up to a miserable leper, whose face had been painfully
stereotyped into a broad grin, he poked him sharply in the ribs, and
roared out, "Ye lie, ye baste! I was sick in the hospital, and the
Gineral tuk me aff in his own carridge." Here, Pat, I'm your man! "Ah'
is it there ye are, Liftinint? you're a pacock ov a boy! will ye give us
a rial?" No! but if you chance to be caught by the Yankees, you'll get a
rial's worth of "hearty-chokes and caper-sauce," I replied, going
through a little pantomime with heels and neck, for his especial
benefit. "No, be jasus! thim Harney blaggards will niver choke me while
the Dons is so ginerous." This was the last I saw or heard from Pat.

We rolled rapidly along all day, in great trepidation concerning
robbers, since the same diligence had been plundered for the eight
successive days previous. There were four inside, besides my boy and
myself. Early in the morning, a small, fierce-looking Yucatanese was
savagely bent upon slaying whoever should cross our path, and, by the
way, this Don Pancho was a perfect specimen of an ambulating
armory--having no less than two brace of holster pistols, a revolver,
sword, _cuchillo_, and his coat pockets filled with enough ammunition to
have resisted a siege. The two last and critical posts were at hand, and
together we mounted the box, with weapons in readiness. Whilst changing
horses for the last time, the stout _cochero_--and a very expert whip he
was--evinced some curiosity to know whether we intended shooting _los
compadres_--this is polite slang for highwaymen--in case of attack.
Being satisfied on that point, he declared he would not draw a rein
until we again got inside. The warlike Yucatanese seconded him,
protesting, in his cowardice, that he was solely actuated by fears of
compromising the good driver; he accordingly entered the vehicle,
hinting that his plan would be, on the first onslaught, to ensconce
himself under the body of the coach, and rapidly discharge a broadside
at the enemy--a mode of tactics I by no means subscribed to. It
convinced me, however, that there was collusion between robbers and
_cochero_, to make the most out of their prey, and I unequivocally
assured the stout driver, that if he did not lash the beasts upon the
first signs of danger, he should go halves with his _compadres_ from the
contents of my pistols; moreover, I still persisted in retaining a
position on top, in which I was ably seconded by a delicate young F