agreed upon was offered, the subject indignantly refused to receive it,
demanding five. I replied that he well understood our agreement: there
was his _peso_; if he cared to take it, good; if not, I would keep it;
but that to pay five _pesos_ was out of the question. He thereupon
grew angry and boisterously demanded the increased sum. Several of his
friends gathered and backed him in his demand. The noise they made
attracted a still greater crowd until at last we were surrounded by
forty or fifty angry Indians. The man continued to demand his five
_pesos_, the other crying, "Pay him five _pesos_." I was firm, declaring
that the man should receive no more than had been promised. Again the
_peso_ was offered, again to be rejected. At that moment some brilliant
genius cried, "If you do not pay five _pesos_ we will break your
moulds." And the cry was caught up by the angry crowd: "Yes, we will
break the moulds unless you pay five _pesos_." At this threat I told my
two companions to stand back out of the way, and then, speaking to him
who had suggested the breaking of the moulds, said, pointing to them,
"Yes, break the moulds." His ardor cooled. Turning to another, I said
to him, "Come, break the moulds." He began to back away. Turning to the
cause of the disturbance, who had joined in the cry about destroying the
moulds, I said to him, "Come, come, we are waiting for you to break the
moulds." No one made a move toward destroying our plaster-work, so I
said, "No, you know quite well you will not break the moulds; if you
did, you know what would happen; I should take you all as prisoners to
Toluca." At that moment, catching sight of the old _presidente_ who was
passing on the road, I clapped my hands and beckoned him. When the old
man came I laid the matter fairly before him, telling him the agreement
that had been made, the time taken for the work, and the fact I had
offered the man the _peso_ promised; that he now demanded five _pesos_,
refusing to take the proffered money. The old man looked a moment at me,
then at the angry indian; then at me, and again at the indian; then,
stepping up to him, he patted him on the back as a father might a
spoiled child, saying, "Come, come, son; don't be a fool; three good
days' wages for an hour's time; take your _peso_ and be gone." We had
feared the incident would cast a damper on our work and hinder other
subjects. Far from it. We were supplied as rapidly as our men could work
at the sa