The Argosy, August 1905 — page 48: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“Tt may be possible that your excel- lency is mistaken. It may be possible that this spy had companions who came with him to Chaleo. Would they not attempt to rescue their countryman, your excellency ?” A silence followed this startling sug- gestion. An expression of rage and fear overspread the face of the dictator of Mexico. It seemed as though he preferred to think there were traitors in his own army rather than that certain daring Americans had penetrated his lines and were at large in Chaleo. With a power- ful effort he calmed himself. “That we will diseover. I place the matter in your hands, Senor Mazatlan. Despatch couriers to every outpost with- in ten miles of the town. Search every house and cellar in Chalco.” The famous guerrilla leader straight- ened himself and began to hook up his saber. Santa Anna turned to the wait ing orderly. * And the guard who permitted the liberation of the prisoner—where is he?” he asked in a hard voice. “In the care of the surgeons. His head was nearly broken when he opened the door of the chamber to allow the priest to depart,” answered the Mexican. * But he is conscious? ” *“ Yes, your excellency.” “Then,” said Santa Anna in a cold voice, “do not eountermand the orders to the firing squad which is to be at the public plaza at sunrise.” He crossed over to the table, sat down, and wrote an order hurriedly. “Take this and give it to the officer who was to have seen to the execution of the spy in the morning,” said he, handing the paper to the orderly. “The guard who allowed the prisoner to be taken from his cell shall be executed in that prisoner’s place at sunrise.” Haddon and the Texan looked at each other. “And you think it would be murder to kill such a reptile?” muttered the latter. Suddenly the Virginian smothered an exclamation of startled surprise, and his companion saw him lean eagerly forward. The Texan turned his eyes again to the window quickly. THE ARGOSY. The officer who was in the room with Santa Anna and who wore the richly braided jacket of a Mexican cavalryman had turned so his face could be seen by those on the veranda, he Texan drew a sharp breath at sieht of this face, for it presented a hor- rible appearance. It was the face of what had once been a handsome man, but all former comeliness had been de- stroyed forever. Two livid scars, beginning at the mid- dle of the chin and extending upward almost to the bottom of the man’s ears, framed his countenance as behind two unsightly red bars. “God in heaven! It is Senor Perote! ” muttered Haddon hoarsely. But the Texan did not understand. He saw inthe man before him only Mazatlan, the famous leader of Santa Anna’s guerrilleros. CHAPTER X. AN UNEXPECTED INTERVIEW. Tue shock of discovering that the man whom General Santa Anna called Mazatlan, the man he had entered Chaleo to see, was none other than, the ex-innkeeper, Senor Perote, drove from Haddon’s mind for the moment all thought of the peril in whieh he and his companion stood. It is true the guerrilla leader had turned his face toward the window for but a few seconds, but this brief interval had been sufficient to reveal the unusual sears which disfigured it. It was Perote, the man who had vol- untarily entered the American lines for the purpose of thwarting Santa Anna’s plans, who was the famous leader ~ wanted by General Taylor. A dozen conflicting emotions filled the Virginian’s mind. A riddle pre- sented itself the solving of which was doubly difficult. Who was the man before him? _A Mexican whose heart and soul were given to the cause of Mexico, whose zeal for the welfare of the southern repub- lie led him ruthlessly to slay the in- vaders from beyond the Rio Grande; or the Mexican who, smarting under the mjuries inflicted upon him by certain