"Halloo! Juanito," cried the lieutenant to his asistente. The man soon

made his appearance in a costume still more picturesque than the one I

had seen him wear an hour before. His peakless shako still trembled on

the top of his frightful mop of hair, but he had donned the horseman's

jacket instead of the foot-soldier's coat; and it being too short for

him, a large portion of his copper skin was exposed to view above the

waistband of his trowsers. The fellow was evidently in a bad humor.

"What's the matter, _muchacho_?" asked Don Blas.

"The deuce!" cried Juanito, sharply; "you called me away at the very

moment I was going to receive a dragoon's helmet for my shako; and who

do you think would be pleased with that?"

"Request the huesped to come here," said Don Blas, affecting not to

perceive the rough reply of the soldier.

Juanito wheeled half round, and went out without saying a word.

"That is a man devoted to my interests, and I overlook the liberties he

takes in consideration of his devotion," remarked the lieutenant, by way

of apology; "devotedness is such a rare thing in this world."

The host was not long in appearing, and I immediately explained to him

the position in which the lieutenant stood. The huesped was a man of

Herculean proportions, with broad shoulders and a florid complexion. He

sported a formidable pair of mustaches curled up at the ends. In a word,

he had quite the appearance of a _valento_ (bully) of the first class.

"How much do I owe you?" inquired Don Blas; "for it is always a pleasure

to me to pay my debts."

"The fact is, if the rarity of the pleasure doubles the value of it, the

payment of a debt ought to be a perfect treat to you," replied the host:

"you owe me fifteen piastres and a half."

"Fifteen piastres and a half!" cried the lieutenant, jumping up

hurriedly; "demonio!"

And, handing the colonel the ounce of gold that he had newly received

from me, he received in return change to the amount of four reals.

"Caramba! colonel, you will give me a real more, I hope," said the

debtor, in a suppliant tone.

The host turned a deaf ear to this demand, and taking from a press the

sword and helmet of the lieutenant, he gave them to him, saying, "Take

notice that I charge you nothing for the trouble I have been at in

retaining these articles in pledge for two days."

The debt of Don Blas having been thus satisfactorily arranged, he

proposed a walk with me upon the road. I unhesitatingly attributed this

proposition to the desire of making use of the liberty he had now

acquired, but I was soon undeceived. The lieutenant exchanged some words

in a low tone with the other officers in the hall, and went out,

promising to let them know every thing he saw or heard. I hastened to

follow him; for, in spite of the curiosity that possessed me, I could

not hide from myself the fact that the place for a foreigner was not in

the centre of a band of conspirators, whatever their private opinions on

other points might be.

The rain had ceased. A thick mist still covered the surface of both

lakes, but their still waters already reflected in their bosom a sky

less sombre than before. The volcano of Popocatapetl was still shrouded

in mist, while the snow of the neighboring mountain sparkled in the

gentle light of the moon. By her uncertain light the _White Woman_

(Iztaczihuatl) looked more like one of the pale Scandinavian divinities

under a northern sky than an American nymph reclining under that of the

tropics. The lights of the town went out one after the other, and a deep

silence reigned around. A confused noise, however, like the wind

agitating the reeds in the lake, at times came stealing upon our ears.

"Come on," said Don Blas to me; "it is close upon the hour, and I am

astonished that I have seen nothing yet."

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"You will soon see; come on."

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the indistinct noise which

broke the stillness of the night soon resolved itself into the tramp of

a body of horse. The sounds were deadened by the damp air, and the soft,

moist earth on which they moved. It was doubtless a troop of cavalry on

march. A dark mass was not long, in fact, in advancing.

"Who goes there?" cried one of the leaders.

"Friends!" replied Don Blas.

"_Que gente?_" asked the same voice.

"_Mexico!_" was the lieutenant's reply. He demanded, in his turn, where

the division had come from.

"From Cordova," answered the same voice.

The troop passed, and we remained in the same place. A little after, a

second troop, and then a third, came in sight, and made the same

replies, and afterward continued their march to Mexico. I saw nothing,

however, in these men but ordinary travelers, for there was little in

their bearing that betokened them as regular troops, when some distant

lights sparkled in the midst of the fog, and I fancied I heard repeated

_vivas_; this was another band advancing. In the centre, and clearly

seen by the light of the torches, rode two officers on fiery horses, in

the costume of country gentlemen--half military, half civilian. The

superior officer had a physiognomy and mien which struck me forcibly,

and awoke in my mind a feeling of curiosity and vague remembrance. He

was a man apparently about forty-five years of age, of a lofty and

commanding aspect, and swarthy complexion. A high forehead, which his

hat but imperfectly concealed, and a rounded chin, perhaps too large for

the perfect regularity of his features, denoted obstinacy and

resolution; a nose slightly aquiline, great black eyes full of

expression, and flexible lips, stamped him with an air of haughty

nobility; his strong black curly hair flowed over his temples, and

shaded his high cheek-bones. I remarked, also, that his bridle hand was

mutilated.

Don Blas made a gesture of surprise, and, scarcely giving himself time

to reply to the countersign which was asked of him, bounded toward the

officer on horseback.

"Your excellency ought not to forget that we are within a short distance

of Mexico," said he, uncovering respectfully, "and prudence requires

that you come no nearer."

"Ah! is it you, Captain Don Blas?" said the cavalier, stopping his

horse; "I am very glad to see you among us." Then, addressing himself

to his cortège, "You know well, señores," said he, "that the pleasure I

feel in finding myself once more among you has caused me to forget my

own safety; but the time is not far distant, I hope, when I shall come

again, and find there," pointing to Mexico, "none but brothers and

friends."

After this speech he wheeled his horse half round, and I could see that

it was a wooden leg which rested in the right stirrup. A general hurrah

followed his last words. The torches were hurled far into the lake, and

went out with a hiss, and all again was dark, but not before I had

recognized in the cavalier who was conversing with Don Blas the man who

for twenty-five years had been the evil genius of Mexico, the cause and

fomenter of all its revolutions--in one word, General Don Antonio Lopez

Santa Anna.

FOOTNOTES:

[40] A kind of farmer.

[41] _Que sus manos besa._--Lit., he who kisses your hands.

[42] Lit., Humorer of caprices.

CHAPTER II.

The Colonel Inn-keeper.--Sharp Fighting in the Streets of

Mexico.--General Bustamente, President of the Republic.

The lieutenant and I remained alone. I asked him to give me some

explanation regarding the scenes of which I had been a witness. He very

eagerly gave me some account of the discontent that prevailed among all

classes, caused by the import duty of fifteen per cent. It was, in fact,

the bad feeling which arose from this that had furnished the pretext for

the new _pronunciamento_. The numerous pedestrians we had met on the way

to Mexico were part of a regiment of cavalry in garrison near the city.

Don Blas had been urged to entice them into the service of Santa Anna,

with the promise, if successful, of getting a commission as captain of

cavalry. I then comprehended how the _asistente_ of Don Blas had shown

so much eagerness in procuring a cavalry uniform. Advantage had been

taken by the partisans of Santa Anna of introducing the regiment which

had been gained over into the town in a civil dress, a thing of very

easy execution, as the difference between the civil and military costume

in Mexico is very small.

On returning to the inn, the lieutenant recounted all that had passed to

the officers assembled, who had taken the initiative with their

soldiers. They then adjourned, as the project for which they had been

waiting had been realized, and the officers rose to make their way, one

by one, into the town. Don Blas and I, like the rest, set out on foot

for the same place. The soldiers passed in small scattered bands through

different gates.

On the way, I pointed out to the future captain the fears that I

entertained about the fate of the convoy of silver, exposed, as it were,

to the attack of the insurgents.

"May I ask if you have any interest in that?" said he, sharply.

"None at all; but the pillage of the convoy would entail considerable

loss on some of my countrymen."

"There's no fear of that; a powerful but hidden protection is extended

over the convoy. An extraordinary courier, that left town this morning,

has seen it put into a place of safety. The chief muleteer will wait for

the conclusion of events; and the escort has been intrusted to the

command of a brave and faithful man. Why, I take as lively an interest

in it as yourself."

"And for what reason?" I asked, astonished.

"Because we do not wish a crime to sully the glory of this coming

revolution. And, besides, I am to be the commander of the escort of the

_conducta_."

I could hardly explain the heat with which the lieutenant spoke of a

piece of business that seemed to offer no apparent advantage to him.

But, without asking any more questions, I contented myself by telling

him of the project that I had entertained of joining the conducta. Don

Blas received this news at first very coldly; then, seeing me determined

in my resolution, he pretended that it would be no bad thing to have me

for a companion on the road. Unfortunately, it was impossible yet to fix

a day for our departure; and many dangers, although Don Blas perhaps

exaggerated them, menaced the precious convoy.

Twenty-four hours after our arrival in the town, it was rumored that

Generals Santa Anna and Valencia were advancing at the head of two

divisions, to obtain redress of those grievances which they affirmed

they had suffered under Bustamente's government. Events now succeeded

each other with startling rapidity. A few skirmishes, and those not of

an unimportant nature, had already taken place between the government

troops and the factious, who had advanced to invest the _Plaza Mayor_,

and had raised a barricade at the corner of the streets San Augustin and

Secunda Monterilla. It was learned afterward, to the general

consternation, that the garrison in the palace, corrupted by the rebels,

had seized the person of the president even in the palace itself. While

this conflict was raging I heard nothing of Don Blas, but on the morning

of the day that followed these events, some blows, violently struck on

the lodge gate of my house, awoke me with a start. A few minutes after,

the lieutenant entered my chamber in a pretty plight. A long beard,

disordered hair, and a face begrimed with the smoke of gunpowder,

proved, or at least seemed to prove, that he had taken an active part in

the engagements of yesterday. I congratulated him on his warlike

appearance. Don Blas received my praises with the air of a man who knows

his own merit, and informed me, with a certain air of importance, that

he had come to occupy the terrace of my house with a body of his men, as

it commanded the palace square.

"I have chosen your house without even asking your permission," said he

to me, "because it is in the neighborhood of the presidential palace,

and also to show you how a captain's rank is gained. I hope that you

will follow me to the terrace, where my company is already stationed."

"I shall assist at your triumph with much pleasure," I said; "and, if

you will allow me to dress, I shall be very happy to take my place near

you; only I must keep out of the way of the balls, as I have not the

least honor to gain. But you are still in the infantry, I see."

"I have very good reasons for making no change as yet," replied the

lieutenant, with some slight hesitation. "In a hubbub like this, a

horseman is too much exposed--he is quite useless, I mean; and, besides,

how the devil have I the means of purchasing a horse?"

At this moment the door opened, and the helmet of a dragoon was shoved

in at the aperture. This helmet covered the head of the asistente

Juanito, who, more lucky than his master, had found means, thanks to

_monte_, of half transforming himself into a horseman; for all that

remained of his former costume was his enormous trowsers, in which he

seemed every moment ready to be ingulfed.

"Captain," cried the asistente, "if you don't come immediately and put

yourself at the head of your men, some misfortune may happen."

"What!" said Don Blas, "are my fellows so impatient to come to blows?"

"Oh no," replied Juanito, "they are in no hurry for that--rather the

contrary; but upon the terrace of the Ayuntamiento, opposite the house

of this French señor, stands that great rascal of a colonel you

know--the master of the inn who kept your lordship in pledge. He

proposes to buy our cartridges of us."

"And my braves have scouted the idea with indignation, I am sure?"

"They did; but that was because he only offered them half price."

"Has this d--d colonel, then, betrayed us?" cried the lieutenant.

"That may be, Señor Captain. I am not in the habit of meddling in other

people's affairs. The colonel has perhaps changed his side for very good

reasons: who knows?"

The officer started after the impassible Juanito, and I dressed myself

in all haste. I was curious to see how, according to the expression of

Don Blas, one attained the rank of captain. When I was almost on the

last step of the flight of stairs that led to the terrace, I heard the

word "Fire" given in a very loud voice. I stopped. To my great

astonishment, perfect quiet reigned on the roof. A second command was no

better obeyed; and it was not till after a third that a report followed,

but so feeble as to show that the cartridges, though only valued at

half price, still possessed such a value in their eyes as to prevent

them from being prodigally expended.

I opened the door of the terrace with all imaginable prudence, and stole

along, protected by a wall which ran round the azotea, and got behind

one of the pilasters, which rose turret-like at regular intervals.[43] I

had a telescope in my hand.

"What are you going to do with that glass?" inquired Don Bias.

"Why, I never go to the theatre without my glass--not even to a

bull-fight. Should I have forgotten it when I am come to secure the best

place for seeing the gigantic efforts of the combatants on both sides."

The future captain seemed to look with an eye of envy upon the place in

which I found myself in such perfect security. I could clearly discern

from my terrace even the quadrangle of the palace and the adjacent

streets. The national flag floated no longer from the roof of that

building, and the president found himself a prisoner in his own abode.

At the opposite angle of the building, through the grated windows of the

prison, which formed part of the palace, I espied the heads of the

prisoners, who were furious with excitement. The troops which had

remained faithful to the cause of Bustamente were ranged upon the grand

square, officers went and came, giving their orders, and cannon-wheels

rumbled upon the pavement, while the distant booming of the heavy guns,

and the white smoke which rose in dense massy clouds behind the houses,

showed that, in those streets which were hidden from my view, a fierce

engagement was going on. I could make out but imperfectly the places

where the combats were raging; but, according to Mexican tactics, the

same scenes were repeated on the tops of the houses. The fighting on the

terraces was on the same plan as that pursued in the streets below. The

roof of the palace was covered with soldiers, forming part of the

garrison that had been brought over by Santa Anna. These men kept up an

incessant fire against the troops of the colonel, thus placed between

two fires; but the close proximity of Don Blas's detachment gave him the

most serious alarm.

The lieutenant was just about to command his party to fire again, and

probably with more success than on the two former occasions, when the

tall colonel advanced to the edge of the azotea to hold a parley; and,

forming a kind of speaking trumpet with his two hands, cried out,

"_Muchachos!_ don't you see how shabby it is of you to fire upon us in

this way? _Caramba!_ you show little discretion by it. Is it not too bad

for two to fight against one? All brave men think so."

"Traitor!" cried the angry lieutenant.

"Traitor! traitor! You are a pretty fellow, on my word, my dear Don

Blas! One does not become a traitor for mere pleasure; and your notions

of politics appear to be behind the age. Ah! have you got cavalry on the

roof?" cried he, pleasantly, observing the gleam of the asistente's

helmet in the sun.

"You have made my soldiers the most insulting proposals," Don Blas

replied.

"That's true," answered the colonel, "I did. I have not offered them a

reasonable price for their cartridges, but I am ready to atone for my

fault."

A general hurrah, which burst from the lieutenant's men, showed that he

was regaining the ground he had lost.

"The colonel is no bad reasoner, it appears to me," said I to Don Blas.

"His reasons seem solid enough," he answered, with the air of a man who

seemed almost convinced; "but my duty obliges me to look on him as an

enemy."

Affairs, however, appeared to be drawing to a pacific conclusion, when

the colonel added, "It is an understood thing, then, that we do not fire

upon each other. Besides, what would your captain gain by shooting me?

He does not owe me a single real."

This unhappy allusion, which brought to the lieutenant's mind the

disagreeable circumstance that he had been held in pledge for a debt of

a few piastres, kindled anew all his former hatred, and he exclaimed,

"Death to the enemies of our country! Fire upon the traitors!"

His men were astonished at such an unexpected order, but they were

forced to obey, and the two parties began to fire at one another with a

want of success only equaled by their obstinacy. The balls passed above

my head, and tore through the air with a sharp whiz, similar to that

produced by thrusting red-hot iron into water. Carefully squatting down

in an angle of the wall, I marked the countenance of Don Blas, and I

must say that it did not appear quite at ease, when a fresh discharge

was heard, and the lieutenant fell. I ran toward him, but the asistente

was before me. Don Blas, lying at full length, gave no sign of life. I

saw Juanito shove several of the soldiers imperiously aside, and could

not help admiring the fidelity of this man to his master, when, to my

great surprise, he thrust his hands into the pockets of the

lieutenant's uniform, and drawing them out empty, cried out, with an

air of disappointment, "Nothing! not a real! How can we expect to be

properly commanded by officers who have not a single real in their

pockets? What if he had on cavalry trowsers!"

After such a funeral oration, this devoted servant detached the gold

epaulet from the lieutenant's shoulder with the utmost coolness, and

appropriated it to himself by way of consolation. Don Blas breathed

feebly, opened his eyes, and begged to be conveyed from the scene of

action. His orders were complied with, and four men took him up in their

arms. I wished to accompany him, to see him laid on my bed till his

wound could be examined. He objected strongly to that arrangement; but I

insisted, and made them carry him to my chamber.

"This will not do," said Don Blas to me; "powder and shot have no effect

on an old soldier like me. Go up again, and watch what turn matters are

taking. Victory will be my only cure."

I obeyed, and returned to the place I had left. During my absence the

colonel had proposed a cessation of hostilities. It had been agreed to,

and when I regained my former position, both parties were exchanging the

most courteous salutations with each other.

The most serious affairs, however, were taking place all round us.

Reassured by the peaceful attitude of the soldiers of Don Blas and the

colonel, I could observe more easily the progress of events. The redoubt

established at the corner of the streets of San Augustin and Monterilla

kept up continual discharges of grape-shot, and the road was covered

with the dead and wounded. Some fell with all the stoicism of the

Indian character, others uttering the most heart-rending cries. The

latter were principally those whom curiosity had drawn to the scene of

strife. Farther off, in the direction of the barrier of San Lazaro, the

roar of the cannon was heard without a single pause; while in the street

of Tacuba, opposite the palace, a battery, established by the insurgent

troops, swept the square, and made large breaches in the wall which

surrounded the palace. Masses of rubbish increased rapidly, the iron

balconies were torn and twisted like lianas in an impassable forest, and

very soon a large portion of the wall tumbled down. Then a man advanced

boldly to a dismantled window with so firm a step as to overawe the

crowd. I could distinguish in his bold features all the marks of one of

those vigorous natures which a kind of predestination seems to push

forward for the rude trials of a military life. This man was, perhaps,

the best citizen in Mexico. I had seen General Bustamente too often not

to recognize him immediately, in spite of the distance which separated

us. More grieved, doubtless, at the bloody scenes which then filled the

city, than careful of his own safety, the general addressed to the

seditious townsmen some words which I could not hear. However, the

cannon still roared without intermission; chips of stone, struck from

the sides of the window, began to fly about him in showers; but the

president appeared not to heed the danger, which was increasing every

moment. A new incident drew the general attention. The walls of the

prison, torn by cannon shot, had opened in many places, and I could see

the prisoners, shouting lustily, creep through the breaches, one after

the other, in spite of the storm of grape which swept the square, and

disperse themselves through the streets of the town. This completed the

anarchy which reigned at this moment over the devoted city.

These sad scenes were beginning to disgust me, when a temporary truce

was arranged between the combatants. A deep silence succeeded the

booming of the artillery; the time had now come for both sides to count

their dead and to remove the wounded. I went to my room, anxious to know

how Don Blas was getting on, but he was not there, and the bed on which

I had laid him was very little disarranged. On questioning the people of

the house, I learned that, at the very moment the truce had been

proclaimed, he had been seen to descend the stairs and go into the

street. He had probably thought that it would be more reasonable and

prudent of him to see after his much-coveted rank of captain than remain

quietly in my house. Seeing, then, that his wound must have been but

slight, I went out also. In the streets they were lifting the wounded,

and carrying them into the houses. As for the dead, their game had been

played out, and the pedestrian trod their bodies under foot with the

coolest indifference. They were already completely forgotten.

On the very next day, however, the combat recommenced, and blood again

flowed in the streets. Beaten without being overcome, the executive

annulled the obnoxious law of fifteen per cent. A full and entire

amnesty was granted to the insurgents; and, issuing from the gates of

the presidential palace, marched, with all the honors of war, a body of

the factious citizens, among whom I recognized, with no small dismay,

several convicted felons, notorious in the annals of crime. The ruins of

fallen masonry which encumbered the streets, the blood that had been

every where shed, and the withdrawal of the obnoxious law, were the

deplorable results of an insurrection which had brought in its train

twelve days of fighting and anarchy.

FOOTNOTE:

[43] Since the time of the Spaniards, these turrets or _almenas_ denoted

the house of a nobleman.

CHAPTER III.

Departure of the Convoy.--Victoriano, the Muleteer.--His sudden

Disappearance.--The Convoy is attacked by Robbers.

I purposed leaving Mexico now that order appeared established and

commerce had returned to its wonted channels. I learned that the

conducta was already in motion. I still held by my purpose of making

part of the escort under the command of the Lieutenant Don Blas; and on

the morning after a day spent in taking leave of my friends, I traversed

the streets of Mexico for the last time, attended by my valet Cecilio.

Upon reaching the open country, the joy that had taken possession of me

at the idea of my speedy return to Europe was slightly tinged by a vague

feeling of sadness. Mexico is still surrounded with lakes as in the time

of the Conquest; but the appearance of these still waters, traversed by

a magnificent road, has been completely changed. The time is gone by

when they bore on their bosom the brigantines of Cortez and the pirogues

of the ancient inhabitants. Partly lessened by evaporation and partly by

drainage, the lakes of Mexico preserve nothing of their former splendor.

The distant report of some sportsman's gun, and the wild songs of the

Indians, whose pirogues may sometimes be seen making their way through

the bending reeds, at rare intervals break the mournful silence which

broods over the fields in their vicinity. Some white aigrets--sitting

motionless on the surface of the water--white as the flowers of the

water-lily, a few water-hens, wild ducks, and huge reptiles which shake

the aquatic plants as they pass, and here and there an Indian angler

standing up to the middle of his legs in water, are the only living

beings to be seen in these solitudes. The heavens and the mountains are

alone unchanged; and the same volcanoes, their tops covered with eternal

snow, still shoot up aloft into the air as they did three hundred years

before.

Having arrived at Buena Vista, which commands a view of the whole valley

of Mexico, I stopped to take a last look of the beautiful plain at my

feet. In the midst of a belt of blue hills and small villages, whose

white houses contrasted beautifully with the green of the willows, the

lakes assumed, owing to the distance, something of their ancient glory.

Mexico seemed still the city of the New World. I stopped for a moment to

contemplate the distant domes with a feeling of involuntary dejection. I

looked for the last time upon a city to which I had come with all the

curiosity and enthusiasm peculiar to youth. Mexico was my halting-place

when I returned from my excursions in the country round. It was like a

second country to me; for, if infancy has its souvenirs dear to that

state of childhood, youth can not forget the place where the flower of

adolescence has shot up, and withered, alas! too soon. I looked again at

this fertile valley, where smiles an eternal spring; and, to escape from

the sadness which possessed me, put my horse to the gallop, and the

lofty towers of that city which I was never more to behold were soon

quickly lost to my view.

After passing a night at the venta of Cordova, my road lay through the

woods of Rio Trio, so notorious for the robberies committed there in

broad daylight, and the smiling plains of San Martin, which strongly

remind one of those of the Bajio. The snowy peaks of the volcanoes in

the vicinity of Mexico were lighted up by the last rays of a sun that

sparkled like an expiring beacon-fire when I rode into Puebla. The

conducta had passed through that town the same evening. Puebla, the

lofty towers of its convents, churches, and cupolas all covered with

enameled tiling, looks at a distance like an Oriental town overtopped

with minarets. I halted a short time to rest myself, and on the third

day after my departure from Mexico descried from a distance the red

pennons of the lancers who escorted the convoy.

In the first cavalier to whom I addressed myself after overtaking the

escort I could scarcely recognize the asistente of Don Blas. The desires

of this worthy lépero on becoming a soldier had been completely

satisfied, for, except that he had only a bottine on one foot, a shoe on

the other, and no straps to his trowsers, his cavalry uniform left him

nothing to desire. In consonance, also, with military discipline, he had

parted with his hair.

"Tell me, friend," said I, accosting him, "are you still in the service

of Lieutenant Don Blas?"

"Captain Don Blas, if you please--for he has been promised this rank as

a reward for his heroic conduct on your azotea; and I have got my

stripes also now. I am his servant no longer. He is a captain in a

regiment of lancers. You see a detachment of them here."

I proceeded onward, and, in spite of his new uniform, had little

difficulty in recognizing Don Blas. The captain was riding gloomily at

the head of his troop. I congratulated him on his promotion, and

inquired about his wound. He reddened slightly when he told me it had

quite healed, and hurriedly asked me if I had counted the cost of

traveling with him. I assured him it was my unalterable intention to

accompany the convoy to Vera Cruz. Don Bias affected much joy at my

resolution, after which the conversation fell quite naturally upon the

dangers of the road, the mishaps of which I thought I should escape in

his company. The captain shook his head.

"I am not so sure of that," said he. "I fear that you are jumping from

the frying-pan into the fire, for the late troubles have increased the

number of _guerillas_.[44] And folks say that we shall probably have a

hard fight with the highwaymen in the gorges of the Amozoque. The time

is gone by when, under a certain viceroy, the standard of Castile,

floating above a silver caravan, was sufficient to protect it in its

passage."

"I hope," I replied, "that the troop of lancers under your command will

make up for the want of the Spanish flag."

"God grant it!" returned Don Blas. "Although I am not blind to the

dangers we shall have to run, I shall do my duty in every case."

The long file of richly-laden mules, each having a burden of five

thousand dollars in coined money, over every one of which the guardians

of the convoy kept an incessant watch, was, in fact, a prize worth

striking a blow for. The road to Mexico presents the most striking

scenes incident to beauty in landscape, but the thick woods, the deep

gorges, and the narrow defiles which we had to traverse might be

swarming with robbers. I had scarcely passed a few hours among my new

companions ere I began to feel the want of some amusement to dissipate

the ennui attendant upon a slow and monotonous march through a desert

country. The captain was assuredly a merry companion, but his jokes were

trite and commonplace. The stories and songs of a muleteer who took the

lead in that kind of entertainment in our little troop were infinitely

more agreeable to me. He was a man of about thirty years of age, called

Victoriano. He had traveled this road for several years, and had a story

for every halting-place. In the evening, under a starry sky, when the

mules, relieved from their burdens, munched their maize under the

_mantas_ which served them for a rack; when round the bivouac fires the

sentinels mounted guard over the treasure committed to their care, and

the other soldiers slept upon their arms, the captain and I always had a

new pleasure in listening to Victoriano, whose unflagging spirit found

vent in pleasant stories, or in songs accompanied by the mandolin.

I pitied then the travelers I saw whirled along in the diligence like a

flash of lightning, their horses galloping at the top of their speed,

while the passengers very likely would be pointing us out to their

friends as the only remnant existing of the old Mexican manners. A few

more vices, I said to myself, and a few less charms, are the only

results of this parody of civilization, which, up to the present time,

has destroyed every thing and constructed nothing. On these evenings,

round our watch-fire, living at once the life of a muleteer and that of

a soldier, I still experienced without alloy, even though on my way to

Europe, the feelings incident to life in the Eastern deserts.

Since our departure from Puebla, Acajete, the hacienda of San Juan,

Tepeaca, and Santa Gertrudis (for we had deviated from the ordinary

route) had been so many resting-places, marked by a certain quiet in

which the fatigue of the body is transferred to the mind, and which

seems to prove that the happiness of a man consists in physical motion

as much as in thought. We had just passed the town and fort of Perote.

"Señor Cavalier," said Victoriano to me, "you ought to go to see the

fort. I can easily accompany you to the gate, and, upon my

recommendation, you will be admitted without difficulty. You can rejoin

us afterward at Cruz Blanca, a little village about two leagues from

here, where we shall pass the night, and on your return I shall tell you

a story about it which made a great noise some years ago."

I took the advice of the muleteer, who, according to promise, introduced

me into the fort, the interior of which I ran over at my pleasure in the

company of an officer, who was glad to attend me in the capacity of

guide. I was about an hour in the place, and, as the sun was beginning

to set, galloped at full speed to join the convoy.

I passed over one of those arid and desolate plains, bristling with

volcanic scoriæ, known by the name of _mal pais_, upon which a scanty

layer of earth allows only a few stunted plants to grow. The wind,

blowing in sudden gusts, seemed to moan as it struck the sonorous leaves

of the nopal and the clumps of juniper. The wolves also began to howl

frequently, and the fog which was falling was so dense and cold that I

thought I was long in reaching the watch-fire at which I expected

Victoriano to fulfill his promise. However, the fear of losing my way in

the fog, which hid the horizon, joined to the roughness of the ground,

forced me to slacken my pace, and night had fallen before I arrived at

our halting-place--Cruz Blanca. In the small number of houses which

composed the village, it was not difficult to find where the conducta

had stopped. To my great astonishment, I learned that Victoriano had not

made his appearance. This circumstance had alarmed every body. Some

accident of a serious nature must have happened to prevent a man, whose

habitual punctuality was well known, from rejoining the cavalcade, and

every one was lost in conjectures as to his absence, when a stranger

presented himself, and requested to speak with the chief arriero. The

new-comer was dressed in a well-worn stable-coat, and an apron such as

is generally worn by mule conductors. He told us that Victoriano, whose

horse had come down, had been much injured by the fall, and that they

had conveyed him to Perote, where the utmost care would be taken of him.

The unknown added that it was by his express desire that he had come to

supply his place till he should be in a fit state to rejoin the convoy.

The chief arriero, who had only the number of men strictly necessary,

accepted his offer perhaps a little too inconsiderately. The new-comer

was a stout fellow of about the same age as Victoriano, but the sinister

expression of his countenance did not inspire me with the same feeling

of confidence as the arriero.

The next morning we resumed our march, intending to pass the night at

Hoya, a little village about five leagues from Cruz Blanca. The journey,

though slow as ever, seemed more fatiguing, as Victoriano was not there

to enliven it with his stories. Every thing seemed to go wrong after his

departure. On arriving at Barranca Honda, about a league from where we

had started in the morning, a mule cast its shoe, then a second, and

afterward a third. Very long halts were necessary for re-shoeing the

animals. Victoriano's substitute acquitted himself as a farrier with

great zeal and intelligence, to the great delight of the arriero, who

continued, however, to discharge as many oaths as there were saints in

the calendar. For my part, I must say that I could not look upon our new

companion with the same satisfaction as the muleteer.

"Does it not seem to you," said I to Don Blas, "that this fellow, who

shoes the mules so cleverly, might not show an equal address in

unshoeing them?"

The captain looked on my suspicions as ridiculous. "I am perfectly

disinterested in the matter," I replied, "for, fortunately, none of the

precious boxes belong to me; but I can't help regretting the absence of

Victoriano."

The convoy put itself again in motion. Still, although it was necessary

that the pace should be quickened, the mules appeared to have lost all

their former energy, as if some enervating drug had been mixed with

their food. Just when we were passing through Las Vigas, the arriero

held a sort of conference with the chief of the escort. The former

advised that we should pass the night in the village; Don Blas, however,

thought it would be better to push on to Hoya, alleging that a delay in

a convoy so soon expected in Vera Cruz, especially when the stages in

advance were well known, would tend to spread a prejudicial uneasiness.

Unluckily for the muleteer, this advice prevailed, and we resolved to

push on to Hoya.

There is, perhaps, no part of Mexico in which the difference between the

temperature of the plains and that of the more elevated regions is more

keenly felt than in the approaches to the Vigas. A few seconds before

reaching the village, you were in an instant transported into the

vegetation peculiar to cold climates. There the warm breeze and blue

heavens were gone, and in their stead a cold north wind blew sharply

through the icy vapor which floated around us. Our eyes met only a dull

sky, and an arid soil torn up and thickly covered with volcanic

boulders. The fog, which at first crept along the surface of the ground,

and rolled about in volumes like dust under the feet of our horses, was

not long in mounting aloft, and hiding from our view the tops of the

tall pines. We could scarcely distinguish one another in the dense mist

which the icy wind was driving right in our faces. Deep ravines ran

parallel with the road, which was of volcanic formation, and it was a

difficult matter to prevent the mules from straggling in a path so hard

to follow. I could not help admiring the calmness of Don Blas, the great

importance of whose trust absolutely frightened me. As for the arriero,

he was in great perplexity, and he galloped incessantly up and down the

whole length of the convoy, the sparks flying from his mule's feet at

every stroke. The poor man inspired me with a lively interest, for every

thing he had in life was at stake; an immense responsibility rested upon

him, and he counted and recounted his mules every minute with an anxiety

painful to behold. When night had fully come on, Don Blas divided his

escort into two bodies. With one he rode at the head of the convoy, and

left the other under the charge of Juanito, his ex-asistente. The march

was gloomy and silent, the chief noise heard being the tinkle of the

bell of the leading mule, the songs of the soldiers, and the clattering

of the mules' feet on the stony road. Riding alone on the flank of the

convoy, I passed through my mind the various incidents of the morning;

the disappearance of our favorite, the unshoeing of the mules, and the

dull listlessness with which they now marched, appeared to me, in the

midst of the fog which enveloped us, alarming in the highest degree. At

the very moment I was asking myself if some treachery was not at work

around us, I was joined by my valet Cecilio.

"Señor," said Cecilio, in a low voice, "if you will believe me, we ought

not to stay here a moment longer. Something strange is going to happen."

"And where are we to go," said I, "when we can not see two paces before

us among these rocks and ravines? But what is the matter?"

"The matter is, señor, that Victoriano has just slipped in among us, and

perhaps I am the only one that has remarked his presence; but his coming

bodes no good. The story of his accident appears to be only a

falsehood."

"Are you sure of it?"

"Yes, quite; but that is not all. About a quarter of an hour ago, I was

in the rear, as I have been generally all the march, owing to this

confounded beast of mine, when two mounted cavaliers passed without

seeing me, as I was concealed behind a mass of rock. One of them

bestrode a magnificent black horse, and was otherwise too well equipped

for a peaceable traveler."

"A magnificent black horse?" I said, interrupting him, thinking of the

ranchero in Mexico who had looked so coolly on the departure of the

convoy.

"The other," continued Cecilio, "rode a mule, and had the costume of a

muleteer; and, if I rightly understood what they said, Victoriano must

be an accomplice."

"And what became of the horsemen?"

"I have no doubt that, under cover of the darkness, they mingled with

the escort. It is easy to guess why; and, probably, they are not alone,

for these ravines could conceal an entire _cuadrilla_ (band). If your

lordship will be guided by me, we shall let the convoy go on without

us."

"Not at all," I answered; "I must go and tell the captain."

"And who told you, señor, that the captain is not also an accomplice?"

I made no answer. It was not the time for discussion, but for acting.

Without considering whether Cecilio's suspicions of Don Blas were well

or ill founded, I spurred my horse to warn at least the chief arriero.

With some trouble I made up to the rear guard, passed it and some of the

mules, the others still forming a long line in front. In the midst of

the fog I was guided by the clank of their hoofs on the rocky ground. At

last I distinguished the tinkling of the leading mule a few hundred

yards in advance. At the same moment I fancied I recognized in the

cavalier by my side the sinister countenance of Victoriano's substitute.

Some seconds after, the voice of a muleteer rose in the darkness.

"What's the meaning of this?" cried he. "Halloo! Victoriano, is that

you? It is, by heavens! and by what chance?"

There was no reply, and the question was not repeated. I shuddered. I

thought I heard a stifled cry, followed by a heavy fall. I listened

again attentively, but the only sounds were the whistling of the wind,

and the echo of the mules' feet upon the stony road. A few seconds after

my horse shied violently, as if he had distinguished in the darkness

something that had alarmed him. Desirous of clearing up the terrible

doubts that harassed my mind, I took out my tinder and steel as if to

light a cigar, and to warm me by the exercise it afforded. I fancied for

a moment that I was the sport of a dream. By the momentary light it sent

forth, I thought I saw some strange figures marching along with the

soldiers of our escort and the muleteers. Silent phantoms seemed to have

glided mysteriously out of the darkness, and were traveling along with

us, some clad in lancers' uniform, others wearing the striped frocks of

the muleteers. All at once the bell of the leading mule ceased to sound;

in a few seconds it recommenced, but in quite a different direction, and

similar sounds issued from the ravines on the left of the road. I had

seen enough--nay, too much; treachery surrounded us on every side. But

what could one do in the midst of a thick fog, and on a road bordered by

ravines? How could one distinguish friends from foes in the deep gloom?

Astonished and disconcerted, I stopped my horse; then, at the risk of

breaking my neck in the darkness, I galloped to the front of the convoy;

it was now too late. A cord whistled over my head and encircled me; my

horse made a bound forward; but, instead of being dragged from my

saddle, and thrown under the animal's feet as I expected, I felt myself

bound to my horse with a terrible tightness. The noose intended for me

alone had also enlaced him. My right arm was so tightly bound to my body

that I could not disengage myself sufficiently to allow me to draw my

knife from my boot to cut the lasso. I dug my spurs into my horse's

flanks. The noble animal neighed, and tore forward with irresistible

vigor. I felt the lasso tighten till it almost cut me, then suddenly

slack. A snap of broken girths, an imprecation of rage, and all at once

I found myself free, almost before I could fully realize the danger I

had escaped. A vigorous bound of my horse almost unseated me. I kept my

saddle, however, and galloped furiously on. Some shots were heard, and a

ball whistled close to my ears; at the same moment, cries of alarm arose

in the darkness. The repercussion of the firing was fearful, and the

confusion indescribable. The mules, deceived by the bells which rang in

various directions, ran against each other, and jostled one another in

the darkness. The flashes of the fire-arms tore through the fog, and the

reports died away among the rocks. By the glare of the musketry you

could see the lancers, in their red uniforms, huddled together in

confusion, and firing away at random in the thick darkness; the balls

went whistling through the air, and the cries of despair of the muleteer

were heard distinctly above the din of the tumult.

My frightened horse had carried me far from the scene of combat. I

pulled him in immediately and returned. When I rejoined the convoy the

contest was over and the bandits had disappeared. Don Blas, who had kept

himself very cool during the whole affair, grasped me silently by the

hand. I had no time to question him, for a man threw himself between us,

a torch in his hand, imploring the captain's assistance. By its light I

recognized the discomposed features of the poor muleteer. Some of the

soldiers, dismounting, cut branches off the fir-trees and lighted them.

We could then survey the sad spectacle which met our eyes. The mozos,

among whom Victoriano's substitute was no longer to be seen, watched the

poor animals that were standing in groups round the leading mule, whose

bell had disappeared. Several mules were bleeding from large wounds: two

soldiers, very likely hit by the balls of their comrades, were bandaging

their legs with their pocket-handkerchiefs. In a shallow ravine, which

the torches reddened with a melancholy glow, a poor muleteer lay

writhing in the death agony. This was the man who had recognized

Victoriano; he had expiated the fault of having seen too well. The

arriero, torch in hand, walked from one mule to another, tearing his

hair the while, and wiping off the sweat, which, in spite of the

coldness of the night, dropped profusely from his face. "I am

lost--ruined!" cried the poor devil, who appeared scarcely to have

sufficient courage to ascertain his precise loss with exactness. He

commenced, however. Don Blas, who seemed very pale even by the reddish

glare of the torches, sat motionless in his saddle. I scrutinized his

features as I thought over Cecilio's words, but nothing in his

countenance betrayed the painful emotion of a man who, by negligence or

misfortune, had failed in the execution of his duty.

"Don't you think," said I to him, "that it would be no bad thing to

pursue the robbers who have carried off their booty, and who are every

moment increasing their distance from us?"

Don Blas seemed to wake out of his reverie.

"Doubtless," he cried, roughly; "but who told you that they have carried

off any thing?"

"Heaven help this poor man!" said I, pointing to the muleteer, who

uttered a doleful cry.

"May God pity me!" cried he, "for I shall never survive it. Five, Señor

Captain! five are gone!" he continued, in a choking voice. "I have lost

in one night the fruit of twenty years' toil! Ah! Señor Don Blas, by

the life of your mother, try to recover them for me; the half shall be

yours. Ah! why did you advise me to proceed to-night? Why did I listen

to you?"

And the poor muleteer, dashing his torch upon the road, rolled in the

dust.

The captain being thus forced to make some reparation for the misfortune

which he had either ignorantly or designedly caused, picked out a dozen

of his best-mounted horsemen, ordered them to cut some pine branches to

serve for torches, and to commence the pursuit without delay. I did not

anticipate any very successful issue to the expedition, although I had

been the first to advise him to it. Persuaded, however, that, though

there was little chance of success, there was little risk to be run;

desirous, besides, to witness the wonderful sagacity of the Mexicans in

following even the faintest traces, I insisted upon accompanying Don

Blas and his band. The captain agreed without much difficulty, and we

set out immediately for Hoya.

FOOTNOTE:

[44] Bands of robbers.

CHAPTER IV.

Don Tomas Verduzco is shot by Juanito.--Death of Captain Don Blas.

It was a difficult enterprise on which we had entered. Darkness masked

the march of the robbers, whose trail it would be almost impossible to

follow unless during daylight, as it led over a volcanic soil. We were

certain that the stolen mules had not been taken in the direction of

Perote. From the place where we now were, the lights in the village of

Hoya were easily discernible even through the dense fog which stretched

all round us. The news of our disaster could not be long in reaching

that place, and the presumption was that the robbers were not to be

sought for in that direction. The ground on the left side of the road

was impracticable in the darkness, from the large number of sloughs and

ravines which seamed its surface. There was no doubt but that the

bandits had gained the woody heights on the right which overhung the

road, and that the pursuit must be begun in that quarter. A soldier

remarked that the light of our torches would betray our presence. We

were ignorant of the number of our enemies, who could very easily see us

from the lights we carried, and prudence prompted us to hide our motions

in darkness. By the captain's order we extinguished the flambeaux, not,

however, without casting a glance over the ground we were going to

traverse. A steep path led to the crest of a ridge that overhung the

road. Three of us, of whom I was one, remained to point out this

particular spot. The rest were sent to explore the different paths which

were to be met with more in advance. We waited in all stillness the

return of the exploring party. Thus passed some minutes. The winds,

sighing through the pines which formed a gloomy arch above the hollow

road at whose mouth we were stationed, shook upon our heads the

condensed mists which fell drop by drop from their sloping branches. At

the end of half an hour the horsemen returned. They had seen nothing,

but they were certain that no other path than the one on which we were

posted led to the high road. If we followed it, we would be sure of

hitting the right trail. The soldiers, animated by the hope of a rich

reward, were as desirous to begin the pursuit as a pack of dogs to hunt

a stag. The captain alone seemed to have no heart for the work, and the

orders he gave betrayed a considerable amount of indecision. We began

our march, however. Unfortunately, the darkness of the night made our

progress very slow. At times, and during a short halt, one of the

horsemen alighted and applied his ear to the ground, but not a sound was

heard but the sighing of the wind. The rocky ground, carefully examined

by the light of a cigar, seemed incapable of bearing even the slightest

impress. Guided, however, by an inexplicable instinct, the soldiers did

not appear to doubt but that the robbers had passed that way. The gravel

soon ceased to crunch beneath our tread; we were now on softer ground.

We had at last some chance of discovering the trace of the men or

animals which had followed that road. Half of us alighted, and by the

light of our cigars, or sparks from flint and steel, began examining

with the utmost minuteness every bit of moss or bare earth on the path.

Tracks crossed one another in every direction; and at the end of a few

minutes, a soldier uttered a cry of joy, and pointed out to us the

distinct impress of the two feet of a mule. One of the marks showed that

the animal had been newly shod, from the deeper dent made in the soft

ground. This was, assuredly, the traces of one of the mules of the

convoy that we had been forced to shoe that very morning. At this time

we were marching only at random, and our delight at this discovery was

intense. The trail was followed till it conducted us to a vast open

clearing, a sort of square, from which several paths struck off similar

to the one we had followed. There we were completely at fault.

A considerable time had now elapsed since we began our search. The

captain, in order to husband our horses' strength in case a new and

longer pursuit would be required, ordered a halt. The different paths,

which crossed one another in such confusion, could not, he said, be

properly examined unless by daylight. The men began to murmur at this

unexpected check; but obedience was necessary, and they all alighted.

Some large fires were kindled, more for warmth against the freezing cold

of the night, and to guard against a sudden surprise, than for the light

they afforded. As I took no great interest in the search, I joyfully

welcomed the opportunity I had of warming myself at a good fire, and of

taking some repose, of which I stood in great need.

After a few minutes' talk, all was silent. The clearing in which we were

bivouacked was illuminated throughout its whole extent by the light of

our fires. Nothing was heard but the rapid and measured step of the two

sentinels we had posted. Several hours rolled away; our fires were just

dying out, and day could not be far off, when a cracking of broken

branches was heard at some distance. One of our sentinels, his carbine

in one hand and a torch in the other, advanced to the place whence the

noise proceeded, and soon reappeared leading a mule, which, from its

color, and the pack-saddle on his back, was easily recognized as one of

those that had been stolen from the convoy. His broken bridle showed

that, after having been deprived of his precious burden, they had tied

him up in a thicket to prevent our finding him, and that the poor beast

had only been able to gain our encampment by breaking his tether. Every

body was soon on foot. The woods, perviated every where with paths,

unhappily afforded us no new traces, and we much feared that the

robbers had divided their plunder, and gone off in a different

direction. This thought, which discouraged us so much, produced quite a

different effect upon the captain. Up to this time Don Blas had seemed

to take no interest in the pursuit, but now he flew into a violent

passion, and uttered the most violent menaces against the bandits, whose

daring had caused us to lose so much.

"Ah!" cried he, "if chance but throws any of them into my hands, I shall

shoot them without benefit of clergy."

Speaking thus, Don Blas walked backward and forward, hitting the ferns

which branched out above us with his sabre.

"Whom will you shoot?" I asked.

"Whom?" replied the captain; "why, the first man that happens to fall

into my hands."

"That will be a right which it may be difficult to exercise, for robbers

on the high road have generally long arms."

"That's my concern," answered Don Blas, with a strange smile; "I will

find the means to have the law on my side."

The captain immediately gave the word to mount. The soldiers, delighted

at the prospect of regaining their lost time, welcomed the order with

acclamation. I must confess that I could not account for this sudden

change in the conduct of Don Blas. Why so much zeal after so much

coldness? I pleased myself by thinking that hitherto it had been only in

appearance, and that the captain had shown so much apathy at first for

the sake of propriety, that it might not be thought he was actuated by

too lively a desire to gain the reward promised by the arriero.

One of the three paths which led out of the clearing was so narrow, and

so little frequented, judging by the appearance of the ground, that,

according to all appearance, it could not lead to any inhabited place.

The other two were deeply marked with the footprints of men and animals.

They would very likely lead to some hacienda, or rancho at least.

According to the conjectures of the soldiers, the least trodden of the

three paths was that which most probably the robbers had taken. Opinion

being divided on that point, the captain ordered us to separate into two

parties, and each, taking a particular path, to explore it to the

utmost, and two hours after nightfall to rejoin one another in the

clearing. Don Blas placed himself at the head of one of these

detachments, the other was under the command of Juanito. As for myself,

I followed Don Blas, although he did every thing he could to dissuade me

from doing so, but I had an instinctive notion that he would not be the

man to prefer the most dangerous road. The path we had taken led us

toward a wide plain. We soon arrived at an open square in the wood

whence several roads diverged. This was a new embarrassment. Our band,

however, proceeded in pairs to explore each of these ramifications.

"If this continue," I said to Don Blas, "we shall soon be completely

separated from one another, and be liable to be pursued in our turn by

those whom we are pursuing."

Still Don Blas did not think that any danger was to be apprehended by

this division of our forces. He forthwith proceeded to reconnoitre one

of these roads, and I accompanied him. However, when we had proceeded

some distance from our companions, his ardor seemed suddenly to cool.

He stopped his horse, which was before mine, and proceeded to expatiate

upon the beauty of the landscape with the cool indifference of a

dissatisfied tourist. The sun had dissipated the mist which had till now

enwrapped us. The sky was clear and without a cloud, and a pleasant

warmth soon made us forget the sharp and piercing cold of the preceding

night. A slight perfume of guava, that the wind wafted along at

intervals, was now and then mixed with the sharp and pungent odor of the

pines. This was like a harbinger of the beautiful azure sky of the hot

regions, and the magnificence of their luxuriant vegetation. We were now

separated from the first of our party by several miles.

"I should like to know," said Don Blas to me, after a short silence,

"how far the audacity of these brigands would go."

"That is very clear, it seems to me," I replied, "and, since yesterday

evening, facts show very strongly how much they are capable of doing."

We had not proceeded far till we met with evidence which proved to us

that we were now on the trail of the robbers. Don Blas, seeing some

pieces of wood lying on the ground, alighted and picked them up. It was

the remains of one of the little boxes in which the sacks of piastres

had been packed. He then begged me, in spite of my entreaties, to remain

where I was; and, wheeling his horse about, set off at full speed. A

turn in the road soon hid him from my view, and I remained alone,

without being able to explain the reason of his singular conduct. A

painful suspicion, which I had been trying to drive from my mind for

some time, now recurred to me with redoubled force. Had Don Blas really

any connivance with those robbers, whose presence he wished to seek

without a witness? Suddenly a distant shot was heard, which roused me

from my reflections. I thought I heard likewise a feeble cry of alarm

and distress. I listened, but every thing was calm and silent round me.

Prudence urged me to retrace my steps. The captain might be killed; if

still alive, dangerously wounded. In these two cases I could be of no

assistance; but I resolved to return to procure help. Having come to the

place where Don Blas and I had separated from our companions some time

before, I discharged my two pistols in succession. I soon had the

satisfaction of being rejoined by two of our men, whom I informed in a

few words of what had passed.

"The brigands!" cried Juanito; "they are capable of killing my captain

for his gold epaulets;" and, to prevent a proceeding so prejudicial to

his interests, the sergeant set off at a gallop. The lancers imitated

his example, and I followed them, impatient to rejoin Don Blas, but

without much hope that Juanito would be deceived. My fears were soon

changed to a painful certainty. The captain, unhorsed by the shot I had

heard, lay upon the grass, his breast pierced by a ball, but still

alive, in spite of the dangerous nature of his wound, and the blood that

was flowing from it in abundance. We all hastened to assist him. One of

the soldiers stanched the blood, and bound it up very dexterously with

our handkerchiefs. While one of the escort went in pursuit of Don Blas's

horse, which had escaped, and the captain, with his back to the trunk of

a tree, was slowly reviving, I began to examine the ground on all sides.

The unhappy man had evidently surprised the bandits at the very moment

they were dividing their booty, for broken boxes and bags turned

outside in strewed the ground in all directions. Refreshed by a sip of

brandy that I caused him to swallow, Don Bias declared that he had seen

nobody, and that he had but newly arrived at the place when he was

stretched on the earth by a musket-shot. He then added that he knew the

hand that had fired the piece. This was too singular a contradiction to

provoke a reply. Whether he had said too much, and, being fatigued,

wished to say no more, I know not, but he spoke not another word. In the

mean time his horse had been caught, and the wounded man affirmed that

he thought himself sufficiently recovered to be able to reach the

convoy. Still, his strength not being equal to his inclination, it was

necessary to lift him on horseback. A soldier mounted behind to support

him and take the reins, and we set out on the road to Hoya.

We arrived there about midday. A new incident here awaited us. Scarcely

had Don Bias been laid on one of the rough beds, hastily knocked up for

him in a cabin in the village, when a detachment of the escort which had

been scouring the country round all the morning brought in a prisoner

with his hands tied behind his back. His face was blackened, and half

concealed by a handkerchief. This disguise was most suspicious, as it is

the one usually adopted by Mexican highwaymen. Under this hideous mask I

fancied I discerned--a remarkable circumstance--the features of a man

who had played a most prominent part in one of the most melancholy

episodes of my wanderings, Don Tomas Verduzco. Surrounded by a crowd, he

did not discern me. He entreated to be led to the captain; and his

voice, though altered by his agitation, was still that of the bravo. I

went before the men who were conducting him, and entered first into the

hut where Don Blas lay. As soon as he saw the person they had brought

him, his pale face became livid, and hatred gleamed in his eyes; he,

however, said nothing. The prisoner stood unmoved, and an air of

impudent assurance had replaced the expression of stupefaction that was

visible a moment before in his countenance.

"What! Señor Don Blas!" cried he; "can I believe my eyes? Are you

dangerously wounded? The conducta, it seems, has been pillaged in part,

and I am accused of having assisted in that piece of villainy. Good God!

it seems as if it were only a dream."

"I fear that it is something worse than a dream," replied the captain,

coldly.

"What do you mean by that coldness?" said the bravo, for it was really

he. "Your lordship will, perhaps, be less pleased at seeing me than I am

in meeting you."

"On the contrary," answered Don Blas, in a voice to which excitement had

restored all its former firmness, "I doubt if you are as glad to see me

as I am to have you in my power."

"I do not understand you, Señor Captain," returned the bravo,

impudently.

"You _will_ understand me," said the captain. "If I am pleased at

meeting you again, it is only that I may treat you as a highwayman, as a

murderer, by shooting you at once, without benefit of clergy."

The look of the captain, which expressed an implacable hatred, added

strength to his words; and the bravo, the predominant feature of whose

character was evidently not courage, seemed almost to quail under this

terrible menace, and he lost countenance for a moment. Seeing, however,

that his wound gave Don Blas more assurance, he made a strong effort to

master himself, and replied, in quite a firm tone of voice,

"Shoot _me_! That's rather a good joke; but I have more protectors than

you think; and, if it is necessary, I will say--Señor Captain, I will

say--"

It was now Don Blas's turn to tremble. The captain ordered the bravo to

be silent by an imperious gesture; and, signing to Juanito to leave the

room, remained alone with the assassin. I am wholly ignorant of what

passed between these two worthies, and could only guess what cause had

so suddenly changed the opinion of Don Blas with regard to Verduzco. I

only know that, after an hour's conversation, the bravo quitted the

captain's chamber under the escort of Juanito, who appeared from that

moment to treat the prisoner with singular consideration.

The captain's wound did not, however, look so alarming as it did, and a

considerable difference could even be observed upon his spirits. After

passing two miserable days in the cabin at Hoya, I heard without much

surprise that Don Blas thought himself sufficiently recovered to be able

to accompany us to Jalapa in a litter, which the chief muleteer had

constructed for the purpose. The wounded officer would probably find in

that town better medical advice than he could get in Hoya. He could also

keep his prisoner in his own hands and under his own guidance.

We had more than fifteen miles to go to reach Jalapa, and, although it

was almost two hours after midday before we set out, it was possible to

reach that town if we traveled at a quickened pace. This time, a

reconnoitring party had been sent on in advance, and every precaution

taken to guard against a new surprise. Juanito carried the prisoner

behind him. The sergeant and his prisoner chatted as gayly as two

friends who were going to the same fête, sharing the same horse. The

convoy advanced at a rapid pace. We had now marched two leagues, and had

reached San Miguel el Soldado. I then could not help observing that

Juanito's horse, probably from its double burden, had lagged behind, and

was now far in the rear. Restrained by curiosity from leaving the

captive out of sight, I gradually checked the impetuosity of my horse in

such a way as to follow Juanito and the bandit at a short distance.

"Caspita!" cried the sergeant, after a long silence, "you have on a

capital pair of boots, Señor Don Tomas."

I must remind the reader that Juanito had only a bottine and a shoe.

"I am glad my boots please you," Verduzco replied, "and I would place

them at your disposal, but you see I am not quite done with them yet."

"You are very kind, Señor Don Tomas," replied the sergeant, with equal

courtesy, "but I mean that I would only borrow them from you when they

are of no more use to you. That is always the way I do with my friends,

and you are decidedly one. I shall wait, then."

The two horsemen then spoke in a low tone, and I could only catch

snatches of their conversation. I was soon drawn away from the

distraction into which I had been betrayed by the beauty of the

landscape. We were just over San Miguel. From this elevated point the

eye wandered over a charming valley, encircled by a belt of foggy

mountains. The Naocampatepetl,[45] an extinct volcano, which has the

appearance of a square block of stone, is the highest eminence in this

range. At the foot of the peak of Macuiltepetl, upon a beautiful carpet

of verdure which covers the valley, in the midst of orange-trees in full

blossom, of lofty palm-trees, and bananas loaded with fruit, stands the

town of Jalapa, set as in a garland of flowers. Placed between the icy

fog of the mountains which surround it and the hot atmosphere of the

sea-coast, Jalapa is only visited by breezes laden with perfumes. The

thick vapors, which hang like a curtain over the plain, lend to it a

delicious freshness. Viewed from the top of the hill, where nothing was

near but gloomy pines and a stunted vegetation, similar to that of the

north, the valley which now lay at my feet seemed more enchanting from

the contrast which it afforded.

Day at last came to a close. Macuiltepetl, and the sides of the extinct

volcano, began to lose their shades of dusky violet, and already the

peak of Orizaba[46] appeared at a distance like a brilliant star. At the

bottom of the picture under my eye ran an almost imperceptible white

line, which terminated to the right and left in the horizon. This line

was the ocean, and it was not without a lively emotion that I

contemplated that immense mass of water which laves the shores of

France.

While I was absorbed in the contemplation of this enchanting landscape,

the convoy had advanced considerably beyond me. I then fancied that the

belt which bound the body of the bravo and the soldier together was not

so tight as it used to be. This circumstance, remarked also by others,

led me to believe that Juanito was conniving at a plan of escape on the

part of the prisoner. I asked myself, though it was a business

repugnant to my feelings, if I ought not to apprise the captain of the

matter. However, I thought that my presence would be a hinderance to

Verduzco's attempt to escape, and so preferred remaining where I was.

Suddenly the belt, cut by the bravo's knife, divided into two, and the

bandit, slipping from the horse's back to the ground, darted off at a

run. The lancer was up with him at a single bound of his horse. Juanito

applied the muzzle of his carbine to the bravo's head, drew the trigger,

and blew out his brains before I could even utter a cry.

"On my word," said Juanito, replacing the carbine in its case, still

smoking, "he can't complain that I have not had a regard for his

feelings, for I could have got possession of his boots two hours

sooner."

Set completely at ease on this delicate point, the sergeant dismounted,

and, snatching the objects of his desire, pulled them off the corpse and

put them on.

"I knew quite well," added he, "that I would complete my equipment at

last."

"My dear Juanito," said I to him, "you are a faithful servant to the

captain, although I always suspected the contrary; but there is a

mystery wrapped up in this which I do not comprehend, and if you

unriddle it for me I will give you a piastre."

"With much pleasure," said Juanito, taking the money; "I wish I could

find every day a confessor equal in generosity to your lordship."

The sergeant remounted, and, while walking our horses together, he said,

"What you saw me do was by an order of the captain. To shoot this wicked

knave would have been, in the eyes of the law, a crime that would have

cost us dear; to place him in the hands of the judges would have

offered him a favorable chance of getting off altogether; to kill him,

on the contrary, when he was trying to escape, was quite lawful. The

attempt at flight, at which I seemed to connive, was only a plan

concerted between the captain and me, and the prisoner fell into the

snare."

"But why has your captain acted in such a way to a man with whom he had

formerly such intimate relations?"

"Ah! that's quite another thing!" replied Juanito. "Before sending

Verduzco to a better world, my captain charged me to confess my

prisoner. Here is what he told me, and which I will tell only to you, or

to those who will give me a piastre for the information. Counting upon

the influence which he had in high places, Verduzco engaged to procure

for the captain an acting order as commander of the first convoy which

left Mexico, the agreement being that he was to allow the conducta to be

pillaged on its march, and that afterward the proceeds should be shared

between them. Don Blas accepted these conditions; but I must say in his

favor that he seemed to have repented of the bargain he had made with

the bandit. Now, you know what happened to the convoy; but the best of

the joke is, that the successful _coup_ was made by another band than

that of Verduzco's, who had not reckoned on any thing of the kind. While

the bravo was waiting for the conducta beyond Hoya, another body of

robbers, better informed, met it before it reached that place. It was by

these wretches that the captain was wounded. He fancied that Verduzco

had betrayed him, and it was on that account that I received the order

to seize the first opportunity that offered to blow the ruffian's brains

out."

We spurred our horses to rejoin the convoy. As soon as Juanito

perceived the captain's litter, he set his horse to a gallop, and rode

alongside for a time. Some minutes passed, during which, bending to the

patient's ear, he whispered to him the execution of his orders. Suddenly

he ordered the convoy to stop. All pressed round the litter, and I

galloped up to ascertain the cause of the halt. A painful feeling,

produced by the sergeant's report, had brought on bleeding internally,

and when I came up he was already in the last agonies.

The death of Don Blas severed the last tie that bound me to the silver

convoy. I resolved to let it proceed without me. The scenes I had

witnessed had left a painful feeling on my mind, and I was no longer

able to support the company of men whose brutal passions were not

satisfied till a crime had been committed. I then halted, and soon saw

the cavalcade disappear in the mist, conveying a litter which contained

only a corpse, the escort around it holding their lances reversed as a

sign of mourning. Night approached. I set out, and reached Jalapa after

a slow march, where my sombre and melancholy thoughts were soon replaced

by more cheerful feelings.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] In the Indian tongue, the square mountain.

[46] Called by the Indians Citlaltepetl (star mountain).

The Jarochos

CHAPTER I.

Jalapa.

If there is any place in Mexico where the sun shines upon a richer

vegetation than that in the valley of Jalapa, there is certainly no part

of the country that enjoys a moister atmosphere. A dense, compact mass

of light gray vapors always stretches from the summit of the _Cofre de

Perote_ to the very verge of the horizon. From this dark canopy, which

is always charged with moisture, a fine drizzling rain falls, cloudlets

of mist roll along the roofs of the houses, the streets are deserted,

and Jalapa suffers dreadfully during the greater part of the year for

the magnificence of its perpetual verdure; but the sun has no sooner

torn aside this cloudy veil, and the deep blue of the heavens and that

of the hills has become blended into one, than Jalapa becomes the

enchanting town which at a distance it promises to be. The steep

streets, which have now put on a very lively appearance, present at

every step some charm which is ever varying. The eye is arrested

sometimes by the blue and red painted houses which peep out from clumps

of guava-trees, of liquidambars and palms--sometimes by the mountains

which overhang the town--by the rocks which are completely hidden by a

drapery of convolvuli--by the thousand streams which burst from their

sides--and by the paths which are soon lost to view between a double

hedge of daturas, honey-suckles, and jasmines.

When evening has come a shade falls upon the landscape, but the veil is

so transparent that it softens its contour without effacing it. Even the

night at Jalapa is quite as beautiful as the day. It is then that life

begins to stir in the town. The ground-floor is, in all houses in hot

countries, the place of rendezvous for the family and friends. It is in

the evening at Jalapa, and at several other towns in Mexico, that the

stranger can obtain the best insight into the domestic life and manners

of the inhabitants. Every open window then sends forth a welcome ray of

light into the dark and silent street, and the traveler can not but hear

the joyous merriment that is going on within. In the warm nights of this

beautiful climate the stranger can thus share in these fêtes every

evening; he can see the Jalapeñas[47] display their charming vivacity

without affectation, from the first moment that the fête commences till

the flowers in their head-dresses wither, the harp ceases to be heard,

and the windows are closed behind their iron bars.

It is always with regret that you leave this charming, warm valley,

whether you are going to Mexico through the icy fogs of the frigid zone,

or to Vera Cruz through the stifling and unbearable heat of the country

between Jalapa and that city. I had deferred my departure from day to

day, and two weeks had almost rolled away like a dream since that

evening when, permitting the silver convoy to go on in advance after the

death of Don Blas, I had entered Jalapa alone. My pecuniary resources

were almost exhausted, and I was obliged to set out, taking with me my

servant Cecilio and another traveling companion, a young spaniel bitch,

answering to the name of Love, an appellation which Cecilio had

transferred into a Spanish name with quite a different signification,

Lova (she wolf). This dog followed me in all my wanderings; and my horse

Storm, who had contracted an affection for her, never galloped with

greater animation than when he felt her bounding between his legs or

fawning upon his chest.

We soon left behind us the fertile hills of Jalapa, its orange groves

and daturas, its plains dotted with bananas and guava-trees, and arrived

at Lencero. This name was given to the place by one of Cortez's soldiers

who had set up a venta there. In that quarter are still to be found some

of these huts called jacales.[48] Lencero offers likewise an additional

interest to the curious traveler. Near the hamlet, upon the top of a

hill, from which, in a clear day, the serrated tops of the Cordillera

and a distant view of the ocean can be easily obtained, rises a little

house with red stained walls, ornamented with a modest veranda, and

surmounted by a _mirador_ (belvedere) of glass. This agreeable retreat

is the country house of General Santa Anna.

At some distance from Lencero our road passed through the gorges of

Cerro-Gordo, and a dull roar, like the sea-waves breaking on a rocky

beach, warned us of our approach to the River Antigua. Seven arches,

thrown with great boldness over a deep ravine, at the bottom of which

the river flows; the blasted rocks and the filled-up abysses, still

attest the ancient grandeur of the old masters of Mexico. This bridge is

now called the Puente Nacional.[49]

Vera Cruz is only about forty miles from the Puente Nacional; but since

our departure from Jalapa, the heat had become gradually overpowering.

Storm snuffed up with delight the burning wind which imbrowned the

grass; it reminded him of the hot breezes of the savannas. It was the

first time for five years that he had bathed in the rays of a sun

similar to that of his distant _querencia_, and his joy was manifested

by his wild neighing. Love, on the contrary, her tongue lolling out, and

her chest heaving, sought in vain for some drops of dew in the midst of

a vegetation parched and withered by the heat of such a sun.

Fatigued by a ride which had lasted longer than I had anticipated, I

pulled up for an instant. I had not intended that my halt should be

long, as I wished to reach Vera Cruz that evening, leaving my servant to

follow next morning if his horse could not keep up with mine; but Fate

had decreed otherwise. Cecilio, who had lagged behind, came up at the

very moment I was going to start. The sweat was rolling in beaded drops

from his burning brow, and his face, ordinarily so calm and placid, wore

an appearance of extreme uneasiness. He shuffled up alongside of me. I

was doubly surprised. It was the first time that he had ever shown

himself wanting in respect, and the effort he now made to keep his horse

close to mine was quite without precedent.

"Señor," said Cecilio to me, "if the accounts I have picked up on the

road are to be relied on, we have entered the district in which yellow

fever is so rife, and I must say that I have strong fears for my

personal safety, and, with your lordship's permission, will go no

farther."

"Very true," said I, "the yellow fever has haunts peculiar to itself; it

is, besides, very partial to stout, healthy people like you; but never

mind; you know the road from here to Mexico, and you may consider the

horse on which you are at present mounted your own, in lieu of the money

I owe you."

Unfortunately, there was a question of wages between the valet and his

master which the gift of a foundered horse, fit only for the knackers,

could scarcely cover. The former hinted delicately at the difficulty,

and wished to be paid on the spot. I had then recourse to an argument

which I thought would leave him without any reply.

"You know why I left Jalapa so soon. Now, as there are no commercial

houses in these deserts that will accept a bill of mine upon Vera Cruz,

you must have patience till we get there."

Cecilio made no reply; but his attitude proved that he did not consider

himself beaten. In fact, after riding in silence for about half an hour,

he came again to the charge.

"If your lordship would take me to Europe with you," he said, "I should

not care about running my chance of the yellow fever. He who runs no

risk will never cross the sea, as the proverb says."

I reminded Cecilio that such a voyage was very expensive, and that among

those foreigners who had emigrated to Mexico there were very few

millionaires, and that the greater part generally went away as poor as

they came. "Although," I added, "such men may be looked upon as of

consequence here, when they arrive in their own country they are not

treated with a like consideration."

This stopped his mouth, and he again lapsed into his former taciturnity.

We continued our journey, but he still hung obstinately on my heels. All

at once he uttered a cry of joy.

"What is the matter?" I asked.

"I have hit upon a capital way of settling the business."

"Ah! let me hear it."

"I propose to your lordship," he replied, gravely, "to stake your horse

Storm against the wages which are due me. As it is impossible for you to

pay me here, and you see that I am unalterably resolved to go no

farther, your lordship can not refuse to assent to my proposition. If

your lordship win, we shall be quits, and I shall then have only the

honor of having served you for nothing. If your lordship lose, I shall

have the chestnut horse and the favor of God."

At first I was on the point of rejecting with indignation a proposition

so extraordinary, but the very idea seemed so extravagant that I

laughingly accepted it. We alighted. According to a habit common enough

in Mexico, Cecilio never stirred abroad without being provided with a

pack of cards; and master and valet sat down, face to face, beneath a

clump of trees on the off side of the road. Love stretched herself

panting on the sand, while Storm, impatient of delay, pawed the ground

with his hoof. At sight of the noble animal, that perhaps, in a short

time, would cease to belong to me, I could not help regretting my

rashness for an instant, but I had gone too far to recede. Cecilio

passed me the cards.

"Your lordship will honor me by dealing them," said he, with redoubled

gravity.

I shuddered, and took the pack with a hand not at all steady. Not to

prolong my absurd position, I determined that the game be decided in

three _alburs_.[50] Five minutes would then settle the question. I put

down two cards from the pack. Cecilio chose one, I took the other; then,

after laying down half a dozen cards in succession, I won the first

albur. Not a frown crossed Cecilio's face; and, for my part, I thought

that fortune was going to befriend me for once in my life, but I lost

the second throw. The third albur remained, which would decide the

affair.

While thus engaged, we had not perceived two horsemen who were advancing

toward us. I did not see them, for my part, till they were almost at my

side. The sound of their voices caused me to raise my head, and at a

single glance I saw in one of the new-comers a perfect specimen of the

Jarocho.[51] He wore in all its purity the peculiar costume of this

class of men, a straw hat with a broad brim turned up behind, a fine

linen shirt with cambric frills, without any vest above it, a pair of

blue cotton velvet breeches open at the knee, and falling in a point to

the middle of his leg. In a belt of Chinese crape of a scarlet color

hung a straight sword (_machete_), without guard or sheath, the sharp

and glittering blade of which sparkled in the sun. His feet, which were

bare, were held in the wooden stirrup only by the tips of his toes. This

Jarocho, his head inclined indolently upon one shoulder, sat his horse

in the attitude peculiar to people of his caste, whose easy manner and

unconstrained demeanor suited him to perfection. His complexion partook

equally of the darkness of the negro and the copper color of the Indian.

It was a more difficult matter to define precisely what the other

cavalier was, who was habited in an Indian robe, blue pantaloons, and

bottines of Cordovan leather, while a rich hat of _Jipijapa_ straw[52]

sheltered him from the rays of the sun. His face, with a slight tinge of

sternness in it, might have become equally well a merchant, a

horse-dealer, or a highwayman, and the easy-going horse that he bestrode

seemed to suit equally all three suppositions.

Two gamesters at play, wherever they may be, are always an agreeable

sight for Mexicans of all classes, and, to my great annoyance, the two

horsemen stopped short to look at us. I sat quite motionless with the

cards in my hand, and was much confused at being surprised at an

occupation so contrary to my habits. As no stake was visible, however, I

flattered myself that I would be able to keep up appearances so far as

to make them believe that it was only the most innocent pastime; but I

had to do with men who are acute judges of human character.

"Might I ask if this beautiful horse is the stake?" asked the horseman

in the Indian robe, saluting me, and accompanying his request with a

piercing look.

"Exactly so," I answered.

"In that case you are playing high, señor," replied the cavalier; "and

if, as I fancy, the horse is your own, I wish Fortune may be propitious

to you; but would you not like any body to help you with their advice?"

"I prefer finishing the game as I commenced it. I have always remarked

that I have more luck when there is no one by."

The cavalier was too much of a gamester himself not to see at once the

full force of my scruples, and, turning to his companion, said, "'Tis as

well as it is. Time presses. We must part here, although, if I have

time, you may trust on my rejoining you at the fandango of Manantial;

still, to speak truth, if certain infallible signs do not deceive me,

the north wind will not be long in beginning to blow."

"To-morrow, then, if it is possible," answered the Jarocho; and the two

cavaliers separated, the first following the direct road, while the

horseman in the Indian robe took a path on the left.

"What the devil has the north wind to do with a fandango in a little

village?" I asked, mechanically, of my valet.

"The cavalier in the Indian robe is perhaps afraid of catching cold,"

said Cecilio, with an affected air.

After this absurd explanation, we again began the game which had been so

unexpectedly interrupted. I once more drew two cards out of the pack.

One was the _sota de bastos_ (knave of clubs). Cecilio chose it. I

shuffled the cards this time with a trembling hand. My heart beat.

Perhaps I was going to lose the daily companion of five long years.

Cecilio wiped away the sweat which ran in streams down his forehead.

Suddenly he uttered a cry which pierced to my innermost core. I was just

turning up the knave of hearts.

"You have lost, sir!" cried he.

At these words, spoken in good French, I regarded Cecilio with mute

surprise. He, meanwhile, stepping up proudly to my horse, put his foot

in the stirrup, and was going to spring upon Storm's back.

"Stop!" I cried; "the saddle does not go with the animal." I then

ordered him to take the saddle off, and to put it on the back of the

other horse. Cecilio executed this order, which would probably be the

last he would ever receive from his old master, with sufficient

readiness and good will. This done, he mounted that horse which was no

longer mine. I cursed my folly, but it was too late. A feeling of pride,

however, kept me from showing the remorse I felt; and, to hide my

chagrin, I asked Cecilio how he had managed to pick up so much French

without my knowledge.

"I have not been behind the chair of your lordship," he replied,

"especially when you dined with your countrymen, without acquiring some

of the language; and as for making you acquainted with that fact, I was

too wide awake. Your lordship, from that time, would have kept your

secrets to yourself."

Cecilio was evidently like one of that class of valets who figure so

largely in the picaresque romances of Spain. More than once he had

reminded me of Ambrosio of Lamela in Gil Blas. His physiognomy had not

deceived me. However, in spite of the impudence which he here manifested

for the first time, he seemed, when the parting moment came, to suffer

considerably. It was natural, in fact, to show some emotion when he was

leaving a master who had used him kindly. Moved by this token of feeling

on his part, I showed that I was not without some affection for him.

"Cecilio, my friend," I said, "the horse you have won from me would have

been yours before many days had passed. Are you grieved because you have

been the means of taking him from me?"

Cecilio squeezed out a tear.

"The truth is," said he, "I regret seeing your beautiful saddle on the

back of such a sorry brute, and I am ashamed at the miserable

appointments that the horse I have won is provided with. But, if your

lordship is in the humor, would it suit you to play for the saddle and

bridle?"

This was too much. Overcome by this last piece of ingratitude, "Take

care," I cried, cocking a pistol, "that I do not take back a horse which

you are not worthy to mount."

Cecilio made no other reply to this threat than by spurring his horse

and whistling on the Spanish dog, which had looked upon this scene with

a painful air of dumb anxiety. I whistled also. Thus forced to choose

between two parties whom he had affectionately loved all his life, the

poor animal hesitated. He ran up to Storm, and then came back to me with

a most pitying expression in his face. The convulsive movements of his

body betrayed his anguish, and showed the struggle that was going on

within. His limbs shook for an instant; he then gave three convulsive

howls, darted-from me, and was soon lost in the dust raised by his

much-loved companion. I remained alone. My heart was in a storm of rage

and grief, and I was even tempted to vent my ill-humor on the miserable

hack that fortune had left me, but this weakness lasted only for a

moment. I had learned, in the many crosses incident to a life of

stirring adventure, the difficult virtue of resignation, and the

different phases of this sentimental episode had been accompanied by

circumstances so ludicrous that I finished by throwing myself on the

grass and bursting into a violent fit of laughter.

FOOTNOTES:

[47] The women of Jalapa are renowned throughout the whole republic for

their beauty and grace, and their taste in fêtes, music, and flowers is

unrivaled.

[48] These huts are constructed of bamboos, wattled so as to admit both

air and light freely.

[49] Before the independence of Mexico this bridge was called Puente del

Rey (the King's Bridge).

[50] The game called _monte_ is thus divided.

[51] The peasants of the sea-coast and the country round Vera Cruz are

so called.

[52] These hats, which take their name from the place where they are

made, are often worth from £10 to £12 each.

CHAPTER II.

I arrive at Manantial.--Superstitions of the Jarochos.

The unfortunate occurrence recorded in the preceding chapter caused me

to change my route. It was impossible for me to reach Vera Cruz that

day, mounted as I was; so I resolved to pass the night at Manantial, a

little village which I supposed to be not more than a mile off. I had

thus some time before me, and I thought it could not be better employed

than in taking a siesta under the shade of the trees, amid the green

solitude in which I found myself. It was a spot in one of the most

picturesque forests which cover almost the entire country between Puente

Nacional and Vergara. Amid these matted thickets, narrow paths, cut by

the hatchet, run in different directions, overshadowed by the almost

impenetrable foliage of the trees, while a wall of luxuriant vegetation

on each side bars every where the entrance of man, and almost that of

the fallow deer. The long, pendent branches twist and interlace their

tendrils with the boughs of the neighboring trees. The cocoa-nut-tree

covers, with its large leaves, its necklace of green fruit; and the

Bourbon palms stretch their branches, covered with shining foliage to

the ground; the silk-cotton-tree shows its white flakes of cotton just

bursting from the dark green pod. In the deep shade of these inhabitants

of the forest the friar's cowl abounds with its polished chalice; and at

the bottom, as well as the top of this green vault, the gobeas hang

their little bell-flowers of variegated colors. Such is the aspect of

these woods--an appearance, however, which assumes a different phase

according to the hour of the day. At midday the rank vegetation droops

under the scorching rays of the sun, from the palm, with its towering

crest, to the lowly moss which covers the ground. A hot breeze at that

time rushes through the thickets, and appears to arrest every where the

progress of vegetation; wild beasts, birds, insects, and plants--all

animated nature, in fact, seems to languish under this stifling heat;

but when the sun's rays no longer gild the tree-tops, and the vapors

rise slowly from the ground, to fall back again in dew, these forests

and their denizens, once so silent, start again into life.

Overcome by the powerful influence of the sun, I fell fast asleep

without any thought about my horse. The pettiest thief, indeed, would

have been ashamed of such booty; and I was, besides, in a district where

no stain of dishonesty rested on the character of the inhabitants. The

sun was yet high in the horizon when I awoke, but a refreshing breeze

was beginning to temper the sultry heat. High up amid the branches of

the trees which sheltered me, the paroquets had begun their discordant

noises, and their infernal melody was of such a kind as to annoy even

the strongest nerves. I got impatient; and, hastily bestriding the

wretched animal which supplied the place of my excellent Storm, set out

on the beaten path that led to Manantial.

After riding slowly and painfully along for about half an hour, the

shrill croaking of the paroquets always paining my ears, I perceived a

horseman a little way in advance. This cavalier, attired exactly like

one of those who had interrupted Cecilio and me at our game, seemed,

like myself, to be quite out of humor. He rode, as all the Jarochos do,

with his body inclined more to one side of the saddle than the other.

His horse shuffled slowly along, and every now and then he held up his

fist to the skies in all the fury of passion. Delighted that chance had

sent me a companion in misfortune, I wished to offer him my hearty

condolence, and succeeded in that design beyond my expectation. Scarcely

had I managed, by dint of hard spurring, to make up to him, than a loud

ringing laugh replaced the mental irritation in which I thought he had

been indulging a minute before.

"May I ask if you are laughing at me?" I said, abruptly; for, in the bad

humor I was in, this hilarity seemed quite out of place.

"At you? No, Señor Cavalier," answered the Jarocho. "But you will excuse

me if, at sight of your horse, I bid adieu for a time to all customary

politeness."

"My horse is in no worse condition than the _andante_[53] you are on," I

replied, almost choking.

"You may think so; but that hack of yours is a mere bag of bones, and it

is no small satisfaction to me to find one worse mounted than myself."

The horseman then began to laugh in such a merry, unconstrained fashion,

that, tickled with the very absurdity of the thing, I could not help

joining him, and we had a good hearty laugh together. The squabbling of

the paroquets, struck with the unusual noise, ceased all of a sudden.

They recommenced their ear-splitting cries, till at last I discharged a

pistol at random among the foliage. To my great surprise, a bird fell at

my feet.

"Did you take aim at it?" asked the astonished Jarocho.

"Of course," I replied, sharply; "and this will serve to show you that

it is not altogether safe to jest with people you don't know."

At these words the Jarocho stopped his horse, and, straightening himself

in his saddle, placed one hand upon his haunch, and pulled his straw hat

over his eyes with the other. He then cried out, "_Oigajte, ñor

deconocio_.[54] I am of a caste and of a country where words are few,

and whose actions are prompt. I did not mean to offend you; but if you

seek a quarrel, I shall not flinch. In spite of the disparity of our

weapons, I am not afraid to try which of us is the better man."

He hummed a tune, drew his sharp sword from the leathern belt which

encircled his waist, and flourished it in the air. I likewise drew my

sabre.

The idea of crossing swords, mounted as we were on such sorry jades, was

so absurd, that we at last burst into a mutual roar of laughter, which

ended the matter. I then hastened to explain to the Jarocho that I had

no inimical feeling toward him. He held out his hand.

"I am glad you are satisfied," he replied, "for I should have been very

sorry to have an enemy in one so brave as you appear to be, as at

present I have a more serious quarrel on my hands."

We then rode along together quite amicably. To turn the conversation,

recalling, besides, to my recollection the parting words of the two

horsemen at the cross-road, I said, in a careless kind of a tone, "Isn't

there to be a fandango at Manantial to-morrow?"

"There is, confound it! I promised _ña_[55] Sacramenta a bow of red

ribbons for the occasion, and there is not a bit to be had in all the

neighborhood. At the very moment you joined me I was cursing my unlucky

star. Probably you are yourself going to the fandango?"

"Well, I am; but chance alone brought me to think of it, for I had

reckoned on sleeping to-night at Vera Cruz, had not an unfortunate

occurrence come in the way."

"You will have no cause to regret it, I hope, for _the crowd will be as

thick as smoke_. But where will you put up at Manantial? There is no inn

in the place."

"With you, perhaps, since you appear to be so desirous to have me at the

fête."

The Jarocho bowed in token of assent, and then began to give me an

account of the numerous pleasures that awaited me on the morrow.

Conversing thus, we reached Manantial. Night had come. A few scattered

lights gleaming from among the green foliage announced our approach to

the village. We soon reached a little clearing in the wood, dotted with

cabins formed of wattled bamboo. This was Manantial. Some men and women,

clad in the national costume, were dancing to the monotonous sound of a

mandolin, while the mothers were rocking their infants to sleep in

hammocks formed of strips of aloe bark. I soon learned the name of my

new host.

"Ah! it's Calros,"[56] cried they, in a tone as if his arrival had long

been looked for. He paid no attention to the greeting of his friends,

who advanced to welcome him, but his eye roved about till it rested on

the slender and graceful form of a young girl, whose pretty little feet

were twinkling merrily in the dance. Her hair, black as ebony, was

ornamented with a wreath[57] of suchil flowers, interspersed with

fire-flies, whose pale bluish light encircled her forehead with a

mysterious and fantastic halo. Draped in a white robe, whose waving

folds were every moment blanched by the pale rays of the moon,

Sacramenta, with her bare shoulders and variegated hair, looked like a

fairy dancing by night in a glade of the forest, when all around is at

rest.

The almost disdainful glance which she threw at him showed me at once

the true state of affairs. The Jarocho waited till the dance was

finished, and then advanced toward the girl. By the entreating tone of

his voice, it was clear that he was excusing himself about the red

ribbons he had promised her. I was too far off to hear his words, but

the light which streamed from a neighboring cottage showed me the full

expression of her features. It was evident that all Calros's rhetoric

had been useless, and he remounted, but with a saddened, irritated air.

Sacramenta, in shaking her head to a remark of his, allowed one of the

suchil flowers to fall from her chaplet. The Jarocho regarded it for

some time with an undecided air; and she, marking his hesitation, and

while pressing the wreath on her forehead, in a fit of coquetry, raised

the flower on the tip of her tiny foot, and presented it to him. The

cloudy countenance of the Jarocho was now lit up with joy; he seized the

flower eagerly, spurred his horse, and was soon lost in the darkness.

It was quite clear that he had completely forgotten me, but it was as

clear that I had no intention of taking up my quarters for the night in

the forest.

"Halloo! Señor Don Calros," I shouted after him, "you have left me

behind."

"Pardon me, Señor Cavalier," cried he, pulling up; "but there are times

when I am hardly master of myself."

"I am convinced of that," I said; "and it is certainly no indiscretion

in you to forget a stranger whom you met by the merest chance."

"In my country the stranger is at home every where; but you shall not

have my hospitality for nothing, for you must pay me either by doing me

a particular piece of service, or assisting me with your advice."

"With pleasure," I answered, "if it is in my power."

The dwelling of the Jarocho, called a _jacal_, was situated at the other

end of the village. A small inclosure, in which a few goats were penned,

was attached to it. The cabin was divided into three apartments by reed

partitions. In one of these, the mother of the Jarocho was preparing the

evening meal over a fire whose reddish glow lighted up the whole jacal.

The repast consisted of rice boiled in milk, fried bananas, and red

haricots from the Tierra Caliente, which enjoy a proverbial celebrity in

Mexico. When supper was ended the old woman left the room, wishing me a

pleasant sleep.

The distant thrumming of guitars apprised us that the company we had

left were still keeping up their merriment. The voice of the Jarocho

awoke me from the reverie in which I had been indulging.

"Do you see," said he to me, as we were lying at the door of the cabin,

"that fleecy mist which dulls the light of the stars? These are the

vapors which, at the end of every hot day, arise from the lakes, brooks,

and waterfalls. Do you think it possible that, at the command of a

mortal like ourselves, this shadowy impalpable fog should assume the

form of a friend who has been lost, or an enemy that has been murdered?"

"I doubt that much," I replied, astonished at this preamble; "I fancied

that these superstitious notions were peculiar only to northern climes."

"Here," said Calros, in a solemn tone, "ghosts haunt not the abodes of

the living; they love to flit about in the woods, and to frisk among the

leaves and flowers. But you smile. Let us talk of something else. Did

you see ña Sacramenta this evening?"

"The pretty girl with the wreath of _cucuyos_ and the _suchil_ chaplet?"

"The same. She is very beautiful, is she not? Six months ago, at a

fandango in the neighborhood, a quarrel arose on her account, which was

followed by the death of a man. The victim was a relation of mine; and,

according to universal custom, it became my duty to avenge his death. I

had, besides, an additional inducement in seeking the murderer; he

adored Sacramenta, and every one who loves her is my sworn enemy. Twenty

times have I persuaded myself into a belief that Sacramenta loved me,

and twenty times have I been forced to confess to myself that I was

deceived. I feel that I love Sacramenta more than my life--than my

honor, perhaps--else I should have been on the murderer's traces long

ago; and yet this evening I have even ventured to hope."

"Yes, a mere suchil flower may sometimes work miracles," said I,

interrupting him.

"What!" cried Jarocho, "have you the gift of seeing what no one else has

seen?"

"I only observed what every body else might have seen, had they chose;

but when a man receives a flower from the hand of a girl he loves, he

needn't, I think, despair."

"Thank Heaven!" cried the Jarocho, cheerfully. "Yet," he added, with a

sigh, "this is not the first token I have had from her; to-morrow the

illusions of this night may be dispelled. Ever since ña Sacramenta came

to live at Manantial I have suffered the utmost tortures of anxiety, and

yet vengeance has not been done on my cousin's murderer. I have tried to

forget that duty; unluckily, there are others who do not. The dead man's

mother reminds me every day of the charge which has devolved upon me.

Eight days ago I met the old woman. I wished to avoid her, but it was

impossible. She is looked upon as a sort of witch by the people around.

On passing me she cried out, 'The dead have better memories than the

living.' I asked her what she meant, although I knew full well. 'You

will see him to-night,' she replied. In truth, that very evening,"

Calros continued, in an altered voice, "I was seated at the same place

where we now are, Señor Cavalier; the door was open, and my thoughts

were engaged about nothing in particular. I was only listening to the

voices in the trees and on the wind; a pale white mist was creeping up

to the sky, as it is doing now. All at once a cloud came between my eyes

and the stars; it took a human form, and the dead man was before me! I

saw him distinctly, right in front of me. I closed my eyes, and when I

opened them he was gone. You will now understand why I asked you, señor,

who, as a European, must be a learned man, if mortals like ourselves can

raise the dead."

These superstitious notions are not at all prevalent in Mexico, and the

Jarochos seem to have a complete monopoly of them. I gently hinted that

all this was nothing but the result of a diseased imagination.

"I know well," said he, "that the ghost of my deceased relative has not

been raised by any human power, but I believe that God himself has sent

it to me. I have taken my resolution. I shall not stay in the village a

day after to-morrow, although I leave it with a broken heart."

"But is there no way of reconciling your duty with your love?"

"That can only be done by delegating my powers to a devoted friend. A

guest makes a part of the family; and in this quality, señor, you might

take my place and seek the murderer, who would not hesitate to give you

satisfaction."

"That would be too glorious a mission for me, and I fear I should not be

successful in the search," I said, modestly; "but I have no objections

to accompany you, and aid you in your task."

"That is an offer which I will not refuse," Calros answered. "We shall

then set out the day after to-morrow."

This delicate point settled to our mutual satisfaction, we stretched

ourselves under a shed which served as a sort of veranda to the cabin. A

gentle breeze was beginning to dissipate the heat of the day. The

lizards were silent in the grass; and in the savannas, the wild cattle,

by their joyful lowing, testified to the grateful freshness of the

night. Lulled by the soft murmur of the twittering leaves, I soon fell

asleep.

FOOTNOTES: