FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[38]Lit., poniard.[39]The street in Mexico where I lived.

[38]Lit., poniard.

[39]The street in Mexico where I lived.

Threatened Insurrection in Mexico.—Stealthy Movements of Troops.—General Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

The day was approaching on which I was to leave Mexico for Vera Cruz, to embark for Europe. For several years before this a Yankee company had established a line of diligences which ran between several of the largest towns; wagons, also, for the conveyance of heavy goods, competed with the picturesque caravans of thearrieroson all the principal roads. Ought I to give up my habit of solitary traveling for no other reason than the quickness of transit between Mexico and Vera Cruz? I must then renounce the hospitality of the venta, so pleasant after a long ride—the siesta under the shade of a tree—the friendly connection of horse and rider, and all the enlivening contingencies of solitary travel. I must confess that I could not look upon this innovation, due to the foreigner who had brought Vera Cruz within four days' journey of Mexico, without some degree of abhorrence. I felt that, under the influence of more rapid communication, the ancient appearance of Mexico was beginning to alter. I groaned and chafed like an antiquarian who sees rude hands defacing some rare and ancient medal. The establishment of this new kind of conveyance inMexico had been attended with annoyances of a most dangerous character. Well-organized bands of robbers turned the innovation to account, and not a diligence passed without being pillaged. The remembrances of my ancient relations with the Mexicansalteadores, ordinarily so courteous to every traveler unencumbered with baggage, rendered the prospect of a similar humiliation very disagreeable. The pillaging part of the business was not a thing at all to my mind; besides, the idea of passing several days in a close carriage, drawn by four swift steeds, and bounding over a Mexican road rutted by heavy rains, and covered with large pieces of rock, was a mode of traveling not at all in accordance with my habits and tastes.

A mere accident caused me to decide what course to follow. Several merchants in Mexico, profiting by one of those political lulls so rare in the republic, were about to send a rich convoy of silver (conducta de platas) to Vera Cruz. Some muleteers were loading their mules with sacks of piastres, inclosed in little wooden boxes, in the great court of one of the houses in the street of Monterilla, where I lived. The sight of these preparations had drawn a great crowd of spectators around the gate, myself among the rest. When the mules had received their precious burden, they all instinctively huddled together in a corner of the court. A score ofmozos de mulas(stable-helpers) kept up a running fire of oaths while at their work. Under the archway of the court thearriero[40]brought matters to a close by signing the bills of lading, and invoking the Virgin and all the saints to give him a safe and successful trip, every now and then stopping to scold the helpers. In the street, the multitude speculated onthe possibility of such a rich lading surviving the perils of a long and dangerous road, while the greatest part of the spectators in tatters did not take the least pains to conceal their real sentiments.

"Canario!" said a lépero, covering a breast seamed with scars with a cloak almost torn to ribbons, "if I had only a beast like the one that cavalier has between his legs!"

And he eyed a horse, black as jet, which arancherowas riding. The animal, tightly reined in by his rider, champed his bit furiously, and threw the foam to the right and left. I could not help admiring the beauty of the horse, and remarking at the same time the firm but easy seat of the cavalier, who seemed to manage his steed only by his own will, a quality possessed in the highest degree by the gentlemen of Mexico.

"Well! what would you do if you had, Gregorito?" asked one of his companions.

"Canario! I would accompany the conducta to a spot on the road I know well; and though, as you are well aware, I am no braggart, I should count myself very unlucky if one or two such loads did not fall to my share."

"One or two loads, Gregorito!" said the other, in a tone of surprise.

"Yes, three loads at most. You know I never had very much ambition, but the horseman there seems to have even less than I."

The ranchero, in appearance at least, looked on the whole convoy with disdain, but what was passing through his mind it was impossible to tell from his face.

Meanwhile a squadron of lancers, designed to serveas an escort, had great difficulty in keeping the crowd out of the court, among whom Gregorito was one of the most modest in the expression of his desires. The fluttering rags of the léperos, and the waving pennons at the points of their lances, formed a curious contrast. The loading was at length completed, the last mule left the court, and the detachment formed up to accompany the convoy. The crowd gradually melted away, and at last only the ranchero remained, who appeared to be counting the mules with care, besides eyeing attentively every individualmozo. At last the ranchero began to put his horse in motion. At this moment the lépero Gregorito approached him, and begged him to allow him to light his cigarette at his. A long and animated conversation, in a low tone, took place between the two men, but I paid little heed to an incident which appeared to me so insignificant. I left the place, and went home.

The sight of the convoy awakened in me a desire which I was not long in putting into execution. The departure of the convoy, whose escort I could easily join, would furnish me with the only opportunity I should ever have, not only of escaping the ennui of a diligence, but also of satiating my curiosity by exploring, in perfect security and by short stages, the long route between Mexico and Vera Cruz. The loaded mules would travel but slowly, and I could easily rejoin them, even though they were at several leagues distance from Mexico—thanks to the proved swiftness of my horse—so as to allow me a couple of days even to bid farewell to my friends. I began in all haste to make the necessary preparations for departure. My first object was to procure a horse for my servant. He had been so ill mounted during our long journey whilesearching for, and flying from, the bravo, that his horse had broken down entirely after we re-entered Mexico, and I had ordered him to replace it by another. As for my own steed, one of those I had brought with me from the hacienda of Noria, he nobly justified the name ofStormwhich I had given him; the strength and vigor which his free life in the desert had produced rendered him fit to endure the hardest fatigues.

Cecilio went about the business immediately. I told him that economy was to be considered in the purchase, but the fellow did not conform too scrupulously to my instructions. A few hours afterward he came to tell me that apicador, one of his friends, had a horse to dispose of which seemed to come up to my standard. In a few minutes, a sorry hack, of a dun color, with hanging head and tottering legs, that apparently had escaped from the bull-ring, came slowly into the court. I almost screamed when the picador, with matchless effrontery, asked ten piastres for the miserable brute; but, considering that the only time on which we needed to travel rapidly would be in joining the convoy, and that afterward short stages would be the rule, I consented to the purchase. The picador and Cecilio, seeing my impatience, began to expatiate on the noble qualities that lay hidden beneath the miserable skin of the wretched beast, and I paid the knave the sum he demanded, knowing well that my honest valet would partake in the plunder with the picador.

All my preparations being made, I determined to set out next morning; but a series of unforeseen events retarded my departure for several days. The time for sending this rich convoy of silver to Vera Cruz appeared to have been ill chosen. A dull, vaguefeeling of uneasiness weighed on all men's minds. The most alarming symptoms of an imminent political storm were apparent. Even on the very day after the convoy had left Mexico, it was universally regretted that a lading so valuable had been exposed to the dangers of a long road at this conjuncture, and several circumstances, it must be owned, justified these fears.

General Don Anastasio Bustamente—after losing in Europe, in learned retirement, the remembrance of his country's misfortunes—had returned, and assumed the presidency of the republic. If disinterestedness and probity, joined to ardent patriotism, were sufficient to govern a great state, Bustamente was the man for Mexico. Like almost all the generals who have attained to power in Mexico, it was in the war of independence that he showed what he was capable of performing. A devoted friend and partisan of the Emperor Iturbide, he had taxed Santa Anna with the blackest ingratitude in commencing his military career by revolting against the one who had raised him from obscurity. This was the commencement of that personal enmity which still subsists between the two generals. During the time I was at Mexico, Santa Anna could not be prevailed on to forgive Bustamente for having forestalled him in the presidency. For three years Bustamente had been subjected to many trials. Two years had scarcely elapsed since the taking of Vera Cruz by the French, and already the emptiness of the public treasury had compelled Congress to impose an additional duty of fifteen per cent. upon imports. Commerce languished by this measure. The decision of Congress only augmented its sufferings. A general bad feeling began to gain ground in the state, which, to all accustomed to the march of politicalevents in Mexico, seemed likely to be employed to the disadvantage of the existing government. Events were not long in confirming the justice of these forebodings.

The reader may not, perhaps, have forgotten a certain lieutenant Don Blas, whom I had met at the venta of Arroyo Zarco, and had left seated at table with the bravo, Don Tomas Verduzco. The slight degree of acquaintanceship which I had with this officer never occurred to my mind without recalling to memory the mysterious relations which seemed to exist between him and a man who I had every reason to believe was my mortal enemy. Since my last meeting with Don Tomas I had been under a continual apprehension, but too well justified by the known antecedents of this ruffian.

I had, I believed, taken every precaution against an attack which would, according to all appearance, be made in the dark. Besides, I had conformed to the rules of the strictest prudence by restricting myself only to short walks from my place of abode. The porter of my house was an old soldier of the wars of independence, a brave and honorable man, who never showed more vigilance than when he was intoxicated. The result was, that the house could not have been better guarded. I was, it is true, the first victim of this excess of precaution on his part, for it was not without the greatest difficulty that, on one occasion, I prevailed upon him to unlock the iron chain that held together the two leaves of the entrance gate.

The Angelus was still sounding from all the churches in Mexico when, returning from a gallop on the Paseo, I rode through the streets, as I fancied, for the last time. Night was coming on when I gained mylodging, and it was not without a longer parley than ordinary with the old porter that I succeeded in gaining admittance. Leaning against the wall to steady himself and keep up appearances, the brave man, with a bayonet in his hand, contented himself by jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of a soldier, who, seated on one of the stone benches of the vestibule, rose up eagerly at my approach. A peakless shako, too small for the head it covered, tottered on the top of a dense thatch of thick yellow hair. A uniform coat of thick cloth, and a pair of trowsers as large as the shako was small; shoes, whose upper leather had long parted company from the sole, not only allowing the toes to be seen, but also ventilating on the most approved principles the wearer's feet, and a complexion of a bright copper color, all served to stamp the man as a lépero who had been torn away, by the exigencies of the service, from following his profession of sleeping in the sun on the pavement. However, a sort of picaresque and arrogant bearing about the fellow showed that he was not insensible to his profession, and to the splendor of his military dress. The soldier, who was theasistenteof Don Blas, had been sent by him with a letter to me. I recognized, in fact, his handwriting. The note ran thus:

"My dear Friend,—I have just read with much emotion, in a French novel that you lately lent me, a story of two friends, who, when in need, aided one another with their purse and their sword. As I require some money at present, I should be obliged by your sending with the bearer, in whom I have every confidence, an ounce of gold, which I shall restore to youon the first opportunity. I can tell you that this will be a service with which the country will be as well pleased as your devoted friend and servant,"Q. S. M. B.,[41]"Blas P——."P.S.—On reflection, if you will bring the ounce of gold yourself, it will be better; and, to imitate the devotion of those friends whose story has made such an impression upon me, I offer you my sword."

"Q. S. M. B.,[41]

"Blas P——.

"P.S.—On reflection, if you will bring the ounce of gold yourself, it will be better; and, to imitate the devotion of those friends whose story has made such an impression upon me, I offer you my sword."

I thought, as the lieutenant did, that the ounce of gold would have a greater chance of coming into his hands if I carried it myself.

"Where is your officer?" I inquired of the soldier.

"At the Guadaloupe gate."

"It is a pity," I said, "that the oracion has sounded, as we can not now ride thither."

"If it is the intention of your lordship to accompany me, as my captain said you might," the messenger replied, "he recommended you to go on foot."

In spite of the great honor that would accrue to me by rendering this service to the Mexican nation, I could not hide from myself that I would have the worst of it in this chivalrous exchange of purse and sword. However, the desire of knowing from the mouth of Don Blas how much I ought to fear the resentment of the bravo with whom chance had brought me acquainted, determined me not to allow this opportunity to escape. I took time only to throw a cloak over my shoulders, and hide my pistols under my coat. I then set out, followed by the soldier. Still, I took care, while passing through the town—which became more and more solitary as weapproached the suburbs—to walk in the middle of the road, as well to see all who were approaching, as to avoid the angles in the wall that might shelter ambuscades. I arrived without accident at the Guadaloupe gate, sometimes smiling at my terrors, sometimes shuddering at some sudden noise. The night was very dark, and the July rains were already announced by a thick fog, the moisture of which rendered the pavement slippery.

"Shall we soon be there?" I asked of the soldier, when we came to the gate.

"Immediately," he replied.

A drizzling rain succeeded the fog. We soon arrived at a road which ran between the lakes, without the soldier showing any signs of having reached the end of his journey. A thick mist, which hovered over the water, hid the two snowy peaks of the volcanoes which cap the Cordilleras. At last I perceived at some distance the lighted windows of a small house, and very soon a confused sound of voices reached my ear. Arrived at the house, the soldier tapped with his bayonet, and the door opened. He entered first without any ceremony, and motioned me to follow him. Under any other circumstances, I should have seen nothing very extraordinary in this invitation; but my ideas having been running on ambuscades for the last month, I hesitated about penetrating into such a cut-throat looking place. A voice that I knew put an end to my hesitation: it was that of the Lieutenant Don Blas, who was conversing with hisasistenteabout the result of his mission. All my fears then vanished, and I entered. At the same time Don Blas sprang to meet me, and pressed me in his arms with all a Mexican's warmth. After the first compliments had passed, he led me through a room (crowded with men ofall grades), a kind of vestibule, into a spacious hall, where some individuals of a higher rank sat round half a dozen tables, drinking and gambling. They all appeared to be military men, judging at least from their mustaches, and Don Blas himself bore no other insignia of his rank than a round jacket, decorated with a sort of epaulet on each shoulder, denoting only the brevet captain. We sat down at a table by ourselves. The men looked at me in a way that was not altogether pleasant or comfortable.

"He is a friend," Don Blas said, hastily; "he won't betray us."

I had the best of reasons for being discreet on such an occasion, and made no remark upon the words of the lieutenant. We were served with an infusion of tamarind with a strong dash of brandy in it; I then asked him, "How comes it that you did not, in person, ask for the favor you expected from me? You would have saved me a long walk, and a return home alone in the dark."

"I am going to reply to your question," said the lieutenant, stretching out his hand for the ounce of gold, and putting it into his pocket. "The reason why I have given you so much trouble is that I am kept here as a kind of pledge for the money I owe; as for you, you will return home at daybreak in the company of your very devoted servant."

"Does that mean that I am to be kept here as a kind of pledge also?"

"Not at all; but certain affairs will happen, two hours hence, which will prevent you from returning. At present I can tell you nothing farther."

Such a disclosure as this opened a wide field for conjecture; but I wished, at the moment, to obtainsome information regarding an affair which touched me more nearly.

"You were good enough," said I to the lieutenant, "to place yourself at my disposal in exchange for the small favor that I was able to render you, and doubtless you will be happy to learn that a very important conjuncture makes it necessary for me to ask the assistance of your valorous sword."

A cloud came over the hitherto smiling face of Don Blas, and I fancied that the lieutenant never thought that he was so soon to be taken at his word. However, he promptly recovered himself, and cried, "Play is an unfortunate thing! Caramba! my sword is in pledge with the rest of my accoutrements; but what have you done to need the loan of mine?"

"It is your strong right arm, and not your sword, that I require," I replied, smiling at the evasive subterfuge of the lieutenant. "The sword of the Cid would be useless in my hands against an enemy so formidable as—"

"Speak lower," said Don Blas, interrupting me and twirling his mustache; "my rash bravery is well known here. All are aware that danger electrifies me, and it might be feared that I had lent for another motive the weight of that arm which belongs to my country alone."

The hectoring air of the officer made no impression upon me; but I had no wish to turn what was intended only for a joke into something more serious. I desired only to know if the bravo had made me the subject of conversation after my departure from the room on that night I happened to be at Arroyo Zarco, and it eased me not a little to hear that he had asked not a single question about me.

At this moment the gallop of a horse rang on the stone causeway, and almost at the same moment a young lad, about fifteen years of age, bounced into the room. By his military cap—a kind of beret, ornamented with a profusion of gold lace, as well as his uniform—I immediately discovered that he was acadete(cadet).

"Every thing goes on swimmingly, gentlemen," cried he; "the colonel is coming to receive his general's commission. This evening his division reached Cordova. Valencia is advancing. In three days we shall be masters of Mexico, and then I shall bealferez!"

All in the room sprang to their feet; and I asked the lieutenant, by a motion of my eye, what I should do.

"Do you still wish to leave?"

It was evident that I was witnessing the first act of some new revolution which was about to take place, and that I was a spectator of some of those little scenes which serve as the prelude to some grand event.

Among the numerous causes which have tended to exhaust the public exchequer in Mexico, and contributed to isolate the country from European progress, the most deplorable and the most striking are, without contradiction, those which prevail in the military executive. In a country whose geographical position effectually preserves it from all rivalry with neighboring nations, the army was, it may be said, disbanded at the declaration of independence, but in a short time afterward it sprang again into existence. Unhappily, the heads of the new republic only looked to that power as an instrument for executing its own ambitious designs. Since then, a warlike mania has seized a people that had been pacifically disposed forthree hundred years, and gradually the army had become accustomed to decide upon and settle all political questions. The result of this warlike transformation is well known. To-day the pettiest Mexican officer fancies himself called on, not by a political conviction, but only by his own ambition, to protect or to overturn the established government. It would seem, as one might say, that an article of the Constitution gives to every one the right of becoming a colonel.

Accustomed since infancy to trample under foot all civil institutions, the cadet, transformed into an officer almost before the age of reason, and the soldier of fortune, to whom a long series ofpronunciamentos, in which he has taken part, has given a commission, have both in view the same design, a rapid promotion by the same way, that of insurrection. Liable to be broken at every instant by a sudden change in the government, the officers have no hope of obtaining a higher grade but by their swords. Then, according to the fortunes of civil war, the officer who has fought his way to a higher rank, or who has seen the banner under which he fought leveled with the dust, has no more chance of getting his pay from the new government than he had from the old. He thus constitutes himself a creditor of the state till some stray bullet closes his account forever, or till the time when he can dip his fingers into the public purse, and become a permanent debtor of those who have outstripped him in his career. However, although the vicissitudes to which the country has been subjected are numberless, it is the exception, and not the rule, if the officer arrive at the head of affairs; his life, in such a case, becomes only a continual series of annoyances. Then, a revolutionist by ambition—a gambler by nature—acontrabandist on occasion—a knave by necessity—aremendon de voluntades[42]when in want, the officer practices every trade, deals in all sorts of merchandise, and becomes at last more an object of pity than blame; for he knows nothing of business, and his country never has paid him for any service he has rendered her, not even though he may have shed his best blood in her behalf.

The news of an approaching insurrection was doubtless soon communicated to the men in the other room, for a deafening din drowned the general hurrah, in which cries of Santa Anna forever! Death to Bustamente! Down with Congress, and fifteen per cent.! and others, of a like import, were shouted, and which will always find an echo in the hearts of people still too young to know what true liberty is. When silence had been re-established, I questioned my friend the lieutenant about the political movement; but in a hurried tone, "Tut!" he replied; "here you must seem to know nothing. I shall make you acquainted with every thing afterward. For the moment, I have nothing more pressing than to pay my score and go away. You must know that the country is as much your debtor as if the debt had been committed to writing, for its safety is concerned in the liberty of my person."

"About two such debtors I need have no fear," I said, gravely; "but how comes it that a mere civilian has dared to place an embargo on a military man?"

"Alas!" replied Don Blas, in a melancholy tone, "one must borrow wherever one can. The misfortune is, that this inn is kept by an officer, and I only learned that when, enchanted with the credit Ireceived here, I had used the place as if the owner had been a civilian."

That the inn was kept by an officer was not at all astonishing to one, like me, well acquainted with Mexican manners, but that an officer had ventured to give credit to a comrade appeared a piece of the most inexplicable rashness.

"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 floridcomplexion. He sported a formidable pair of mustaches curled up at the ends. In a word, he had quite the appearance of avalento(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 theWhite 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 sameplace. 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 repeatedvivas; 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 youamong 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.

[40]A kind of farmer.

[41]Que sus manos besa.—Lit., he who kisses your hands.

[42]Lit., Humorer of caprices.

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 newpronunciamento. 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 theasistenteof 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 theconducta."

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 thePlaza 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, awokeme 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 tomonte, 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 thatthe 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'smen, 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 thelieutenant'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 theIndian 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 streetsof 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, andthe withdrawal of the obnoxious law, were the deplorable results of an insurrection which had brought in its train twelve days of fighting and anarchy.

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