"Do you know, Carlos, you are a perfect heretic. I was going to deny myself, but when I heard it was you I knew it was no use, and now your face is as solemn as if you were going to a funeral. I suppose you have something that you think very important to tell me."
"I have, Señora, or I should not have disturbed you at this hour."
"Well, I only hope it is not to recommend to me some other protegé, for, frankly, he fatigues me, this Asneiros of yours. If you had not come I was going to send for you before I went, to speak to you about him."
"Before you went! then you are going? I only heard of it this morning from Marcelino, and I have come at once to ask you not to go."
"It is not quite settled yet, but I promised Constancia that I would tell her certainly this evening. Constancia goes the day after to-morrow and wants me to go with her. Justito has not been well lately and the country air would do him good, but Fausto wants me to put off my visit until the new year, why, I don't know."
"And I too want you to put off your visit."
"You! what interest can you have in keeping me in the city?" As she spoke Doña Josefina leaned her head more to one side, and waving her fan gently, cast a languishing glance above it, then suffered the long lashes to fall over her eyes, veiling them.
"The interest is not mine, Señora, it is for the interest of the Patria that I wish you to stop."
"Every one knows that to Don Carlos the interest of the Patriao is above every other consideration, so I suppose I must stop and suffer another month or six weeks of this heat in the city. But what can a poor thing like me do for the Partia, Carlos?"
"One thing that I cannot do, and I know that the Partia is as dear to you as it is to me, else I had not troubled you, Señora."
"Yes, Carlos," replied Doña Josefina, straightening herself up, dropping her hands into her lap, and in a moment throwing off her usual languid manner; "yes, Carlos, the Patria is dear to me as you say; though you care nothing for me, you appreciate me rightly. You have confided to me your hopes and plans; in what I can do you will find that I am as good a patriot as you are. And I know that there is trouble before us; Fausto has told me that the Spaniards will not be content until they have deposed the Viceroy here as they have done in Monte Video. Deposed Liniers! do you hear me, Carlos? These Spaniards are going to turn him out and send him to Spain, perhaps in chains, because he is a Frenchman!"
"If that were all, Señora, it would be little," replied Evaña, "that is nothing but the first step; the next will be to disarm the Patricios, and then——but it is not necessary to inquire what more."
"Disarm the Particios! never!" replied Doña Josefina, closing her fan with a click, as though she had quite made up her mind on that point. "If such are their ideas we must keep our Viceroy at any cost. We must prevent the first step, and all the rest is safe."
"Exactly so, Señora. I have spoken the same thing to many, but you are the first to whom I have spoken who has seen as I do the necessity of risking everything, of daring everything, rather than permit the Spaniards to annul an appointment we originally made."
A pleased smile came on to the face of the lady as Evaña spoke, then looking down at her hands as she twirled her fan between her fingers, she said in a low voice:
"We are agreed then, Carlos; tell me, what can I do?"
"When the Cabildo publishes a decree deposing Liniers, which they are sure to do before long, they will rely upon the Spanish regiments to enforce it if necessary. If Liniers calls upon the native regiments they will come forward to a man to support him, but they are fewer in number than the Spaniards and not so well organised, the result of a struggle would be doubtful."
"Not at all, Carlos! You know not those young men how enthusiastic they are, and Liniers they will follow to the death."
"Liniers will never call upon the Patricios to support him unless he feels certain of success; he will yield without fighting. Now if we can get one regiment of the Spanish troops to join us we shall then have the superiority in numbers."
"And Gregorio's dragoons?"
"Also I shall have them at hand when the day comes, and the hussars of Don Martin Rodriguez, all the cavalry is ours. Have no fear, Señora, with one of the Spanish regiments of infantry, our superiority in numbers and enthusiasm will secure us the victory. In the Andaluz regiment nearly all the men are native Argentines, if one officer pronounce in our favour the whole regiment will turn over to us."
Here Evaña paused and looked steadily at Doña Josefina.
"Asneiros!" ejaculated that lady, with a look of annoyance, then leaning back again upon her cushions she commenced fanning herself.
"Yes, Señora, Asneiros. Among all the Spaniards there is no better officer than Asneiros, and you can bring him over to us when the day comes. I am sorry if he has given you any annoyance, but the kindness you have shown him for these months past will prove a great service to the Partia."
"There is one can do much more with Asneiros than I can, Carlos," replied Doña Josefina, looking away from him with a fresh flourish of her fan.
"Impossible, Señora," replied Evaña; "anyone to whom you show favour is at once your slave."
"How the men are blind," replied the lady, turning her eyes again upon Evaña. "Always that Dolores comes to see me then comes Asneiros, and whilst she is here he has no eyes for anyone else."
"Dolores!" exclaimed Evaña with a sudden start.
"Dolores! yes, Dolores, Señor Don Carlos. Does it appear to you strange that that barbarian of a Spaniard should think more of Dolores than of me?"
"But Dolores! And she?"
"What matters to you Dolores?"
Then as Evaña leaned back in his chair with a frown on his facewithout answering, Doña Josefina bent forward and tapped him on the knee with her fan, saying:
"Ah! Carlos! you are a great politician, and very wise and very secret, but we ladies have our eyes and know how to use them. You are very astute, and think you can hide from us what you hope and wish for, but there are certain things that we know, and when the occasion comes, we discover them. But we, we are friends, Carlos; have no fear, there is one I know, for whose little fingers Dolores cares more than for the whole body of that Asneiros."
Again leaning back upon her cushions, she turned her lustrous black eyes upon him, gently fanning herself the while.
"All the more necessary, then, for you to remain in town," said Evaña, after a pause. "Doña Constancia goes to the quinta the day after to-morrow, but she does not like Asneiros, she will not ask him to the quinta, but if you go he will visit you there, and he will be away when we want him, for we cannot tell when the day will come."
"Look you, Carlos," said Doña Josefina, interrupting him, "I had a plan for that Asneiros which would have suited us all very well. Every Wednesday I have two visitors, Dolores and Magdalen Miranda. They come to see each other, and are great friends. You have met them here on Wednesdays. Who you came to see you have never told me, but I am not one to whom it is necessary to tell things. I asked Asneiros to come that he might meet Magdalen, but when you are not there to make Dolores talk to you this gentleman can talk only to her, and for the Inglesita he has not one glance. Then when Marcelino can manage it, he comes always for at least one hour on Wednesdays, and has neither eyes nor words for anyone but for Magdalen. These Wednesdays, which were to me a pleasure, are now the bane of my life, everything goes contrary, and I counted that by going out with Constancia I should put an end to them."
"You intended Magdalen for this Spaniard?"
"Precisely so, and she thinks nothing of him, and watches the door with all her eyes till Marcelino comes. That Marcelino should amuse himself with her is well enough, so long as it pass not amusement. Young men are not all like you, Carlos; they must have amusement, and with each new face they see they think they are in love. I wanted Elisa to come also on Wednesdays, and she came in the winter, but after Marcelino came back from Brazil she comes only in the evenings. That is all through Magdalen, the insignificant little creature; I begin to lose patience with her."
"Magdalen is a great deal too good for Asneiros," said Evaña.
"What an idea! Even he is good enough for that snub-nosed little thing. Think you what is her father? A miserable, without soul. And what has he? Just enough live to on. Not even presentable would Magdalen be but that we had befriended her."
"Possibly not, Señora; you have been very kind to her. But do not afflict yourself, let affairs arrange themselves. For Dolores there is not the slightest fear. She is kind to Asneiros, for he rings praises of Marcelino in her ear, and that is always music to Dolores, but more there is nothing."
"Ah! Carlos! with what confidence you speak," said Doña Josefina, with a toss of her head, and smiling.
"Let us leave that, Señora. What matters to us at present is that you keep, and increase if you can, your influence over Asneiros. How to do it you know much better than I can tell you."
"Do you want me to make love to him on my own account?" asked the lady, with a supplicating glance.
"Far be it from me to indicate the 'how.' One thing only I ask of you to promise me, which is that you do not leave the city at present."
"And when then will your lordship give me permission to go?"
"When we have tried our strength with the Spaniards, and have beaten them."
"Let it be so. I give you my promise."
"And the Patria will some day thank you, and know you as one of her most faithful children," replied Evaña, rising from his chair.
"Sit down, Carlos; do not go yet. Have you nothing more to say to me?"
"The object of my visit is accomplished."
"And already you go? Sit down again, Carlos. The Patria is your first love, and we are going to do what we can for her; but after her there is another love, come and talk to me of that."
"I have but one love, Señora," replied Evaña, standing before her, and twirling his hat round with his long, white fingers.
"Sit down Carlos, and I will talk to you of Dolores," said Doña Josefina, with a full glance of her speaking eyes, before which his stern eyes sank back abashed.
"Not now, Señora," replied Don Carlos, in a voice in which there was so clear an accent of pain that Doña Josefina, after looking at him for a moment in perplexity, insisted no longer upon his remaining, but rose herself from the sofa, and walked with him to the large folding-door which gave exit to the patio.
"Lose all fear, Carlos," said she to him as he stepped out into the sunshine; "between the two of us we will arrange this barbarian of a Spaniard, and turn him into a patriot."
"That I fear we can never do," replied Evaña; "but if he serve us as we wish him the rest is no matter."
"If he serve us well we will give him the Inglesita as his reward," said Doña Josefina; then adding with a laugh, "and a well-matched couple they will be."
To this Evaña made no answer, but with a low bow took his departure.
Weeks passed till it was the third week in December. One evening in that week Don Carlos Evaña mounted his horse and galloped out to the Quinta de Ponce. The next morning at dawn he was again in the saddle, galloping over the level plains southwards to the estancia of Don Francisco Viana, where he purposed passing the noon-tide heat, and thereafter in the cool of the evening pursuing his way without halting till he should reach his own estancia.
While Don Carlos Evaña so rested at midday, Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon sat conversing with the Viceroy in his private room at the fort. Marshal Liniers had sent for him, telling him that there was matter of great moment on which he wished to consult him. Don Roderigo sat with an open letter in his hand, which he had just been reading; his face was very thoughtful, he seemed to be anxiously debating within himself how he should answer the Viceroy, who was speaking rapidly and whose face showed evident marks of excitement and something of indignation.
"Do you know who he is, this Don Saturnino Rodriguez Peña?" asked the Viceroy.
"Perfectly. He is a brother of Don Nicolas," replied Don Roderigo. "He is the man who put that folly into the head of my son, of which I told you some months ago."
"But you have since told me that it remained there, and that nothing was done?"
"And so far as my son is concerned I know that nothing has been done."
"But she speaks most plainly of a conspiracy against me? I shall write to the Prince-regent and demand the arrest of this Don Saturnino."
"If there be any such conspiracy the publication of this letter, written to you by the Princess herself, would at once put an end to it."
"The Princess Carlota warns me of a conspiracy, so there must be something."
"It may be; I too have heard rumours, but take little note of them. Your appointment as Viceroy can only be legally annulled by the Junta of Seville, and, failing that, your great popularity secures your authority."
"My popularity while it exists; but if the people themselvespronounce against me? Think you that I will uphold my authority by force against the will of the people?"
"Your popularity would vanish at once were you to do so."
"If because I was born in France the people trust me no longer let them say so."
"Then if the people speak clearly their distrust of you, you will resign?"
To this Liniers did not answer, passing his hand across his forehead, leaning back in his chair with an air of great discontent, and Don Roderigo continued:
"Permit me to tell you, Don Santiago, that if you yield at once to a popular cry you sap the basis of all authority. If the people, applying through the corporations of the city, should request you to resign, I think you may take the matter into serious consideration, but not sooner."
"There is some secret conspiracy going forward; am I to take no steps to prevent it ripening into a rebellion?"
"Wait till we have more certain information, the Cabildo will advise you at once if there be danger of any attempt against your authority."
"How can I tell that the Cabildo itself is not in the conspiracy?" replied the Viceroy, looking sternly at Don Roderigo; "all are Spaniards. Elio and those who support him in Monte Video are all Spaniards. I distrust the Cabildo more than I do the people."
"You may have your reasons of which I know nothing," said Don Roderigo; "but the Cabildo would never venture upon any steps against you unless they were perfectly secure of the general acquiescence of the city."
"Then you acknowledge that you Spaniards would depose me if you were able to do so?"
"In the present state of affairs in the mother-country it is natural that a Frenchman be looked upon with jealousy, not only by Spaniards but by the Creoles also. The people murmured greatly at the friendly reception you gave to the envoy sent by Napoleon last August."
"But the people at any rate were satisfied when I ordered the proclamation of Ferdinand VII.?"
"It was on that very day that some of them discussed together the propriety of setting him aside in favour of his sister the Princess Carlota."
"True, I did badly in passing over that affair without notice. In that affair the first to move was your son, and because he was your son I consented to pass it over. See now your gratitude; without doubt, if there be a conspiracy he and his friend Don Carlos Evaña are the prime movers in it, and depend upon your concurrence and that of all the Spaniards."
"If there be any conspiracy I feel quite sure that neither my son nor Don Carlos Evaña have any part in it."
"I have heard Don Carlos speak freely his ideas years ago, and I have not forgotten it; I tell you that this Evaña is by nature a conspirator, and where he goes there goes Don Marcelino also."
"In this you are mistaken, I can assure you," replied Don Roderigowarmly. "Don Carlos left the city yesterday for his estancia, saying that it was uncertain when he would return, and Marcelino thinks of nothing but of his duties at the Consulado."
"But he has his ideas, which require checking. If it were not that he is your son I should arrest him and search his papers to discover what correspondence he has carried on with this Don Saturnino Rodriguez Peña, who has certainly, as you will have seen by that letter, some regular correspondents in this city."
Don Roderigo rose from his chair and walked several times thoughtfully up and down the room, then reseating himself, he said:
"Do not let any regard for me keep you from any step which may be necessary for the vindication of your authority. I have months since spoken to my son, and I know that he has done nothing in this matter of the Princess Carlota since he first mooted it. Still his arrest may serve him as a warning not to meddle in affairs beyond his proper sphere."
"Thanks, Don Roderigo," replied the Viceroy with effusion. "This is a great sacrifice you make to me. I shall order his arrest at once, but to show you that I am actuated by no unfriendly feeling towards yourself I will entrust the examination of his papers to you together with my private secretary."
"That I must beg to decline. I can leave the examination of his papers with entire confidence to anyone whom you may appoint." So saying Don Roderigo took up his hat from a chair near him and rose to go, then adding, "In anything that I can serve you always count upon me, Don Santiago," he went his way.
As Don Roderigo sat alone in his own room that evening, the door opened, and in walked Don Martin Alzaga.
"Now what do you say about our Viceroy, that Liniers?" said he.
"What has he done now?" asked Don Roderigo.
"Do not you know? He has arrested Don Marcelino and seized his papers."
"I knew it," said Don Roderigo quite calmly.
"You know it, and you sit there as if it were a matter of no importance! The news has spread through the city and has caused general indignation."
"So much the better, that was just what I wanted."
"The better! Then you are agreeable that this Frenchman shall do what he likes in our city, and put anyone in prison as he chooses without consulting us?"
"He consulted me about it this morning, and I see that he has done perfectly wellfor us. To Marcelino a few days' imprisonment will do no harm. Marcelino is young, and has his ideas; in case of any important event happening within the next few days he might be tempted to some course which would prejudice his future."
"I begin to understand you," said Don Martin thoughtfully. "Marcelino is very partial to the Viceroy, and some event may occur within a few days with which it is well for him that he should have nothing to do. You have asked the Viceroy to arrest him, what was your pretext?"
"You mistake; the idea came from the Viceroy himself. He has some erroneous ideas in his head, and has acted upon them. If we make good use of this event it may produce some popular demonstration. Liniers values more than anything else his popularity, if we can persuade the people to cry out against him he will resign, and there will be no necessity for any Pronunciamiento."
"I see you always wish to go your own way about it. You want to turn the militia against him. Well, do what you can, but in this I cannot help you; more dangerous than Liniers to us, is the pride of these Patricios."
"All that we have to do is to persuade the militia to keep quiet. Until the new Viceroy arrives I warn you, Don Martin, that any attempt at coercion will bring on a struggle with them which we must avoid at any cost."
"You always fear those Patricios," said Don Martin impatiently. "I came to speak to you about your son, but as you do not object to his imprisonment I see that it is a false step of this Liniers of which it is for us to take due advantage."
Later on that same evening, at the house of Don Fausto Velasquez Don Roderigo complained bitterly of the insult he had received in the unwarrantable imprisonment of his eldest son.
Don Carlos Evaña did not make a long stay at his estancia this time, on the fifth evening from the day he left the city he was again at the Quinta de Ponce. Short as had been his absence, he had managed to spend one day at Las Barrancas with Colonel Lopez, and the very day that he left him, the Colonel sent out messengers right and left summoning his men to meet at the Barrancas on the 25th December for a fortnight's drill.
On the eventide of this day on which Don Carlos again visited the Quinta de Ponce, Dolores was seated under the front verandah of the house, holding on her knee a stout little boy, her cousin Justiniano Velasquez, who had been entrusted to her care by his mother until such time as she should leave the city and resume care of him herself. Dolores was very fond of her cousin, and was pleased to have the care of him. Her affection was fully reciprocated by the little fellow who teased her and coaxed her to let him have his own wilful way in everything, was an all day long trouble to her, and rewarded her by an unlimited amount of caresses, and by screaming with all his might if he lost sight of her for an instant when he was awake. She called him the plague of her life, and was never so happy as when she was ministering to his manifold wants.
On this evening Dolores was somewhat pale and less cheerful than was her wont, yet as Don Carlos stepped into the verandah to salute her he thought he had never before seen her looking so beautiful. There was a pensive thoughtfulness on her face not often seen there, which added an indescribable charm to the smile of welcome she bestowed upon him.
"How soon you are back," she said; "as you said your stay at your estancia was uncertain we did not expect you for a month."
"What has happened to you? You look triste, does that little rogue plague you?"
"Ah! Don Carlos, you do not know," replied Dolores, bending over the boy, and with difficulty keeping back her tears; "Marcelino is in prison, three days ago he was arrested by an order from the Viceroy and is in prison."
"Marcelino in prison!" exclaimed Evaña. "On what charge? what has he done?"
"Nothing. We know nothing of why he is in prison. Papa was here yesterday, you may imagine how angry he was, and he says all the city is indignant about it. But why he is put in prison no one knows. They went to our house and searched his room, and took away all his papers. Poor mamma, she wanted to go back to the city to see him, but papa would not let us go, and there he is with no one to speak to him, and he will think we care nothing about it."
"No, that he will not think, he knows you better."
"What a pity that you were away. Papa says that if you had been there you would have stirred up some demonstrations, and the Viceroy would have been forced to set him at liberty."
"Where is he imprisoned?"
"At the Cabildo. He is not in a dungeon; papa says he is only under arrest, but no one is allowed to speak to him. One has been very active and offered to papa to break into the Cabildo and rescue him by force—Captain Asneiros; his Andaluces would follow him anywhere, and there are some of Marcelino's Morenos in one battalion of the Patricios, who, he says, would dare anything for their old chief. But papa would not let him; he says that the indignation of the whole city will force Marshal Liniers to set him free. Ah! if you were only there, Don Carlos, you would do more than Captain Asneiros, and even than papa, for Don Cornelio Saavedra and the Patricios would all listen to you, and without them the Viceroy is nothing, papa told me so."
"Asneiros!" said Evaña to himself, rising from his seat and walking up and down the verandah, "Asneiros! I begin to understand. This is a trap, and if we are careless we will run our necks into the noose."
Then again he paused in front of Dolores and asked her:
"But nothing has been done, he remains in prison, and no one has spoken to him, not even Don Roderigo?"
"No one. Not even papa is allowed to speak to him, and nothing has been done, but to-morrow you will be there, and something will be done," said Dolores, looking up at Evaña with a flush on her cheek, and a trustful look in her gray eyes.
"Not to-morrow, but to-night I will go in, but I do not tell you that I will do anything to set Marcelino at liberty. Believe me, it may be best for him to remain where he is just at present, but not for long, not for long. This affair will not have the end which they think it will."
"Don Carlos!" exclaimed Dolores; "best for him to remain in prison! What has he done, Don Carlos? You know something."
"He has done nothing to deserve imprisonment, yet for otherreasons it may be best for him to remain where he is for a few days. He is innocent and therefore he is in no danger."
"Innocent! of course he is, and yet you would let them treat him as a criminal, and will do nothing to help him. Are you not my friend, Don Carlos? Are you not his brother?"
"I am your friend, he is my brother. Trust me, he shall not remain in prison longer than is necessary."
Up to this time little Justiniano had sat quietly on Dolores' knee listening to their talk but at the word friend he started up, saying:
"You are Lola's friend? I have no brother, but I have a friend too. Tell me, Lola, again, where is my friend? Talk to me about my friend the Englishman."
A deep flush spread over Dolores' face as she clasped the boy in her arms kissing him.
"He is away over the sea, Justito, fighting the French for England and for Spain," she said.
"He is a soldier," said Justito. "When I am big I will be a soldier, and will go and fight the French for him, so that he may come back. He said he would come back, didn't he, Lola?"
"Yes, dear; and some day he will come," said Dolores, again kissing the boy and bending over him so as to hide her face from Evaña.
"Then you must not be triste, Lola; it makes me feel bad to see you triste, Lola; yesterday you were crying and it made Justito sad to see you," said the boy, patting her cheeks with his two little hands. "Some day when I am big, then I will go and bring back my friend from away over the sea. Is it far to go, Lola?"
"Yes, dear, hundreds and hundreds of leagues, and all water, with the waves going up and down and tossing the ships about."
"Why did he go so far, Lola?"
"He had to go where the King of England sent him, for he is a soldier."
"Poor Lola," said the boy, again patting her cheeks, "again you are crying, Lola; who makes you triste, Lola?"
"A wicked man who has put Marcelino in prison. You love Marcelino, don't you, Justito?"
"Yes, oh so much! When is he coming again, Lola? Days that he has not been here."
But Dolores could prattle to the boy no more, her sobs choked her speech and he threw his arms round her neck, kissing her and looking angrily back at Don Carlos, as if he thought he was the cause of all her sorrow.
"Come to me, Justito, and I will tell you about Marcelino, and about your friend," said Don Carlos, bending with one knee to the pavement and holding out his arms to the boy.
"No, no, go away," said Justito. "Are you the wicked man who has made Lola cry?"
"No, no, Justito, Don Carlos is not wicked; he is going to take Marcelino out of prison, and then Lola won't cry any more," said Dolores.
Then Justito jumped from Dolores' arms and ran to Don Carlos Evaña.
"You will go, won't you, and bring Marcelino back with you, it makes Justito bad to see Lola cry?" said he.
"I will go, and will not come here again till I bring Marcelino with me," said Don Carlos, raising the boy up in his arms and kissing him.
Dolores rose from her seat with a smile on her face as Evaña spoke.
"Always my friend and his brother," said she, then taking the boy from him she led him away with her into the house.
Don Carlos Evaña only remained long enough at the quinta to speak a few words to Doña Constancia, and to learn from her all she knew concerning the imprisonment of his friend Marcelino. Then, declining her urgent invitation to pass the night at the quinta, he remounted his horse and galloped away through the darkness for the city.
It was nine o'clock when Don Carlos Evaña reached the city. Without stopping either to change his dress or to take food, he had no sooner dismounted than he went straight to the house of Don Gregorio Lopez. In the first patio he met Valentin.
"Don Carlos! Back already, I am so glad," said Valentin. "You know what has happened?"
"Marcelino has been imprisoned, that I know. Is there anything else?"
"That is enough, I think," replied Valentin. "He has been three days in prison, and nothing has been done. It is scandalous, but we will soon do something. There are some men here this evening in consultation with my father, pass forward, you will find them in the dining-room."
"Then has nothing been done?"
"Nothing."
"I am glad of it. There is more in this than you know of, my young friend, be content yet for a few days to do nothing."
So saying, Evaña passed on to the dining-room, where he found Don Gregorio Lopez in consultation with Don Fausto Velasquez, Don Cornelio Saavedra, Don Manuel Belgrano, and four others. Evaña joined them, and for an hour they remained talking earnestly together, then, as some of them rose to go, Don Manuel Belgrano said:
"Yet after all I do not like the idea of leaving my young friend in prison, when, if that be the crime charged against him, I am the real culprit."
"For many reasons I agree with Don Carlos," said Don Gregorio, "that it is the wisest course."
"Above all things it is necessary that they take the initiative," said Don Cornelio Saavedra. "The Señor Don Santiago Liniers is a man of no decision, and in order that he put full confidence in us we must show our acquiescence in any measure that he may think fit to adopt."
"We all know well what Liniers is," said Don Gregorio. "If we arouse in any way his suspicions, Don Martin and the bishop, between them, will persuade him to resign."
"If he resign we shall have in his place a Junta of Spaniards, and we all know what that means," said Evaña.
"I for my part assure you that we will have no Junta," said Don Cornelio. "Do you know, Señor Evaña, that if you had not fortunately returned so soon from your estancia I think we should havemade some false step. Don Roderigo has infected us all with his own indignation; we must not forget that Don Roderigo is a Spaniard, and in these days it is not well to take everything that a Spaniard says, quite for what the words mean."
"Then let it be so," said Belgrano. "If Don Roderigo does not release him without our help he must yet remain some days in prison. Afterwards we will explain everything to him."
"I am sorry for him," said Don Fausto. "To pass these hot summer days shut up in a small room would kill me very soon, but when Don Gregorio and Don Carlos Evaña both say it is for the best I say no more."
"One word more, Don Cornelio," said Evaña. "Have you not yet any idea when the Pronunciamiento is likely to take place?"
"It may take place any day," replied Don Cornelio. "But if nothing occurs to hurry it on, I expect we shall see something on the occasion of the municipal elections on the 1st January."
"The 1st January leaves not many days to wait now, and we are ready. In future years we shall look back upon that day as a great epoch in the history of the Argentine people. Upon you, Don Cornelio, depends the present welfare and the future greatness of a young nation; to you our country entrusts her destinies in the most critical moment of her existence." So saying, and looking fixedly upon Don Cornelio Saavedra, Evaña bowed to him with great solemnity and retired.
"The ideas of the Señora Evaña," said Don Fausto Velasquez, laughing. "When shall we see the end of them?"
"In this the Señor Evaña is not mistaken," said Don Gregorio Lopez. "May God help you, Don Cornelio, and remember that where you go you have an entire people behind you, who have placed their destinies in your hands."
Three days after this, as Captain Asneiros returned to his quarters after an early drill and inspection, he found a young slave waiting for him with a message from Doña Josefina Viana, who requested him to call upon her that evening without fail. The swarthy face of the Spaniard brightened with pleasure as he listened to the words of the little negro, but:
"It is well, you can go," was all his answer.
In the evening twilight Doña Josefina, dressed in a graceful negligée fashion well suited to the season, sat in a low chair beside one of the windows of her sala, which was thrown wide open, gazing out into the street. Young men as they passed doffed their hats, bowing lowly, and many of them paused, hoping that the graceful head which answered their salute with a gentle inclination might bend yet further forward and speak, and so give them an excuse for loitering there leaning against the iron bars, and talking for a few minutes. If any such favour had been granted to any of them they would have strutted off after exchanging a few conventional phrases, with the feeling that a great honour had been bestowed upon them, of which they might speak with great access of personal dignity in whatever social circle they might spend the rest of the evening. Men of mature years who passed that window were even more eager andobsequious than the young men in their manner of salutation, but after one glance at the figure reclining there behind the iron reja, enveloped in clouds of gauzy muslin, half shaded from view by the light curtains which draped the window, they passed on without any pause, perchance muttering to themselves:
"She awaits some one, our queen of the saloons, who may that fortunate be?"
To the salutations of both young and old Doña Josefina had but one stereotyped answer, a slight lowering of her fan, and a still slighter inclination of the head, with half-closed eyes. Thus she sat for about half an hour, when a man of medium stature, slightly built, but with square shoulders and very erect bearing, paused before the window. He was dressed in a coat of dark crimson velvet, embroidered with gold lace; his waistcoat, also richly embroidered, came well down over his thighs; his small-clothes were of black satin, and he wore black silk stockings and jewelled buckles in his shoes. The frill of his shirt front and the ruffles at his wrists were of the finest lace. His hair was gathered together behind, tied with a ribbon, and powdered. In one hand he carried a thick golden-headed cane, and in the other his three-cornered hat, which he had removed as he performed an elaborate salute before the window. By his dress he was a dandy of the first water, but of rather an antiquated fashion, but his face and carriage were those of a stern soldier.
The large black eyes of Doña Josefina dilated with surprise and with something of amusement, as she looked at this finely-dressed gentleman who had paused before her window; for a moment she held her fan before her face to conceal the smile which played upon her lips, then bending forward she returned his salutation with great affability and said:
"Come in, Don Ciriaco, the hours that I have been watching for you."
"Then with your permission, Señora," replied Asneiros with another bow as he moved away towards the door of the house.
Springing lightly to her feet, Doña Josefina drew forward an easy-chair and placed it at the other side of the window opposite to her, in such a position that such daylight as yet remained should fall full upon the face of anyone seated in it, and that he should be plainly visible to anyone passing in the street, then she pushed her own chair further back so that her face should be quite shaded by the window-curtain, and a portion of her dress only should be visible to anyone who might glance in at the window. Hardly had she reseated herself ere Asneiros entered the sala. Somewhat awkwardly he took her hand in his as she held it out to him in welcome; for a moment she feared he was going to raise it to his lips, however, he refrained, and seated himself in the easy-chair she had placed ready for him.
"How is this, Señor Capitan?" said the lady. "In moments so critical as the present can the Viceroy spare even for one day the services of one of his most trusted officers?"
"You advert to my gallop out to the Quinta de Ponce yesterday, Señora?" replied Asneiros. "Have then my movements so much interest for you?"
"You saw then my little Justiniano?" replied Doña Josefina, performing meantime some elaborate movements with her fan.
"Yes, Señora, I saw him, and he sends to you many expressions of his love. Better he could not be."
"Cruel! And you could remain a whole night in the city and yet not come to tell me of him!"
"It was late, Señora, when I returned, but even without your message I should have been bold enough to have presented myself to you this evening."
"And my good Constancia and Dolores?"
"Well, Señora, but sad, as you may believe, whilst the son and the brother suffers unmerited imprisonment."
"You went to speak to them of him, and to tell them what you are doing for him?"
"To speak to them of him, yes, Señora, without that I would never have had the temerity to present myself there. But yesterday Doña Constancia was all that the amiable can be, and the beautiful Señorita was if possible more of an angel than ever, Señora, yesterday I felt myself in Paradise, for the first time in my life I found myself admitted to the confidence of two angelic creatures, who wept as they spoke to me of their sorrow, and who looked to me with confidence and with smiles when I assured them that my own life should pay the forfeit for his liberty, if it were not otherwise to be achieved."
"And are they the only women who ever treated you with confidence?"
"Ah! forgive me, Señora, but when I think of them and their sorrow I can think of nothing else. And it was sorrow to me that I could not tell them that I had done anything for him, I could only tell them what I wished to do."
"What did you wish to do?"
"Señora, you are cruel to me! Did not I offer to break into the prison at night with my own men and set him free, at any risk to myself?"
"You did, and I told you to do nothing till I had enquired further into the matter. You have done well to listen to me, for there is more in this imprisonment of Marcelino that I well understand even yet. And ill-considered violence might have resulted in great disaster to us all, which Marcelino himself would have been the first to deplore. Now I have sent for you to know if you are yet ready to risk everything for your old chief?"
"Señora, you give me back my life, for I can obey you no longer if you tell me yet to do nothing. When I saw that angelical creature in tears for the sake of her brother, I could restrain myself no longer. I laid my hand on my heart, and swore to her that I would never see her more till her brother was free. Señora, I have listened to you and to Don Roderigo, and as yet have done nothing, but now I must do something, I have begun to-day. I have spoken to several of my men, all of whom will follow me. This night, if you wish it, I will seize the Cabildo, but I had planned to leave it for one day longer, as I have not yet spoken to any of my brother officers, and if they do not join me I must secure them."
As Asneiros spoke of Dolores, Doña Josefina leaned back in her chair, pressing her fan to her forehead, and so completely hiding her face. When he paused she still kept her face concealed, and did not answer. There was silence between them for a minute, then Asneiros resumed:
"You do not like to speak, Señora; there is no necessity that you should. It is not needful that you should know anything further of my plan. If possible I shall achieve the rescue without bloodshed. There is great excitement among the troops. I do not know if you are aware of it, but if I shout 'Down with the Viceroy' there is no Spaniard will raise his musket against me."
Then Doña Josefina renewed her manœuvres with her fan, opening it and fanning herself gently, then shutting it again with a click. A girl entered the ante-sala with a lighted lamp, which she placed upon a small table in a corner, and then retired. Doña Josefina looked round at her as she moved about. Then, as she closed the door behind her, she again leaned back in her chair, gave two or three flourishes with her fan, and with a low sigh said:
"You think very much of my little niece, Señor Capitan?"
"How is it possible for anyone to know a creature so amiable and not think much of her?" replied Asneiros.
"Then because she, an ignorant little girl, asks you to do something for her you will do it even though I request you not?"
"Señora, what is this that you say to me? She has not asked me to do anything, but she weeps for her brother who is in prison, and I have sworn that I will rescue him. You have asked me if I am ready, do you yet want me to delay?"
"I want you to be ready, but to do nothing till I give you the signal. Now listen. You say they have placed confidence in you by telling you of their sorrows, I am going to put more confidence yet in you, for I am going to tell you my reasons of which they know nothing. You think that it is the Viceroy who has put Marcelino into prison, and you are ready to shout 'Down with the Viceroy!'"
"And so is every Spaniard."
"And yet you know that the Viceroy and Marcelino have always been the best of friends. There is a conspiracy on foot. There are men here who dream of a republic. They have tried to implicate Marcelino, and make him one of their leaders. He is rash and hot-headed as you know. The Viceroy has put him in prison until the danger has passed over, then he will let him go, and the real culprits will take his place. In this Marshal Liniers has shown himself a true friend to Marcelino."
"I know that there is some conspiracy, but I understood that we were to put down this Frenchman and name a Junta, as has been done in Monte Video."
"That they say to deceive you. While the troops remain faithful to the Viceroy these rebels can do nothing. The first step is to excite the troops to mutiny against the Viceroy. If they are successful all is lost, and we shall have a government of the Lord knows who."
"And Don Marcelino knows of this?"
"He does. Don Roderigo pretends to be angry at his arrest, buthe is well content that he should be out of this conspiracy. Who has more influence with Marshal Liniers than Don Roderigo? One word from him and Liniers would set Marcelino at liberty, for as yet he has taken no part in the conspiracy, and is quite innocent. The Viceroy expected to find some clue to the conspiracy among his papers, but I believe nothing has been found, and he would be set free to-morrow if Don Roderigo wished it. Now what I want you to do is to take care that these revolutionists do not tamper with your men, and when the Viceroy calls upon you, join him at once with all your battalion, then you can demand the liberty of my nephew, and all of us will thank you for the great service you have done."
"But, Señora, it may be days yet before they attempt this rebellion. What will the Señorita Dolores say if all these days I do nothing?"
"Dolores herself shall thank you; I will tell her what you have done for her sake."
"Why does not the Viceroy arrest the conspirators if he knows of the conspiracy?"
"As yet he knows but little. He wants to make sure of the leaders before he arrests any of them."
"I could put my hand upon one of them to-day," said Asneiros fiercely; "and here he comes," he added, in a low tone, as Don Carlos Evaña entered the sala.
Behind Evaña came Don Fausto Velasquez, who saluted the infantry captain with great cordiality, but Evaña, merely bestowing upon him a nod of recognition, seated himself beside Doña Josefina. Soon after, others dropped in. Among them came Don Juan Martin Puyrredon and his sister Doña Juana, the Señora de Sañez-Valiente, a tall, stately lady of very affable manners, who was an intimate friend of Doña Josefina. With her also came a younger sister, shorter in stature than Doña Juana, with large, dark eyes, luxuriant hair, brilliant complexion, and a face and figure said at that time to be unrivalled for beauty even in Buenos Aires, Elisa Puyrredon.
Among these, Asneiros would have felt himself strangely out of place, but Doña Josefina watched over him, and exerted herself so successfully to set him at ease, encouraging him to talk, that when, after a couple of hours, he rose to go, he felt as though he had never passed so pleasant an evening in his life, and was resolved that come what might he would let himself be guided by Doña Josefina, though he was too astute to believe all that she had told him concerning the conspiracy against the Viceroy.
Doña Josefina accompanied him to the patio as he went out, and said to him:
"Pass by my window every evening at sundown, I will call you in if I have anything to say to you. When you have anything to tell me come at any hour."
"What it is to give oneself to politics," said Elisa Puyrredon, as Doña Josefina returned to the sala. "Have you many paroquets like that to show us, Doña Josefina?"
"Picara!" said Doña Josefina; "this Asneiros was the Lieutenant of the 'Morenos de Ponce.'"
"I did not know that," said Elisa. "And this poor Marcelino, when will they let him go?"
"That is just what this Asneiros came to ask me," replied Doña Josefina.
"Asneiros makes no secret of his wish to break open the prison-door himself at the head of a party of grenadiers," said Don Juan Martin.
"Why does he not do it then?" asked Elisa.
"He would do badly to do so," said Don Fausto.
Every day for more than a week Asneiros strolled at sundown past the window of Doña Josefina Viana, every day he found her sitting there watching for him. Sometimes she would rise from her seat and, leaning against the reja, would stand there for some minutes talking with him; sometimes she would invite him in, when if alone together she would listen in patience to his praises of Dolores and encourage him to think that he alone should have the credit of the release of Marcelino from prison; while every evening he had something to tell her of the progress he had made in re-establishing the waning popularity of Marshal Liniers, not only in his own regiment, but also in the artillery corps which was supposed to be completely under the influence of Don Martin Alzaga.
So the days passed over till the morning of the 31st December, when he called at the house, and being admitted at once, was shown into the sewing-room of Doña Josefina, where she never received any but her most confidential friend. Nearly an hour he remained there talking with her, being on this occasion dressed in uniform, and speaking in a sharp, decisive manner which Doña Josefina had never before observed in him.
"Señora," said he, as he withdrew, "I know not whether you have been deceived, but I will delay no longer, and if Don Marcelino is not out of prison by this hour to-morrow I myself will head a mutiny against the Viceroy, in which case I can assure you that the whole of the garrison of the city will join me."
When he had gone Doña Josefina sat for some minutes very thoughtful, apparently far from pleased with the result of the interview till with a start she exclaimed:
"To-morrow! that is the new year. It is done, he will be too late; now Carlos will acknowledge that I also have done something for the Patria."
Half an hour later Don Carlos Evaña was with her, summoned to a consultation by an urgent message.
Meantime, while Marcelino's friends were thus interesting themselves in his fate, there was one who was dearer to him than any other who spoke of him not at all, but who thought of him every hour in the day, and wept for him and prayed for him in the solitude of her own room at night. A young girl who lived in great quiet with her father at his quinta at the Miserere. To her parent she had spoken of him, but he had chid her roughly, telling her that doubtless he deserved his punishment, and that she was not to speak of him any more. On one Wednesday only during this time had she paid her usual visit to Doña Josefina, who had laughed at her when she had timidly asked news of Marcelino, saying:
"What matters it to you?"
But as she sat sewing in Doña Josefina's own room there came in another lady, young and of radiant beauty, who spoke much of Marcelino, and to her Doña Josefina talked unreservedly, and spoke confidently of his speedy release. When she had gone:
"What think you of my friend Elisa?" said Doña Josefina; "Lola is very fond of her, but you and she seem hardly ever to speak to each other."
"She is very beautiful," replied Magdalen.
"Marcelino says she is the most beautiful girl in Buenos Aires," said the elder lady; "and he also so handsome. They are well matched, I do not know why they delay so long; Marcelino wants to amuse himself a little longer, I suppose, young men are like that, and Elisa is not impatient, but if I were she, I should be jealous."
After this there was yet one Wednesday in December, but Magdalen told her father that she had a headache and would not visit the city that day.
During the last days of December there was much excitement throughout the city. Spaniards openly exulted in the speedy downfall of the Viceroy, under whose rule their monopoly of power was slowly but steadily slipping away from them. Quiet citizens, who troubled not their heads about politics, were tormented by vague apprehensions for which they could give no reason. Argentines of all ranks and ages, who had learned during the past two years to look upon their country as their own, fiercely determined that come what might, the leader they had chosen for themselves should not be thrust from his position if he would but call upon them for support.
Two men only fully appreciated the danger of the crisis, Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon and Don Carlos Evaña; each of these in his own way prepared to meet it.
On the morning of the 27th December, Don Carlos Evaña called his servant into his private room, and after a short conversation with him took up a sealed letter from his writing-table, which he gave to him. This letter was addressed:
Al Señor CoronelDon Gregorio Lopez,Comandante de los Dragones de Las Barrancas,Su Estancia.
"Now away you go," said Don Carlos, "and neither rest nor sleep till you have delivered that letter."
"Before sunrise to-morrow he shall have it, Señor Don Carlos," replied the man.
On the morning of the 31st December, Colonel Lopez arrived at the Quinta de Ponce; he was dressed in uniform, and had two orderlies with him. He listened to all that Doña Constancia and Dolores had to tell him, but was very taciturn himself, and they were somewhat hurt at the small sympathy he expressed for his nephew in his imprisonment.
At sundown Evaristo reached the quinta, saying that Don Roderigowas not coming out that day and that he himself was to remain there till Monday.
"We shall have plenty of room for you to-night, Gregorio," said Doña Constancia. "We have generally a house full on a Saturday evening, but it appears we are to have no visitors this week. Even Don Carlos has not been out to see us since he came in from his estancia."
"I shall not stop the night here," replied Don Gregorio; "I am going on after dark."
At ten o'clock Don Gregorio was still there, though he had ordered his horse to be saddled. They were seated under the verandah, looking out into the quiet night, talking little, for each one had his or her own thoughts, and none of these thoughts were cheerful. Evaristo was the most talkative, and his talk was of his brother or of the Viceroy Marshal Liniers, and of whichever he spoke his words were words of anger. Suddenly he started to his feet.
"Hush!" he said. "Listen! who are these that come at this hour of the night?"
They stepped out into the garden, and from the south, through the thick foliage of the trees, and near at hand, there came the sound of the trampling of hoofs as of a multitude of horses at a quiet trot. Mingled with this sound came the jingling of sabres in steel scabbards, and the hum of many voices.
"Who are those, Gregorio?" said Doña Constancia, as a gruff voice shouted "halt," and the trampling and the jingling ceased. "They have stopped at the tranquera."
"They are my dragoons," replied the Colonel, "Sleep tranquil, Marcelino will not be many hours longer in prison."
"My God!" exclaimed Doña Constancia, clasping her hands; "what is it that you are going to do?"
"Who sent for you?" asked Dolores.
"Evaña," replied the Colonel; then kissing both of them he looked round to bid good-night to his nephew, but Evaristo was not to be seen.
Five minutes later Don Gregorio Lopez, at the head of a well-appointed squadron of dragoons, trotted down the road past the quinta gate, where Doña Constancia and Dolores stood watching them in silence. Beside him rode one who was not in uniform and carried no arms; this horseman, who was but a youth, turned in his saddle as they passed the gate and shouted:
"Good-night, mamita! good-night, Lola! to-morrow I will come back with Marcelino."
It seems to be a very old custom in Spanish-speaking countries to hold elections on the first day of the week, the day set apart by all Christian people as a day of rest. In these countries the right of all free-born men to choose their own rulers is not considered to be work, it is looked upon more as an amusement; the consequences of so looking upon one of the most important duties of a citizen are frequently disastrous.
This day, Sunday, the 1st January, 1809, was the day appointed for the election of the municipal officers of the city. The citizens of Buenos Aires on this occasion made no claim whatever to be admitted to some share in the election, being content that these officials should be selected, as they always had been, by the Cabildo, their attention being entirely engrossed by a subject to them much more momentous.
At sunrise on this Sunday morning the whole city was astir. Steady-going householders donned their uniforms and marched off to the barracks of the several militia corps, the Patricios and Arribeños. Shopmen, artificers, and peons left their homes all with one destination. Ardent young patriots of the more wealthy families buckled on their swords and proceeded to the headquarters of their regiments. All were animated by one enthusiastic determination—to suppress by force, if necessary, any attempt against the authority of the Viceroy they themselves had chosen. All looked to Don Cornelio Saavedra as their leader.
At the same time, to the west of the city, on the wide, open space known as the Plaza Miserere, the suburban cavalry, composed of the butchers and quinteros who supplied the city markets, assembled under the orders of Don Martin Rodriguez, who had with him Don Juan Ramon Balcarce as his second in command. Most of these men had taken part in the defence of the city against Whitelock, the name of General Liniers was to them as a tower of strength.
The dragoons from Las Barrancas had passed the night encamped near to the Puente Galves, at dawn Don Carlos Evaña was with them. Calling the officers together he spoke earnestly to them, commending the appearance of the men and the condition of their horses, telling them that they had not been sent for without deep necessity, that their country had need of them, and looked to them to vindicate her rights against the domination of foreigners.
"Have no fear, Don Carlos," said Don Gregorio. "My men will do their duty."
"What you or Don Cornelio Saavedra tell us, that we will do," said the others.
Among these dragoons there was one troop which excelled in efficiency and appearance, the horses all of one colour, dark bays, the men most of them of one family, brothers, cousins, or nephews of the wife of Don Francisco Viana. This troop was under the command of Venceslao Viana, all the horses were the property of Don Carlos Evaña. After speaking to the officers, Don Carlos addressed himself to the men of this troop, speaking to them one by one, and asking after their families, then he drew Venceslao Viana to one side and spoke to him alone. As Venceslao listened, his face showed signs of great perplexity.
"Without orders from the Colonel?" asked he.
"More than a year ago you promised me——"
"Say no more," said Venceslao; "ask for no reasons. Give me the signal, and I see no other chief than you."
"If all goes well I shall not give it, then you have nothing to do but to obey the Colonel. But remember, if to-day pass without bloodshed everything is to begin again."
"Decidedly this Don Carlos is a man of few scruples," said Venceslao to himself as Evaña galloped away for the city. "But if he says it, it must be done; by the faith of a Viana, to-day we will do for him some service."
Soon after sunrise the trumpets sounded to saddle and mount, and defiling over the Puente Galves, the regiment marched by the wide, sandy road to the city, passed the suburbs, and halted on an open space of ground near to the Residencia.
The Spanish troops were also early under arms, each corps in its own barracks, among them also there was much enthusiasm. In every quarter of the city armed men were collected together, and peaceably-disposed citizens shut themselves in their houses, fearful that the day would not pass without some great catastrophe.
At an early hour the members of the Cabildo met together, and were not long in deciding upon the list of municipal officers for the ensuing year. Having drawn up this list, a deputation from them, headed by Don Martin Alzaga, proceeded across the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza de Los Perdices to the fort, where they presented this list to the Viceroy. Few words passed between them and the deputation retired. In both Plazas hundreds of the citizens were walking to and fro, or stood conversing in groups, all anxiously waiting for what the day might bring forth. As the deputation left the fort after their interview with the Viceroy, passing through these groups of men, who gazed upon them in silence as though they would read their purpose in their faces, several of these Spaniards took off their hats, waving them in the air and shouting:
"Junta! Junta! como la de la España! Abajo el Frances Liniers!"[9]
Among the people this shout found no echo. Then began the church-bells to clang and the drums to beat to arms in the streets. Three corps of the Spanish troops left their quarters with their arms and ammunition, and marching hurriedly to the Plaza Mayor drew up on the west side the Plaza with their backs to the Cabildo, shouting as their leaders had already instructed them:
"Junta! Junta! como la de la España! Abajo el Frances Liniers!"
As the bells rang out their peal, Marshal Liniers sent off a messenger to Don Cornelio Saavedra requesting him to garrison the fort. As the Spanish troops entered the Plaza Mayor, the first battalion of the Patricios marched through the Plaza de Los Perdices, crossed the drawbridge of the fort, and occupied all the defences of this stronghold. At the same time Don Carlos Evaña, with a drawn sabre in his hand, at the head of a strong party of armed citizens, entered the fort by a postern gate, and placed himself and his followers at the orders of the Viceroy.
Marshal Liniers in full uniform stood at the foot of the flag-staff on the parade-ground, looking anxiously out towards the city, listening to the clangour of the bells and the shouts of the troops in the further Plaza, when a Spanish officer in uniform and with his sword in its sheath stood before him and saluted him.
"Asneiros! you here!" said Marshal Liniers.
"Yes, your Excellency," replied Asneiros, "I am here; my Andaluces are also close at hand, the Spanish artillery have not left their barracks. It appears that there is some conspiracy against you; I, my Andaluces, and the Spanish artillery all put ourselves under your orders if you grant me at once a favour that I require of you."
"Speak," said Marshal Liniers.
"You have imprisoned an honourable gentleman, Don Marcelino Ponce de Leon; I demand his immediate release."
"He is in the Cabildo," replied Marshal Liniers. "If to-day at sundown I am Viceroy I will set him free."
"A thousand thanks, your Excellency; not to-day only, but many days you will yet see yourself Viceroy."
Then as he turned away Asneiros looked around him, and his eye fell upon Evaña, who, with his drawn sabre in his hand, was talking eagerly with a number of militia officers.
"He here and armed!" said Asneiros to himself; "he then is not of the conspiracy. Fool that I am, I have let myself be deceived by the soft voice of a woman. But it is not too late yet; if I go and shout for the Junta over there Don Martin will set him free for me."
But as he crossed the drawbridge, and looked to where he had left his men, he saw a mounted officer sitting in his saddle in front of them speaking to them. As he ceased, the men took off their round caps and tossed them in the air shouting:
"Viva Don Cornelio!" Then as Don Cornelio, raising his hand for silence, again spoke, they shouted even louder than before:
"Viva el Virey Don Santiago Liniers! Viva!!"
It was too late; to turn back now was impossible; he had nothing left to do but to follow the lead of Don Cornelio and to trust to the Viceroy.
During all this excitement one man stood quietly on the balconyof the Cabildo, watching everything, but since the selection of the municipal officers taking no part in anything, Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon. From his position he could see the sheen of the bayonets as the Patricios marched into the fort; he looked down into the Plaza below him upon the troops there assembled, he noted at once the absence of the artillery corps and of the Andaluces. None of his colleagues were with him, they had proceeded from the fort to the house of the Bishop of Buenos Aires, Monseñor Lue, who, with Don Martin Alzaga, was at the head of the conspiracy against the Viceroy. Unless some measures were immediately adopted to allay the excitement a struggle seemed inevitable; to this struggle Don Roderigo could see but one end, the total overthrow of Spanish authority. Hastily he descended from the balcony and walked to the house of the Bishop. His report considerably damped the enthusiasm of the conspirators; the Bishop consented to go alone to the fort to endeavour to prevail upon the Viceroy to dismiss the militia to their homes.
"Promise him anything," said Don Roderigo; but Don Martin Alzaga saw him depart without speaking, and with the rest of the conclave returned to the Cabildo.
As the Bishop presented himself to Marshal Liniers he was confronted by Don Cornelio Saavedra, and between these two there ensued a hot discussion. The Bishop protested that his only wish was to prevent bloodshed, and promised that if the Patricios would retire, the Spanish troops in the Plaza Mayor should be sent back to their barracks. To him Liniers seemed disposed to yield whereupon Don Cornelio, still protesting against any attempt on the part of the Spaniards to depose the Viceroy, consented to retire from the fort with his troops, but declared that he should keep them under arms until such time as the Spanish troops had evacuated the Plaza Mayor.
Out over the drawbridge marched the Patricios in perfect order, the sun shining on the bright barrels of their muskets and upon their glistening bayonets. In one long column they crossed the Plaza de los Perdices, passed through the wide arch of the Recoba Vieja, and in imposing array marched straight for the artillery barracks, where the chosen Spaniards of Don Martin Alzaga joined them with acclamations, and with loud shouts of:
"Viva Don Santiago Liniers! Viva el Virey!"