g up on them at a trot. He saw the ranks open and two
men catch at each bridle rein of both Alvarez and Rojas and drag them
on with them, buried in the crush of horses about them, and swept
forward by the weight and impetus of the moving mass behind. Stuart
dashed off to the State carriage and seized the nearest of the horses
by the bridle. "To the Palace!" he shouted to his men. "Shoot any one
who tries to stop you. Forward, at a gallop," he commanded.

The populace had not discovered what had occurred until it was
finished. The coup d'etat had been long considered and the manner in
which it was to be carried out carefully planned. The cavalry had
swept across the parade ground and up the street before the people saw
that they carried Rojas and Alvarez with them. The regiment commanded
by Rojas found itself hemmed in before and behind by Mendoza's two
regiments. They were greatly outnumbered, but they fired a scattering
shot, and following their captured leader, broke through the line
around them and pursued the cavalry toward the military prison.

It was impossible to tell in the uproar which followed how many or how
few had been parties to the plot. The mob, shrieking and shouting and
leaping in the air, swarmed across the parade ground, and from a dozen
different points men rose above the heads of the people and harangued
them in violent speeches. And while some of the soldiers and the
citizens gathered anxiously about these orators, others ran through the
city calling for the rescue of the President, for an attack on the
palace, and shrieking "Long live the Government!" and "Long live the
Revolution!" The State carriage raced through the narrow streets with
its body-guard galloping around it, sweeping down in its rush stray
pedestrians, and scattering the chairs and tables in front of the
cafes. As it dashed up the long avenue of the palace, Stuart called
his men back and ordered them to shut and barricade the great iron
gates and to guard them against the coming of the mob, while
MacWilliams and young Langham pulled open the carriage door and
assisted the President's wife and her terrified companion to alight.
Madame Alvarez was trembling with excitement as she leaned on Langham's
arm, but she showed no signs of fear in her face or in her manner.

"Mr. Clay has gone to bring your travelling carriage to the rear door,"
Langham said. "Stuart tells us it is harnessed and ready. You will
hurry, please