Huge dogs lay basking upon the hot stones, growling at intervals as
someone galloped in through the great doorway. Their broad jaws and
tawny hides bespoke the Spanish bloodhound--the descendants of that race
with which Cortez had harried the conquered Aztecs.

The guerilleros were seated or standing in groups around the fires,
broiling jerked beef upon the points of their sabres. Some mended their
saddles, or were wiping out an old carbine or a clumsy escopette. Some
strutted around the yard, swinging their bright mangas, or trailing
after them the picturesque serape. Women in rebozos and coloured skirts
walked to and fro among the men.

The women carried jars filled with water. They knelt before smooth
stones, and kneaded tortillas. They stirred chile and chocolate in
earthen ollas. They cooked frijoles in flat pans; and amidst all these
occupations they joked and laughed and chatted with the men.

Several men--officers, from their style of dress--came out of the
portale, and, after delivering orders to the guerilleros on guard,
returned to the house.

Packages of what appeared to be merchandise lay in one corner of the
court. Around this were groups of arrieros, in their red leathern
garments, securing their charge for the night, and laying out their
_alparejas_ in long rows by the wall.

Over the opposite roofs--for our position was elevated--we could see the
bright fields and forest, and far beyond, the Cofre de Perote and the
undulating outlines of the Andes. Above all, the white-robed peak of
Orizava rose up against the heavens like a pyramid of spotless snow.

The sun had gone down behind the mountains, but his rays still rested
upon Orizava, bathing its cone with a yellow light, like a mantle of
burnished gold. Clouds of red and white and purple hung like a glory
upon his track, and, descending, rested upon the lower summits of the
Cordillera. The peak of the "Burning Star" alone appeared above the
clouds, towering in sublime and solitary grandeur.

There was a picturesque loveliness about the scene--an idea of
sublimity--that caused me for the moment to forget where I was or that I
was a captive. My dream was dispelled by the harsh voice of Jose, who
at that moment came up with a couple of peons, carrying a large earthen
dish that contained our supper.

This consisted of black beans, with half a dozen tortillas; but as we
were all half-famished we did not offer any criticism on the quali