Alaire's preparations for the journey to La Feria were made with little
delay. Owing to the condition of affairs across the border, Ellsworth
had thought it well to provide her with letters from the most
influential Mexicans in the neighborhood; what is more, in order to
pave her way toward a settlement of her claim he succeeded in getting a
telegram through to Mexico City--no mean achievement, with most of the
wires in Rebel hands and the remainder burdened with military business.
But Ellsworth's influence was not bounded by the Rio Grande.
It was his advice that Alaire present her side of the case to the local
military authorities before making formal representation to Washington,
though in neither case was he sanguine of the outcome.
The United States, indeed, had abetted the Rebel cause from the start.
Its embargo on arms had been little more than a pretense of neutrality,
which had fooled the Federals not at all, and it was an open secret
that financial assistance to the uprising was rendered from some
mysterious Northern source. The very presence of American troops along
the border was construed by Mexicans as a threat against President
Potosi, and an encouragement to revolt, while the talk of intervention,
invasion, and war had intensified the natural antagonism existing
between the two peoples. So it was that Ellsworth, while he did his
best to see to it that his client should make the journey in safety and
receive courteous treatment, doubted the wisdom of the undertaking and
hoped for no practical result.
Alaire took Dolores with her, and for male escort she selected, after
some deliberation, José Sanchez, her horse-breaker. José was not an
ideal choice, but since Benito could not well be spared, no better man
was available. Sanchez had some force and initiative, at least, and
Alaire had no reason to doubt his loyalty.
The party went to Pueblo by motor--an unpleasant trip, for the road
followed the river and ran through a lonesome country, unpeopled save
for an occasional goat-herd and his family, or a glaring-hot village of
some half-dozen cubical houses crouching on the river-bank as if
crowded over from Mexican soil. This road remained much as the first
ox-carts had laid it out; the hills were gashed by arroyos, some of
which were difficult to negotiate, and in consequence the journey was,
from an automobilist's point of view, decidedly slow. The first night
the travelers were forced to spend at a mud jacal, encircled, like some
African jungle dwelling, by a thick brush barricade.
José Sanchez was in his element here. He posed, he strutted, he
bragged, he strove to impress his countrymen by every device. José was,
indeed, rather a handsome fellow, with a bold insolence of bearing that
marked him as superior to the common pelador, and, having dressed
himself elaborately for this journey, he made the most of his
opportunities for showing off. Nothing would do him but a baile, and a
baile he had. Once the arrangements were made, other Mexicans appeared
mysteriously until there were nearly a score, and until late into the
night they danced upon the hard-packed earth of the yard. Alaire fell
asleep to the sounds of feet scuffling and scraping in time to a wheezy
violin.
Arriving at Pueblo on the following day, Alaire secured her passports
from the Federal headquarters across the Rio Grande, while José
attended to the railroad tickets. On the second morning after leaving
home the party was borne southward into Mexico.
Although train schedules were uncertain, the railroad journey itself
was similar to many Alaire had taken, except for occasional evidences
of the war. The revolution had ravaged most of northern Mexico; long
rows of rusting trucks and twisted car skeletons beside the track
showed how the railway's rolling-stock had suffered in this particular
vicinity; and as the train penetrated farther south temporary trestles
and the charred ruins of station-houses spoke even more eloquently of
the struggle. Now and then a steel water-tank, pierced with loop-holes
and ripped by cannon balls, showed where some detachment had made a
stand. There was a military guard on the train, too--a dozen unkempt
soldiers loaded down with rifles and bandoliers of cartridges, and
several officers, neatly dressed in khaki, who rode in the first-class
coach and occupied themselves by making eyes at the women.
At its frequent stops the train was besieged by the customary crowd of
curious peons; the same noisy hucksters dealt out enchiladas,
tortillas, goat cheeses, and coffee from the same dirty baskets and
pails; even their outstretched hands seemed to bear the familiar grime
of ante-bellum days. The coaches were crowded; women fanned themselves
unceasingly; their men snored, open-mouthed, over the backs of the
seats, and the aisles were full of squalling, squabbling children.
As for the country itself, it was dying. The ranches were stripped of
stock, no carts creaked along the highways, and the roads, like the
little farms, were growing up to weeds. Stores were empty, the people
were idle. Over all was an atmosphere of decay, and, what was far more
significant, the people seemed content.
All morning the monotonous journey continued--a trial to Alaire and
Dolores, but to José Sanchez a red-letter experience. He covered the
train from end to end, making himself acquainted with every one and
bringing to Alaire the gossip that he picked up.
It was not until midday that the first interruption occurred; then the
train pulled in upon a siding, and after an interminable delay it
transpired that a north-bound troop-train was expected.
José brought this intelligence: "Soon you will behold the flower of the
Mexican army," he told Alaire. "You will see thousands of Longorio's
veterans, every man of them a very devil for blood. They are returning
to Nuevo Pueblo after destroying a band of those rebels. They had a
great victory at San Pedro--thirty kilometers from La Feria. Not a
prisoner was spared, señora."
"Is General Longorio with them?" Alaire inquired, quickly.
"That is what I came to tell you. It is believed that he is, for he
takes his army with him wherever he goes. He is a great fighter; he has
a nose for it, that man, and he strikes like the lightning--here,
there, anywhere." José, it seemed, was a rabid Potosista.
But Dolores held opposite sympathies. She uttered a disdainful sniff.
"To be sure he takes his army with him, otherwise the
Constitutionalistas would kill him. Wait until Pancho Gomez meets this
army of Longorio's. Ha! You will see some fighting."
José blew two fierce columns of cigarette smoke from his nostrils.
"Longorio is a gentleman; he scorns to use the tricks of that bandit.
Pancho Gomez fights like a savage. Think of the cowardly manner in
which he captured Espinal the last time. What did he do then? I'll tell
you. He laid in wait and allowed a train-load of our troops to pass
through his lines toward Chihuahua; then he took possession of the
telegraph wires and pretended to be the Federal commander. He sent a
lying message back to Espinal that the railway tracks were torn up and
he could not reach Chihuahua, and so, of course, he was ordered to
return. That was bad enough, but he loaded his bandits upon other
trains--he locked them into freight-cars like cattle so that not a head
could be seen--and the devil himself would never have guessed what was
in those cars. Of course he succeeded. No one suspected the truth until
his infamous army was in Espinal. Then it was too late. The carnage was
terrible. But do you call that a nice action? It was nothing but the
lowest deceit. It was enough to make our soldiers furious."
Dolores giggled. "They say he went to his officers and told them:
'Compadres, we are now going into Espinal. I will meet you at the
Plaza, and I will shoot the last man who arrives there.' Dios! There
ensued a foot-race."
"It is well for him to train his men how to run fast," said José,
frowning sternly, "for some day they will meet Luis Longorio, and
then--you will see some of the swiftest running in all the world."
"Yes! Truly!" Dolores was trembling with excitement, her voice was
shrill. "God will need to lend them speed to catch this army of
Longorio's. Otherwise no human legs could accomplish it."
"Bah! Who can argue with a woman?" sneered José.
Alaire, who had listened smilingly, now intervened to avert a serious
quarrel.
"When the train arrives," she told her horse-breaker, "I want you to
find General Longorio and ask him to come here."
"But, señora!" José was dumfounded, shocked. "He is a great general--"
"Give him this note." Quickly writing a few lines on a page from her
note-book, she gave him the scrap of paper, which he carefully placed
in his hat; then, shaking his head doubtfully, he left the car.
Flushed with triumph, Dolores took the first occasion to enlarge upon
her theme.
"You will see what a monster this Longorio is," she declared. "It was
like him to steal your beautiful cattle; he would steal a crucifix.
Once there was a fine ranch owned by a man who had two lovely
daughters--girls of great respectability and refinement. But the man
was a Candelerista. Longorio killed him--he and his men killed
everybody on the hacienda except the daughters, and those he captured.
He took them with him, and for no good purpose, either, as you can
imagine. Naturally the poor creatures were nearly dead with fright, but
as they rode along the elder one began talking with Longorio's
soldiers. She made friends with them. She pretended to care nothing
about her fate; she behaved like a lost person, and the soldiers
laughed. They liked her spirit, God pity them! Finally she declared she
was a famous shot with a pistol, and she continued to boast until one
of her guards gave her his weapon with which to show her skill. Then
what? Before they could hinder her she turned in her saddle and shot
her younger sister through the brain. Herself she destroyed with a
bullet in her breast. Every word is the sacred truth, señora.
Longorio's soul is stained with the blood of those two innocents."
"I've heard many stories like that, from both sides," Alaire said,
gravely.
In the course of time the military train came creaking along on the
main track and stopped, to the great interest of the southbound
travelers. It was made up of many stock cars crowded with cavalry
horses. Each animal bore its equipment of saddle and bridle, and penned
in with them were the women and the children. The soldiers themselves
were clustered thickly upon the car roofs. Far down at the rear of the
train was a rickety passenger-coach, and toward this José Sanchez made
his way.
There began a noisy interchange of greetings between the occupants of
the two trains, and meanwhile the hot sun glared balefully upon the
huddled figures on the car tops. A half-hour passed, then occurred a
commotion at the forward end of Alaire's coach.
A group of officers climbed aboard, and among them was one who could be
none other than Luis Longorio. As he came down the passageway Alaire
identified him without the aid of his insignia, for he stood head and
shoulders above his companions and bore himself with an air of
authority. He was unusually tall, at least six feet three, and very
slim, very lithe; he was alert, keen; he was like the blade of a
rapier. The leanness of his legs was accentuated by his stiff, starched
riding-breeches and close-fitting pigskin puttees, while his face,
apart from all else, would have challenged prompt attention.
Longorio was a young man; his cheeks were girlishly smooth and of a
clear, pale, olive tint, which sun and weather apparently were
powerless to darken; his eyes were large, bold, and brilliant; his
nostrils thin and sensitive, like those of a blooded horse. He seemed
almost immature until he spoke, then one realized with a curious shock
that he was a man indeed, and a man, moreover, with all the ardor and
passion of a woman. Such was Alaire's first hasty impression of Luis
Longorio, the Tarleton of Potosi's army.
Disdain, hauteur, impatience, were stamped upon the general's
countenance as he pushed briskly through the crowd, turning his head
from side to side in search of the woman who had summoned him.
Not until she rose did he discover Alaire; then he halted; his eyes
fixed themselves upon her with a stare of startled amazement.
Alaire felt herself color faintly, for the man seemed to be scanning
her from head to foot, taking in every detail of her face and form, and
as he did so his expression remained unaltered. For what seemed a full
minute Longorio stood rooted; then the stiff-vizored cap was swept from
his head; he bowed with the grace of a courtier until Alaire saw the
part in his oily black hair.
"Señora! A thousand apologies for my delay," he said. "Caramba! I did
not dream--I did not understand your message." He continued to regard
her with that same queer intensity.
"You are General Longorio?" Alaire was surprised to note that her voice
quavered uncertainly, and annoyed to feel her face still flushing.
"Your obedient servant."
With a gesture Mrs. Austin directed Dolores to vacate her seat, and
invited the General to take it. But Longorio checked the maid's
movement; then with a brusque command he routed out the occupants of
the seat ahead, and, reversing the back, took a position facing Alaire.
Another order, and the men who had accompanied him withdrew up the
aisle. His luminous eyes returned once more to the woman, and there was
no mistaking his admiration. He seemed enchanted by her pale beauty,
her rich, red hair held him fascinated, and with Latin boldness he made
his feelings crassly manifest.