alkali dust till the muscles
of his legs looked like grayish ropes, who had emerged from the cacti
plain ten days before and come running into Chihuahua. The peon had made
direct for the Palacio, where, in some way, he had contrived a secret
word with Don Benito; and that very day Don Benito with his one
minister, Lerdo, had set out toward the north.

Afterward the functionaries had questioned the messenger, but he knew
next to nothing. A senor chaparro had sent him, was all he said. It was
a ridiculous anti-climax. A senor chaparro, "El Chaparrito," "Shorty,"
such a one to be the omniscient guardian of the Republic! But for all
that "El Chaparrito" was to be heard of again and many times, and always
as an enigma to both sides alike, until the absurd word became freighted
on the lips of men with superstitious awe. There was an inscrutable,
long-fingered providence at work in the blood-strife of the nation. The
warning to Juarez at Chihuahua was its first manifestation.

Their quarry had escaped, but Driscoll was not sorry. More than once he
had felt a vague shame for the unsportsmanlike chase after one lone,
indomitable old man. Driscoll held a commission, which Michel Ney,
happily recovering, had procured for him from the marshal. But as the
American's healthy spirits, like cleansing by vigorous blood, swept the
gloom from his mind, he began to wonder at the craving for bustle and
forgetfulness which had made him snatch at such an offer. The corners of
his mouth twisted in whimsical self-scorn. He, one of your drooping,
unrequited lovers! "Shucks!" that is what he thought. And he persuaded
himself that it was all over. Quite, quite persuaded himself. But as a
matter of fact, he hoped that he might never have to see her again.

It was not until October of the same year that Driscoll saw actual
battle in his new service. With the Fifth Lancers under Colonel Mendez,
the best of the few native regiments in the field, he had been assisting
at a manner of pacification. That is, they marched from town to town,
and received allegiance. Guerrillas of course punished the towns later,
but Maximilian would not be induced to organize a native army, and
thirty thousand French could not garrison fifteen thousand leagues. They
could only promenade, through sand storms, through cacti. Then the
battle took place. It was the last vestige of Liberal resistance to the
Empire. A few hundred men near Uruapan in Michoacan flaunted their
de