The horsemen spurred over them, riding them down; the
men on foot cut them down with their swords, or hurled them backward with
the butts of their guns; the Indian allies of the Spaniards attacked them
fiercely, and the roar of war spread far through the gloom of the night.
Onward marched the Spaniards, horse and foot; onward creaked and rumbled
the artillery and the wagons; and the second canal in the causeway was
reached while the rear files were not yet across the first. The Spaniards
had made a fatal mistake in bringing with them only one bridge. When the
last of the retreating force was across this, a vigorous effort was made
to raise it and carry it to the canal in front, but in vain. The weight of
men, horses, and cannon had wedged it so firmly in the earth and stones
that it could not be moved. Every nerve was strained to lift the heavy
mass, until, many of the workmen being killed and all wounded by the
torrent of Aztec missiles, they were forced to abandon it.
When the dread tidings that the bridge could not be raised spread through
the crowded host, a cry of despair arose that almost drowned the sounds of
conflict.
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