midnight
Calling the leaders of the people together , I put the matter before them in few words , leaving them to decide what must be done . They in turn consulted among themselves , and at length gave me this answer : that it was agreed that all the wounded and aged there , together with most of the children , and with them any others who wished to go , should leave the teocalli that night , to find their way out of the city if they could , or if not , to trust to the mercy of the Spaniards . I said that it was well , for death was on every side , and it mattered little which way men turned to meet it . So they were sorted out , fifteen hundred or more of them , and at midnight the gates of the courtyard were thrown open , and they left . Oh ! it was dreadful to see the farewells that took place in that hour . Here a daughter clung to the neck of her aged father , here husbands and wives bade each other a last farewell , here mothers kissed their little children , and on every side rose up the sounds of bitter agony , the agony of those who parted for ever .