LOS REGOCIJOS.
On his return to the mansion, the capataz did not see his master, at
which he was extremely pleased, for he desired to delay as long as
possible an explanation which, in spite of the wound he so complacently
displayed, he feared would turn out to his disadvantage, especially
when questioned by a man like the general, whose piercing glance would
descend to the bottom of his heart to discover the truth, however
cleverly hidden it might be behind a network of falsehoods.
As only a few hours had still to elapse before the explosion of the
conspiracy, arranged with such care and mystery, the general was
compelled for a while to suspend his schemes for the satisfaction of his
love and his hatred, and only attend to those in which his ambition was
engaged. The principal conspirators had been summoned to Colonel Lupo's,
and there the final arrangements had been made for the morrow, and the
watchword given.
Although the government appeared plunged in the most profound ignorance
of what was preparing against it, and evinced complete security, still
the President had made certain arrangements for the morrow's ceremonies
which did not fail greatly to trouble the men interested in knowing
everything, and to whom the apparently most futile thing naturally
created umbrage.
The general, with the curiosity that distinguished him, was anxious to
know exactly the extent of the danger he had to meet, and proceeded to
the palace, merely accompanied by his two aides-de-camp. The general
president received Don Sebastian with a smile on his lips, and offered
him the most gracious reception. This reception, so cordial, perhaps
too cordial, instead of reassuring the general, had, on the contrary,
increased his anxiety, for he was a Mexican and knew the proverb of his
country--"Lips that smile, and mouth that tells falsehoods."
The general was too calm to let his feelings be seen. He pretended to be
delighted, remained for some time with the President, who appeared to
treat him with a friendly familiarity, complained of the rarity of his
visits, and his obstinacy in not asking for a command. In a word, the
two men separated apparently highly satisfied with each other.
Still, the general remarked that all the courts were stuffed with
soldiers, who were bivouacking in the open air; that several guns had
been placed, accidentally perhaps, so as to sweep completely the chief
entrance gate, and, more serious still, that the troops quartered in
the palace were commanded by officers strangers to him, and who had,
moreover, the reputation of being devoted to the President of the
Republic.
After this daring visit, the general mounted his horse, and, under the
pretext of going for a walk, went all over the city. Everywhere the
preparations for the coming festival were being carried on with the
greatest activity. In the square of Necatitlan, for instance, situated
in one of the worst parts of the capital, a circus had been made for the
bullfights at which the president intended to be present.
Numerous wooden erections, raised for the occasion, filled the space
usually devoted to tauromachy, and formed an immense hall of verdure,
with pleasant clumps of trees, mysterious walks, and charming retreats,
prepared with the greatest care, where everybody would go on the morrow
to eat and drink the atrocious productions of the Mexican art on
cookery, and enjoy what is called in that country Jamaica.
Exactly in the centre of the arena a tree about twenty feet in height
was planted, with its branches and leaves entirely covered with coloured
pocket-handkerchiefs that floated in the breeze. This tree was the Monte
Parnasso, intended to serve as a maypole for the leperos, at the moment
when the bullfights begin, and a trial bull, _embolado_, that is to say,
with its horns terminating in balls, is let into the ring.
All the pulquerías near the square were thronged with a hideous, ragged
mob, who howled, sang, shouted, and whistled their loudest, while
smoking, and, at intervals, exchanging knife thrusts, to the great
delight of the spectators.
In all the streets the procession would pass through the houses were
decorated; Mexican flags were hoisted in profusion at every spot where
they could be displayed; and yet, by the side of all these holiday
preparations, there was, we repeat, something gloomy and menacing
that struck a chill to the heart. Through all the gates fresh troops
continually entered the city, and occupied admirably chosen strategic
points. The Alameda, the Paseo de Bucareli, and even the Vega, were
converted into bivouacs, and though these troops ostensibly only came to
Mexico to be present at the ceremony and be reviewed, they were equipped
for the field, and affected an earnestness which caused much thought to
those who saw them pass or visited their bivouacs.
When a serious event is preparing, there are in the atmosphere certain
signs which never deceive the fosterers of revolutions; a vague and
apparently causeless anxiety seizes on the masses, and unconsciously
converts their joy into a species of feverish excitement, at which they
are themselves startled, as they know not to what to attribute this
change in their humour.
Hence the population of Mexico, mad, merry, and joyous, as usual when
a festival is preparing, in the eyes of short-sighted persons, were in
reality sternly sad and suffering from great anxiety. The general did
not fail to observe these prognostics; gloomy presentiments occupied his
mind, for he understood that a terrible tempest was hidden beneath this
fictitious calmness. Valentine's gloomy predictions recurred to him.
He trembled to see the hunter's menaces realized; and, though unable
to discover when the danger would come, he foresaw that a great peril
was hanging over his head, and that his ambitious projects would soon,
perhaps, be drowned in floods of blood.
Unfortunately it was too late to desist; he must, whatever might happen,
go on to the end, for he had not the time to give counter orders,
and urge the conspirators to defer the explosion of the plot till a
more favourable moment. Hence, after ripe reflection, the general
resolved to push on, and trust to accident. Ambitious men, by the way,
reckon, far more than is supposed, on hazard, and those magnificent
combinations which are admired when success has crowned them, are most
frequently merely the unforeseen results of fortuitous circumstances,
completely beyond the will of the man whom they have profited.
History, modern history especially, is full of these combinations,
these results impossible to foresee, which sensible men would not have
dared to suppose, and which have made the reputation of so-called
statesmen of genius, who are very small fry, when regarded through the
magnifying-glass or when actions are sifted.
The general returned to his house at about six in the evening,
despairing, and already seeing his plans annihilated. The report of his
capataz added to his discouragement, for it was the drop of wormwood
which makes the brimful cup run over. He withdrew to his apartments in a
state of dull fury, and in his impotent rage accused himself for having
ventured into this frightful situation, for he felt himself rapidly
gliding down a fatal slope, where it would be impossible for him to stop.
What added to his secret agony was, that he must incessantly send off
couriers, receive reports, talk with his confidants, and feign in their
presence not merely calmness and gaiety, but also encourage them, and
impart to them an ardour and hope which he no longer possessed.
The whole night was spent thus. A terrible night, during which the
general endured all the tortures that assail an ambitious man on the eve
of a scandalous plot against a government which he has sworn to defend.
He was agitated by those dull murmurs of the conscience which can never
be thoroughly stifled, and which would inspire pity for these unhappy
men, were they not careful, by their own acts, to put themselves beyond
the pale of that humanity of which they have become real monsters. The
most wholesome lesson that could be given to those ambitious manikins,
so frequent in the lower strata of society, would be to render them
witnesses of the crushing agony that attacks any _cabecilla_ during the
night that precedes the outbreak of one of its horrible plots.
Sunrise surprised the general giving his final orders. Worn out by the
fatigue of a long watch, with pallid brow, and eyes inflamed by fever,
he tried to take a few moments of restorative rest, which he so greatly
needed; but his efforts were fruitless, for he was suffering from an
excitement too intense, at the decisive hour, for sleep to come and
close his eyes.
Already the bells of all the churches were pealing out, and filling the
air with their joyous notes. In all the streets, and in all the squares,
boys and leperos were letting off crackers, and uttering deafening
cries, which more resembled bursts of fury than demonstrations of joy.
The people, dressed in their holiday clothes, were leaving their houses
in masses, and spreading like a torrent over the city.
The review was arranged for seven o'clock A.M., so that the troops might
be spared the great heat of the day. They were massed on the Paseo de
Bucareli and the road connecting that promenade with the Alameda.
We have already stated that the Mexican army, twenty thousand strong,
has twenty-four thousand officers. Hence, in the enormous crowd
assembled to witness the review, uniforms were in a majority; for all
the officers living on half-pay in Mexico, for some reason or another,
considered themselves bound to attend the review as amateurs.
At a quarter to eight o'clock the drums beat, the troops presented arms,
a deafening shout was raised by the crowd, and the President of the
Republic arrived on the Paseo, followed by a large staff, glistening
with gold and lace, and with a cloud of feathers waving in their cocked
hats.
The Mexicans, much resembling in this respect another nation we are
acquainted with, adore feathers, aiguillettes, and, before all,
embroidered uniforms. Hence the President was warmly greeted by the
enthusiastic crowd, and his arrival was converted into an ovation.
General Guerrero had joined the President's staff in his full dress
uniform, as Colonel Lupo and other conspirators had also done; the
rest, dispersed among the crowd, and well armed under their cloaks,
were giving drink to the already half-intoxicated leperos, and secretly
exciting them to begin an insurrection.
In the meanwhile the review went on without any hitch. It is true that
the President restricted himself to riding along the front, and then
ordering the troops to march past, for he did not dare, owing to the
notorious ignorance of the officers and soldiers, risk the execution of
any manoeuvre, for it would not have been understood, and would have
broken the charm under which the spectators were fascinated. Then the
President, still followed by his staff, proceeded to the cathedral.
We will not say anything about the official receptions, etc., which
occupied all the morning.
The hour for the bullfight arrived. Since the review no one troubled
himself about the troops, who seemed to have suddenly disappeared--not
a soldier was visible in the streets; but the people did not think of
them, for they were letting off fireworks, laughing and shouting, which
was quite sufficient to amuse them. It was only noticed that these
soldiers, though invisible about the city, had apparently passed the
word to each other to be present at the bullfight. Nearly the whole of
the _palcos de sol_ in the circus, that is to say, the parts exposed
to the sun, were thronged with soldiers, grouped pell-mell with the
leperos, and offering the most pleasant contrast with these ragged
scamps, who were yelling and whistling.
The President arrived, and the circus was, in a second, invaded by
the mob. Since an early hour the Jamaica had begun, that is to say,
the framework of verdure raised in the centre of the arena, forming
refreshment rooms, had, since daybreak, been filled with a countless
number of leperos, who ate and drank with cries of ferocious delight.
Suddenly, at a given signal, the gate of the torril was opened, and a
bull, _embolado_, rushed into the arena. Then began an extraordinary
indescribable scene, resembling one of those diabolical meetings so
admirably designed by Callot.
The leperos, surprised by the arrival of the bull, darted, shouting,
pushing, and upsetting each other, over the framework, which they threw
down and trampled underfoot in their terror, while seeking to escape the
pursuit of the _embolado_, who, also excited by the tumult, hunted them
vigorously. In a second the arena was deserted, the refreshment rooms
swept clean, and the performers in the Jamaica sought any shelter they
could find on the edge of the palcos or upon the columns, from which
they hung in hideous yelling and grimacing clusters.
A few leperos, however, bolder than the rest, had darted to the Monte
Parnasso, not only to find a shelter there, but also to tear away all
the coloured handkerchiefs fastened to the branches. In a twinkling the
thick foliage was hidden by the crowd of leperos who invaded it.
The bull, after amusing itself for some minutes in tossing about the
remains of the framework, stopped and looked cunningly around, and
soon noticed the tree, the only obstacle left to remove, in order to
completely empty the arena.
It remained motionless for an instant, as if hesitating ere it formed
a resolution; then it bowed its head, made the sand fly with its
fore-feet, lashed its tail violently, and, rushing at the tree, dealt it
repeated and powerful blows.
The leperos uttered a cry of despair. The tree, which was overladen,
and incessantly sapped at its base by the bull, swayed, and at last
fell sideways, carrying down in its fall the leperos clinging to the
branches. The audience clapped their hands and broke into frenzied
bravos, which changed into perfect yells of delight when a poor fellow,
who was limping away, was suddenly caught up by the bull, and tossed ten
feet high in the air.
All at once, and at the moment when the joy was attaining its paroxysm,
several rounds of artillery were heard, followed by a well-sustained
musketry fire. As if by magic the bull was driven back to the torril;
the soldiers scattered about the circus leapt into the ring, and
becoming actors instead of spectators, drew up in good order, and
levelled their muskets at the occupiers of the galleries and boxes, who
remained motionless with terror, for they did not understand what was
going on.
A door opened, and twenty bandsmen, followed by eight officers, and
escorted by a dozen soldiers, entered the ring, and began beating the
drums. It was a governmental _bando_. So soon as silence was restored
martial law was proclaimed, and sentence of outlawry passed on General
Don Sebastian Guerrero and his adherents, who had just raised the
standard of revolt, and pronounced against the established government.
The crowd listened to the bando in a stupor which was heightened by the
fact that with each moment the firing became sharper, and the artillery
discharges shook the air at more rapid intervals.
Mexico was once again the prey of one of those scenes of murder and
carnage which, since the Proclamation of Independence, has too often
stained her streets and squares with blood.
The President was on horseback in the centre of the arena, sending off
orders, listening to messages, or detaching reinforcements wherever they
were wanted. The circus was converted into the headquarters of the army
of order, and the spectators, although allowed to depart after some
arrests had been effected among them, remained trembling in their seats,
preferring not to venture into the streets, which had been converted
into real battlefields.
Still the pronunciamiento was assuming formidable proportions. General
Guerrero had not played for so heavy a stake without trying to secure to
his side all probable chances of success; and that success would most
ably have crowned his efforts, had he not been betrayed. For, in spite
of all the precautions taken by the government, the affair had been
begun so warmly and resolutely that, after the contest had continued for
three hours, it was impossible to say on which side the advantage would
remain.