onfidential despatch-bearer of the
commander-in-chief of all the armies of Mexico. He was not now to get
entirely away without difficulty, however, for the whole building had
been full of men who were eager for all the news he could give them, and
they had followed him. They seized upon him as if he had been the last
edition of an evening newspaper, containing the reports of all the past
and with, probably, the news for to-morrow morning also somewhere inside
of him. He did not get away from them for some time, and when he did so,
at last, he was sure of being recognized by a considerable number of
patriotic Mexicans, if they ever should meet him again. That might make
him safer, although he was no longer in any immediate danger. Moreover,
although he was not in uniform, the cut and quality of his clothing
informed every person he met that he belonged to the higher orders,
while the machete at his side and the pistols in his belt appeared to
indicate that he was in some way connected with the army.

"I know what I want to do next," he was thinking. "My pony and my
satchel are at the headquarters stables. I can get them whenever I want
them. I must go to the Tassara place. I can find it. Then I must manage
to put them there, so that I won't have to show myself at the
headquarters unless I'm sent for."

He had no difficulty in finding the Tassara homestead, and there was no
observer anywhere near him when he stood in front of the dwelling which
had been his first hospitable refuge in Mexico. It had now, of course, a
lonely and shut-up look, and there was no getting in at the front door,
for much knocking failed to bring a door-keeper. Giving that up,
therefore, he made his way around to the rear, through the unoccupied
stables.

"There is hay enough here for my pony," he remarked, "but I had half
expected that the house would be turned into quarters for troops."

He may have overlooked the fact that the Tassaras were friends of
General Morales, and that their house was under his protection. If it
were supposed to be so, nevertheless, he had cause to forget it again
when he came to the back door, for it stood wide open, with an
appearance of having been unlocked with a hammer.

"Hullo!" he exclaimed. "I wonder if there is anybody in there now?"

The thought somehow made him draw his machete, and he went on into the
house as if he were looking for a fight. The dining-room was entered
first, and it was utterly empty. N