rrilla chief in all Mexico.

I was gratified for my exertions, and passed twice beside him; he was
striking in expression, perhaps thirty years old, with fine fierce dark
eyes, and little beard: he was about the middle height, dressed in a
round jacket and cloak, with a short straight sword on his hip. He
appeared absorbed with great events, regarding the sky and other
celestial bodies, never deigning to honor me with a glance.

One of my countrymen dined with me, and we had an excellent repast, but
it was most unseasonably interrupted by the entrance of the host, who
after a short consultation with my friend, informed me that the good
Padre Jarauta had learned the arrival of an American officer, and had
expressed a determination to make an _ejemplo_ of him in the square! I
reposed full faith in his pious regard, and did not doubt for an instant
that he would be at all loth in executing his virtuous designs--and as
for my passport and papers, they might possibly have given additional
zest to his holy orders, and been considered just long enough to cock
half a dozen carbines, and--_fuego!_ However, there was no time to
deliberate, and but one course to avoid the dilemma--_Gracios a
Dios_--the horses were fortunately in the Corral of the meson, and in a
very few seconds the guide had clasped on my spurs, and I jumped into
the saddle. With warmest thanks to my friends, and a trifle, more solid,
to the true Biscayno for his good offices, in the darkness, the animals
were led down a stone flight of steps, through some outbuildings, where,
gaining a back street, we made the dust whirl in clouds around us, as we
gave lash and steel to the beasts.

At early dawn we halted at a place called Encarnacion for change of
horses, and losing no time, mounted and struck a bypath to shorten the
distance. At sunrise we observed a group of travellers ahead, and pushed
on to overtake them. Perceiving, however, a wish to avoid us, and
warlike demonstrations begun by two individuals unslinging carbines in
the rear, I sent the guide in advance to relieve their anxiety; they
proved to be the family of the commandant of Lagos, flying bag and
baggage to a more safe retreat; there were two ladies in the party, and
we remained in company for some miles: they had lost a valise in their
flight, and, on parting, I was under the belief that they regarded me as
the lucky finder thereof.

Further on we passed a remarkable elevation called _La Mesa_, a