of my earliest lieutenants could not shake himself free from the influence of early education. When I announced my divinity he actually made suggestions that missionaries should be sent out to preach to the tribes so as to convert them, as though I were putting forward a new religion. He could never realise that it was not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact. He was of course one of the first to die of thirst.
Of course.
Hornblower was utterly bewildered by all this. But he clung to the fact that he had to ally himself to this madman. The revictualling of the Lydia depended upon his acting in concert with him, if nothing else didand that was a matter of the most vital primary importance.
Your King George must have been delighted to hear that I had decided to act in concert with him, continued el Supremo.
He charged me with messages to you assuring you of his friendship, said Hornblower cautiously.
Of course, said el Supremo, he would not venture to push himself forward beyond that point. The blood of the family of Guelph naturally cannot compare with that of Alvarado.
Hahm, said Hornblower. He found that noncommittal noise as useful in conversation with el Supremo as with Lieutenant Bush.
El Supremos brows approached each other a trifle.
I suppose you are aware, he said a little sternly, of the history of the family of Alvarado? You know who was the first of that name to reach this country?
He was Cortez lieutenant began Hornblower.
Lieutenant? Nothing of the sort. I am surprised that you should believe such lies. He was the leader of the Conquistadores; it is only by the falsification of history that Cortez is represented as in command. Alvarado conquered Mexico, and from Mexico he descended upon this coast and conquered it all, as far as the Isthmus. He married the daughter of Moctezuma the last of the Emperors; and as a direct descendant from that union I have chosen to select from my family names those of Alvarado and Moctezuma. But in Europe; long before the head of the house came to the Americas, the name of Alvarado can be traced back, beyond the Hapsburgs and the Visigoths, beyond the Romans and the empire of Alexander, to the ultimate sources of time. It is only natural, therefore, that in this present generation the family should have attained to the divine state in my person. I find it satisfactory that you agree with me, CaptainCaptain
Hornblower.
I thank you. And now I think we had better, Captain Hornblower, discuss the plans for the extension of my Empire.
As you please, said Hornblower. He felt he must at least agree with this madman until the Lydia was revictualled,
although his already faint hope of heading a successful insurrection in this country was fast becoming fainter.
The Bourbon who calls himself King of Spain, said el Supremo, maintains in this country an official who calls himself Captain General of Nicaragua. I sent to this gentleman some time ago a message ordering him to announce his fealty to me. This he had not done, and he was even misguided enough to hang my messenger publicly in Managua. Of the insolent men whom he subsequently sent to secure my divine person some were killed on the road and some died while attached to stakes, while a few were fortunate enough to see the light and are now included in my army. The Captain General is now, I hear, at the head of an army of three hundred men in the city of El Salvador. When you have landed the weapons consigned to me I propose to move on this town, which I shall burn, along with the Captain General and the unenlightened among his men. Perhaps, Captain, you will accompany me? A burning town is worth seeing.
My ship must be revictualled first, said Hornblower, sturdily.
I have given the orders for that, replied el Supremo with a trace of impatience.
And further, continued Hornblower, it will be my duty first to ascertain the whereabouts of a Spanish ship of war, the Natividad , which I believe to be on this station. Before I can engage in any operations on land I must see that she can do no harm to my ship. I must either capture her or know for certain that she is too distant to interfere.