le party. At first he would not speak, but finally his
pride and anger gave way, and he shook hands with his cousin, and the
whole party left, after promising the _jefe_ that the past should be
forgotten.

The first afternoon that we were working, a curious couple came to the
_jefe's_ office. The woman was not unattractive, though rather bold
and hard in bearing. She was dark, pretentiously made-up, and rather
elegantly dressed. The gentleman was a quiet, handsome fellow, dressed
in sober black. When they sailed in, I supposed they were the _jefe's_
personal friends. Sitting down, they showed interest in my work, and the
lady in a rather strident voice, but with much composure, addressed
us in English. Her knowledge of our language, however, proved to be
extremely limited, being confined to such expressions as "How are you,
sir?" "I am very well," "Yes, sir," "No, sir," and "I know New York."
She was a mystery to the town, where she was commonly called "the
Turkish lady."

[Illustration: ZOQUE WOMEN; TUXTLA GUTIERREZ]

[Illustration: THE INDIAN ALCALDES; TUXTLA GUTIERREZ]

This nickname, her limited knowledge of English, and her boasted
acquaintance with New York, aroused the question, in my mind, whether
she might not have been an oriental dancer. She, herself, told us that
she was born in South America, and referred to Caracas, as if it were a
place with which she was familiar. The _jefe_ was extremely polite in
his dealings with these people, and, as soon as they were seated, rang
his bell for glasses, and we all drank the lady's health in cognac. The
fact was, that these two persons were prisoners; they had come here
within a few days, and had the city for a prison; as they had made no
effort to leave the town, their movements were not interfered with, but
if they had attempted to step outside the city limits, they would have
been shot without a word of warning. The _jefe_ himself did not know who
they were, nor what crime they had committed; nor did he know how long
they would remain in his custody; they had come a weary journey, as he
put it, "along the Cordillera;" they had been passed from hand to hand,
from one _jefe_ to another; when the order came, he was to start them on
their journey to the _jefe_ of the next district. Of the many stories
told regarding them, a few will serve as samples. She was said to be the
wife of a wealthy merchant of Campeche, from whom she had eloped with
her companion, carrying