After this explanation the licentiate touched upon the defeat and imprisonment of Narvaez, the capture of Garay's vessels, the loss of his troops, and his sudden death; and, lastly, on the manner in which he had obliged Christobal de Tapia to reembark; besides these, he questioned him on various other matters, which I will not enumerate here. To all of which Cortes gave such excellent answers, that Ponce de Leon appeared pretty well satisfied.
I have above remarked, there was no one present during this conference excepting father Thomas Ortiz. This person, immediately after it was ended, called upon three intimate friends, and assured them, in all confidence, that it was Leon's intention to sentence Cortes to decapitation, in accordance with the commands of his majesty, and that it was for this purpose only he had put the above-mentioned questions to him. Ortiz, the next morning, very early, called upon our general himself, and said to him: "Señor capitan, the great respect I entertain for you, my spiritual office, and the rules of the order I belong to, make it imperative on me to warn people in cases like these; I will therefore not hide from you that his majesty has given Leon full