ind-hearted. He
said, loud enough to be heard by his own men: "They are citizens;
let them pass: they are not soldiers." The emperor was dressed in
a black frock-coat, but with military trousers and epaulettes.
He and Prince Salm-Salm then walked through the convent gates and
made their way in haste to the opposite quarter of the city. The
streets were silent and empty. Suddenly a sharp fire of musketry
was heard, mingled with Juarist and Imperial war-cries. Miramon
with his troops was holding one of the widest streets of Queretaro,
when a ball hit him in the face. He fell, half blinded, and was
taken prisoner. Miramon was the son of a French father and a Spanish
mother, and was one of the very few generals on either side who
were of pure white blood.

The emperor, with Generals Mejia, Castillo, Avellano, and Prince
Salm-Salm, retired to a little hill which commanded the city. They
had no artillery, no means of defending their position. They stood
on the bare rock where they had taken refuge, like shipwrecked
sailors waiting for the fatal rising of the tide. General Escobedo,
a coarse man, who had formerly been a muleteer, prepared to charge
up the hill with four battalions of infantry and a strong party
of cavalry.

"Do not fire; you will shed blood to no purpose," said the emperor
to the little band of followers who surrounded him. Then, in a
low, sad voice, he ordered one of his aides-de-camp to fasten a
white handkerchief on the end of a bayonet. The Juarists, who were
ascending the hill, came to a halt. Then, amid profound silence,
the emperor came forward. He paused a moment as he stepped out
of the little group of his followers and looked around him. Then
he descended the hill with a firm step, followed by several of
his generals.

The Juarists saluted him by their party cry, "Viva la libertad!"
They recognized the emperor. Maximilian walked straight up to their
commander, an ex-Federal United States officer, who under the name
of Corona was in command of a party of Americans who had entered
the service of Juarez, and were called the Legion of Honor. This
legion was composed of fifty men. Some had worn the blue, and some
the gray. Each held rank in the Mexican army as an officer.

"General," said Maximilian to Corona, "both men and fortune have
betrayed me. There are widows and orphans enough already in the
world. Here is my sword."

"Sire," said the general, forgetting that the man who addressed
him was