Ahead of the Army

by William Osborn Stoddard

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  SENOR CARFORA TRAPPED

  "I never saw anything finer than this," said Ned, aloud, as he slowlyturned his telescope from one point to another. "It is the oldbattle-ground of Cortes, when he and his Spaniards and Tlascalans tookthe city of Mexico. It was called Tenochtitlan, then."

  He was standing upon a granite ledge, on the slope of the mountainssouth of the city, and below him the nearest objects of interest werethe white tents of the American army, encamped there while negotiationsfor peace were going forward between the United States government andSanta Anna. These were not progressing well, for the invaders weredemanding more than any Mexican government could be ready to grant. Notonly was Texas itself demanded, but with it also all the vastTerritories of California, New Mexico, and Arizona.

  "Here we are," said Ned again, "but it has taken us two weeks of awfulfighting to get here. There isn't any use in disputing the pluck of theMexicans. Away yonder is Churubusco, and over there is Contreras. Didn'tthey fight us there! General Scott and his engineers laid out thebattles, but I was with the Seventh everywhere it went. I'll have loadsof yarns to spin when I get home, if I ever do."

  Battle after battle had been fought, and the Americans had paid dearlyfor the long delay in the arrival of their reinforcements. All that timehad been employed by the Mexican President, with really splendid energy,in raising a new army and in fortifying the approaches to the city. Itwas almost pitiful to see with what patriotism and self-sacrifice theMexican people rallied for their last hopeless struggle with superiorpower. It was not, however, that they were to contend with superiornumbers, for the forces under Santa Anna were at least three times thoseunder General Scott. The difference was that the latter was a perfectarmy led by a great general, while the former were not an army at alland had very few capable officers.

  Ned had apparently gazed long enough, and he now made his way down therugged slope. He did not halt until he reached the door of his owntent, and there he was met by his friend and supervisor somewhat tartly.

  "Well! You are back, at last, are you? I didn't know but what you'd runaway. You may come along with me to-night. You may try and see yourfriends. The provision train I am to take in will get out again aboutdaylight. You may stay there one day, and come away with a train thatwill run in to-morrow night, but you'd better wear your Mexican rig, ifyou don't mean to have your throat cut."

  "All right, sir," said Ned. "I'll run the risk."

  "I might not let you," said Grant, "if you were an enlisted man, but youmay learn something of value to them and to us, too. Get ready!"

  The fact was that Ned and his army, commanded for him by General Scott,were in a somewhat peculiar position. An armistice had been declaredwhile the negotiations were going on, and while, at the same time, thepower of Santa Anna was crumbling to pieces under him. It had beenagreed, on both sides, that all military operations should temporarilycease, and that American army-trains of wagons might come into thecity, with armed escorts, to obtain supplies. After some unpleasantexperiences with the angry mob of the city, it had been deemed best thatthe trains should come and go in the night, when the unruly Mexicansoldiers were in their quarters, and the too patriotic citizens were intheir beds. Ned had several times asked permission to accompany a train,and it had been refused, but it was now explained that this train wouldlike to have one more man with it who could talk Spanish. When, however,an hour or so later, he reported for duty, Lieutenant Grant remarked tohim:

  "Well, yes, you can talk it and you can look it, but you can't walk it.Don't step off so lively, if you mean to pass for a Mexican."

  "Hold on, Grant," said another officer, standing near them. "Don't youthink the Mexicans have been lively enough since we left Perote? I'vehad to step around a good deal myself on their account."

  "Just so," said Grant. "But that's while they're fighting. When they'reat anything like work, though, it's a different kind of movement. Don'twalk fast, Ned, or they'll shoot you for a gringo."

  It was nearly midnight when the supply-train, commanded by LieutenantGrant, entered the city, and an hour was consumed in obtaining thesupplies and getting them into the wagons, for not a pound of anythinghad been made ready for delivery. No true-hearted Mexican really wishedto sell provisions to the enemies of his country.

  "Lieutenant, may I go now?" asked Ned, as the last wagon prepared tomove away. "There isn't a patrol in sight, and the Paez place is withina few squares from this."

  Grant replied only by a wave of the hand, for at that moment he hadbecome engaged in a sharp controversy with the one Mexican officer whowas present on duty for his own side. He had been fairly polite, but hehad not pretended to be pleased to see gringos in Mexico. Therefore, itwas almost without express permission that Ned slipped away from histrain and his escort upon his exceedingly perilous errand.

  The streets were dark and deserted, for the heavy-hearted people hadnothing to call them out of their houses at that hour. Nevertheless, Nedwas feverishly on the alert, and, almost without his knowing it, hismachete had jumped out of its sheath, ready for whatever might turn up.

  "Halt!" suddenly came from a deep voice at his right, as he stealthilyturned a street corner, and a tall form stepped out of the near shadowsto stand in front of him.

  Ned saw the long, bright blade of a lance pointed at his bosom, andthere seemed but one thing left for him to do. The holder of the lancewas beyond his reach, even if he had wished to strike him, but the lanceitself was not. All the strength he had in him seemed to go into thesudden blow with which he severed the wooden shaft, an inch or so behindits fitting of sharp steel.

  "Diablos!" exclaimed the astonished Mexican, as he struck back a heavyblow with the cudgel which remained in his hand.

  Ned parried as well as he could with his machete, but there was someforce left in the stick when it reached his head, and down he went. Hehad made a discovery at that very moment, however.

  "Pablo!" he exclaimed, just as a second Mexican sprang toward him with along knife in his hand.

  "Senor Carfora!" loudly responded Pablo. "Hold back your knife, Manuelo!It is one of our own men. O Santos! My lance! I have no other weapon. Itold them it was of the soft wood. How are you here, senor?"

  NED SAW A LONG, BRIGHT BLADE OF A LANCE POINTED AT HISBOSOM]

  "To see Senora Paez and General Zuroaga," said Ned. "Is he in the city?"

  "Hush! Be careful, Senor Carfora!" said Pablo, as Manuelo almostreluctantly sheathed his too ready long knife. "We were waiting here forhim. He has been to the palace, to meet General Bravo. Our regiment hasalready joined the army, but he is not yet sure about Santa Anna andsome other men. It is a dark time, senor!"

  "Now, Pablo," said Ned, "there isn't much to tell about me. I wascaptured when Vera Cruz surrendered. I was with General Morales. I gotin to-night, and I have a great deal to say to the general and SenoraPaez and the Tassaras."

  "Zuroaga is here now," said a low, cautiously speaking voice behind him."Put up your sword, Carfora, and come along with me. I want to see youmore than you do me. I must know the latest news from General Scott'sarmy. Pablo, it was of no use. Santa Anna would make no terms with me,but his day is nearly over. Bravo's government has rejected the treatyoffered by the United States, and we are to fight it out to the bitterend. The gates have been shut, and there will be no more sending out ofsupplies. I think the war will begin again to-morrow."

  "Oh, dear me!" thought Ned. "There goes all my chance for getting outagain until after our army has captured the city. How my head doesache!"

  The rap from Pablo's lance-staff had not really injured him, however,and all three of them walked on till they reached the Paez place withoutsaying another word. Here it was at once evident that they, or, atleast, the general and Pablo, were waited for. The front door opened toadmit them, and shut quickly behind them as they passed in.

  "Senora Paez," said Zuroaga to a shadow in the unlighted hall, "thearmistice is ended, but I shall command my Oaxaca r
egiment in thefighting which is now sure to come. Let us all meet in the parlor andhear from Senor Carfora the American account of these lost battles."

  "Carfora?" she exclaimed. "Is he here? Oh, how I do wish to hear him! Ibelieve we have been told altogether too many lies. Our troops do nothalf know how badly they have been beaten, nor what is the real strengthof the American army."

  They walked on into the parlor, and here there were lights burning, butNed was not thinking of them. He was gazing at the pale face of a manin uniform and on crutches, who came slowly forward between a woman anda young girl, with a mournful smile upon his face.

  "Colonel Tassara!" exclaimed Ned. "I knew you were wounded, but are younot getting well?"

  "Senor Carfora!" quickly interrupted Senorita Felicia. "He was hit inthe leg by a bullet at Angostura. He had a bayonet wound, too, and theythought he would die, but they made him a general--"

  "I am getting better, Carfora," said General Tassara, courageously, "butI can do no more fighting just now. I sincerely wish that there mightnot be any. The plans of Santa Anna--"

  "Tassara!" exclaimed Zuroaga. "What we heard is true. He is utterlyruined. But the peace terms are rejected by all the government we haveleft, and our city defences must soon go down as did those at CerroGordo, Contreras, and Churubusco. We are to hear more about thoseaffairs from Senor Carfora. He was an eye witness of them."

  "Oh, my dear young friend," said Senora Tassara, "were you with theAmerican army in all those battles?"

  "No, not exactly," said Ned. "I was with General Morales at Vera Cruz.Then I came on with General Scott all the way from the seacoast to thisplace. He has troops enough now, and he will fight his way in. I'm realsorry about it, too, for no more men need to be killed."

  "I think the gringos are just terrible," said Felicia, as she came overand sat down by Ned. "I want to hear about them. I do hope they won't bedefeated now, though, for if they are nobody can guess who will beEmperor of Mexico when they are driven away."

  "She is not so far wrong," said Tassara, sadly. "The future of ourcountry is all in the dark. Please let us hear your report."

  Pablo, of course, had not followed his superiors into the parlor, andall who were there were free to discuss the situation. The morning sunwas looking in at the windows when all of the talk was finished. Ned hadlearned that only the family and a few trusted servants remained in thehouse, but he would have eaten his breakfast with even a more completesense of security from any emissaries of the military authorities if hehad known how much they had upon their hands that day, the 4th ofSeptember, 1847. There had already been a sharp correspondence betweenthe commanders of the two armies, and now General Scott himself declaredthe armistice at an end. All the angry patriotism of the Mexican peoplearose to meet the emergency, and every possible preparation was rapidlymade for the last desperate struggle in defence of their capital. It wasas if the idea prevailed that, if this American force now here could bedefeated, the United States would give the matter up, instead of sendingmore troops to the assistance of their first insufficient battalions.

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

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

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

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

  General Zuroaga had quietly disappeared. Very soon, the Tassara familywent to their own room. Then not even the servants could tell what hadbecome of Senora Paez. Ned Crawford did not at all know what to do withhimself. He walked around the rooms below; then he went out to thestables and back again, but he was all alone, for Pablo and the Oaxacamen had gone to their regiment. He went up to the library and had aone-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 couldtell only of old wars, fought long ago, and here was a real war right onhand, that seemed to be wandering all around the house.

  During all the long, hot days of the armistice, a kind of dull quiet hadappeared to brood over the city and its forts and over the camps andentrenchments of the besiegers. It had been something like athundercloud, which was all the while growing blacker and hanginglower, and before the end of the first day of renewed hostilities theanxious watchers in the city houses could hear something which soundedlike distant thunder. It was the occasional roar of a gun from one oranother of the batteries on either side, as a warning of the moreterrible things which were about to come, and more than once Ned groanedto himself:

  "Oh, how I wish I were out there, with Lieutenant Grant and the Seventh.This is worse than being shut up in Vera Cruz. I didn't have anyregiment of my own, then, but now I belong in General Scott's army."

  Evening came at last, and all of the family was gathered behind thelattices of the parlor windows, to watch the detachments of soldiersmarch past, and to wonder where they were going. General Zuroaga was notthere, but there had been a message from him that there would be a greatbattle in the morning, for the Americans were moving forward.

  "We are in greater numbers than they are," muttered General Tassara."But we have no General Scott, and we have no officers like his. Almostall that we really have is courage and gunpowder, and these are notenough to defeat such an attack as he will make. The city is lostalready!"

  CHAPTER XIX.

  THE STARS AND STRIPES IN TENOCHTITLAN

  "What a roar it is! And so very near! I hope General Scott will notbombard this city, as he did Vera Cruz. It would be awful to seebombshells falling among these crowds of people!"

  The American commander had not the slightest idea of doing anything ofthe kind, but there had been almost continuous fighting in the daysfollowing the termination of the armistice. Perhaps the hardest of ithad been at Molino del Rey, and the defences there had been carried bythe assailants. There appeared now to be but the one barrier of theChapultepec hill between them and a final victory.

  A hand was on Ned's shoulder, and a trembling voice said to him:

  "Oh, Senor Carfora! Where have you been? I'm so frightened! Are thosecannon coming right on into the city?"

  "No," said Ned, "but I have been out all day. I went almost everywhere,and it seems as if the city were full of wounded men. The soldiers arecrowding 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 armsof 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 cityis at their mercy. Alas, for me! General Bravo was taken prisoner, andmy 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 aword 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 killedand 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 accountof 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. Youhave been running too many risks. Talk with me for awhile."

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

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

  It was during that night that General Santa Anna, with nearly all thatwas left of his army, marched silently out of the city, and the lastremnants of his political power passed from him as the American troopsbegan to march in, the next morning. Of all the negotiations between theremaining Mexican authorities and General Scott, Ned Crawford knewnothing, but there was disorder everywhere, and it would have been moreperilous than ever for a fellow like him to have been caught in thestreets by any of the reckless, angry men who swarmed among them. On theevening of the 14th of September, nevertheless, he was standing in thePaez piazza with Senorita Felicia, and he saw a column of soldierscoming up the street.

  "Senorita!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Look! Our flag! Our men! Hurrah!Those are the colors of the Seventh! It is my own regiment, and if thereisn't Lieutenant Grant himself!"

  "Do not go!" she said. "Do not leave me!" but she was too late, for hehad darted away, and in a moment more he was greeted with:

  "Hullo, Ned! I'm glad you didn't make out to get killed. I knew youcouldn't get out, and I'd about given you up. Is that where you live?"

  "It's the house I told you of," said Ned. "They are the best kind ofpeople--"

  "Go back there, then," commanded the lieutenant. "Your father is outamong the hospitals just now, taking care of the wounded, but I want toknow where to send him. I'll see you again. I must go on to my post."

  Back he ran to the piazza, and even Felicia was compelled to admit thather friend Senor Carfora's own regiment was splendid, as its close ranksswung away in such perfect order.

  "But," she said, "you might have been killed, if you had been with them,and I am glad you did not have to kill any of our people."

  "So am I," said Ned, "now that it is all over. I guess this is the endof the war. But how I shall miss poor General Zuroaga!"

  Rapidly and prudently, General Scott was occupying the city andrestoring order. With such wisdom and moderation did he perform hisduties as military governor that almost immediately the previouslydistressed inhabitants began to regard the arrival of the United Statesarmy as a positive blessing. At the same time, it was obvious toeverybody that months might be required for the necessary peacenegotiations. A new and firm Mexican government would have to beestablished, and much difficult legislation would be called for on thepart of the Congress of the United States, since that body was toappropriate large sums of money in payment for the territory to beacquired from Mexico.

  During three whole days, Ned went from camp to camp and from hospital tohospital, in search of his father, but Mr. Crawford had heard tidings ofhis son which satisfied him, and he stuck to his wounded soldiers. Itwas not, therefore, until the afternoon of the third day that Ned founda grand reception prepared for him in the parlor of the Paez mansion.

  "Father!" he shouted, as he hurried in, after Felicia, at the door, hadwarned him of what was before him. "Hurrah! Here I am!"

  What happened or was said next, he did not know until he felt himselfsomewhat roughly shaken by somebody, and was forced to exclaim:

  "Hullo, Captain Kemp! Are you here, too? I declare!"

  "Here I am," said the captain, "and I'm going to take you and yourfather back to New York on the ship that brought us. You have been inMexico long enough."

  Ned did not so much as have time to hurrah again before Senora Tassaracame forward to say to him:

  "That is not all, Senor Carfora. For the sake of my husband's health,and for other reasons, he and I and Felicia and Senora Paez areintending to spend our next winter in the United States. We haveaccepted your father's invitation to be passengers with you. What do youthink of that?"

  Ned could hardly say what he thought, but he tried to, and perhaps hisbest effort was made when he said to Felicia:

  "Isn't it tip-top! I'll show you all over the city,--but I'm afraid youwill get awfully seasick on the way. I did at first."

  "She will have to run the risk of that," laughed her mother, but afterNed's long conference with his father was ended, she and Ned spent therest of the evening in a discussion of the sights which were to be seenin the great city of the Americans.

  "There would be no use in your remaining here now," Mr. Crawford hadsaid to Ned. "My business with the army will run right along for a time,but nothing else can be done until all things are quiet and settled.Then we may try and find out what good your Mexican experience has doneyou."

  Mr. Crawford went away at a late hour, but Ned was out of the houseearly enough the next morning. He had a strong notion in his head, andit led him to the grand plaza, to stand in front of the governmentbuilding which had been the headquarters of so many different kinds ofgovernments of Mexico. It was really a fine and costly affair, but theMexican national banner was no longer floating from its tall flagstaff.Instead of it was a broad and beautiful Stars and Stripes, and it hadnever before appeared to Ned so very beautiful.

  He was gazing up at that evidence that the city was in the hands ofGeneral Scott and his army, when a voice that he knew hailed him with:

  "Hullo, youngster! That's our flag. Where's your friend Grant? Have youseen him?"

  "Captain Lee!" exclaimed Ned. "Yes, I've seen him. He's all right."

  "So I hear," said Lee. "And they say he distinguished himself at Molinodel Rey. His regiment lost a number of men, too."

  "Well," said Ned, "I wasn't with my regiment in these battles here, butI'm glad that my army has taken Mexico. Grant's a splendid fellow."

  "My regiment! My army!" laughed Captain Lee. "All right; that's the wayevery American boy ought to feel. I guess you are right about Grant,too. He may be heard of again some day."

  "Tell you what," said Ned. "When I get to New York, I mean to join oneof our city regiments as soon as I can. Then, if there ever is anotherwar, I'm going to join him. I'd like to serve under him."

  "Good!" said Lee. "And then I may hear of Colonel Crawford, of Grant'sDivision, United States Volunteers. Good-by. Take care of yourself."

  THE END.

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