was a reason for the
arrival of the trusted commander of the important fortress on the sea.
Ned was very near him when the horse fell, and his rider sprang to the
earth, covered with dust and evidently in great excitement. The officers
at the gate rushed forward toward him, and one of them loudly demanded:

"Colonel Guerra! What is it? Has he come? All is ready here!"

Guerra himself had not fallen with his horse. Off came his hat and his
sword flashed from the sheath, while his voice rang out clearly,
fiercely:

"Viva Santa Anna! The entire force at Vera Cruz and the garrison of San
Juan de Ulua have pronounced for him. He is now on his way home from
Havana. We shall soon have with us the one hero who can save us from the
American invaders and from the tyranny of King Paredes!"

Possibly, this had been the day calculated upon for the arrival of
precisely such tidings. It might even have been that all these officers
and soldiers were gathered there, prepared both to hear and to act,
while President Paredes should be temporarily absent from the city. At
all events, they were swinging their hats, drawing their swords, and
their enthusiastic acclamations for the returning general were at once
followed by a rush back into the citadel and a hasty closing of its
gates. When that was done, and when the rest of the garrison had joined
in "pronouncing" for Santa Anna, the military control of the Mexican
capital had passed out of the hands of President Paredes.

It was startling news, therefore, which was brought out to him by a
friendly messenger, as he rode so proudly on in front of his shouting
soldiery, believing that they were all his own and ready to do his
bidding. The grand review ended instantaneously, and he came galloping
back in all haste to look out for his tumbling crown. He came with his
brilliant staff and a mixed crowd of friends and unfriends, only to
discover that crown and throne and scepter had disappeared like the
changing figures in a kaleidoscope. He could not even order anybody to
be arrested and shot, for the Vice-President, General Bravo, and all the
members of the national Congress, then in session, were thoughtfully
saying to themselves, if not to each other:

"Santa Anna is coming! The seacoast forces are already his. He will be
right here in a few days. We must be careful what we say or do just now.
We do not even know what these new troops will say to this thing."

They were not to remain lo