ay. I went almost everywhere,
and it seems as if the city were full of wounded men. The soldiers are
crowding in. Oh, how I wish I knew how things are going!"

There was a sound of sobbing behind them, and in a moment more the arms
of Senora Paez were around Felicia.

"My darling! My dear little girl!" she exclaimed. "Senor Carfora, too!
The end has come. The Americans have stormed Chapultepec, and the city
is at their mercy. Alas, for me! General Bravo was taken prisoner, and
my beloved old friend, Zuroaga, was killed at the head of his regiment.
We shall never see him again!"

Ned felt as if somebody had struck him a heavy blow. He could not say a
word for a moment, and then he whispered:

"Poor General Zuroaga! Why, I had no idea that he would be killed!"

That is always so after a battle. Those who read the lists of the killed
and wounded expect to find the names of other people's friends there,
and not the names of those from whom they were hoping to hear an account
of the victory.

"Felicia," said the senora, "your father and mother are in their room.
Do not go there just now. You must not go out again, Senor Carfora. You
have been running too many risks. Talk with me for awhile."

Whether or not he had been in any danger, it had been impossible for Ned
to remain in the house during an entire week of military thunder storm,
and he had ventured out almost recklessly. There had, indeed, been so
much confusion that little attention had generally been paid to him, and
he had even gone out through the gates to use his telescope upon the
distant clouds of smoke and the movements of marching men. He had seen,
therefore, the steady, irresistible advances of the American troops, and
he had almost understood that to General Scott the capture of the city
was merely a matter of mathematical calculation, like an example in
arithmetic.

He went into the parlor with Senora Paez and Felicia, and there they
sat, almost in silence, until long after their usual bedtime, but the
sound of guns had ceased, for the siege of Mexico was ended.

It was during that night that General Santa Anna, with nearly all that
was left of his army, marched silently out of the city, and the last
remnants of his political power passed from him as the American troops
began to march in, the next morning. Of all the negotiations between the
remaining Mexican authorities and General Scott, Ned Crawford knew
nothing, but there was disorder everywhe