An Emperor's Doom; or, The Patriots of Mexico

Front matter

AN EMPEROR'S DOOM 3Bs tbe same author. SOLD/ERS OF THE LEGION. Price 3s. 6d. AN EMPEROR'S DOOM. Price 5s. C LEV ELY SAHIB. Price 5s. UNDER THE LONE STAR. Price 6s. T. Nelson and Sons, London, hdinburgh, and New York. pursuers, had ha 'ted. .Mark and ! fulled ., An Emi>erors Doom or The Patriots of Mexico By HERBERT HAVENS Author of " Under the Lone Star," "Clevely Sahib," &c. arc. T. NELSON AND SONS London, Edinburgh, and New York CONTENTS. I. the call to arms, .... .... .... .... 9 II. the rescue, .... .... .... .... 26 III. the great physician, .... .... .... 44 iv. the Indian's stratagem, .... .... .... 61 v. replenishing the ammunition, .... .... 78 VI. A desperate undertaking, .... .... .... 95 VII. KIDNAPPING AN EMPEROR, .... .... .... 112 VIII. THE HACIENDA SANTA CLARA, .... .... .... 130 IX.

MAXIMILIAN AT HOME, .... .... .... 147 X. A SURPRISE VISIT, .... .... .... .... 162 XI. CONDEMNED TO DEATH, .... .... .... 179 XII. A NIGHT ATTACK, .... .... .... .... 195 XIII. INTERCEPTED DISPATCHES, .... .... .... 211 XIV. COVERING THE RETREAT, .... .... .... 229 XV. CARABAJAL THE ONE-ARMED, .... .... .... 245 XVI. THE RESCUE OF ANTONIO, .... .... .... 262 XVII. TWO AGAINST THIRTY, .... .... .... 278 XVIII. A TRAITOR FROM FIRST TO LAST, .... .... CONTENTS. 6 XIX. THE DIE IS CAST, .. . .... .... .... 310 XX. NICOLAS VALENTIN BRINGS NEWS, .... .... 325 XXI. LA PUEBLA, OR DEATH ! .... .... .... 342 XXII. TIIE FIGHT WITH MARQUEZ, .... .... .... 359 XXIII. THE CAPTURE OF QUERETARO, .... .... .... 375 XXIV. FOUND GUILTY, .... .... .... .... 391 XXV. THE TRAGEDY AT QUERETARO, .... .... .... 406 XXVI.

VIVA LA INDEPEXDENCIA ! .... .... .... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. "OUR PURSUERS HAD HALTED. ...MARK AND I PULLED UP TOO, .... .... .... .... Frontispiece " THROUGH THE HAZE OF THE EARLY MORNING WE PERCEIVED MIGUEL STEALING DOWN THE NARROW PATH," .... 35 "FRIENDS!" .... .... ... .... .... 51 '"KEEP A BRAVE HEART, FRANCISCO,'" .... .... 171 " ' ADIOS, SENORS.... PASCUAL SALAMO KNOWS HOW TO DIE,'" .... .... .... .... .... 309 "I HELPED HIM TO CLIMB INTO THE SADDLE," .... .... AN EMPEROR'S DOOM.

Chapter I. The Call To Arms

IT was the night of October 5, 1865, and I sat in a small room of my father's hacienda, a few miles distant from the city of Mexico. Outside a fierce storm raged, and the fury of the elements accorded well with my restless and unquiet spirit. I pulled out my watch for the twentieth time within the hour, and finally rose with an exclamation of im patience. As I crossed the apartment, the door was opened, and a man entered. " Have they come, Mark ? " I questioned eagerly — " has any one come ? " " Softly, Master Frank ! fair and softly ! Give your friends time. As far as my figuring goes, they can't get here for an hour yet. Put down another hour for a general palaver, two for our journey, and that brings it up to midnight, which will suit us capitally." " How many of the men can be trusted ?

" Mark laughed contemptuously. " Half a dozen. The rest would run if you showed them an empty musket. They've got about as much pluck as a squeezed orange has juice. " Never mind the others if we can count on six. That will make eight with ourselves, and those from the city will bring our numbers up to twenty — as many as will be wanted." " Fix it at a dozen — it's easier to reckon," Mark said, and his tone made it plain that he placed but small faith in the coming of my friends. Perhaps my face showed him that I understood, for he went on, — " I don't want to hurt your feelings, nor to say a word against these Mexican lads, but, mind you, it's a big thing we're asking them to do. After to-night's work, every one of them will be an outlaw till Maximilian is turned out of the country ; and that event doesn't seem likely to take place yet for a while."

" But they are bound by a solemn promise," I urged. " In striking at one the emperor has struck at all." Mark gave me another good-humoured smile, and said, " I don't think much of their oath, and that's a fact, but we shall see young Carbonnel will come ; his Irish blood won't let him keep away when there's a chance of getting his head broken. We can reckon on the Spaniard, Antonio, if he has any notion of honour ; and there's the little Indian, Miguel, to my thinking the trustiest of the lot." " You have left out Pascual Salamo." Mark shrugged his shoulders. " He'll leave himself out, fast enough. He's too glib with his tongue to be of any use," from which observation it will be seen that Mark had little love for talkers. 1 opened the tiny shutter in the window and peered out, but the gloom was so dense that I could not see even into the courtyard.

My comrade, seeking to lighten my anxiety, said, " The darkness will serve one good turn at least — it will prevent us from seeing what a motley crew we make. If the thing wasn't so serious, I should feel inclined to lauo-h. English o o * Irish, Spanish, Indian, to say nothing of the different mixtures ! The nations will be well represented." " Listen ! " I interrupted ; " some one is coming along the corridor. Who is in charge of the gate ? " o o " Juan. He understands his instructions, and can be trusted. Here is our little Indian, I'll wager." He opened the door, and fell back a pace in surprise — the first-comer was Don Pascual Salamo, who entered smilingly. " By my faith, Francisco," he cried, after bowing cere moniously to Mark, " you have chosen a splendid night for your tryst. Am I the first arrival ?

There are grand doings at Chapultepec this evening, and more than one pair of bright eyes will watch for my coming ; but a Salamo always places duty before pleasure. Still the temptation to stay wras great, especially as the emperor begins to doubt my loyalty." "By this time to-morrow," said Mark bluntly, "his doubts will be gone." o Don Pascual regarded first Mark and then myself curiously, but remained silent, which, under the circumstances, I thought rather odd. One of the servants had taken his cloak and cap — for, though a Creole, he rather affected the European style of dress — and now closing the door, Pascual walked over to the braziero, where a bright fire burned. He was a handsome young fellow, with sparkling eyes, clear skin, well-cut profile, and a pleasant smile which was as much a part of him as any other of his features.

His figure was slight — too slight for violent muscular effort ; but what was lacking in strength he made up for in dexterity, and his skill as a swordsman was well known to the Mexican youths, over whom he wielded a certain amount of influence. " Maximilian grows stronger in the city," he said, after a while ; " the old families are beginning to accept the new order of things. They argue that a foreign prince is better than an Indian president. And the emperor's liberality is telling with the middle classes." " It's easy enough to be free with other people's money," said Mark. " Taking a dollar with one hand and giving back a real with the other is a generosity most of us could practise. 'Tis an old dodge to steal a hog and give away the feet in alms." " Why does the bull-dog growl ? " Salamo good-naturedly asked in passable English.

" Because he is getting ready to bite." " Ah ! that is a mistake, my friend," said the Creole softly7 ; " take my advice, and bite first. If you spend your time in growling, you may never have a chance of doing more. — But, mj7 Francisco, it is as I say — the emperor and his charming consort are establishing themselves. The dream of Mexican independence grows dim. Juarez, with his cabinet which makes laws which no one heeds, is at Paso del Norte, eleven hundred miles away, and will soon be driven into the United States. The national forces are everywhere broken up. Arteaga's army will be crushed in a few days by Mendez. Porfirio Diaz is a fugitive. Meanwhile, down in the city, the emperor's friends feast and dance, and bask in the smiles of a royal court." " Yes," I replied hotly, " and everywhere else people whose sole crime is that they love their country are robbed and beaten and shot."

" That is true, caro mio ; the shield is rarely alike on both sides. But what would you ? My sword is ever at my country's service, even under the direction of an Indian lawyer in a black coat." " Black coat or red," put in Mark dryly, " Benito Jaurez is the honestest man in the country." Pascual spread out his hands in mock astonishment. " Honesty is a grand virtue, and I salute it," he said. " Yet a man may be honest, and not know the stock of a musket from the barrel. Honesty does not win battles nor take towns, and it will not oust the Emperor Maximilian from the Mexican throne." " So much the worse for Mexico," returned Mark. A knock at the door now announced a new arrival, who proved to be Miguel, the little Indian of whom Mark had spoken so highly. He bowed gravely to my comrades, and, turning to me, said, " I have come in answer to your call, sefior, and have brought my sword with me."

" You and it are heartily welcome," I replied ; and with another bow he crossed the room and took a seat beneath the window. Mark called him little, but that term applied only to his stature. He was below the average height ; but his limbs were massive, and he possessed enormous strength. He was a pure-blooded Zapotec, one of that hardy mountain race whose origin, far anterior to that of the better-known Aztecs, is lost in the mist of ages. For hundreds of years the Zapotecs had peopled Oaxaca, the wildest and most picturesque state in all Mexico. Tribe after tribe had swarmed down upon the broad plain of Anahuac ; had lived and died, or been swallowed up by their conquerors. The Chichimecs had come and disappeared, leaving only the faintest trace behind. Solemn and majestic in their awful grandeur, Popo catepetl and Iztaccihuatl, the silent sentinels of the fair vale, had looked down upon the coming of the powerful Aztec nation, had watched the uprearing of cities, the battles, the feasts, the terrible human sacrifices of a mighty people.

Many a time, standing in the sunset glow of evening, gazing up at Iztaccihuatl — The White Woman, or La Muer Blanca, my fellow-countrymen call her — as she lay wrapped in her garments of snow, with arms folded lightly across her breast, I have pondered over the wonderful events that she has witnessed. I pictured Montezuma seated in his royal hall, surrounded by the dark-skinned captains of his conquering hosts, and the white-robed priests, lustful for the blood of their victims. Then across the plain there came that steel-clad band from a far-distant country, freebooters and filibusters, eager for gold and conquest, and having for emblem the sign of one whose grandest title is the Prince of Peace. And I thought how7, while the Woman in White lay there, with the tint of the orange clouds on her dainty robes, or wrapped in the darkness of night, the Aztec nation reeled dizzily beneath the blows of the doughty warriors of the Cross, and at last sank tremblingly7 into the arms of the conquerors.

But the years came and went, the Aztecs passed into slavery, the Spaniards were masters of vast territories, but still in their mountain homes the Zapotecs remained free and unfettered. On this particular evening the presence of Miguel reminded me that, even now, when Maximilian, an Austrian prince supported by French bayonets, strove to place Aztec and Spaniard alike under a fresh yoke, none showed greater bravery in resistance than the descendants of this ancient people. TILE CALL TO ARMS. 16 And I, who, though having an English father, am yet a Mexican subject, do fearlessly declare that no man, of what ever race or colour, could have been a truer or more loyal comrade in the evil days which were to come upon me than Miguel, the Zapotec Indian. And in this I make exception not even of Mark, whose love for me was that of an elder brother.

But to return to the story. The third person who answered my summons was Fernando Carbonnel, and he was speedily followed by several others— Spaniards, Creoles, and Indians — until we numbered over a dozen. My expectations were more than realized. With one exception, all those upon whom I relied had come. I looked at my watch ; there still wanted fifteen minutes to nine o'clock. " Senors," I said, " it is important that Don Antonio should be present. With your permission we will wait until the hour." " Your pleasure is ours," returned Miguel, and the others murmured approval. Almost at the last moment Don Antonio Lezama entered, and after greeting me in the most affectionate manner, bowed to the rest, and took possession of the seat which had been reserved for him. Don Pascual looked across at me smilingly, and said, " Now7, Francisco, we are ready to hear why you have called us together."

Standing up, I rapidly recapitulated the events of the last two years. I pointed out how the French army had unjustifiably invaded our country ; how Benito Juarez, our wm lawful ruler, had been chased from the capital ; and how, finally, at the bidding of the French monarch, an Austrian prince, Maximilian of Hapsburg, had been crowned Emperor of Mexico against the wishes of the vast majority of the nation. " You will all remember our last meeting," I went on, " and the oath which was taken by every one now in this room ! " A chorus of affirmatives greeted this remark. " My friends," I cried, " the time which we looked for ward to has arrived. Maximilian, who styles himself Emperor of Mexico, has, through his French soldiers, struck a blow, not at one, but at two of our number, and it is for us to say if our former words were idle vapourings."

" We of Salamo are in the habit of backing our speech, whether it be jest or earnest, with the sword," said Don Pascual ; " and I doubt not that these caballeros are of one mind with me." " We waste words ! " cried Miguel shortly, from the window ; " go on, Don Francisco." " By the terms of our bond, what I have to say concerns us all, but more particularly Don Antonio and myself. Last night our friend's father, wounded, weary, and pursued by French soldiers, sought shelter at this house. We bound up his wounds, we gave him food and drink, and ere now he is beyond the reach of his foes." Antonio cast me a grateful look ; there was a low hum of satisfaction, but no one spoke ; all waited eagerly for the next words. (931) I looked round on the circle of upturned faces, and saw that my comrades had intuitively divined the truth.

" Yes," I said slowly, " it is even so. Early this morn ing, as my father returned from escorting Don Jose by an unfrequented route, he -was seized by French troops and carried away. He is to be shot at sunrise for harbouring a traitor to Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico." The silence which followed this announcement was broken by Antonio. " Francisco," he said calmly, " your father shall not die. I will offer my life and my father's life also in exchange for his." " It seems to me, mi amigo, that you have made a mistake," said Don Pascual. " To-night the emperor gives a brilliant ball. I am an invited guest. I could have gained his ear. Even now there is time. I will ride back to the city. I have powerful friends, who will secure your father's pardon." Then Miguel the Indian stood up. " Pardon !

" he ex claimed scornfully7. " Surely that is a strange word to fall from the lips of a Mexican ! Who is Maximilian that he should grant favours to one of us ? Are we the subjects of this Austrian prince whose throne is propped up by French bayonets ? The only person wielding authority in this country7 is Benito Juarez, the president by law estab lished." " That is true," interposed Antonio gravely. " My sympathies are not altogether with Juarez, but he is the choice of the Mexican people. He represents the law, and the law must be obeyed." " This may be very interesting," said Mark, " but I don't see that it brings us much nearer the point. My notion is to save Don Francisco's father first, and talk afterwards." " That's common sense," cried Carbonnel ; " there will be plenty of time for explanation when the fight's over."

" But, one moment, my friends," I exclaimed. " Consider well what we are about to clo. Whether we succeed or fail in our enterprise, in one respect the result to us will be the same. Henceforth we shall carry our lives in our hands ; a price will be set on our heads ; every foreigner in our unhappy land will have the right to shoot us like dogs." " They have that right now," said Miguel. " Have you not heard of the Austrian's decree ? According to his proclamation, issued two day7s ago, every National bearing arms, or found giving assistance to any of the Patriot party, is to be shot within twenty7-four hours. I, for one, have formed my resolution. From this night, single handed, or with any who choose to bear me company, my sword is unsheathed against the invaders of my country. For good or for ill, my mind is made up ; and my7 first blow shall be struck on behalf of the gallant gentleman whose generosity has brought him into the clutches of our oppressors.

We have remained quiet too long. We have submitted to insult and injury ; we have seen our friends robbed, imprisoned, killed, our country devastated. Let us shake off our apathy, and gain back the independence of our land. Viva la Independencia ! " The cry was taken up with enthusiasm, and instantly the room echoed to the shouts of " Viva la Independencia !" " Have you any idea where your father is ? " Carbonnel asked, when the noise began to subside ; " because the night is drawing on, and, with our scanty numbers, we can't do much in the daylight." " Yes, I can guide our party straight to the spot ; the journey will hardly take two hours." " That's right, my boy. Cheer up ! we'll get him out right enough. Those fellows are full of fight. That little Indian's worth a score of Frenchmen."

Meanwhile Antonio and Pascual had been engaged in earnest conversation, and now the former came over to me. " I have been trying to induce our friend to go back to the city," he said, " so that, in case we fail, he may use his influence there." " Does he object ? " " He thinks it would be a stain on his honour, and appear as though he wished to avoid the fight." " Nonsense ! every one is aware of his bravery. Besides, a trusty ally in the city would be of the greatest benefit. I think your suggestion is a most happy one. I will speak with him." At first it seemed as if my arguments must prove futile. Pascual agreed that the proposed arrangement was most sensible, but insisted that some other of the band should stay behind. " We of Salamo," he said, toying idly with his sword, " are unaccustomed to help our cause by remaining indoors.

We go abroad to meet our enemies ; we do not wait for them to come to us." Perhaps it was owing to the difficulty of persuading him, but the more Pascual hung back, the more vividly I realized the advantages of Antonio's plan. My comrades, carried away by the excitement of enthusiasm, scarcely looked be yond the immediate future ; but I foresaw many a danger and difficulty which must inevitably result from our des perate enterprise. And who amongst our little band was so fitted to further the cause in the capital as Don Pascual Salamo ? Young, handsome, accomplished, a skilful linguist, an adroit courtier, having strong friends amongst all parties, he was just the man to help us in a hundred different way7s. This Pascual cheerfully acknowledged to be true ; but his sense of honour was so keen, that the thought of leaving ' o o us to undertake the expedition without his help hurt him grievously.

" People will not stop to measure motives," he said. " In the days to come, when the Mexican flag waves trium phantly from north to south, from ocean to ocean, when you and your brave comrades return to the capital amidst the vivas of Mexico's grateful citizens, where will my place be ? Men will say that Pascual Salamo, too cowardly to strike a blow himself, is ready enough to enjoy the blessings which have been purchased by the sacrifices of others." Now I, being at that time very young, thought myself exceedingly clever — a feeling wrhich I have discovered to be not uncommon to youth — and by a dexterous argument succeeded in overcoming my comrade's scruples. I put it in this way. " It is quite true," I said, " that we are going to face a certain danger ; but its nature is known, and there are ten chances to one that we shall escape it.

But in your case it is far different. The clanger is magni fied a hundredfold ; and if you are found out, there is hardly a possibility of getting away. The lads who go with me will fight bravely enough, but which of them — unless it be Don Antonio, and he is out of the question — has the ability or even the nerve to do what we ask you ? " At this his face brightened considerably. " If I thought that," he said musingly. " Nothing could be plainer," I replied eagerly. " Every member of the band will admit that your post is the most dangerous of all." " Then it shall be as you and Antonio wish. For the good of the cause, I place myself in your hands." As may be imagined, Don Antonio was gratified at my successful pleading, and the rest of our comrades crowded round the Creole, giving him many private commissions, which he promised faithfully to execute.

I noticed, however, that Miguel held himself aloof, while Mark, who had been seeing to the horses and ammunition, laughed unaffectedly at my story of Don Pascual's reluctant consent to stay behind. " Master Frank," said he, " you are what our Yankee friends call ' right smart.' That last argument was a regular clincher. You ought to be a lawyer." Now these words of Mark's were fair enough and fairly spoken, yet I hardly believed that they were intended as a compliment. How7ever, as many things remained to be done in a short time, the speech slipped from my memory and was forgotten in the bustle of preparation. When Pascual had made an end of taking down his instructions, I led my guests to the large dining-room, where I had ordered a substantial meal to be served. A casual remark uttered by the Creole showed me more clearly than I had as yet perceived the real nature of what I was about to do.

" Maximilian will believe in your patriotism, my Fran cisco," he said. " One does not abandon a goodly property like this for a whim." " You forget that Don Francisco bids adieu, not farewell, to his inheritance," replied Miguel. " When he returns, it will be to keep what his sword has guarded," and his ■words were received with a thunder of cheers. Yet, in spite of Miguel's confident assertion, the situation was a most melancholy one. We might save my father's life, but all else would be lost. Maximilian would con fiscate his estates, give them probably to some smooth voiced hanger-on of the court, while we, beggared of all, wandered as outcasts over the country where once we held such fair possessions. But the sacrifice was demanded by honour and patriotism alike, and who, while a drop of generous blood throbbed in his veins, would shrink from making it ?

My father had put his hand to the plough ; was it for me, by idly loitering behind, to tacitly reproach him for his chivalrous devotion ? This reverie was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Don Antonio, who, standing at the head of the table, said, " Comrades, before setting out, I want you to drink with me to the speedy rescue of Don Felipe Vincent, as true hearted a caballero as any in Mexico." When the noise of the cheering subsided, I expressed my thanks in a few words for their good-will ; and after ex plaining my plan, suggested that they should at once get their horses and assemble in the courtyard. I had during the day given certain instructions to my father's major-domo, a capable and trustworthy man, wdio would, I knew, further our interests to the best of his abilities. When the room was cleared, he came to bid me farewell, and to say that all my orders had been faithfully carried out.

" Pablo has gone to the cave in charge of the provisions," he said ; " and here are the keys of the vaulted chamber. The French bandits will be disappointed in their hopes of getting a rich booty." " Are you still willing to stay ? " I asked. " You may be roughly used." " I can do little enough for the cause save die, and that I am ready to do," he answered bravely. That the French would be sufficiently cruel to put him to death I did not think likely, and having told him so, I hastened to the courtyard, where my comrades waited. " A speedy ride and a swift return, caballeros," cried Don Pascual, raising his cap as the gate was thrown open. " For your sake, my Francisco, I hope that the Austrian will soon go back to his castle of Miramar." " Adios, Don Pascual ! adios ! " came from the group of horsemen ; and the Creole, passing through the gateway, turned in the direction of the capital.

Then addressing a few final words to the brave lads around me, I placed myself by Antonio's side, and thus, in the gloom and darkness of night, rode out, perhaps for the last time, from the house of my birth.

Chapter II. The Rescue

MY anxiety on my father's account was greatly increased by7 the knowledge of the Emperor Maximilian's proclamation. Desolate hearths and ruined homes, prisons filled with hopeless captives, lifeless bodies lying by the roadside, the smoke from burning villages, — all these and other horrors o o ' attested the cruelty of the French invaders. But hitherto their outrages had been committed with some outward semblance of order. Only those Mexicans who, banded together under various leaders, still endea voured to make headway against the enemies of their country had been subjected to these atrocities. Hundreds, nay, thousands of gallant men throughout the length and breadth of Mexico had lost their lives for the crime of patriotism — a crime whieh my readings in history had always taught me was a virtue of the highest order.

Be that, however, as it may, they had been killed according to the laws of warfare ; they had striven man fully to assert their independence, and their lives had paid the penalty of their ill-success. But this monstrous decree, if properly carried out, would convert the whole of Mexico into one vast shambles. Every wife who tried to shield her husband from the foe, every mother who gave her patriot son the means where with to satisfy his hunger, every good Samaritan who did what he could to alleviate the misery of those around him, nay, every person possessing the ordinary instincts of humanity, was in danger of meeting a violent and shameful death. Maximilian knew, Bazaine the French general knew, that outside a little group in the capital, the Mexican people, whether friends or foes of Benito Juarez, were heart and soul opposed to foreign rule ; and this law was intended to strike terror into their breasts.

Later on, perhaps, it would be dropped, but at the outset it was likely to be rigidly enforced ; and the thought that my father might prove the first victim filled my mind with an intolerable agony. Antonio, to whom I communicated these fears, did his best to comfort me, and I must say that his reasoning went far towards raising my spirits. " You tell me a servant brought word of Don Felipe's capture, and that he was to be shot at sunrise," he said. " Yes ; outside the gates of the hacienda San Juan." " Precisely ! That is just what I expected. Long before now7 the information has been carried round to all the villages in the neighbourhood. The French will make the execution as public as possible, and whip the Indians up in droves to witness the spectacle. Tt will form a splendid advertisement for the new law."