t an American officer has business with him, and _must_ see him
immediately."

The man went off, after a little more persuasion from the free hand of
Wheatley, of course leaving the gates open behind him.

We did not wait for his return. The patio looked inviting; and,
directing Holingsworth to remain outside with the men, and the Texan
lieutenant to follow me, I headed my horse for the great archway, and
rode in.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

DON RAMON.

On entering the courtyard, a somewhat novel scene presented itself--a
Spanish picture, with some transatlantic touches. The _patio_ of a
Mexican house is its proper front. Here you no longer look upon
jail-like door and windows, but facades gaily frescoed, curtained
verandahs, and glazed sashes that reach to the ground. The patio of Don
Ramon's mansion was paved with brick. A fountain, with its tank of
japanned mason-work, stood in the centre; orange-trees stretched their
fronds over the water: their golden globes and white wax-like flowers
perfumed the atmosphere, which, cooled by the constant evaporation of
the _jet_, felt fresh and fragrant. Around three sides of the court
extended a verandah, its floor of painted tiles rising but a few inches
above the level of the pavement. A row of _portales_ supported the roof
of this verandah, and the whole corridor was railed in, and curtained.
The curtains were close-drawn, and except at one point--the entrance
between two of the portales--the corridor was completely screened from
our view, and consequently all the windows of the house, that opened
into the verandah. No human face greeted our searching glances. In
looking to the rear--into the great _corral_, or cattle-yard--we could
see numerous peons in their brown leathern dresses, with naked legs and
sandalled feet; vaqueros in all their grandeur of velveteens,
bell-buttons, and gold or silver lace; with a number of women and young
girls in coloured _naguas_ and rebosos. A busy scene was presented in
that quarter. It was the great cattle enclosure, for the estate of Don
Ramon de Vargas was a _hacienda de ganados_, or grand grazing-farm--a
title which in no way detracts from the presumed respectability of its
owner, many of the noble hidalgoes of Mexico being _graziers_ on a large
scale.

On entering the patio, I only glanced back at the corral; my eyes were
busy with the curtained verandah, and, failing there were carried up to
the azotea, in hopes of discoverin