he parlor, and
all who were there were free to discuss the situation. The morning sun
was looking in at the windows when all of the talk was finished. Ned had
learned that only the family and a few trusted servants remained in the
house, but he would have eaten his breakfast with even a more complete
sense of security from any emissaries of the military authorities if he
had known how much they had upon their hands that day, the 4th of
September, 1847. There had already been a sharp correspondence between
the commanders of the two armies, and now General Scott himself declared
the armistice at an end. All the angry patriotism of the Mexican people
arose to meet the emergency, and every possible preparation was rapidly
made for the last desperate struggle in defence of their capital. It was
as if the idea prevailed that, if this American force now here could be
defeated, the United States would give the matter up, instead of sending
more troops to the assistance of their first insufficient battalions.

"Senor Carfora," said Senorita Felicia, "you must not go out of the
house. I do not want you to be killed."

"That is so," added her father. "As the affair stands now, they would
surely regard you as a spy. You would be shot without a trial. All is
confusion. I fear that even General Zuroaga is safe from arrest only
among his own men. The army is the government. This nation needs a
change."

"General Tassara," said Ned, "isn't our army bringing one?"

"The war is promising a great deal," replied Tassara, gloomily. "It has
already delivered us from King Paredes and Santa Anna and from half a
dozen other military usurpers. Moreover, all the lands which the United
States propose to take away will be rescued from any future anarchy and
will be made some use of. They will be lost to Mexico forever within one
week from to-day, for we cannot hold the city."

General Zuroaga had quietly disappeared. Very soon, the Tassara family
went to their own room. Then not even the servants could tell what had
become of Senora Paez. Ned Crawford did not at all know what to do with
himself. He walked around the rooms below; then he went out to the
stables and back again, but he was all alone, for Pablo and the Oaxaca
men had gone to their regiment. He went up to the library and had a
one-sided talk with the man in armor, but it did not do him any good,
and he did not care a cent for all the books on the shelves. They could
tell only of ol