Cortés was becoming foolhardy. Whether the brothers were in accord upon the measures to be adopted is uncertain; but Cuitlahuatzin, who was not only bold, but ambitious, had evidently determined on his course. If the Mexicans had hoped for better prospects with the arrival of Cortés that hope was now dissipated, and bitter indignation filled their breasts. Cuitlahuatzin was welcomed as a liberator. His constant efforts in the imperial council to oppose the admission of the Spaniards, by force if necessary, and his services for the cause of liberty and religion in connection with the Cacama revolt, were sufficient to endear him to his brother patriots. Strongly urged, he accepted the leadership of the insurgents, a position for which his experience and success as a general had well fitted him. He began by ordering war material and erecting barricades. The value of the Chinantec pikes introduced by Cortés had not been lost on him, and a number were provided, barbed with the vitreous iztli. Arrangements were made with adjoining towns and provinces for a supply of provisions and reinforcements to carry on the holy war.21
The Spaniards soon learned what was brewing, and first in this way: Ojeda and Marquez, when out foraging early in the morning of the day following their arrival, observed several suspicious circumstances, among others broken bridges, which in one place obliged them to fill up a canal before crossing it. Here and there they saw large collections of slings and other weapons, and presently they came on a priest with dishevelled hair shouting with wild gesticulations to a crowd of armed men. They hurried back to inform the general, guided through intricate cross-streets by a Tlascaltec. Antonio del Rio, who had been despatched for Villa Rica the same morning, returned at a gallop in less than half an hour, excited and bleeding. The streets, he said,