of of its vile character is afforded by the action he took among the
volunteers in Poydras Street. His presenting himself at their
rendezvous, getting enrolled in the corps, and offering as a candidate
for the captaincy, were all done under instructions, and with a design
which, for wickedness and cold-blooded atrocity, was worthy of Satan
himself. Had he succeeded in becoming the leader of this ill-fated
band, for them the upshot might have been no worse; though it would not
have been better; since it was his intention to betray them to the enemy
at the first opportunity that should offer. Thwarted in this intent,
knowing he could no longer show his face among the filibusters, even
though it were but as a private in the ranks; fearing, furthermore, the
shame that awaited him in New Orleans soon as the affair of the steel
shirt should get bruited about, he had hastily decamped from that place,
and, as we now know, once more made his way to Mexico.

Luckily for him, the shirt, or rather under-shirt, business leaked not
out; at least not to reach the ears of any one in the Mexican capital.

Nor, indeed, was it ever much known in New Orleans. His second,
Duperon, for his own sake not desiring to make it public, had refrained
from speaking of it; and their doctor, a close little Frenchman,
controlled by Duperon, remained equally reticent; while all those on the
other side--Kearney, Crittenden, Rock and the surgeon--had taken
departure for Texas on the very day of the duel; from that time forward
having "other fish to fry."

But there were still the two hackney-drivers, who, no doubt, had they
stayed in the Crescent City in pursuit of their daily avocation, would
have given notoriety to an occurrence curious as it was scandalous.

It chanced, however, that both the jarveys were Irishmen; and suddenly
smitten with warlike aspirations--either from witnessing the spectacle
of the duel, or the gallant behaviour of their young countryman--on that
same day dropped the ribbons, and, taking to a musket instead, wore
among the men who composed the ill-started expedition which came to
grief on the Rio Grande.

So, for the time, Carlos Santander had escaped the brand of infamy due
to his dastardly act.

His reappearance on the scene in such grand garb needs little
explanation. A fairly brave and skilled soldier, a vainer man than
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna never wore sword, and one of his
foibles was to see himself