mm
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 w, 

 
 Porfiiuo Diaz, Pkesident or Mexico
 
 ROY AND RAY 
 
 IN 
 
 MEXICO 
 
 BY 
 
 MARY WRIGHT PLUMMER 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 1907
 
 Copyright, 1907, 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 
 Published May, 1Q07 
 
 THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS 
 RAHWAY. N. J.
 
 7 
 
 To the many American children 
 
 Whose travels have been chiefly in imagination, 
 this account of a visit to our great next- 
 door neighbour is dedicated, with 
 the hope that they may some 
 day see its wonders 
 with their oivn 
 eyes 
 
 1367837
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This volume does not pretend to be a guide- 
 book to Mexico, or a history of the country. It is 
 simply the record of an actual journey to seven or 
 eight Mexican cities and towns, as experienced by 
 two intelligent, wide-awake children, with some 
 one at hand to answer their questions and call 
 their attention to things they might otherwise not 
 have noticed. If the assurance of one boy to 
 whom the manuscript was read, that "it would be 
 interesting to anybody who wanted to know about 
 Mexico," proves to be well-founded, the object of 
 its writing will have been attained.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Beginning 1 
 
 II. To "San Antone" 14 
 
 III. Across the Border .... .27 
 
 IV. Mexico at Last 41 
 
 V. The City of Mexico 54 
 
 VI. Mexico City and Guadalupe .... 69 
 
 VII. Mexico's President 88 
 
 VIII. Mexican Specialties 106 
 
 IX. The Glorious Fourth in Mexico . . . 118 
 
 X. The Conquest 132 
 
 XI. TnE Museum 146 
 
 XII. The Museum Again, and Chapultepec . . 156 
 
 XIII. The Viga 167 
 
 XIV. Across the Mountains 177 
 
 XV. Cuernavaca 186 
 
 XVI. The Sights op Cuernavaca 195 
 
 XVII. TnE Countryside 205 
 
 XVIII. A Little History 218 
 
 XIX. More Excursions 227 
 
 XX. Southward 239 
 
 XXL The Great Pyramid 254 
 
 XXII. Oaxaca 265 
 
 vii
 
 viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIII. The Road to Mitla 278 
 
 XXIV. Mitla 290 
 
 XXV. Mitla Continued 304 
 
 XXVI. The Return Journey 318 
 
 XXVII. Orizaba and Back to the Capital . . . 328 
 XXVIII. Northward to Guanajuato . . . .341 
 
 XXIX. Guanajuato, Hill of the Frogs . . .350 
 XXX. More Guanajuato 363 
 
 XXXI. Chihuahua and Home 373 
 
 The Mexican National Hymn 384 
 
 La Paloma 391 
 
 La Golondrina 397 
 
 Index ............ 401
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Porfirio Diaz, President of . 
 
 Mexico 
 
 
 . Frontispiece 
 
 Map of Mexico 
 
 
 Facing page 1 
 
 House Companions 
 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 A Laundry .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 A Beggar Boy . 
 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 Making Tortillas 
 
 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 The Sad Indian 
 
 
 
 
 
 150 
 
 Castle of Ciiapultepec . 
 
 
 
 
 
 164 
 
 The Viga Canal 
 
 
 
 
 
 174 
 
 Donkeys Carrying Grass 
 
 
 
 
 
 184 
 
 Market Scenes . 
 
 
 
 
 
 196 
 
 A CUERNAVACA BOY . 
 
 
 
 
 
 236 
 
 Ox-CART AND ORGAN CACTUS 
 
 
 
 
 
 278 
 
 Mexican Kitchen Range 
 
 
 
 
 
 306 
 
 Patio of Don Felix 
 
 
 
 
 
 316 
 
 Orizaba .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 332 
 
 A Mine Foreman and His Ho 
 
 me 
 
 
 
 
 378 
 
 ix
 
 : 
 
 - 
 
 REWLU GIGEOO ,SLANDS ^ 
 
 AT^\P OF 
 
 MEXICO 
 
 SCALE OF MILC 
 
 50 1U0 
 
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 :$>0 Vj 
 
 Coban , 
 
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 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 THE BEGINNING 
 
 Roy and Ray Stevens were twins, and were 
 about eleven years old when they made their first 
 long journey. They had gone from New York to 
 Boston several times, to see their grandmother, 
 and they had once made the trip by boat from 
 New York to Portland, Maine; but these were 
 trifling journeys compared with the one they were 
 now going to take. 
 
 Their home was in a New Jersey suburb of New 
 York, and their bedrooms were small adjoining 
 ones with a door between, so that they could talk 
 back and forth at night if they did not feel sleepy. 
 On one particular June morning they were both 
 awake by six o'clock, and found it hard work to 
 stay in bed until seven, which was rising time for 
 the family. 
 
 "Roy!" called Ray.
 
 2 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Um-huni," answered Roy. 
 
 "Do you know what day it is?" 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, the 25th of June, the day the 
 Stevens family start for Mexico, — and I wish it 
 was time to go right now." 
 
 "I wish the whole Stevens family were going," 
 said Ray, "I do hate to leave Ben and the baby, — 
 I'm going to miss them awfully." 
 
 "Grandmother '11 take good care of them," said 
 Roy. 
 
 "I know she will, and Aunt Jenny promised to 
 write and tell all the funny things they do and 
 say, — but that won't be the same as having them 
 right with us." 
 
 ' ' Pshaw ! You 're homesick already, ' ' said Roy. 
 "Why don't you stay at home if you're going to 
 feel that way?" 
 
 "I want to go — really I do," said Ray, "and 
 when we get started I suppose I'll see things that 
 will make me forget the children part of the time ; 
 but just now, you see, the things haven't begun 
 and I haven't got them to think of. Roy," 
 — suddenly changing the subject, — "is father very 
 rich?"
 
 THE BEGINNING 3 
 
 ''I don't know certainly," said Roy, thought- 
 fully, "but I guess not very rich, just com- 
 fortable, you know. We haven't got an auto- 
 mobile." 
 
 "No, but this is a pretty expensive trip we're 
 going to take, isn't it?" 
 
 "I guess it does cost a good deal," said Roy, 
 "but I heard father tell mother one day that if 
 you had a little money, he believed in getting the 
 good of it as you went along, and I suppose that's 
 what he means to do when he takes us to Mexico. 
 I shouldn't wonder if he had some business there, 
 too." 
 
 This last was true and this was the reason why 
 the Stevenses were going to Mexico in summer, 
 which is the Mexican rainy season, as Mr. 
 Stevens' business could not wait until the regular 
 tourist season, which is late winter or early 
 spring and the Mexican dry season. But he had 
 been told by several business friends in Mexico 
 that July and August were really the pleasantest 
 months of the year up on the highlands of Mexico, 
 that one escaped the heat of the States, and that 
 the summer rains had by that time laid the dust,
 
 4 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 which is the most unpleasant feature of the Mexi- 
 can climate. 
 
 "Have you packed your part of the trunk, 
 Ray?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, six times, and every time I forget some- 
 thing or I get so much in that it won't shut, and 
 I have to take something out. Is your part ready 
 now?" 
 
 "No," said Roy, "and I guess I'll get up right 
 now and pack it. It'll be something to do.' : 
 
 "Well, don't take any of my space, for I need 
 it all," warned Ray. "Mother's going to look it 
 all over when it's done, anyhow. I was going to 
 put in several papers of pins and all the thread 
 in my work-basket, and she asked me if I thought 
 I was going to a country where you couldn't get 
 pins and thread. She says the shops in Mexico 
 get their things in Paris, and are almost as good 
 as New York shops. You know," confidentially, 
 "until she said that, I had an idea we were going 
 to a kind of heathen country. I was almost afraid 
 we'd have to see a human sacrifice." 
 
 "Oh, my! that hasn't been since the days of 
 old— What 's-his-name. You get father to tell you
 
 THE BEGINNING 5 
 
 about it. The Mexicans now are just as civilised 
 as you are. Why, Mexico's a republic." 
 
 "Yes, that's so. People have to be pretty civi- 
 lised for that, don't they?" said Kay, innocently. 
 But Eoy did not answer, and from the hard 
 breathing she heard she guessed that he was 
 already at work stuffing his clothes and other 
 belongings into the bottom of the trunk they were 
 to have together. Presently, as she dressed, she 
 heard a long sigh and a grunt that sounded like 
 dissatisfaction. "What's the matter!" she 
 asked. 
 
 "I just can't get my baseball suit in, that's 
 what's the matter." 
 
 "Your baseball suit?" Kay stopped with her 
 brush in her hand, to look into the room. Roy was 
 kneeling on the floor before the trunk, the picture 
 of despair, while the padded suit protruded from 
 it at all four corners and refused to be pressed 
 down by the tray. "Well, Roy Stevens, if I 
 ever!" laughed Ray. "Who's going to play base- 
 ball with you down there, I'd like to know." 
 
 Roy's frown disappeared slowly, as this new 
 idea made its way to his brain. "Huh!" he said,
 
 6 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "guess I'm crazy. It's a pity, though, for next 
 summer that suit will be too small." 
 
 "It will do for little Ben in a couple of years," 
 said Ray, soothingly. 
 
 "Course, but that doesn't do me any good. 
 Well, here goes ! ' ' and Roy pitched the puffy gar- 
 ments into the corner, where the open closet partly 
 caught them. 
 
 "Children!" called their mother's voice, "time 
 to get up! There are lots of things to be done 
 before the eleven-o'clock train." 
 
 "We're up," answered Ray, and they dressed 
 in a hurry and ran down to breakfast. It was 
 hard for them to eat, though their mother re- 
 minded them that it would be a long time before 
 they would again taste Katy's delicious hot rolls 
 or nice croquettes. She kept them busy all the 
 morning, packing and helping her to pack, running 
 on errands, etc., so that eleven o'clock came before 
 they expected it, and they were aboard the local 
 train for New York, waving their hands to friends, 
 neighbours, and servants who had come to see 
 them off. 
 
 "Now, we're going!" exclaimed Ray, but Roy
 
 THE BEGINNING 7 
 
 said, ' ' No, we've often done this much before. We 
 shan't really be going to Mexico till we get on the 
 other train. Something may happen yet." But 
 nothing did. They had luncheon at the station 
 with their big brother, Gilbert, just from college, 
 and in charge of his father's office during their 
 absence, and their sister Dora, who was spending 
 a few weeks in the neighbourhood of New York 
 with a friend; and then the long train pulled out 
 of the train-yards with two very excited and 
 happy children in the sleeper Morpheus. 
 
 As the children had never made any long jour- 
 neys, they had never travelled in a sleeping-car, 
 and their eyes and ears were busy for the first 
 hour investigating their surroundings. In vain 
 did their mother call their attention to the Pali- 
 sades and Storm King and the other features of 
 Hudson River scenery; they were interested in the 
 berths and the buffet. They wanted to know 
 where the coloured porter kept the pillows in the 
 daytime, why the upper berths didn 't shut up and 
 smother people, how the cooking and serving 
 things could all be kept in the little room called the 
 buffet, how they were going to undress at night;
 
 8 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and they kept both father and mother busy 
 answering questions. 
 
 "But, children, you're missing all this beautiful 
 scenery," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "We'll come back this way, shan't we!" asked 
 Roy. 
 
 "Yes, I suppose so." 
 
 "Well, we'll see it then. I think sleeping-cars 
 are much more interesting just now. What are 
 these little slots for, father?" 
 
 ' ' To fasten the table into when we have luncheon 
 here in our section. The table has only one leg, 
 and that folds up when it is not in use." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I see. Are the screens to keep out 
 mosquitoes?" 
 
 "That's a New Jersey question, surely. Think 
 a little and you can answer it yourself. That's 
 one thing I want you and Ray to learn to do, this 
 trip, — never to ask me or your mother a question 
 until you have tried faithfully to answer it your- 
 self. It will make better travellers of you and 
 pleasanter company for us." 
 
 Just then a gust of smoke from the engine blew 
 through the screen and sent a fine black dust into
 
 THE BEGINNING 9 
 
 the car. "I see, it's for cinders!" exclaimed Roy, 
 "but it can't keep the dust and smoke out." 
 
 "No, unfortunately, and we shall have to take 
 our share of those evils." 
 
 When it grew dark, and the car-lights were 
 turned on, Mrs. Stevens rang for the little table 
 to be fixed into the sockets; the buffet waiter 
 spread a clean white cloth over it and brought in 
 napkins and a pot of coffee, and Mrs. Stevens pro- 
 duced from a box some excellent luncheon she had 
 prepared for the occasion. 
 
 "I thought there was a dining-car on the train," 
 said Roy. 
 
 "There is, and we shall take breakfast in it in 
 the morning," said his father, "but as it is table 
 d'hote and one dollar a head, I preferred not to 
 spend twelve dollars a day on our meals when we 
 should probably not eat three dollars' worth of 
 food. Later we shall find an a la carte arrange- 
 ment, and then we shall use the dining-car regu- 
 larly." 
 
 "What is the difference?" asked Roy. 
 
 " Table d'hote means that you may call for 
 everything on the bill of fare or only one thing.
 
 10 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 as you choose, but you must pay a dollar for it in 
 either case; while a la carte (or by the card) 
 means that the price of every dish is given and 
 that you pay for what you order and nothing more. 
 If you wish to eat a long dinner such as the table 
 d'hote provides, it would cost you much more to 
 pay for it by the card; but if, as is the case with 
 most travellers, you are not ravenously hungry, 
 you can choose some one or two dishes from the 
 bill of fare and make a less expensive and an 
 equally satisfactory meal." 
 
 "I'm sure this is satisfactory," said Ray, fin- 
 ishing a piece of the chocolate cake which Katy 
 had made that morning. 
 
 "We could have had something from the little 
 cupboard in this car, couldn't we?" said Roy. 
 
 "You mean the buffet? Yes, our coffee was 
 made there, but it wasn't very good. Buffet food 
 as a rule is not appetising." 
 
 "Don't you like sleeping-cars, mother? I do," 
 said Ray. 
 
 "Well, my dear, to tell you the truth, I'm not 
 as fond of them as of my own room and my own 
 bed at home, but I can generally manage to make
 
 THE BEGINNING 11 
 
 myself comfortable and to sleep pretty well. The 
 motion of the train on a good road-bed gets to be 
 rather a help to sleeping." 
 
 "Like a cradle?" asked Say. 
 
 "Yes, or like the rocking of a ship." 
 
 It was not long after the clearing away of the 
 supper-table, before the porter began to make up 
 the berths. The children watched him with atten- 
 tive eyes, and soon knew just the order in which 
 he did the various things in the bed-making 
 process. 
 
 "Porter," said Mr. Stevens, "whenever you're 
 ready. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, sir, jus' as soon as I put dis lady to 
 baid," said the porter, making the children 
 laugh. 
 
 "He talked just as if she were a baby," said 
 Ray. 
 
 At last their turn came. The first thing Roy 
 noticed as he drew aside the curtains was that the 
 berth was made up with the head toward the loco- 
 motive. "What's that for, father?" he asked. 
 "I should think it would be the other way. Oh, 
 I forgot, — I asked you that without thinking first.
 
 12 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Let me see." But he could not think of a reason, 
 so his father told him. 
 
 "One reason is that you are not in so much 
 danger of catching cold. As the air enters by the 
 screen or through the cracks of the window, it 
 passes by your head and chest without striking 
 them; and if you slept with your head the other 
 way it would fly right at the head and throat. 
 Some people, too, have a theory that with the head 
 this way the blood is driven from the brain by 
 the motion of the train, and that therefore one 
 sleeps better. But the other is a better reason 
 and all we need, I think." 
 
 "I should think," said Ray, "that they wouldn't 
 put so much carving and things on these cars, and 
 would have a bigger dressing-room for the women 
 and little girls. There was another lady there 
 when we were, and we kept hitting each other all 
 the time, and there was only one hook to hang any- 
 thing on, and she had that, so we had to put my 
 clothes on the floor. I'd rather have a bigger 
 place and not have it so ornamental." 
 
 For a half-hour or so, it was hard for the 
 children to get to sleep, with the unaccustomed
 
 THE BEGINNING 13 
 
 surroundings, the motion, the noise, the occasional 
 stopping and starting, and the novelty of such a 
 bed, but by the time their father and mother came 
 to their respective berths, both Roy and Ray were 
 sound asleep and dreaming of the wonders in 
 store for them.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 
 
 The next morning, the children were awake so 
 early that they got quite tired lying still until it 
 was time for them to get up. Their mother let 
 them rise and dress as early as was at all conven- 
 ient, and though the train flung them about more 
 or less while they were dressing, they managed to 
 look almost as well as the day before. Roy espe- 
 cially looked forward with much interest to break- 
 fast in the dining-car. There was something in 
 the idea of eating at a table and travelling at the 
 same time which seemed very attractive to him, 
 and when he looked over the bill of fare and then 
 unfolded his napkin, he heaved a sigh of satis- 
 faction. And he discussed his grape fruit, his 
 cereal, and his broiled chop so slowly that the 
 family all laughed at him and said he was trying 
 to get his dollar's worth. As there was very little 
 of interest to see from the car-window on this 
 
 14
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 15 
 
 second day, the children began to observe t heir 
 
 fellow-passengers. There were two college boys in 
 whom Roy took an interest, as he heard them 
 comparing the athletics of freshwater and sea- 
 board colleges. Suddenly one of them leaned for- 
 ward and grasped the other's hand most affection- 
 ately, and as the other looked at him in surprise, 
 he said, "I just noticed that design on your 
 cuff-buttons," and then he put his left hand also 
 around the other's hand and shook hands as if he 
 had found a long-lost brother. They gazed at each 
 other, quite unable to express in words their 
 feelings at finding they belonged to the same fra- 
 ternity, and Roy thought it was beautiful and 
 longed for the day when he should be old enough 
 to join one. Ray found great fascination in a 
 young Mexican lady who fanned very dexterously 
 with two fans, one in each hand, when the day 
 grew warm. She tried it herself with her own 
 and her mother's fan, but she was not very skilful 
 and only managed to hit herself on the nose con- 
 tinually. The Mexican senorita was very pretty, 
 with dark eyes and a great deal of dark hair, pink 
 cheeks and white teeth, and a very soft voice and
 
 16 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 charming laugh. She spoke very little English, 
 but as several Americans in the car who lived in 
 Mexico could speak Spanish with her, she did not 
 lack for company, especially as she had with her 
 her brother, who had been studying at a Northern 
 college. Bay did her best to pick up a little 
 Spanish by listening, but could not get further 
 than "Si (see)," meaning yes, which she already 
 knew. The day grew very warm, and when 
 luncheon time came, the children cared for nothing 
 but fruit. They had looked at pictures and read 
 from the magazines, looked out the windows and 
 observed their neighbours, taken short naps and 
 nibbled at a box of candy, and now they were 
 entirely out of occupation. ' ' I feel just like grand- 
 mother 's parrot when she whines, 'What does 
 Polly want?' " said Ray. "I've done everything 
 I can think of and I can't sleep any more, — can 
 you tell us what to do, mother?" 
 
 "I think father is getting something ready for 
 you," said Mrs. Stevens. "Just wait awhile and 
 you'll see." And for some time, indeed, Mr. 
 Stevens had been writing very industriously on a 
 large sheet of paper. Now he began to fold it into
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 17 
 
 squares and to cut the squares apart with liis 
 pocket scissors. Presently be spread the Bquar< 
 
 out on the little tabic which the porter had brought 
 him, and began to shuffle them like cards. "Come 
 and play my new game — my Mexican game," he 
 said, "that will wake you up, children. Come, 
 Helen," to Mrs. Stevens, "it may be good for you 
 too." 
 
 They all gathered about the table, to try the new 
 game, and were soon so deep in it that they almost 
 forgot the heat. Mr. Stevens had made a game 
 something like the American one of "Authors," 
 but instead of taking Mexican authors he had made 
 it a game of Mexican history to some extent. 
 Under the heading of "Great Aztecs" he had the 
 names of Moctezuma and Axayacatl and Cuauh- 
 temoc; under the heading "Early Spanish Ex- 
 plorers" the names of Cortez and Alvarado and 
 Cordoba, while under each of the headings 
 ' ' Mexican rulers, " " Mexican generals, " ' ' Mexican 
 wars," "Mexican ruins," "Mexican events," and 
 "Mexican cities," he had supplied the three items 
 necessary to make the game possible. Eight sets 
 of four cards each made thirty-two cards, giving
 
 18 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 each one of the party eight cards to begin with, 
 and four cards made a book, just as in "Authors." 
 If Roy, for instance, had a card headed "Mexican 
 rulers ' ' and found under it the names of ' ' Juarez," 
 "Maximilian," and "Diaz," he must try to get 
 from the others the three cards having these 
 names at the head, and if he succeeded he would 
 have a book to his credit. But if they noticed that 
 he was calling for these, they would see at once 
 that he must have one card of the book and they 
 would try to get that away from him to help make 
 their own book. Nearly all of you will have 
 played "Authors," so I am sure you will not need 
 further explanation ; and at the end of this chapter 
 you will find a copy of one card under each head- 
 ing. Roy and Ray, when they had played this 
 game several times, had the main points of 
 Mexico's history so well fixed in their minds that 
 they scarcely ever made any mistakes, and found 
 all the pictures and labels in the Museum and 
 references in their guide-book much more inter- 
 esting than they would have thought them other- 
 wise. Their father won the game the first time, 
 and Ray the second; and by then the train was
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 19 
 
 slowing down as they entered St. Louis. As they 
 were obliged to leave the train here and take 
 another, and had an hour or two to spare after 
 getting supper in the dining-room of the great 
 station, they took a drive out to the West End, 
 which is the handsome residence part of this im- 
 portant Western city, and through the World's 
 Fair grounds in Forest Park. When they reached 
 the station again and found their berths in a new 
 train, Mrs. Stevens unpacked their belongings 
 much more extensively than before, for on this 
 train they were to live for three days and four 
 nights. 
 
 "It will get to seem just like home, won't it?" 
 said Ray, to which her mother could only reply 
 "We'll hope so," for she did not enjoy train- 
 travel in the summer. 
 
 By the next morning there was enough that 
 was new in the scenes they passed through to 
 make the day more entertaining than the one 
 before. The forlorn little towns of Arkansas, 
 their unpainted, grey wooden houses almost 
 settling into the ground, the wash-basins or 
 bowls on benches out on the front "gallery," the
 
 20 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 upstairs verandahs on every two-story house, 
 the washings of many colours strung out on the 
 front fences, the outside chimneys built of mud, 
 the bowl-shaped straw sun-hats that some of the 
 men wore, — all these and many other things kept 
 the children constantly interested. There was one 
 one-story hotel, painted red, with strips of wood 
 painted white tacked over the cracks perpendicu- 
 larly, that the children said looked like candy ; and 
 when they came soon after to Little Rock, the 
 capital, they made a joke that diverted them very 
 much, calling the hotel Little Rock candy. It does 
 not take anything very funny to amuse people 
 who are ready to be amused, as Roy and Ray 
 
 were. 
 
 It was in Arkansas that they first noticed 
 stations with separate waiting-rooms for the 
 coloured people, who also became more numerous 
 than before. At Texarkana, a name made from 
 Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, because the town 
 is at a point near which the three state lines meet, 
 they first had fruit and vegetables offered to them 
 at the train-windows by small boys. Some had 
 plums, and when a lady who had bought some
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 21 
 
 complained that they wen- bard, the boy-peddler 
 retorted, "Well, that's the way they are." Other 
 boys had ripe tomatoes and gave a pinch of coarse 
 salt with each tomato, wrapped up in a piece of 
 old newspaper. The children thought these very 
 refreshing and preferred them to fruit. As the 
 time drew near for the train to start, the peddlers 
 would come down in their prices and call out, 
 "Peaches, peaches — all I got for a nickel!" or 
 "Peaches and tomatoes for a nickel — every- 
 thing!" 
 
 In one small town they saw a public well with a 
 roof over it and seats around it, and in another, 
 as indeed in most of them, all the stores had 
 "porches" as Ray expressed it, and they saw 
 several merchants playing cards on the street 
 corner on an upturned box, with their hats pushed 
 back and in their shirt sleeves. These things 
 would have told them they had reached the South, 
 even if they had not known it from the heat. 
 Toward evening they went through a small town 
 or village where a whole calf was hanging to a 
 tree instead of in a butcher's shop, and while they 
 were wondering at this, two men came, one with a
 
 22 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 large knife with which he proceeded to cut off the 
 piece of veal that the other man wanted. But the 
 country still seemed American, though their father 
 reminded them that Texas and part of Arkansas 
 had once belonged to Mexico. Still they did not 
 really feel that they were seeing anything very 
 unusual until they came to San Antonio, or "San 
 Antone," as the natives call it, one of the most 
 foreign-looking cities in the United States. They 
 reached it quite early in the morning, and having 
 three hours to spare, decided to go up into the 
 town for breakfast and a bath, and then see the 
 city by means of a drive. As soon as they stepped 
 out of the train, the children were struck with the 
 town's unlikeness to anything American. The 
 buildings were low, generally with one story, and 
 never with more than two, and built of adobe, a 
 sort of clay found abundantly in the dryer parts 
 of the Southwest. They were not only white- 
 washed but bluewashed and pinkwashed, as Roy 
 put it, giving a very gay appearance to the streets. 
 The River San Antonio, which winds through the 
 city and is crossed by more than forty bridges, 
 was very pretty in places and bordered by tropical
 
 TO "SAN AN TONE" 23 
 
 or semi-tropical plants. The hotel and many of the 
 houses had iron balconies upstairs and glass doors 
 opening on to them, so that people could sit in the 
 shade of the trees on these balconies and get the 
 air without being too noticeable. The hotel was 
 built in a hollow square around a court where 
 tropical plants were growing in large pots, and 
 there was an air of great coolness everywhere. 
 After a good breakfast and a bath, Mr. Stevens 
 hired a carriage and driver and they visited the 
 most interesting parts of the city, going down first 
 into the Mexican quarter, where the poorer people 
 live. This quarter is usually called Chihuahua 
 (Che-wah'-wah) in towns which have a Mexican 
 population. Here the people lived in hovels that 
 looked as if they were built out of the refuse of 
 lumber-yards, tin-shops, straw-stacks, and even 
 rag-bags, and how some of these huts could hold 
 together it was hard to understand. Nearly every 
 house had its china-tree, a small tree whose foliage 
 grows in a ball and gives a very thick shade. 
 There were the mesquite-tree, also small, the 
 pepper-tree with its pretty pink berries and lace- 
 like leaves, and an occasional fig-tree.
 
 24 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 The market-place interested the children very 
 much, though it was not the principal market day 
 and there was no crowd. The people had very few 
 of their fruits and vegetables in measures, having 
 them arranged instead in little piles on the 
 ground at so much a pile. There were sheaves of 
 sugar-cane, also, the first the children had seen. 
 Mrs. Stevens wished to take the picture of a little 
 girl who was superintending some of the heaps, 
 and her father willingly allowed it ; but when she 
 turned to take a snapshot of a man carrying a 
 great basket strapped on his back by a band across 
 his forehead, the man began to run and she had to 
 give it up. ' ' I suppose he thinks something dread- 
 ful will happen to him if I get his picture," she 
 said. "They say many of the people are very 
 superstitious and think the camera is as bad as 
 the 'evil eye.' " 
 
 ; "What's the evil eye?" asked Boy. 
 
 ; Among most savage or half-civilised people 
 and even among the most ignorant of civilised 
 people, such as the Italian peasants, there is a 
 general belief that certain persons have the evil 
 eye; that is, if their attention is attracted to and 
 
 l c 
 
 i i
 
 TO "SAN ANTONE" 
 
 fixed on any person, something evil will happen to 
 that person. And in this belief, they wear charms 
 and amulets to ward off the danger." 
 
 At the Cathedral, they all got out of the car- 
 riage and went in for a few minutes. Mass was 
 about to be celebrated and the church bells were 
 ringing musically. The congregation was chiefly 
 Mexicans (i. e., mixed Spanish and Indian) and 
 Indians, with a few white people. The women 
 were nearly all in sunbonnets, though there were 
 a very few mantillas and the black shawls that 
 take the place of mantillas in Mexico. Every 
 woman seemed to have a fan and to keep it going. 
 The back of the Cathedral was very old, with 
 massive walls, and the driver said it dated back to 
 1744. 
 
 The children were so surprised to find so 
 foreign-looking a town in the United States that 
 they asked their father for an explanation, and 
 when they entered the Alamo, which had been 
 successively a church or convent, a fort and a 
 prison, and was now a historical show-place, they 
 all sat down for a few minutes while he told them 
 a little of the history of San Antonio.
 
 GAME OF MEXICAN HISTORY 
 
 (Specimen Cards) 
 
 GREAT AZTECS 
 
 Moctezuma II, killed 
 1521 
 
 Axayacatl 
 
 Cuauhtemoc, succes- 
 sor of Moctezuma 
 
 EARLY SPANISH 
 EXPLORERS 
 
 Francisco Hernandez 
 de Cordoba, arrived 
 1517 
 
 Pedro de Alvarado, ar- 
 rived 1518 
 
 Hernando Cortez, ar- 
 rived 1519, died 
 1547 
 
 MEXICAN RULERS 
 
 Benito Juarez, 1859- 
 1872 
 
 Maximilian, Archduke 
 of Austria, 1864-67 
 
 Porfirio Diaz, 1877- 
 80, 1884 date 
 
 L 
 
 MEXICAN GEN- 
 ERALS 
 
 Agustin de Yturbide, 
 War of Independ- 
 ence 
 
 Antonio Lopez de 
 Santa Anna, War of 
 independence and 
 Mexican War 
 
 Mariano Escobedo, 
 War against Maxi- 
 milian 
 
 MEXICAN WARS 
 
 War of Independence, 
 1810-23 
 
 War with U. 8., 1846- 
 48 
 
 War against Maxi- 
 milian, 1867 
 
 MEXICAN EVENTS 
 
 Final entry of Span- 
 ish into City of Mex- 
 ico, 1521 
 
 Uprising against 
 Spain, Sept. 16, 1810 
 
 Adoption of Republi- 
 can constitution, 
 1823 
 
 MEXICAN RUINS 
 
 Mitla (Oaxaca) 
 
 Palenque (Chiapas) 
 
 Cholula, Pyramid of 
 (Puebla) 
 
 MEXICAN CITIES 
 
 City of Mexioo (Mex- 
 ico), population, 
 400,000 
 
 Guadalajara (Jalisco), 
 125,000 
 
 Puebla (Puebla), 100,- 
 000
 
 CHAPTER III 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 
 
 "Formerly," said Mr. Stevens, "Mexico owned 
 all that part of the United States south of the Red 
 and the Arkansas rivers and west to the coast, 
 covering a large part of California. This part of 
 the country was but thinly settled with Mexicans, 
 however, while, so far as Texas was concerned, 
 Americans were continually moving into the 
 district and securing grants of land from the 
 Mexican government. For a long time they were 
 welcome because they occupied and developed the 
 country and made no trouble; but when, in 1835, 
 under the American, Sam Houston, they were so 
 numerous and so aggressive as to be able to de- 
 clare themselves and the country independent of 
 Mexico, the affair took on a different appearance." 
 
 "Did we back them up?" asked Roy, anxiously. 
 
 "You'll see," replied his father. "General 
 Santa Anna, whose name you had in your Mexican 
 
 27
 
 28 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 game yesterday, was sent north to put down this 
 revolution, and there was a great deal of fighting. 
 The Texans were entrenched in this building, the 
 Alamo, then a church." 
 
 "What does Alamo mean!" interrupted Ray. 
 
 "It is the word for cottonwood, a kind of poplar, 
 and the church of the Alamo probably stood orig- 
 inally in the midst of those trees, "said her father; 
 then, resuming his story, ' ' The Texans were under 
 the command of General Travis, and were con- 
 quered and massacred by the Mexican forces on 
 March 6, 1836. Y r ou have just had pointed out 
 to you the places where Crockett and Bowie were 
 killed. 'Remember the Alamo!' became the 
 Texans' watchword. They had another defeat 
 less than a month later when six hundred of them 
 were killed. In April, however, Santa Anna was 
 defeated and taken prisoner, and as he was then 
 the president and the principal general of Mexico, 
 tli is brought the war for Texan independence to 
 an end. For eight years, until 1844, Texas was an 
 independent republic, and had the recognition, as 
 such, of the United States and Europe, though not 
 of Mexico."
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 29 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Roy, "now I understand! 
 Isn't that why they call Texas the Lone Star State, 
 because it stood all by itself once?" 
 
 "That is just the reason. During its brief 
 career as a republic, a single blue star in a ground 
 of white silk was its banner, and its seal was a 
 white star surrounded by liveoak and olive 
 branches on a blue ground. The state still uses 
 this seal. In 1S44, Texas petitioned to be admitted 
 to the United States as a state, and being settled 
 by Americans chiefly this was almost a foregone 
 conclusion. Mexico, seeing, very naturally, bad 
 faith in this way of annexing a part of her terri- 
 tory, protested, particularly as she believed that 
 it had been what we call 'a put-up job' from the 
 beginning. Other countries, knowing the United 
 States to be much the stronger of the two, did not 
 interfere, and so the Mexican War began." 
 
 "I think it was a shame," said Kay, indignantly. 
 
 "It was just like stealing from your next-door 
 neighbour," said Roy. 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Stevens, "there were a great 
 many Americans at the time who felt so and pro- 
 tested, but in vain. General Ulysses Grant was a
 
 30 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 young soldier in our army during this war, and he 
 has left on record his opinion that it was 'one of 
 the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger 
 against a weaker nation.' It was certainly a piece 
 of Yankee sharp practice, and is perhaps the one 
 war in which our country has been engaged for 
 which it has had reason to blush. 
 
 ' ' The first battle of the war took place in April, 
 1846, and until May 18th all the fighting was in 
 Texas. Then General Zachary Taylor, head of 
 the American forces, afterward President of the 
 United States, crossed into Mexico. The battles 
 of Monterey (Mon-tay-ray') and Buena Vista 
 (Bway'-na Vis'-ta) followed, both American vic- 
 tories, and the town of Chihuahua was taken ; and 
 at the same time the government at Washington 
 was instigating a revolution in California, also 
 Mexican territory. In August the Americans 
 under Stockton and Kearney took possession of 
 California." 
 
 "Poor Mexico was losing everywhere, wasn't 
 she?" said Ray. 
 
 "General Winfield Scott headed the expedition 
 against the City of Mexico, the capital, and won
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 31 
 
 victories in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Padierna, 
 and Churubusco. You will find all these places 
 on the map, and we will look them up together 
 presently. The battles of Molino delRey (Mo-lee'- 
 no del Ray: the King's Mill) — and, by the way, 
 the old mill is still standing — and of Casa Mata, 
 took place on the 8th of September. The saddest 
 event of the war was the storming of the Castle 
 of Chapultepec, only a mile from the city, on the 
 12th and 13th. This was occupied then, as it is 
 now in part, as a military school, and the young 
 cadets helped nobly to defend it, several losing 
 their lives in the struggle. A monument to them 
 stands at the base of the rock on which the castle 
 is built, and we shall see the inscription when we 
 go out there. The Mexican families whose sons 
 were in this engagement were very proud of them, 
 and every year the monument is hung with gar- 
 lands." 
 
 "I think the United States was in pretty poor 
 business to fight boys," exclaimed Roy, while 
 Ray's eyes filled with tears. 
 
 "lam glad to say," said Mr. Stevens, "that a 
 recent xlmerican ambassador to Mexico sent some
 
 32 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 very beautiful wreaths to be placed on the monu- 
 ment at the time of the annual decoration, which 
 pleased the Mexican people very much. And 
 when the treaty was signed, at the close of the war 
 (it was called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo— 
 Gwah-da-lu'-pay He-dal'-go), the United States 
 paid Mexico $15,000,000 for all the territory north 
 and east of the Rio Grande- (Ree'-o Gran'-day). 
 Since then, the great river, which is what the name 
 Rio Grande means, has been the boundary between 
 the two republics." 
 
 "Do the Mexicans just hate us, ever since?' 
 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "No, I do not think they do. Nations very 
 seldom hate one another as a whole, fortunately, 
 and Mexico has prospered so and is so large a 
 country even without the territory we took from 
 her, that she holds higher and higher rank among 
 nations as time goes on, and can afford to forget 
 past injustice. Americans living in Mexico seem 
 very happy, and the law-abiding class get along 
 amicably with the native citizens." 
 
 Ray gave a sigh of relief. "Roy, let us buy 
 some flowers, too, to put on the monument," she
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 33 
 
 said, and Roy nodded soberly. It was the first 
 time it had occurred to him that his country could 
 be in the wrong. 
 
 After this little talk, the children went the 
 rounds of the Alamo once more, noting its thick 
 walls and grated windows, the fig-tree looking in 
 at one window and the morning-glory vine draping 
 another. They examined with interest the pic- 
 tures on the walls, of the Americans who had been 
 in the defence of the building, and read the his- 
 torical documents framed and hung about, every- 
 where. This was a fine way to study American 
 history, they thought. 
 
 It was time to go to the train, and they were 
 soon speeding on through Texas, calling each 
 other's attention to the increasing growth of 
 cactus, and to the chaparral, thickets of mesquite, 
 etc., the only vegetation of these dry plains. Once 
 they were much diverted by an old freight-car 
 which was being occupied as a home by a Mexican 
 family. The son, a boy of about Roy's age, stood 
 in the doorway with a red and green parrot on his 
 shoulder, and waved his hand at the children as 
 they passed. For some time before they reached
 
 34 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the Mexican border, they saw the thatched huts 
 that became so familiar to them the next day in 
 northern Mexico. These huts were built some- 
 times of adobe and sometimes of wood, and 
 thatched with the dried leaves of the yucca. 
 
 When the train stopped at Laredo (Lah-ray'-do), 
 on the American side of the Rio Grande, the Mexi- 
 can customs officials came aboard the train and 
 examined all the hand-baggage the passengers had 
 with them, looking at it very carelessly and putting 
 a black mark on the outside of every package to 
 show that it had been examined. The children 
 watched them with great interest, but were soon 
 diverted by the view of the Rio Grande as they 
 crossed the long bridge leading into Mexico. The 
 river was very wide and seemed rather low and 
 full of sandbars, for though it was past the end of 
 the dry season the rains had not yet had time to 
 fill it up. On either side, the country was covered 
 with green foliage and dotted with white houses, 
 and the sky was very blue, with little white clouds 
 floating about. It was a beautiful picture. 
 
 Before reaching Laredo a new official had 
 boarded the train, the "passenger's assistant," an
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 35 
 
 American in uniform, whose duty it was to help 
 those passengers who might have trouble in get- 
 ting their baggage into Mexico on account of their 
 ignorance of Spanish or who might wish to change 
 American money into Mexican. As Roy and Ray 
 had charge of their own trunk, their father 
 promised to let them see it through the customs, 
 and the children awaited developments in great 
 excitement. When they left the car at Nuevo 
 (Nway'-vo) Laredo on the Mexican side of the 
 river, they found their trunk with the other bag- 
 gage in a room in the station. Roy watched other 
 people for a moment and saw that the thing to 
 do was to get hold of an inspector, but as there 
 seemed to be very few in uniform and all these 
 were busy, he hardly knew what to do. Suddenly 
 a rather ragged Mexican boy of his own age 
 plucked his sleeve and pointed to the trunk with 
 an inquiring look which said plainly, "Is this 
 yours?" Roy nodded his head and showed his 
 key. The boy took it, beckoned to a middle-aged 
 woman who stood near, opened the trunk and took 
 out the trays, one by one. The woman ran her 
 hand into the trunk, around the sides and corners,
 
 36 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and did the same with the trays, and signified by 
 a sign that she was satisfied it was all right. So 
 the children decided that she was a government 
 inspector. When the trunk was locked again, Roy 
 was about to give the boy a few cents for his 
 trouble, but the boy shook his head and waved his 
 hand toward the other end of the room where the 
 baggage was being rechecked. Then, with all his 
 small strength, he dragged the trunk over, took 
 Roy's check and exchanged it for two checks of the 
 Mexican National Railroad, one of which he fas- 
 tened on the trunk, giving the other to Roy, and his 
 duty was done. He then held out his hand, indicat- 
 ing that he was now ready for his fee, and Roy, 
 who had put his money away, now got it out again 
 and gave it to him, a little puzzled. Resolving, 
 however, not to ask his father the reason for this 
 strange behaviour until he had tried to find his 
 own explanation, he spent some time in thinking 
 over the matter. It finally occurred to him that 
 Mexico, like the United States, probably forbade 
 its customs officials to take fees, so that the -boy 
 could not take any money for the inspection; but 
 as he was not obliged to recheck the trunk, and did
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 37 
 
 it as a favour, he could properly receive a fee for 
 that. And I think that this was probably the cor- 
 rect explanation. 
 
 When they had started on again, Ray said, 
 "Well, I don't see why we need to speak Spanish, 
 if it is all as easy as that. Why, Roy and that boy 
 knew just as well what they both meant as if they • 
 had been talking, and neither of them said a 
 word." 
 
 "The Mexicans are like the Italians and the 
 French — like all the Latin races — in being able to 
 express a great deal by looks and gestures, and in 
 understanding very easily the expression of the 
 face in others. If they were not so quick, a person 
 who could not speak any Spanish would sometimes 
 be at a great disadvantage down here," said Mr. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "How much did you pay the boy, Roy?" asked 
 his mother. 
 
 "I gave him ten cents," said Roy. "Wasn't 
 that right?" 
 
 "Of American money?" 
 
 "Yes, I hadn't any other." 
 
 "Then you really gave him twenty cents, for
 
 38 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 our money is worth twice theirs; and he would 
 probably have been entirely satisfied with one- 
 fourth the amount, or five cents of Mexican cur- 
 rency," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "He didn't do the work very well," said Ray, 
 "because Roy and I went back and tried the trunk 
 and he hadn't locked it at all, and if we hadn't 
 thought to go back anybody could have opened it 
 by just undoing the straps." 
 
 ' ' The Mexicans are not very good in mechanics, 
 and he probably did not understand the lock," 
 said Mrs. Stevens. Then, turning to her husband, 
 "I think, Horace, the children should have some 
 instruction in Mexican money, now that you have 
 some to show them." 
 
 "That's true," said her husband, taking from 
 his pocket a handful of coins, large and small, 
 among which was one about the size of an Ameri- 
 can dollar, "as big as a dinner-plate," Roy said. 
 "This is the Mexican dollar or peso (pay'-so)," 
 said Mr. Stevens, "and it is worth fifty cents of 
 our money." 
 
 "Why isn't their money as good as ours?" 
 asked Ray.
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 39 
 
 "My dear, you will get me into a lecture on 
 political economy, if you insist on my answering 
 that question," said her father, "but one of these 
 days, if you will remind me, I will try to have an 
 explanation for you in as simple a form as 
 possible. 
 
 "The Mexicans reckon things largely in reales 
 (ray-ahl'-es). The real is equal to 12>4 cents. 
 There is really no such coin, but two reals, or dos 
 reales, make the quarter, cuatro (qua'-tro) reales, 
 or four reals, the half-dollar; and ocho reales, or 
 eight reals, the dollar or peso. Below the real, 
 they have three denominations, the centavo, the 
 quartilla (quar-tee'-ya), and the medio (may'- 
 dee-o), and the coins are a twenty-centavo piece in 
 nickel, a ten-centavo and a five-centavo piece in sil- 
 ver, and the copper centavo like a big penny. The 
 quartilla is three centavos, and the medio six. As 
 their money, like our own, is based on the decimal 
 system, it is very easy for Americans to under- 
 stand, and now that the rate of exchange is fixed 
 at one-half, and the Mexican dollar is worth 
 exactly half the American dollar, it is no trouble 
 at all for us to calculate from Mexican into Ameri-
 
 40 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 can money or vice-versa. Sometimes the people 
 down here say 'Two dollars gold,' which is the 
 same as to say 'Two dollars American money,' and 
 'Two dollars silver' means 'Two dollars Mexi- 
 can.' " 
 
 ' ' Did you notice what it was they pasted on the 
 trunks at the custom-house, children?" asked 
 their father, as they ate their supper. 
 
 "A piece of white paper," answered Ray, 
 quickly. 
 
 " Yes, but what did it say?" 
 
 "I know," said Roy, "wait a minute while I 
 think. It was re — re — oh, I know — reconocido." 
 
 "Yes, reconocido (ray-co-no-see'-do), — the Mex- 
 icans do not pronounce the soft c like th as the 
 Spaniards do. It means examined. And aduana 
 (ah-doo-ah'-na) means customs. I want you both 
 to read as many Spanish signs and notices as pos- 
 sible, for a traveller who can read what he sees 
 posted up in various places has a great advantage 
 over one who can not, or, at least, does not. It 
 saves asking questions of people who cannot un- 
 derstand you and whom you could not understand 
 if they answered you. You have heard the story
 
 ACROSS THE BORDER 41 
 
 of the man who was travelling in Germany with- 
 out knowing the language ? ' ' 
 
 "No, no!" cried the children, eager always for 
 a story. 
 
 "Well, it seems he was on a train going to a 
 town he had never seen, so he had to depend on 
 some one to tell him when he got there. The train 
 stopped at the town finally, but the man was not 
 sure of it, and he called to the guard, 'Is this 
 Wurzburg?' or whatever it was. ' Aussteigen,' 
 said the guard. 'Aussteigen, is it? 'Not Wiirz- 
 burg, then,' said the traveller, and he settled back 
 in his corner and was carried on. He did not know 
 that aussteigen meant 'get out' or 'get off,' and 
 thought it the name of another town." 
 
 "Wasn't he a goose!" exclaimed Ray. 
 
 "A great many geese travel, my dear, but don't 
 you be one of them," said Mr. Stevens.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 MEXICO AT LAST 
 
 The next day was spent in the northern states 
 of Mexico, and toward evening the mountains be- 
 came more rugged and the scenery was some- 
 times strikingly grand. The children had hardly 
 reached the* age when scenery made much impres- 
 sion on them, and they left this part of the journey 
 to be enjoyed by their parents ; but they were very 
 observing, and everything that was different from 
 what they had been accustomed to, in the country 
 or the people, caught their attention and excited 
 their interest. 
 
 I forgot to mention that at one of the stations 
 after leaving Nuevo Laredo, they had several 
 kinds of grapes offered them at the car window, 
 and had found them delicious, with a half-wild 
 flavour, especially in the small white grapes, which 
 they all liked very much. It seemed strange to 
 have grapes as early as the last week in June, but 
 
 42 
 
 ?
 
 3 
 
 ■A 
 
 O 
 
 U 
 
 M 
 
 91 
 
 O
 
 MEXICO AT LAST 43 
 
 their father said it was only the beginning of the 
 strange things that they would meet in the vege- 
 table kingdom of Mexico. 
 
 The mountains really began almost as soon as 
 they entered Mexico, but they lay far off on the 
 horizon, and all the next day until late afternoon 
 the train passed through what seemed almost a 
 desert. Everywhere the cactus and the yucca 
 occupied the soil. The huts of the people along 
 the railway, except some brick and adobe ones 
 built by the railroad company at the stations, were 
 chiefly of timber from the yucca, with a thatch of 
 the leaves. The adobe huts were much better, but 
 glimpses of the interiors were rather disappoint- 
 ing, as the housekeeping of the women was not 
 satisfactory, according to American ideas. In the 
 chill of the early morning, they sat on their door- 
 steps to see the train come in, — the great event of 
 the day, — barefooted, but wrapped to the lips in 
 their long, rectangular shawls, called rebozos 
 (ray-bo'-zos), and barefooted children with dogs, 
 pigs, goats, and chickens, stood in groups about 
 them as if all held equal place in the family. In- 
 deed, at one place, a mother pig and her little ones,
 
 U ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 frightened at the noise made by the train, turned 
 and rushed headlong into the house, past the mis- 
 tress, who stood on the doorstep and did nothing 
 to hinder them. The dog lay still and looked after 
 them as if with contempt at their cowardice. 
 
 "I wonder where those three men were going 
 that got off at the first station this morning," said 
 Ray, as they ate breakfast. "They got off the car 
 ahead, marked Terceraclase (ter-say'-ra clah'-say: 
 third-class), and they all had musical instru- 
 ments in cases. They didn't stop at the station, 
 but struck off into the country; and I couldn't see 
 anywhere for them to go." 
 
 "Yes," said Roy, "and I saw a man coming on 
 horseback from away off somewhere; and I 
 couldn't see any place for him to come from.'''' 
 
 "There are towns all through Mexico," said 
 Mr. Stevens, getting out his map and showing 
 them, "that are miles from any railroad. When a 
 railroad goes through one of our states, we do our 
 best to make it go through our own town, and if 
 not that, as near as possible; and then our town 
 begins to build out and extend toward the railroad 
 until it reaches it, or, at least, we run a trolley-line
 
 MEXICO AT LAST 45 
 
 over to it. But the Mexicans are not so enterpris- 
 ing and do not try to get near the railroads." 
 
 "What do these cattle find to eat?" asked Mrs. 
 Stevens. "I see flocks of sheep and herds of 
 cattle, and some horses now and then, and they 
 seem to be grazing on something ; but this vegeta- 
 tion looks very dry." 
 
 "It is very much the sort of grazing they have 
 on some of our western and southwestern plains," 
 said Mr. Stevens, "and if these plains had water 
 they would be most fertile. I suppose these lands 
 could be made as green as the Valley of Mexico, if 
 the people had the capital and the enterprise to 
 set about irrigating them on a large scale." 
 
 "That stuff doesn't look as if it could be good 
 for anything," said Roy, pointing to a grey-green 
 cactus plant. 
 
 "There you are mistaken," said his father, 
 "for the cactus is quite a useful plant. There is 
 one variety that furnishes the people with tooth- 
 picks, and another with combs, and there are two 
 or three that can be used as clocks, having an 
 invariable time of opening and closing their 
 blossoms."
 
 46 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Suddenly Roy and Ray began to laugh and 
 pointed at a hut they were passing. A child, 
 brown and chubby, sat on the doorsill eating his 
 breakfast from a tin pan with a long spoon. A 
 dog and two pigs were determined to have some 
 of it, and kept coming up and introducing their 
 noses over the edge of the pan. He struck at them 
 with the spoon and nudged them with his elbows, 
 but not until the mother drove them away did they 
 go, and even then they came back as soon as her 
 back was turned. 
 
 "Well, that is certainly breakfast under difficul- 
 ties," said Mrs. Stevens, much amused. 
 
 "It's a long way from that to cruelty to ani- 
 mals," said Mr. Stevens, "and I imagine we shall 
 find both extremes in Mexico." 
 
 Once they passed a walled town, something like 
 the pueblos (pway'-blos) of Arizona and New Mex- 
 ico, the walls the colour of the soil, and the church 
 the largest building in the enclosure. Around 
 many of the stations they saw piles of brush cut 
 and stacked in blocks, and the conductor told them 
 the people made brooms of it. They afterward 
 saw these brooms in use in various places. They
 
 MEXICO AT LAST 47 
 
 were not made of even length and thickness like 
 our brooms, but just tied together in a bundle, and 
 the handle was formed of the thick ends of the 
 brush bound together in several places. They 
 seemed to sweep very well, however. 
 
 "I thought I saw prairie-dogs a little way 
 back," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Oh, mother, why didn't you tell me?" cried 
 Ray; "I love those prairie-dogs up at the Bronx 
 gardens, and I do wish I could see them in their 
 real homes." 
 
 "We passed them so quickly, and you were not 
 here at the time, or I should have told you," said 
 Mrs. Stevens. "I am quite sure that I saw a 
 prairie-dog sitting at the door of one of the 
 mounds." 
 
 By now, they came to San Luis Potosi (Po-to- 
 see': St. Louis of the Treasure), their first large 
 Mexican town; though what they could see from 
 the station did not impress the children very 
 much. The city was on level ground, and the 
 buildings in sight were of one story and built of 
 plaster, washed in the usual pale pink and blue 
 and yellow tints. Here they were to take dinner
 
 48 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 in the station, and it proved quite an American 
 meal, with soup, fowl and meats, potatoes, peas 
 and cabbage, lemon pie and fruit. The sugar for 
 the coffee was Mexican sugar of the usual grade, 
 tinged with brown, but very sweet. "Twenty 
 minutes for dinner" in Mexico usually means 
 twenty-five, so that one does not feel hurried, and 
 though the waiters bring and pass things very 
 quickly they do not get nervous and fling things 
 at you, as in many of our American station dining- 
 rooms. 
 
 The family explored a little after dinner, before 
 the train started, and back of the station found 
 an avenue of large trees under which the country 
 people were holding a sort of market on the 
 ground, selling fruits and vegetables, arranged in 
 little piles as at San Antonio. At the train- 
 windows, before they started, all sorts of bartering 
 was going on, the people bringing gay little 
 baskets of strawberries, figs, little jumping-jacks 
 called Judases, dressed in fur, strings of toy 
 sombreros (som-bray'-ros) and of toy umbrellas, 
 home-made candies, and some very beautiful speci- 
 mens of drawnwork. This was exquisitely fine,
 
 MEXICO AT LAST 49 
 
 and some of the patterns were like those we see in 
 our best cut-glass. 
 
 San Luis Potosi is in the midst of a famous 
 silver-mining district, and one of the ladies in the 
 sleeping-car was going to her home at another 
 station in this same district. Her husband was 
 superintendent of a mine, and Mrs. Stevens asked 
 her if she had ever been down in the mine, and 
 was much surprised to find that she never had. 
 "No woman is allowed in the mine," she said, 
 "on account of the superstition of the natives. 
 They would think the place hoodooed (bewitched) 
 if a woman once entered it. But I will tell you 
 what thev do let into the mines, and that is rats. 
 They get them and domesticate them as scaven- 
 gers, for it seems the only way of keeping the 
 mines clean." 
 
 "Then I shouldn't think any woman would wemt 
 to go into the mines," said Ray, "if they have 
 rats there." 
 
 "If Rip Van Winkle had only lived here, he 
 could have gone clown in the mine and Gret- 
 chen couldn't have got him," said Roy, thought- 
 fully, making them all laugh. Just here the
 
 50 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 conductor came along and stopped to talk a 
 moment. 
 
 "You youngsters mustn't think," said lie to the 
 children, "that you have really seen San Luis 
 Potosi. It dates back to 1566 or thereabouts, and 
 was a big commercial city years before ever the 
 railroad came through, and it has between seventy 
 and eighty thousand people now. What you see 
 from the station is not very impressive, but it has 
 a cathedral and numerous churches, a library of 
 100,000 volumes and a museum; the state capital 
 is here, the state college, and some mighty pretty 
 plazas (public squares) and patios (enclosed 
 courts). If you had had time to stop here, 
 you'd have found some very pretty gold and 
 silver embroidery in the shops, a kind of work the 
 women and girls make a specialty of." 
 
 "Oh, father!" exclaimed Ray, regretfully. 
 
 "Never mind, little woman," said Mr. Stevens, 
 "you and your mother will find plenty of other 
 things to spend money on. If Mexico is at all like 
 Europe, money will simply melt through our 
 fingers before we know it." As if to confirm his 
 statement, all day long, at every station, there
 
 MEXICO AT LAST 51 
 
 were venders of figs, of pears, of tortillas (tor- 
 tee'-yas), little flat cakes of corn-flour, pottery, etc., 
 until the children soon saw where their money 
 would vanish if they allowed it to go. 
 
 It seemed odd to them to see Indian corn grow- 
 ing in fields all the way down, sometimes sur- 
 rounded by a hedge of straight, tall cactus, and to 
 see apples among the products offered for sale. 
 
 From San Luis on, they began to see street-cars 
 at the more important stations, generally drawn 
 by mules, and very small to eyes accustomed to 
 the long city cars of the United States. In the 
 afternoon they had a good view of a great haci- 
 enda (hah-see-en'-da) or estate. It began right at 
 the station — indeed, the station was put there to 
 serve the hacienda, evidently. The immense brick 
 dwelling, large as a hotel, surrounded with trees, 
 gardens, and outbuildings of adobe, all in the best 
 possible condition, overlooked the railroad. The 
 estate extended across the track in the midst of 
 continued verdure, with stone-walled fields, the 
 walls climbing to the top of the adjoining hills, 
 winding streams, a windmill of the most modern 
 type, workshops and outbuildings of great extent.
 
 52 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and a church with two towers, making a really 
 beautiful spot after the desert miles they had 
 passed through. It was here that they saw for 
 the first time in their lives a private horse-car. 
 It was a little one, holding only four persons, and 
 ran on the same tracks as the public one. It was 
 evidently intended for the use of the owner of the 
 hacienda. One of the conductors, who was also 
 the driver, left his car and came to the station, 
 and the children saw that he had "Carrotero 
 (Car-ro-tay'-ro) " on his cap. 
 
 "That isn't much like conductor," said Ray. 
 
 "No, but it makes me think of an English word 
 — I can't just remember what," said Roy, knit- 
 ting his brows together. 
 
 "Charioteer!" suggested his mother. 
 
 "Yes!" exclaimed Roy, "and it means almost 
 the same thing, doesn't it?" 
 
 "They came from the same Latin word, car- 
 rws," said Mrs. Stevens. "And car, cart, and 
 carriage in English, carrozza in Italian, char in 
 French, carro in Spanish, are all words of the 
 same derivation." I don't know how much of this 
 little lesson in words the children remembered,

 
 MEXICO AT LAST 53 
 
 but they ever afterward, while in Mexico, called 
 the conductor the charioteer. 
 
 Besides the street-car, they noticed the local 
 buggies, which had while hoods instead of black, 
 to reflect the rays of the sun instead of absorbing 
 them. Soon alter, the train began to climb up into 
 the mountains, and the children got their first view 
 of a Mexican laundry. Some country women had 
 brought their washing to a mountain brook and 
 were rubbing the wet clothes on the stones to get 
 the dirt off. A Mexican- American lady on the train 
 told Mrs. Stevens that it was hard to get the Mexi- 
 can women to wash in any other way, and that if 
 you gave them washboards on which to rub the 
 clothes, they would kneel on the boards and con- 
 tinue to rub on the stones. A ploughman plough- 
 ing with a crooked stick, instead of a modern 
 plough, was another sight among the hills. He 
 stood up to look at the train, and his red serape 
 (se-rah'-pay) flapped about him most picturesque- 
 ly. This is a garment worn by nearly all tin 1 men 
 of the Mexican working class, though in the cities 
 they are gradually giving it up, which seems a pity, 
 for they usually wear it very gracefully. It is a
 
 54 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 square garment made of two oblong strips sewed 
 or woven together, leaving an opening in the 
 centre to put the head through. This is the way 
 it is worn for warmth. When not needed for this, 
 it is doubled lengthwise and thrown around the 
 neck or across the shoulder, and never seems to in- 
 terfere in the least with the wearer's movements. 
 One can find them in various colours and weaves, 
 and often considerably decorated; but the favour- 
 ite colour is red, and with the loose white coat and 
 trousers, sandals, and peaked, broad-brimmed hat, 
 or sombrero, it makes a very picturesque costume. 
 Farther on, they saw a property containing 
 acres of strawberries under cultivation. They 
 had already tasted the Mexican strawberry and 
 found it very sweet, with something of the taste of 
 our wild berry, and generally smaller than our 
 largest berries. Soon after this, it grew too dark 
 to see, and the children, tired with all the novel 
 sights they had noticed during the day, dropped 
 to sleep as soon as they touched their pillows, 
 saying to each other joyfully, "To-morrow morn- 
 ing we '11 wake in the Valley of Mexico and get to 
 Mexico City."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 
 
 And in the morning, true to their expectations, 
 they awoke to find themselves gliding through the 
 beautiful valley, with green fields, white villages, 
 and church belfries on every hand, the circle of 
 mountains that encloses all the valley plainly visi- 
 ble. Two things they had hoped to see they could 
 not see, however, for Mt. Popocate'petl, the 
 "smoking mountain," and Ixtaccihuatl (Ix-tatzy- 
 hwat'l), the "sleeping woman," were veiled with 
 clouds so far as their snowy tops were concerned. 
 "Never mind," said Mr. Stevens, "we shall see 
 them often before we leave Mexico, and there will 
 be plenty of other novelties this morning." 
 
 Early as was their arrival, the station was a 
 scene of great activity, all sorts of officials and 
 half-officials and supernumeraries running about 
 hither and thither and calling and seeming very 
 busy. Outside in the station yard were dozens of
 
 56 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 carriages, nearly all with wretchedly thin, worn- 
 looking horses. The drivers wore dark jackets 
 and tall, peaked dark hats, some of felt, some of a 
 furry-looking substance, all with very broad brims 
 slightly turned up, and the crown often encircled 
 with silver or gold braid. 
 
 Roy 's quick eyes took in several things. ' ' See, ' ' 
 he said to Ray, "some have red stripes in their 
 lamps and some have blue and some yellow. I 
 wonder what that means." That was a problem 
 that no amount of thinking would solve, so he 
 thought it was fair to ask his father, and found 
 that the blue cabs were first, the red second, and 
 the yellow third class, and that the prices varied 
 accordingly from one dollar to fifty cents per 
 hour, Mexican. 
 
 "But suppose you just want the man to take 
 you a half-mile and leave you ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' You would have to pay him for a half-hour — 
 that is the least they will take a passenger 
 for." 
 
 They soon selected a carriage with seats for 
 four, "un coche (oon co'-chay)" as Mrs. Stevens 
 called it, gave the driver the name of their hotel,
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 57 
 
 and took their seats. He whipped up his horses, 
 and they were soon going rapidly through the 
 very handsome residence streets not far from the 
 station. 
 
 "Oh, there is Christopher Columbus!" ex- 
 claimed Boy as delightedly as if he had met an 
 American friend. 
 
 "Why, yes, a monument to Christopher Colum- 
 bus! What's he doing here?" said Ray, without 
 thinking. 
 
 "My dear! 11 exclaimed her mother, reproach- 
 fully. 
 
 "Oh, I forgot. He discovered Mexico just as 
 much as the United States, didn't he?" said Ray, 
 quite confused, especially as all the family were 
 smiling at her mistake. 
 
 Then they came to another monument, and this 
 time none of them recognised it, though they 
 found by the inscription that it was Charles IV. 
 of Spain. It was a fine equestrian statue, and 
 presently Mr. Stevens remembered reading of it. 
 When the Spanish rule was overthrown, the mon- 
 ument had been removed to the court of the 
 University for safety as there was so much bitter-
 
 58 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ness toward the Spaniards ; and there it remained 
 from 1822 to 1852, when it was placed where it 
 now stands at the entrance to the fashionable 
 boulevard of the city,' the Paseo ( Pah-say '-o) de 
 la Eeforma (Ray-for'-ma). It stands in a little 
 circle called a glorieta (glo-ry-ay'-ta). As they 
 looked down the wide, tree-bordered boulevard, 
 with statues and monuments here and there, they 
 had to admit that it was as fine as any street 
 they had ever seen. The Mexican houses which 
 they passed were usually of two or three stories, 
 of stone or of plaster, and sometimes with much 
 ornamental carving, lace-curtained windows, and 
 beautiful doorways. 
 
 "But they haven't any yards," said Roy. 
 ' ' Yes, don 't you see ? " said Ray. ' ' Look through 
 the doorways and you'll see the yards inside. 
 They have lovely flowers and trees in them, and 
 fountains sometimes." 
 
 I doubt very much if there were trees in these 
 patios or courts, but there were plants in immense 
 pots and jars, as tall as small trees, banana-plants 
 and palms, and there were climbing vines, some of 
 them with brilliant flowers.
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 59 
 
 "It isn't half as nice as having yards, because 
 you can't see them," said Roy. 
 
 "Oh, I think it's nicer," said Kay, "because 
 when your yard is inside, you can get the good 
 of it without every one's looking at you. The 
 people that have yards in New York never sit in 
 them." 
 
 "Well, I should think not," said Roy, con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 "Well, then, what's the good of them?" per- 
 sisted Ray. 
 
 "Why, for other people to look at," rejoined 
 Roy. 
 
 "And have to stay in the house yourself all the 
 time and never get the air? I think this is much 
 nicer. If other people that haven't any yards 
 want to see something green, they can go and look 
 at the parks and open squares, instead of staring 
 in at people in their own gardens." 
 
 Roy was silent, but not convinced. It was not 
 until some days had passed that he admitted that 
 the Mexican system of building had some advan- 
 tages. When they reached their hotel, they found 
 it was built in the same way. There were no steps
 
 60 
 
 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 leading up to it, but the carriage drove right in at 
 the great doorway and across a large court, to the 
 corner where the office was. Three rooms were 
 assigned them on the second floor, at least what we 
 call the second floor, though it is first according to 
 the Mexican count, and what we call the first they 
 call the ground floor, as in Europe. The children 
 entered their rooms with the greatest curiosity. 
 
 Mr. & Mrs, 
 
 Stevens' 
 Room / 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 Roy's Room 
 
 A_ 
 
 j* Ray's Room 
 
 / 
 
 "We haven't got any windows ! ' ' they exclaimed in 
 one breath. "We've only got a door! And there 
 isn't any hall — the doors open right on the 
 porch!" Their rooms opened also into the much 
 larger one assigned to their father and mother, 
 however, and this room had windows looking 
 down upon the street. This is the plan. 
 
 It was not so bad a plan for a family party, for 
 by leaving both the doors and the windows open,
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 61 
 
 they secured a current of air through all the 
 rooms and had the benefit of overlooking both 
 street and patio. This patio was not like a garden, 
 however, being paved with cobblestone, with a 
 stone walk around it under the gallery, but the 
 decoration of the walls and the gallery was very 
 fine and rich. It was a massive and imposing 
 building altogether, and had once been the palace 
 of the Emperor Yturbide (Ee-tur-bee'-de) during 
 his short reign from May to December, 1822, 
 ended by the proclamation of the Mexican Re- 
 public. Yturbide was banished from the country 
 for betraying the wishes of his countrymen, which 
 were for a republic, but received a pension for 
 his previous services to the country in securing 
 her independence. He went to England, and from 
 there sent back information of a plot for the 
 restoration of Spanish rule. No attention was 
 paid to this, and a price was put upon his head if 
 he should ever return. The poor man did not 
 know of this and ventured to come back, was 
 arrested, condemned to death, and shot in 1824. 
 
 All this Mr. Stevens told the children while 
 they were unpacking and arranging their clothes.
 
 62 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 It made quite an impression upon them, and 
 they felt very sorry for the man whose life had 
 begun so well as a valiant soldier's and ended 
 as a traitor's without his meaning to be one. 
 
 "Just think," said Ray, leaning over the gal- 
 lery and looking into the court below, "an 
 emperor has often walked through this court, and 
 even along this gallery. Perhaps he has slept in 
 our very rooms." 
 
 "Did they try him?" asked Roy, much dis- 
 turbed. 
 
 "Yes, my boy, the legislature was in session in 
 Tamau'lipas, the state in which he landed, and he 
 was brought before it to be tried." 
 
 "Well, then, I suppose it was all right, and they 
 did the best they knew, but it seems as if they 
 might have believed him when he said he didn't 
 mean any harm. ' ' 
 
 "Are you ready to go out, children?" asked 
 Mrs. Stevens, presently. "Father says we have 
 so much time before dinner that we can spend 
 several hours in sightseeing." 
 
 "Dinner? Why, we haven't had breakfast and 
 luncheon yet!" exclaimed Roy, dismayed at the
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 63 
 
 thought of losing two meals, for he was quite 
 hungry. 
 
 "Don't be frightened!" said his mother, laugh- 
 ing. "We are going down to breakfast now, and 
 people here generally have dinner in the middle 
 of the day." 
 
 "Are we going to have our meals in the 
 palace? " asked Kay, wondering what it might be 
 like to eat in an imperial dining-room. 
 
 "No," said Mr. Stevens, "we have taken rooms 
 only — that is the plan most of the hotels follow 
 here, the European one, and we shall get our meals 
 at restaurants outside, or here when we feel so 
 disposed. I must warn you not to eat much fruit 
 here nor heavy meals until we are pretty well 
 acclimated. We have come from sea-level up to a 
 height of over 7000 feet in three days, and for a 
 while our digestions will have to be watched. The 
 heart, too, beats very much faster in this rarefied 
 air, and it must not be overworked." 
 
 "Don't the people that live here mind it?" 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "Those that are born here, or that have lived 
 here a long time, become adapted to it, but you
 
 64 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 will notice they take certain precautions. They 
 walk in the shade whenever they can, and they do 
 very little from noon until about three o'clock, 
 while the heat is greatest and when they are more 
 or less tired with the morning's exertion. Then 
 they close their shops for a few hours and take a 
 siesta, or nap. Are we all ready to go down? 
 Have you locked the trunk, Roy or Ray? You 
 must not leave jewelry or money or anything 
 valuable about in a hotel, for it is impossible to 
 be sure of servants." 
 
 "Do you think they would care for our books V 1 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "Hardly," said Mr. Stevens, smiling, "espe- 
 cially as they are in English." He locked the two 
 doors that opened on the gallery, and they all went 
 in search of the breakfast-room. 
 
 The children learned several things while at 
 breakfast, that the waiter is called mo'zo, that an 
 omelet is a kind of tortilla, and that Mexi- 
 can coffee, at breakfast time, is more than half 
 hot milk. They were a little inclined to find 
 fault because there was no hot bread, but their 
 father told them the dry, tough, crusty rolls were
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 65 
 
 much better for them, and that the very first 
 characteristic of a good traveller was to adapt 
 himself to the customs of the country he travelled 
 in, and not to want things just as he has them at 
 home. "What would be the use of travelling, if 
 people and things everywhere were alike?" he 
 said. 
 
 It was Sunday morning, and the best place to 
 see the people seemed to be at the great Cathedral, 
 where Mass was being celebrated. They were 
 several blocks away from the Plaza which the 
 Cathedral faces and which is usually called the 
 Zocalo, though its true and formal name is Pla'za 
 Mayor' de la Constitucion, — and the children as 
 they walked gazed eagerly into the shop windows 
 and at the people they met. The sidewalks, even on 
 the main business street, San Francisco, were only 
 wide enough for two people to pass each other, so 
 the Stevens family were soon walking single file. 
 As they came out upon the Plaza, a great open 
 square, Mr. Stevens called to the children to stop 
 for a moment, so that they might get an 
 impression from across the square of the great 
 Cathedral,
 
 66 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 It was different from any church Roy and Ray 
 had ever seen, and at first they were inclined to 
 compare its aged and time-stained look very un- 
 favourably with that of the modern churches at 
 home; but the longer they stayed in Mexico and 
 the more they saw of the cathedrals everywhere, 
 the better they understood the beauty that comes 
 to a building from age and weather, and the more 
 they felt that the difference in architecture was in 
 favour of the Cathedral. They went into it by one 
 of the great doors and found it full of people, all 
 very quiet, although you could hardly hear what 
 the officiating priests were saying, and as they 
 spoke in Latin many of the people could not have 
 understood it anyhow. But they were as still and 
 as respectful as if they heard and understood 
 every word. Most of them had to stand, as there 
 were not many seats, and many of them were 
 kneeling on the bare tiles, praying, with their eyes 
 fixed on the altar, entirely forgetful of their sur- 
 roundings. This seems to be a feature of the 
 Mexican character, a deep reverence in the pres- 
 ence of sacred things, and it offends them very 
 much for strangers to walk briskly through their
 
 A Beggar Boy
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 67 
 
 churches and speak in ordinary tones. Mrs. 
 Stevens said some of the attitudes and ex- 
 pressions were like those of the figures in 
 paintings by the old Spanish masters. After they 
 had stood awhile in silence, they came out into the 
 Plaza, where things were very different indeed. 
 It seemed as if all the people in the city who had 
 things to peddle had come there to peddle them 
 that morning. The family found a seat unoccu- 
 pied and sat for over an hour absorbed in watch- 
 ing the crowd. Like that in the church, it was 
 1 composed of all classes of people, gentlemen and 
 ladies, well-dressed, strolling about and chatting, 
 women in rebozos, with nothing on their heads 
 except when they drew this long shawl up over 
 them, countrymen and workmen in peaked hats 
 and white linen or cotton suits and sandals, or 
 even bare feet, and beggars in rags that would 
 hardly hold together. Indeed, one jolly little 
 beggar-boy had his two ragged garments tied on 
 him with strings. Never anywhere had they seen 
 such ragged figures as they saw here. But the 
 beggar-children, at least, seemed care-free and 
 jolly. The beggars did not bother them by follow-
 
 68 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ing them, as they would have done in Europe — 
 they either sat in their corners and held out their 
 hands pleadingly, or let their infirmities speak for 
 them after they had called attention by "Nino 
 (Neen'-yo) " or "Nina (Neen'-yah)," according as 
 they spoke to a young man or young woman, a boy 
 or a girl. The children were at first so distressed 
 by the cripples and blind people they saw that 
 they could hardly enjoy anything; but when they 
 found a centavo would brighten the face of the 
 most distressing one among them, and that, on the 
 whole, the beggars were not actually suffering at 
 the moment, they began to feel better. 
 
 "Let's see how many things we can count that 
 they are selling," said Ray, and she and Roy at 
 once began to call out to one another, "Pineapple 
 slices, one," "sliced watermelon, two," "balloons, 
 three," "all kinds of candies, four," "all kinds 
 of cakes, five," "figs and something else, yellow, 
 six," ("The yellow fruits are mangoes," said 
 Mr. Stevens), "lemonade, or something like it, 
 seven," "little shortcakes, eight," "brooms, 
 nine," "brushes, ten," "flowers, eleven," "char- 
 coal, twelve," "water-jars, thirteen," "milk, four-
 
 THE CITY OF MEXICO 69 
 
 teen," " water, fifteen," and so on. You see, the 
 Plaza was a very busy market that morning. 
 
 At last they rose, and strolling around the end 
 of the Cathedral, came unexpectedly to the flower- 
 market, which I shall tell you about in another 
 chapter.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 
 
 The flower-market is held in a good-sized 
 
 pavilion at one end of the Cathedral, in a shady 
 
 corner of the Plaza. The great day is Sunday, but 
 
 every day there are numbers of country people 
 
 there with their bouquets ready made, generally 
 
 each of one kind of flower, their funeral designs 
 
 made up in appropriate flowers, and their great 
 
 jars or tubs full of flowers that need a great deal 
 
 of water. There were so many kinds of beautiful 
 
 roses that Ray, who was very fond of flowers, 
 
 could only shake her head in astonishment and 
 
 wish she had money enough to buy them all. 
 
 There were pansies of rich purple and brown, 
 
 much larger than most of ours, asters, and dahlias 
 
 and gladioli all in gorgeous colours, and great 
 
 stalks of blue flowers like small lilies, and clusters 
 
 of a great purple lily, flowers none of them had 
 
 ever seen before. There were ragged robins, and 
 
 70
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 71 
 
 nasturtiums, and lady-slippers, and there was a 
 tubful of the bluest and most perfect forget-me- 
 nots that any of them had ever seen. "What do 
 you call these?" asked Mrs. Stevens of a little 
 Mexican boy who seemed to belong there. 
 
 " N o-mi-olvidas (No-me-ol-vee'-das)," was his 
 answer. 
 
 "It is the same as with us!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "What is the English name?" asked the boy. 
 
 "Forget-me-not," replied Mrs. Stevens, which 
 he repeated after her with a perfect accent but 
 evidently thinking it a very curious word, for he 
 and his friends laughed at the strange-sounding 
 name the Americans had for the little no-mi- 
 olvidas. Mrs. Stevens, knowing that it might be 
 some time before they got back to their rooms, 
 bought only a cluster of the little blue lily-like 
 flowers which had a stiff stalk and would not 
 wilt easily, and they were about to pass on when 
 their attention was caught by a very funny sight. 
 Two little boys, apparently brothers and also beg- 
 gars, or, at least, very poor, judging from their 
 rags, were struggling together on the ground, the
 
 72 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 little one trying to get something from the larger 
 one. At last the big one got up, and when the 
 little one scrambled up to follow him, they saw he 
 had no trousers on and that the big boy was run- 
 ning off with them to tease him. The little one 
 finally prevailed upon his brother to give him back 
 his garment and sat down on the ground and put 
 it on as if he had been in his bedroom instead of 
 out on a public street. When he was clothed 
 again, Mrs. Stevens asked the two boys to stand 
 for their picture, promising them ten centavos. 
 They stood willingly, and then they all saw that 
 the younger one had one foot twisted backward, so 
 that it was hard for him to walk. When Mrs. 
 Stevens paid the older boy, the little one looked 
 disappointed, so she said, "Remember, half of it is 
 for him." "Yes, yes," said the older boy, "five 
 for me and five for him," and they strolled away 
 with arms about each other's necks. 
 
 A little while afterward, the congregation 
 having come out of the Cathedral, the family went 
 into it again to look about as they could not when 
 service was going on. They sat down quietly, and 
 presently they heard the patter of bare feet.
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 73 
 
 They turned, at least the children did, and here 
 were the two little beggars, the older carrying the 
 younger pickaback. Without seeing the Stevenses, 
 he carried the little cripple to the foot of one of 
 the side altars and let him down, and there they 
 both knelt, saying prayers very devoutly. The 
 little one even managed, in spite of his twisted 
 foot, to go up the steps of the altar on his knees. 
 
 1 'Do you suppose they are thanking God for 
 that ten-cent piece?" whispered Ray to Roy, but 
 he shook his head for her not to talk in the church. 
 When they went out they encountered the boys 
 again and got a flashing smile from their little 
 white teeth, and every day they went through the 
 Zocalo they saw the interesting couple and re- 
 ceived a smile of recognition from them. "They 
 seem so happy," said Ray, much puzzled, "I don't 
 see how I could be happy, all rags and dirt." 
 
 "When you were a little thing, you used to cry 
 when you had to be bathed and have clean clothes 
 put on you," said her mother, "and so did Roy. 
 Children, as a rule, don't object to being let 
 alone, when it comes to washing and dressing. 
 It is only because we kept on doing it that you
 
 74 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 gradually canie to like it and feel that it was 
 necessary. I suppose these little fellows have had 
 nobody to look after them and don't know how 
 nice it is to be clean and have whole clothes to 
 put on. I dare say they wouldn't change places 
 with you, if they knew all the things you have to 
 do — to brush your hair and your teeth, to bathe 
 every day, to wear shoes, to keep your hands 
 clean, to wear a hat on the street, and to do all 
 the things that well-brought-up people think neces- 
 sary." 
 
 ' ' Then I suppose we were just savages when we 
 were little," said Ray, thoughtfully. 
 
 ' ' Not that exactly, but you were more than any- 
 thing else little animals, and we wanted you to be 
 something better when you grew up." 
 
 Ray thought a little while in silence, then she 
 came to her mother and pressed her hand affec- 
 tionately. "Thank you, mother," she said, "I 
 suppose it was a great deal of trouble." 
 
 After luncheon, which they had at a restaurant, 
 the party went to their rooms to rest until three 
 o'clock, after which they were going to make a 
 little excursion by tram (street-car) to Guada-
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 75 
 
 lupe, one of the suburbs. Mr. Stevens said that, 
 as they were unused to the altitude, they would 
 better drive or go in trams in the afternoon after 
 their rest, and do their walking and harder sight- 
 seeing in the morning. The children thought they 
 should be quite unable to take a nap, but they had 
 got up so early in the morning and had been going 
 so steadily ever since, that they no sooner took off 
 their clothes than they found themselves very 
 sleepy. 
 
 At three, they awoke refreshed and were soon 
 ready to start. They went back to the Zocalo to 
 get the tram for Guadalupe, and found the same 
 constantly moving crowd as in the morning. 
 "Everything seems to go from here and come 
 back here," said Roy, as cars came by, marked 
 "Tacubaya," "Chapultepec," "Mixcoac," "San- 
 ta Maria," "San Angel," and finally "Guada- 
 lupe." The cars were open electric cars, and it 
 seemed quite like home to find a crowd trying to 
 get on and scrambling for places. However, the 
 Stevenses managed to get seats together, and as 
 the car stood for some time before it started, Mr. 
 Stevens had an opportunity to point out some of
 
 76 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the surrounding buildings that he thought it 
 would interest the children to know about. 
 
 "I showed you which was the National Palace 
 this morning," he said, pointing to a long, three- 
 storied building that occupied one side or end of 
 the Plaza. The Mexican flag of red, green, and 
 white stripes flew from a flag-staff over the great 
 clock in the centre, the sentries stood at the main 
 entrance, and the soldiers were passing in and 
 out. One would have known at once that it was a 
 public building. 
 
 "Does the President live there?" asked Roy. 
 "No," said his father, "he has his business 
 offices there, but he has a private residence in 
 another part of the city, and in the summer stays 
 out at Chapultepec. Do you see the bell hanging 
 over the principal gateway?" 
 
 "Yes," said both the children, expectantly. 
 "Well, that is to the Mexicans what our Liberty 
 Bell is to us. It used to hang in the little Church 
 of Dolores (Do-lo'-rays), in the State of Guana- 
 juato (gwah-na-hwa'-to). The movement for an 
 independent Mexico was started by the priest of 
 that church, Father Hidalgo (Hee-dal'-go) , in 1810.
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 77 
 
 One night he rang this bell in the middle of the 
 night, and the people, not knowing what it meant, 
 obeyed the call and came together in the church, 
 and found that it was a summons to follow Father 
 Hidalgo in the war for independence. His call 
 has been named the Grito (Gree'-toh: cry) of Mexi- 
 can independence, and every year, for many years, 
 on the anniversary of that night, the President 
 has appeared on the balcony and pronounced the 
 Grito in the hearing and followed by the patriotic 
 applause of thousands of Mexicans. The words 
 are 'Long live our mother, most holy Guadalupe, 
 long live America, death to bad government.' " 
 
 ''My! Roy, wouldn't you like to be here then?" 
 exclaimed Ray. 
 
 "It must be very stirring, especially to Ameri- 
 cans, whose experience was so similar," said Mr. 
 Stevens. "The bell was brought here in 1896, and 
 now it is rung as it was on that eventful night in 
 the little church. The procession which brought it 
 to the palace was very imposing. The bell itself 
 rested on a car with golden wheels and decorated 
 with flowers, with the eagle of Mexico attached to 
 the front of the car, seeming to lead the way. All
 
 78 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 about the bell were relics of the war of independ- 
 ence, and the car was followed by a great pro- 
 cession of military and civic dignitaries, and then 
 by soldiers and the people. When the bell was 
 finally in place, a thousand doves with bands of 
 the Mexican colours around their necks were loosed 
 from the roof by those holding them, and flew all 
 over the country carrying the news. In the even- 
 ing, at the hour of the original summons, when the 
 Plaza was packed with expectant people, Presi- 
 dent Diaz appeared on the balcony and in the 
 midst of deep silence gave four strokes to the bell. 
 A great shout went up, and all the bells in all the 
 towers added their chimes to the rejoicing, 
 coloured fires shone from the buildings, and the 
 bands played, while the people nearly went wild 
 with enthusiasm over this village bell which had 
 meant so much to Mexico." 
 
 ' ' Then that day is the same to the Mexicans as 
 the Fourth of July is to us?" suggested Roy. 
 
 "Yes, the 16th of September is the National 
 Holiday." 
 
 "Shall we see President Diaz, father?" asked 
 Ray.
 
 MEXICO CITY AxND GUADALUPE 7«.» 
 
 "I think very likely," said Mr. Stevens, "as he 
 is very courteously going to assist at the Fourth 
 of July celebration this week, at which, of course, 
 every American in the city is expected to be 
 present." 
 
 "Oh, jolly!" exclaimed the children. And just 
 then the car started, and they became all eyes for 
 the sights that surrounded them on the streets. 
 The tram for Guadalupe takes one through many 
 of the poorer streets, and the hasty views of in- 
 teriors that the family got as they passed were 
 not very attractive though exceedingly interesting. 
 Some of the rooms in the poorer quarters were 
 clean and inviting, but the majority of them were 
 not. "Poor things," said Mrs. Stevens, as they 
 passed a stone-curbed well where several women 
 were filling great jars and cans with water, "per- 
 haps we should not be so very clean, ourselves, if 
 we had to carry all our water from a street 
 well." 
 
 ' ' Why, don 't they have any water pipes 1 ' ' 
 
 "Not in all the houses as we have. Have you 
 not seen the water-carriers going about with their 
 great cans of drinking water?"
 
 80 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes, so I have, ' ' said Ray, remembering. 
 
 The eyes of the whole party were kept so busy 
 that they were all surprised when they reached 
 Guadalupe and found themselves in front of the 
 great Cathedral, one of the most beautiful in 
 Mexico. In spite of the semi-darkness of the in- 
 terior, they could see fairly well the painted pic- 
 ture of the Madonna of Guadalupe up over the 
 high altar. And while they sat there, Mrs. 
 Stevens, who had been looking up its history, 
 told them the story of the patron saint of all 
 Mexico. 
 
 "The Aztecs, the tribe of Indians inhabiting 
 this part of Mexico when the Spaniards came, had 
 a deity they called the Mother of Gods, and they 
 worshipped her on this hill behind the spot where 
 the Cathedral now stands. The Spanish priests, 
 finding that they could not stop this idolatry, 
 decided to transfer the worship to a Christian 
 object and managed to connect with the spot a 
 Christian legend, so that the Indians who were 
 attached to the hill and came here to worship 
 should really be worshipping the Madonna. The 
 story goes that a Christian Indian who passed the
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 81 
 
 hillside on his way to Mass, heard the sound of 
 singing and saw the vision of a beautiful woman 
 who gave him a message to the bishop, that he was 
 to build a temple in her honour on that very hill. 
 The Indian took the message, but was not believed, 
 and several times he saw the vision and carried 
 the order before any attention was paid to him, 
 and even then there had to be a miracle to make 
 the bishop believe. The top of the hill was 
 nothing but a barren rock, but the vision told the 
 Indian to gather flowers from it and as she spoke 
 the flowers suddenly grew there. The Indian 
 gathered them into his cloak, or tihna, made from 
 the fibre of the maguey (mah-gway') plant, and 
 started back to the bishop, and the vision dis- 
 appeared, and where it had stood a spring of cold 
 water gushed forth that has to this day healing 
 properties, the Indians believe. 
 
 ''Coming again to the bishop, the Indian opened 
 his tilma and dropped the flowers, and behold! the 
 image of the vision appeared upon the cloak in 
 beautiful colours. The bishop no longer doubted. 
 He built a chapel where the flowers had grown 
 and placed the picture in it. This was in 1532.
 
 82 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Over a hundred years later the Pope recognised 
 the Twelfth of December, the day when the vision 
 was last seen, as the day of Mexico's protectress 
 and patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and so 
 this was made also a national holiday. The 
 people, especially the Indians, were so pleased to 
 have a saint all of their own, that they have made 
 great pilgrimages to the shrine on that day ever 
 since. The image is supposed to have miraculous 
 powers when the people are in danger, and once 
 when the Valley of Mexico was inundated, the 
 clergy took the image in a barge at night and 
 carried it to the Cathedral of Mexico, with music 
 and candles and the prayers and hymns of the 
 people for accompaniment. The waters gradu- 
 ally subsided, and the image was carried back and 
 kept in the parish church until this Cathedral was 
 built in 1709." 
 
 "Who is that marble statue!" asked Eay. 
 
 ' ' On one side of the picture is the marble image 
 of the bishop, on the other that of the Indian, 
 Juan Diego (Whan Dee-ay'-go) , and the archbishop 
 under whom the Cathedral was completed kneels 
 in marble before the altar. Pope Leo XIII, who
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPK 83 
 
 died several years ago, you remember, wrote the 
 following inscription in Latin to be placed up 
 above the altar : 
 
 " 'The Mexican people rejoice in worshipping 
 Thee, Holy Mother, under this miraculous Image, 
 and in looking to Thee for protection. 
 
 " 'May that people through Thee flourish in 
 happiness, and ever, under Thy auspices, grow 
 stronger in the faith of Christ.' " 
 
 "Well, it's a beautiful story, anyhow," said 
 Ray. "I think it was quite natural that the 
 Indians should want a saint of their own, when 
 every country has one." 
 
 "I don't see what a republic wants of a saint — 
 we haven't got any," said Roy. 
 
 "No," replied Ray, "we've only got George 
 Washington — and Martha. But I don't suppose 
 we could have her for a saint — she wasn't living 
 long enough ago. You have to have lived at least 
 several hundred years ago to be a saint, don't 
 you, mother I ' ' 
 
 "I think it takes at least that, usually. You 
 know they have been trying to make a saint of 
 Joan of Arc for a long time and have just lately
 
 84 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 succeeded in having her recognised as one by the 
 church. ' ' 
 
 "Well, I'd be willing to have her for my coun- 
 try's saint," exclaimed Roy, "she's just my kind. 
 She did save her country, or tried to, and every- 
 bodv knows she did." 
 
 All around the walls of the Cathedral, which 
 the party now began to examine with much in- 
 terest, were fine paintings illustrating the history 
 of the image. The picture itself is very beautiful, 
 and the crown above it, made of jewels and gold 
 given by the women of Mexico, was put in place in 
 1895. It was a great day for the faithful, who 
 came in thousands and tens of thousands from all 
 over the country to witness the coronation, or, at 
 least, to kneel on the ground outside while the 
 event was going on, for only some hundreds could 
 get into the Cathedral. 
 
 From the Cathedral, the party visited the beauti- 
 ful little chapel which was built over the place 
 where the vision stood and the spring gushed 
 forth. The spring is just inside the door, and the 
 visitors going through generally stop to drink or 
 touch the water, which is supposed to have healing
 
 MEXICO CITY AND GUADALUPE 85 
 
 qualities. Then they climbed laboriously the 
 steep, winding, cobble-paved hill behind the Cathe- 
 dral, to the little chapel built over the spot where 
 the roses grew that sprung from the rock. Here 
 they were caught in the rain, and had to wait for 
 the shower to pass over, for the rainy season 
 having begun one might with reason expect at 
 least a little rain every afternoon or evening. On 
 the way up, Roy suddenly exclaimed, ''Well, that's 
 queer! Sails made of stone! What are they up 
 here for, I wonder." 
 
 "They say some sailors who were saved by a 
 miracle, as they thought, from shipwreck, walked 
 all the way from Vera Cruz carrying their ship's 
 sails and encased them here in stone as a thank- 
 offering to the Virgin, to whom they had prayed, 
 and who had delivered them from danger. But no 
 date is known for the story, and the true history 
 and meaning of the sails are lost," explained Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 During the rain, there were several other people 
 who took refuge in the chapel, among them a little 
 family of father, mother, and two babies; the 
 father a young soldier. They bought ribbons that
 
 86 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 had been blessed from the woman who was selling 
 such things in the chapel, and tied them around 
 the necks of the babies, and went away seeming to 
 feel that they had done what they could to pre- 
 serve the little things from harm. 
 
 When the rain had about ceased, the party 
 visited the cemetery behind the chapel, looking not 
 so much at the tombs as at the wonderful view 
 extended before their eyes. Even Popocate- 
 petl could be seen dimly, with his snowy, peaked 
 cap. 
 
 "Santa Anna is buried here somewhere," said 
 Mr. Stevens, and finally they came across the 
 tomb, which was not especially prominent. 
 
 "Was he a great man, father?" asked Roy. 
 
 "No, I think not, He was on the right side 
 in the Mexican war, of course, and in the war 
 against the French, in which he lost his leg; but 
 afterward he spoiled it all by trying to have him- 
 self made dictator." 
 
 ' ' I wish you would tell us about the war against 
 the French," said Roy. 
 
 "Another day, my boy. I think you and Ray 
 have taken in enough information for one day.
 
 MEXICO CITY AXD GUADALUPE 87 
 
 It's going to rain again, too, and we must get back 
 to the city. Besides, my business friend, Mr. 
 Clarke, is to call on me this evening, and I must be 
 at the hotel in good season." 
 
 As they came down the hill, the children 
 stopped to buy some tiny cakes or yurditas 
 (gor-dee'-tas), made and sold by a neat, pleas- 
 ant-looking woman stationed beside the road. 
 They were a kind of sweetened tortilla, very 
 smooth and rich, and fairly melted in one's mouth. 
 Ordinarily, the family did not care to buy eatables 
 from street-stands, but these cakes were so deli- 
 cious they were very glad they had not been afraid 
 to try them.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 
 
 When Mr. Stevens' friend had gone that even- 
 ing, the children were asleep, so that they did not 
 hear the good news their father had to tell them 
 until the next morning. At breakfast, he gave 
 them two pleasant surprises, one, an invitation to 
 them as well as to their father and mother, to dine 
 at the Clarkes' and go with them to a pelota game 
 afterward, and the other an opportunity, in all 
 probability, to sit in the reviewing stand the next 
 day and have the honour of shaking hands with 
 the President. The children had fortunately 
 nearly finished their breakfast or they would 
 scarcely have been able to eat any, they were so 
 excited and pleased at the prospect. It seemed as 
 if the day would be just one long waiting for the 
 evening, but very soon they found that their 
 father had plans for the morning. 
 
 "We will take the tram and go out to Tacubaya, 
 
 88
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 89 
 
 this morning, partly for the ride and partly to see 
 the suburbs," he said, "and on the way I can tell 
 you something about the great man you are to see 
 to-morrow." 
 
 So they all proceeded again to the Plaza, and 
 took the tram for Tacubaya. This is a suburb out 
 beyond Chapultepec, so that in addition to the 
 streets of the citv, and the new Colonia Roma 
 where many new and expensive houses were being 
 built, they had glimpses also of the Paseo, or 
 boulevard, and of the Castle of Chapultepec on its 
 rock with its surrounding gardens. "Why don't 
 we go there to-day?" asked Roy, who was anxious 
 to see the monument. 
 
 "Because when we do that we want to kill two 
 birds with one stone and see the driving also. If 
 we come in the afternoon we can see the castle 
 first, all that is shown to strangers, and can then 
 take our seats in the park below at the fashionable 
 hour for driving and see all the handsome equi- 
 pages and beautiful ladies." 
 
 "Humph!" said Roy, who was not much inter- 
 ested in beautiful ladies. 
 
 After Chapultepec they passed through other
 
 90 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 suburbs, each with its little, old church, very often 
 quite beautiful or picturesque, its little plaza with 
 fine old trees and brilliant flowers, and its walled 
 private gardens over which flowering vines were 
 trailing and the tops of trees could be seen. 
 
 "They must be lovely, inside," sighed Ray. 
 
 "We shall see some gardens before we leave 
 Mexico," said her mother. 
 
 As they went along, the children kept pointing 
 out to each other the little things that were new 
 to them along the road; the women making tor- 
 tillas (very thin corn cakes) in the doorways, 
 patting them thin with their hands on a flat stone 
 or platter — the water-carrier in his leather cuirass 
 and helmet, with a great metal jar in front and 
 one behind, held on by a strap across his leather- 
 protected forehead — the processions of donkeys 
 loaded with charcoal or wood or straw, and never 
 going faster than an easy walk — the carts with 
 only two wheels, but these very large, as high as 
 the cart or higher — and a street-car, all painted 
 white and looking like a child's hearse, the front 
 end of which was arranged for carrying a 
 coffin.
 
 X 
 
 o 
 

 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 91 
 
 "Why, mother, do they go to funerals on street- 
 cars?" asked Kay, quite shocked. 
 
 "It seems so," said Mrs. Stevens, "the car lines 
 go to the cemeteries and so the people have trains 
 of cars reserved and all follow the hearse in that 
 way, often carrying their floral pieces with them. 
 This is the first time I have seen a car arranged as 
 a hearse, however, for nearly always there is a 
 real hearse to lead the procession." 
 
 "Well, if they have reserved cars, it's all 
 right," said Ray, "but I should hate to go to a 
 funeral in a car anybody could get into." 
 
 "I thought you were going to tell us about Pres- 
 ident Diaz, father," said Roy, as they reached the 
 terminus at Tacubaya, and waited for the car to 
 start back. 
 
 "So I was. I intended to tell you something 
 about his career as president only, but when 
 I came to look into his historv I found his 
 early life so interesting and full of adventure that 
 I thought you would enjoy that even more. He 
 was born at Oaxaca (Wah-hah'-ca) in 1830." 
 
 "W T hy, we're going there! Do they show the 
 place?" asked Roy.
 
 92 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Hardly, I imagine. The place is a sugar fac- 
 tory now. It will be easy to remember his birth- 
 day because it was the 15th of September, the day 
 before the National holiday. Mexico had been a 
 republic since 1821, but was almost always in a 
 state of confusion, what with the factions in the 
 government and the small revolutions springing 
 up in various parts of the country. Porfirio's 
 father died when the boy was three years old, and 
 his mother brought him up. Until he was seven 
 years of age he went to a primary school, and 
 from eight to fourteen to a secondary school, in 
 the meantime acting as errand boy to help out the 
 family finances, for his mother had not much to 
 live on. He then entered the seminary where he 
 was to have his theological education, for his 
 mother wished him to be a priest. The Mexican 
 War took place while he was a student and he 
 volunteered, but was called to serve only as part 
 of the local militia." 
 
 "Excuse me, father, but is he a Mexican or a 
 Spaniard, or an Indian?" asked Roy. 
 
 "He is a Mexican, for through his great-grand- 
 mother he has some Indian blood, but his father's
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 93 
 
 family came from Asturias in Spain at the time of 
 the Conquest. While he studied at the seminary 
 he also tutored to help pay his expenses; and when 
 he decided, much to his mother's disappointment, 
 to be a lawyer instead of a priest, he had to rely 
 entirely on his own resources. So he continued to 
 take pupils, and became also librarian of the in- 
 stitute." 
 
 "My! I'm glad he didn't become a priest!" 
 exclaimed Roy. 
 
 "He might have been a great one like that other 
 one, Father Hidalgo," said Ray. 
 
 "Yes, but he never could have been presi- 
 dent." 
 
 "When he graduated, he entered the law office 
 of Juarez (War'-ez), who was one day to be presi- 
 dent, and also taught Roman law in the school he 
 had just graduated from. 
 
 "His military adventures began in the revolt 
 against Santa Anna, who had had himself pro- 
 claimed dictator of Mexico. Diaz took a prom- 
 inent part in this revolt and had to flee, but 
 returned when the dictator was expelled, and was 
 made mayor of a little town called Ixtlan. Here
 
 94 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 he showed his ability and his military tendency by 
 creating an excellent militia out of the Indians of 
 the village, training and drilling them continually. 
 He has never seemed to care anything about 
 money or fame. When the captaincy of the 
 National guard was offered him, he took it though 
 the salary was smaller than his salary as mayor. 
 And he has been reckless of his own safety and 
 health many times. In one of the small revolu- 
 tions about this time, he was wounded and could 
 not get to a doctor for a week, and it was a year 
 before the bullet was extracted. His next post 
 was as mayor of Tehuantepec (Tay-wan'-te-pec), 
 a rather isolated place, where he served two years, 
 straightening out the town's affairs and showing 
 that he could do other things besides fighting. He 
 was next made deputy to Congress from his home- 
 district, Oaxaca, and during the war against the 
 French invaders he was chief of brigade of 
 Oaxaca. He did some very brilliant things during 
 this war, once holding off a thousand French 
 zouaves with only a handful of lancers, and only 
 yielding when most of his men were gone and 
 himself a wounded prisoner. Even then, however,
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 95 
 
 he managed to get to his horse unnoticed, get on 
 him, and flee, followed by a shower of bullets. 
 Another time — it was the 5th of May, 1862 : there 
 is a street in the city here named Cinco de Mayo 
 for this engagement — he met a body of trained 
 French soldiers with his undisciplined men and 
 routed them completely. At the siege of Puebla, 
 where he held part command of the defence, the 
 French got into the first courtyard of the building 
 Diaz was holding. Diaz ran out alone and fired 
 the fieldpiece that commanded the gate, doing 
 considerable execution, and having by this brave 
 act inspired his men, led them out into the court- 
 yard, drove out the invaders, and closed up the 
 breach they had made. The city had to surrender 
 finally, but Diaz refused to give his parole, was 
 taken prisoner, and escaped." 
 
 " What's that, not to give his parole?" asked 
 Ray. 
 
 i 'It means he refused to promise that he would 
 not try to escape," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Juarez, who was now president, offered to 
 make him secretary of war or commander of an 
 army corps, but he declined, saying that such pro-
 
 96 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 motion for so young a man would probably make 
 trouble." 
 
 "Wasn't he just fine!" exclaimed Roy. 
 
 "During the time that the capital was in the 
 hands of the French, Juarez was driven from 
 place to place about the country with the presi- 
 dency "under his hat"; and there was more or 
 less dissatisfaction in various parts of the country, 
 but Diaz at Oaxaca kept his district of the country 
 together and was really the hope of the republic. 
 In 1865, the French forces under Marshal Bazaine 
 shut him up in Oaxaca, and tried to bribe him by 
 offers of a fine position in the imperial army of 
 Maximilian, but in vain." 
 
 "Well, I should think so," said Roy, indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 "The town had to give way at last, and all but 
 three of the officers pledged themselves to neutral- 
 ity. Diaz was one of the three, and was imprisoned 
 in Puebla, in the State College, where he escaped 
 by scaling the wall, with a price of ten thousand 
 dollars on his head. For weeks he kept up a kind 
 of guerrilla warfare, winning small victories that 
 roused the courage of those who had been inclined
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 97 
 
 to give up; and at this point the United States, 
 whose civil war was off its hands, came to the 
 rescue." 
 
 ' 'I'm glad of that!" exclaimed both chil- 
 dren. 
 
 "Secretary Seward sent word to Napoleon III 
 that the United States disapproved of the estab- 
 lishment of an empire in the western hemisphere, 
 and in 18G6 Napoleon notified Maximilian, the 
 Emperor, that he would call off his troops at the 
 end of a year. This was a blow for Maximilian, 
 but he tried one more dodge, offering Diaz the 
 presidency instead of Juarez. Diaz did not even 
 notice the offer." 
 
 "Good!" exclaimed Roy, "it wasn't Maxi- 
 milian's to give!" 
 
 "For a year, Diaz fought in a way to com- 
 mand every one's admiration and astonishment. 
 He was most humane to his prisoners, and he was 
 often successful in securing voluntary loans of 
 money and credit where another commander would 
 have thought it necessary to force them. At last, 
 it was a question of taking the Capital only. Diaz 
 was unwilling to injure the city by bombardment,
 
 98 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 so lie gave what is called 'The Five Days' Battle' 
 outside the city. General Escobedo (Es-co-bay'- 
 do), who had been fighting Maximilian at Quere- 
 taro (Kay-ray'-ta-ro), finally conquered, and Max- 
 imilian and his two generals were executed. The 
 Citv of Mexico surrendered the next day, and 
 Diaz was able to welcome the exiled president, 
 Juarez, with great public rejoicings on July 15, 
 1867. He himself, after reorganising the army, 
 retired to private life in Oaxaca, where the 
 authorities gave him an estate, and he settled 
 down with his first wife, whom he had married 
 during the war. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Stevens paused for breath after his long 
 speech, but the children were by no means satis- 
 fied. 
 
 "And then? And then?" they asked. "When 
 did he get to be president?" 
 
 "Oh, Eoy, to think we're going to see this hero 
 to-morrow, and maybe shake hands with him ! It 
 scares me, doesn't it you?" 
 
 "No," said Eoy, soberly, "but I don't feel 
 good enough. It hardly seems as if it could 
 happen,"
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 99 
 
 ''Well, as you may imagine, there were many 
 people who wanted Diaz for president. They felt 
 as we did about General Grant, that he had been 
 the hero of the war and had saved the country, and 
 that he ought to have the greatest reward the 
 country could give. But Juarez was in, and was 
 not a bad president, by any means, and though 
 there was room for a contest as to the result of the 
 election, Diaz refused to put in any claim, and 
 Juarez held the presidency until his death in 1872. 
 He is known as the Indian president. There was 
 still another president before Diaz, and he offered 
 Diaz positions of honour under the government, but 
 they were not accepted, and the soldier continued 
 in private life until 1876. By that time misman- 
 agement of the country had led to revolutions on 
 all sides, and the president, recognising Diaz as a 
 dangerous rival, had sent him out of the country, 
 and for a short time he lived in the United States, 
 in Texas. When things in Mexico reached such a 
 pass that something had to be done, Diaz, feeling 
 that he was the one man who could straighten out 
 the tangle and hold the reins, marched back into 
 Mexico with fortv soldiers at his back, a number
 
 100 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 which increased steadily as he marched; but as he 
 could not work through to the South by land, he 
 went back to New Orleans and started by boat to 
 Vera Cruz. In the harbour of Tampico, he was 
 recognised by some former prisoners of his, and 
 another of his romantic adventures began. Lest 
 he be taken prisoner, he jumped overboard at 
 night, without fear of the man-eating sharks of 
 which the waters there were full, but was over- 
 taken and carried back." 
 
 A rueful " Oh ! " burst from both the children. 
 
 "One of the officers, who was friendly to him, 
 concealed him then in a sort of box-seat, and every 
 evening officers of his enemy's army sat on it and 
 played cards, never dreaming of his presence. 
 Disguised as a sailor, he got ashore safely at Vera 
 Cruz and made his way back to Oaxaca, where he 
 soon raised his standard over a considerable body 
 of followers. An army was sent to capture him, 
 but instead was captured. Diaz marched on tri- 
 umphantly to the City of Mexico, whence the pres- 
 ident — whose last election was undoubtedly won 
 by fraud — had fled to the United States. Diaz 
 assumed the presidency provisionally, and in 1877
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 101 
 
 was elected constitutional president. There has 
 been but one other president since then, from 
 1880-83, and his administration put a stop to 
 progress. Then in 1884, Diaz was re-elected and 
 has been re-elected in every campaign since then. 
 In 1904, the Mexican Congress passed a law 
 making the presidential term six years. There is 
 little danger of any serious disturbance of his 
 administration." 
 
 Koy and Kay gave a sigh of satisfaction, and 
 were surprised to hear their mother say, ' ' But the 
 things he has accomplished as president have been 
 best of all, haven't they?" 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Stevens, "his hand has been 
 the strongest Mexico has ever had at the helm, 
 and one can understand when one comes here and 
 sees the people that a paternal government is 
 what Mexico needs, though the forms are those of 
 a republic." 
 
 "Why, isn't Mexico a republic?" asked Roy, 
 surprised. 
 
 "Not in the sense that our country is," was his 
 father's reply. "There is no real manhood- 
 suffrage here — that is, not every man votes, for
 
 102 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 many of the people are entirely unfit to govern 
 themselves. Only educated men vote, and the 
 others never dream of protesting, apparently. 
 Never having had a vote they do not feel dis- 
 franchised, and so long as the country is peaceful 
 and prosperous, they have no cause of complaint. 
 Perhaps, years from now, when public education 
 shall have done its work, the country may be a 
 republic in the full sense of the word as we under- 
 stand it." 
 
 "Tell the children some of the things Diaz has 
 done, as president," suggested Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Well, for one thing he put an end to brigand- 
 age. The country had been infested with robber 
 bands and travel was more unsafe than in any 
 other part of the world. Diaz held a parley with 
 the captains of the banditti and gave them their 
 choice — either to stop robbing and plundering 
 and to be formed into a sort of country mounted 
 police to keep the countryside in order, or to be 
 speedily put to death. They knew that he meant 
 what he said, and choosing to be mounted con- 
 stabulary, were formed into bodies of what are 
 called the rurales (ru-ral'-es). They kept their
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 103 
 
 word and ceased plundering, and the present 
 rurales, who never were banditti, are a most valu- 
 able set of officers. When they take part in pro- 
 cessions, the people applaud them more than any 
 others, partly, I suppose, because there were some 
 romantic, popular heroes among the original 
 brigands." 
 
 "Wasn't that a smart trick?" exclaimed Roy, 
 admiringly, while Ray said, "It's just like what 
 Aunt Susie did when she had those bad boys in 
 the mission school. She found out the worst one 
 and gave him charge of the conduct of the other 
 boys, and he was the best help she had." 
 
 "Another thing Diaz did was to bring harmony 
 into the relations between the states. Mexico has 
 twenty-eight states, and they were so jealous of 
 one another that they had different and conflicting 
 laws and taxed one another's goods, so that a 
 citizen had to go through the customs every time 
 he crossed a state line. This was all done away 
 with, and gradually the railroad and telegraph 
 were introduced, binding the states together, until 
 now Mexico has as cheap and good railway service 
 as any in the world; cheaper than that of the
 
 104 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 United States.* He introduced civil service into 
 the public business, so that a good official is not 
 afraid of being removed because of his politics. 
 He found that Mexican money had no standing 
 at all in other countries; and he has given the 
 country national credit by improving the currency. 
 And, best of all, because it is most likely to have 
 lasting effects and to secure the future, he has 
 established public schools in every part of the 
 country, to which parents are required to send 
 their children; normal schools to train teachers, 
 and industrial schools to fit young people for 
 making a living." Mr. Stevens paused a minute, 
 and then asked, "Well, what do you think of 
 him?" 
 
 "Why, father, I don't see but that he's as big 
 as Washington — and Washington had smart men 
 to help him, and Diaz has had to do it all alone," 
 said Roy. 
 
 "No, not that exactly — he has had and has some 
 very able men in his cabinet ; but he is responsible 
 for originating the idea of all this and for finding 
 
 * Very recently the government has bought all the railroad 
 lines owned by Mexican companies.
 
 MEXICO'S PRESIDENT 105 
 
 the men who could carry it out. One of his latest 
 steps has been to make the teaching of English 
 compulsory in the public schools, so that the 
 people, in future, will have two native languages, 
 so to speak." 
 
 "Father, you said something about his first 
 wife. Did she die?" asked Ray. "Yes, in 1880, 
 after they had been married thirteen years. In 
 1883, he married his present wife, a very beauti- 
 ful, distinguished, and cultivated woman. He has 
 one son, named for his father, and two daughters." 
 "And we are going to see him to-morrow!" re- 
 peated Ray, squeezing Roy's hand with such 
 ardour as to call the attention of some Mexican 
 gentlemen, who could not help smiling. This re- 
 minded her that she was on a street-car, and 
 gradually their attention was attracted again by 
 the street sights as they approached their stop- 
 ping-place.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 
 
 The evening came at last, and the Stevens 
 family found themselves at the entrance to the 
 patio of the Clarkes' home. It was a detached 
 house, so that the rooms around the patio had 
 light from outside as well as from the court, which 
 is not the case with most Mexican houses, as they 
 are built usually close together. The patio was 
 lighted by an electric light, which was not in a 
 prominent place and which flooded the court with 
 a very fair imitation of moonlight, outlining the 
 shadows of the vines and potted plants on the 
 cement floor and making the water of the fountain 
 glitter as it rose and fell. A mocking-bird in a 
 cage was singing as they entered, and there was 
 the scent of roses everywhere. Ray, in particular, 
 thought it enchanting. A Mexican servant wel- 
 comed them in English and brought them to the 
 stairway which led to the living-rooms, and at the 
 
 106
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 107 
 
 top of the stairs stood Mr. Clarke and his wife 
 and son, a boy of twelve years of age. It was very 
 delightful to meet Americans and be able to dis- 
 cuss American affairs, for even to the Stevenses, 
 who were only a little more than two weeks away 
 from home, the States seemed very distant, while 
 to the Clarkes, who had not been in the States 
 for two years, arrivals so recent were a mine of 
 information and news. So they were soon in ani- 
 mated conversation, comparing things Mexican 
 with things American, while Harry Clarke was 
 very glad to show Roy and Ray his tools, his 
 games, and even his text-books, in all which they 
 were very much interested. 
 
 "Do you go to school here?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, now I do. They were going to send me 
 to the States to school, but there has been an 
 American school started here, with American 
 teachers and books and American ways of teach- 
 ing, so mother is very glad to keep me here a few 
 years longer. I shall be able to get ready for 
 college down here just as well as anywhere." 
 
 "Do all the American boys and girls go to it .'" 
 asked Roy.
 
 108 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "A great many do. It is quite a large school. 
 This year we have 195 pupils to begin with, 115 
 boys and 80 girls." 
 
 "Why, has school begun?" asked Ray, in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 "Yes, the schools here have only one or two 
 months of vacation, and the American school 
 begins the second week in July. I have been at 
 school all day to-day." 
 
 "Dear me!" exclaimed Ray, "only one month's 
 vacation. I don't think I should like that." 
 
 "Oh, of course, we have a vacation at Christ- 
 mas and there are other holidays. But you know 
 it isn't hot here in summer, as it is in the States, so 
 there's no reason why we shouldn't have school." 
 
 "Is the school just for the City of Mexico?" 
 asked Ray. 
 
 ' ' Oh, no ! Boys and girls come from Vera Cruz 
 and Puebla and from the states of Hidalgo and 
 Guanajuato, wherever there are American fam- 
 ilies. And there is a special car run from Mixcoac 
 (Mix'-kwak) for the children that live in the 
 suburbs, and there is always a teacher on the car 
 to look after the children."
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 109 
 
 ''Why, do any very little children conic ;>" asked 
 Roy, who thought that otherwise this precaution 
 was quite unnecessary. 
 
 "Yes, the school has a kindergarten, all the 
 grammar grades, and a high school. It is a fine 
 thing for Americans to have it." 
 
 Just here, dinner was announced and they all 
 went into the dining-room. "I thought you might 
 like to taste some Mexican dishes," said Mrs. 
 Clarke, "so I have included some in the dinner 
 this evening. We Americans modify them some- 
 what by not using so much pepper, so that they 
 would seem rather mild to Mexicans ; but we find 
 the American digestion does not take kindly to 
 the Mexican diet, as a rule." 
 
 After the soup, which the visitors all thought 
 delicious, came the first Mexican course. It 
 proved to be composed of baked eggs served with 
 a delicious tomato sauce and accompanied by 
 tortillas. These looked to the children like magni- 
 fied "Saratoga chips," as they were thin and 
 brown, and crisp, and curly at the edges, but the 
 taste was that of corn instead of potato. They 
 took them up in their fingers as they were quite
 
 110 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 dry and ate thein with the egg as they would have 
 eaten bread. After the roast course, which was 
 purely American, came another Mexican dish to 
 which all did full justice — frijoles (free-hol'-es), 
 or brown beans, the staple dish of the Mexicans. 
 These were served with a delicious white Mexican 
 cheese grated over them. The tomato salad 
 would have been American but for one ingredient, 
 the aguacate (ah-gwa-cah'-tay), a Mexican fruit 
 which many Mexicans use instead of butter and 
 which makes a sort of "natural mayonnaise" for a 
 salad. When ripe, it is almost black outside and 
 about the size of an ordinary pear. When opened, 
 the hard nut in the middle can be squeezed out by 
 a slight pressure of the fingers, and then the light 
 green pulp is taken out and spread upon the 
 tomato or cucumber, or whatever composes the 
 salad, making a unique and very delightful dish. 
 The dinner closed with the only appropriate ending 
 to a dinner, in the opinion of American children, 
 ice cream, and then the elders had their little cups 
 of Mexican coffee at small tables in the gallery. 
 After a few moments spent by the ladies in look- 
 ing at some of Mrs. Clarke's "finds" in the curio
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 111 
 
 shops, it was time to adjourn to the pelota game. 
 It was given at the Fronton Nacional', which 
 means National Pelota-Court, a large stone build- 
 ing with tiers of seats along one side for the spec- 
 tators. The party took their seats in a middle 
 tier, and the children gazed curiously about them. 
 Stretching the whole length of the building, in 
 front of the seats, was the court, and a high stone 
 wall on three sides of it was painted black. Pres- 
 ently, the four players, two in blue and two in 
 white, appeared, amid the applause of the specta- 
 tors, and the game began. The first part of the 
 game is called the partido (par-tee'-do) and con- 
 sists of 25-35 points, according to agreement, 
 and one side wins, not so much by the points it 
 gains as by what the other side loses. Each man, 
 the children noticed, had a curved basket fastened 
 to his right wrist. The game began, a blue player 
 taking the ball that was in his basket and throwing 
 it against the front wall. When it bounced back, 
 a white player caught it on the fly in his basket 
 (it would have been allowable to catch it on the 
 first rebound, also, Harry said), and he in turn 
 threw it against the front wall, when a blue player
 
 112 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 was expected to catch it in his basket, in the same 
 way. He did not, however, and so a point was 
 counted for the whites. Throwing a ball out of 
 bounds was also an error to be counted for the 
 enemy, Harry said. This was a short partido of 
 only twenty-five points, so this part of the 
 game was soon ended in favour of the whites or 
 blancos. 
 
 Then began the quiniela (kee-nee-ay'-la), or 
 second part of the game. In this there are no 
 sides, but each man plays for himself. There are 
 six players, and two play at a time. As soon as 
 one loses a point he retires and comes in again 
 only when his regular turn comes around. The 
 first player to win six points has won the quiniela. 
 Usually two partidos and two quinielas are played 
 at a performance. Although Roy did not think it 
 nearly so exciting as baseball, he admired greatly 
 the skill with which the baskets (sestos) were 
 manoeuvred to catch the ball, and the agility of the 
 men, who, Mr. Clarke said, were nearly all from 
 the Basque provinces of Spain, where the game 
 originated. Toward the end, one of the players 
 was struck very hard on the head by a foul ball,
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 113 
 
 and had to retire from the game and have his head 
 bandaged — which showed that the game has its 
 dangers in spite of its mild appearance. 
 
 As Mr. Clarke put his guests into their carriage 
 to go back to the hotel, he said that he had been 
 able to get seats on the reviewing stand for the 
 next day, and that they would have an opportunity 
 to see President Diaz close at hand. Ray, with 
 her usual impulsiveness, threw her arms about the 
 kind gentleman's neck before her mother could 
 stop her, exclaiming, "You are so good to us, dear 
 Mr. Clarke. We want to see the President more 
 than anybody or anything!" Mr. Clarke did not 
 seem at all offended, but kissed her forehead 
 gently and turned away with moist eyes. They 
 learned afterward that the Clarkes had lost a little 
 girl of about Ray's age only two years before. 
 Perhaps it was the first time he had had a little 
 girl's arms around his neck since then. Ray was 
 not sure, when she heard this, whether she ought 
 to have done it or not, but as Mr. Clarke was 
 always especially kind to her afterward, she con- 
 cluded that she had not done wrong, although, as 
 her mother warned her, she had taken a risk in
 
 114 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 giving way to her feelings so openly. "Some 
 people would not have liked it at all," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, "and then you would have felt very 
 silly." 
 
 "Yes, but I wouldn't feel like doing it to that 
 kind of people," argued Ray; and as the little 
 burst of affection had proved acceptable, her 
 mother thought best to say nothing more, though 
 she often wondered into what difficulties Ray's 
 impulsiveness might lead her in future. 
 
 "Father," asked Roy, as they drove homeward, 
 "are we going to a bull-fight?" 
 
 "I'm not," exclaimed Ray, "I wouldn't go for 
 anything. ' ' 
 
 "Nor I," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Well, Roy, it looks as if you and I would have 
 to decide the matter for ourselves only, as the 
 others do not care to go. I am glad they don't, for 
 my part. Why do you wish to go ? " 
 
 Roy said slowly, "I don't know that I do wish to 
 go— I asked just to find out if you planned to take 
 
 us." 
 
 "No," said his father, "and I hoped you would 
 not think of it. But now, we will do as you think
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 115 
 
 best. You have read about the fights, haven't 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, lots of times." 
 
 "You know about how it is done?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then do you wish to see it? You know that 
 every one who goes encourages the sport just that 
 much. ' ' 
 
 Roy felt pretty sure that it would not do for 
 him to go back to the States and tell his boy- 
 friends he had been in Mexico and had not seen a 
 bull-fight, but he had not the moral courage to 
 confess that this was his chief reason for wishing 
 to go; so he said, "Well, it's like the circus. Hear- 
 ing about it is not the same thing as seeing it ; but 
 if you don't wish me to go, father, all right." 
 
 "I wish to leave it entirely to you," said Mr. 
 Stevens, "but I want you to know first exactly 
 how it looks to me. The sport is a cruel one and 
 has a bad effect on the spectators, making them in- 
 different to suffering, and willing to encourage 
 suffering that is entirely unnecessary, just for 
 their own amusement. Every one who goes, 
 whether he approve or not, lends the influence of
 
 116 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 his presence to continue the popularity of the 
 sport. The better class of Spaniards are begin- 
 ning to be a little ashamed of it, and the young 
 King of Spain is trying to do away with it or at 
 least to lessen its cruelty. It is not in harmony 
 with the spirit of the times, which condemns 
 cruelty. These are my reasons for not wishing to 
 go." 
 
 ''Have you ever been, father?" asked Ray. 
 
 "No, I have never seen a bull-fight, and, in a 
 way, I suppose I have as much curiosity as Roy. 
 There is to be a fight on Sunday afternoon, the 
 only day on which they are given in summer, and 
 I will take Roy if he says so." 
 
 "Well, it ended in Roy's deciding that he ought 
 to see it, so as to tell the boys at home about it. 
 However, there was not much to tell, for, although 
 he went and enjoyed the sight of the audience and 
 the entering procession, as gaudy as that of the 
 circus, he was very much disturbed by the fact 
 that, early in the fight, the rougher element of the 
 public, displeased with one of the picadores, threw 
 seats and boards at the men and had to be quieted 
 by the soldiers who were present for the purpose.
 
 MEXICAN SPECIALTIES 117 
 
 Then the picadores, who are no longer as skilful 
 as in the past, were not able to keep their horses 
 out of the reach of the bull; and when Roy, who 
 was very fond of animals and especially of horses, 
 saw one poor creature lying in the arena breath- 
 ing its last and another with its entrails hanging 
 out, he set his teeth and said to his father, "I've 
 had enough," and they came away. As they made 
 their exit, they met other Americans who had 
 gone, like Roy, from curiosity, and who also had 
 had enough. "I can't stand for that sort of 
 thing," they heard one man say. "It's all very 
 well for the men — they know what they are doing, 
 and if they want to take the risk, all right; but 
 those poor, inoffensive horses — excuse me."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 
 
 The next morning Roy and Ray were prepared 
 to be waked very early by the firing of cannon and 
 popping of firecrackers, and were much surprised 
 to find everything quiet, the shops open, and 
 people going about their business as usual. "They 
 don't even have the flag up," said Roy, quite dis- 
 gusted. 
 
 Mr. Stevens laughed. "Why should they?" he 
 said, "this isn't a Mexican holiday. We don't 
 decorate and celebrate on the sixteenth of Sep- 
 tember, why should they on the Fourth of July? 
 However, if you are disappointed in not seeing the 
 flag on the main business streets, you will doubt- 
 less see it flying over the consulate, the American 
 school and American houses, and also plenty of it 
 in the Tivoli garden where the celebration is to be 
 held." 
 
 They were walking down toward the garden 
 
 118
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 119 
 
 as he spoke, for they were to meet the Clarkes 
 there at ten. The square was full of carriages and 
 automobiles, and there were officials at the gate to 
 take tickets, and many sellers of flags and badges 
 and buttons to decorate the newcomers who were 
 willing to be decorated. The children bought 
 these eagerly, and were soon carrying small flags 
 and wearing badges in which the American and 
 Mexican colours were combined. Roy had rather 
 preferred a "straight" American badge, but Ray 
 had said stoutly, ' ' I think we ought to wear both ; 
 we're in Mexico and they're treating the Ameri- 
 cans very nicely, and we're going to see the Presi- 
 dent, and I think it's only polite," and at last he 
 was convinced. They had both noticed that Harry 
 Clarke had a little paper bag under his arm and 
 a mischievous look in his eye, but they had not 
 connected the two. 
 
 "What's all this! How did it get there?" asked 
 Ray, pointing to the ground, which was strewed 
 with little disks of paper in all colours. 
 
 "This is what it is," replied Harry, showing his 
 paper bag, "and this is how it got there!" and 
 he showered them both with handfuls of the little
 
 120 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 disks, confetti, used in all Latin countries in public 
 merrymaking and gradually coming into use in 
 our own. The children laughed heartily as they 
 shook it out of their hair, their clothes, and even 
 out of their eyebrows and eyelashes. "Now, I'll 
 show you where to get some," said Harry, but 
 before he could take them to the booth, some 
 venders came along and sold the three children 
 their whole stock. 
 
 "But we don't know anybody to throw it at," 
 said Ray. 
 
 "Oh, you don't have to know people — only I 
 never throw at grown people unless it's some one 
 I know. I'll show you some of my friends you 
 can pelt with it. Father ! ' ' called Harry. 
 
 "Yes, Harry?" 
 
 "I'm going to take Roy and Ray around to see 
 the fun. Where will you and mother stay?" 
 
 "We shall be near here somewhere, not far 
 from the entrance. But don't let your friends 
 miss the President's entry." 
 
 "No, I'll keep watch," said Harry. "Now, 
 come on. Whenever I say ' Quick,' you look to see 
 where I'm looking, and then let fly."
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 121 
 
 "Well, I think it's lots more fun than fire- 
 crackers," said Kay, "they don't hurt anybody, 
 and they aren't dirty, and you don't have that 
 dreadful smell of gunpowder." 
 
 "No, and you don't find a long list of killed and 
 wounded in the paper, the next day," said Harry. 
 "A fellow does miss the noise, of course." 
 
 "Well, there's noise enough, only it's another 
 kind," said Ray, as a procession of small boys 
 came by blowing horns and drowning the band, 
 which was playing The Star Spangled Banner 
 under difficulties. 
 
 "They ought not to come around where the 
 band is," said Harry, "it's no fun to spoil good 
 music like that. Say, let's throw confetti down 
 their horns when they turn this way again." The 
 children waited their opportunity, which soon 
 came, and threw handfuls of confetti into the 
 mouths of the horns, putting a sudden stop to the 
 blare and making the blowers puff and blow in 
 vain. 
 
 "What do you want to spoil our fun for?" ex- 
 claimed the leader, angrily. 
 
 "What did you spoil theirs for?" retorted
 
 122 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Harry, pointing to the band, the members of 
 which were looking at one another in despair. 
 ''Go anywhere away from the band and we'll let 
 you alone." 
 
 "Oh," said the boy, looking at the band, "I 
 never noticed 'em. All right, don't make any 
 difference to us where we go," and he led his fol- 
 lowers in another direction, tooting away as if the 
 life of the United States depended upon noise. 
 
 "I thought they just hadn't noticed," said 
 Harry, "they're good enough little fellows when 
 they once think of a thing. Quick!" Roy and 
 Ray turned. A very jolly-looking man with two 
 ladies was just passing. "Pepper him!" whis- 
 pered Harry, and they did. "It's our consul," 
 explained Harry, "he won't mind," and just then 
 the consul turned quickly, and though Harry was 
 by that time looking innocently in another direc- 
 tion, he knew at once the origin of his very 
 thorough decoration and came over to shake 
 Harry good-naturedly by the shoulders. ' ' Teach- 
 ing visitors these saucy Mexican tricks, too," he 
 said, as he brushed confetti from his moustache 
 and fished them out of his shirt bosom and blew
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 123 
 
 them out from under his cuffs. "Do you know 
 how I'm going to punish you for showing no more 
 respect for your country's representative?" 
 
 "No," said Harry, laughing, as he combed con- 
 fetti out of his hair, the consul having suddenly 
 produced a handful from some mysterious source 
 and poured it over him. 
 
 "I'm going to have you sentenced to come here 
 in the morning and help sweep out the place," 
 said the consul, looking back with mock severity, 
 as he and his party moved on. 
 
 "That wouldn't be any joke," explained Harry, 
 "if he meant it, for the ground here is covered 
 about a foot deep with confetti by the time the 
 fun is over. Listen ! ' ' They all paused suddenly 
 and stood listening. "There comes the band! 
 The President's coming — let's go back to the folks 
 and get good places to see the presidential party 
 come in." 
 
 They hurried back and were in plenty of time 
 to see the little group of officials enter. Ray 
 grasped Roy's hand and held it tight. "There he 
 is !" she exclaimed, "in the middle, that nice, dark- 
 haired man with the grey moustache." And sure
 
 124 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 enough, there he was, at last. Tall and straight 
 and soldierly, in spite of his seventy-six years, his 
 dark eyes looking about him in a kindly, modest 
 way, as if unconscious that he was under scrutiny, 
 he walked between the two files of soldiers stand- 
 ing on either side the path, while the best band in 
 Mexico played the National Hymn.* "It is never 
 played in the Federal District," said Harry, "ex- 
 cept when the president appears." 
 
 "What's the Federal District?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Come, children," called Mr. Clarke, just then, 
 "we must hurry and take our seats," and as they 
 all followed him and the other grown-up members 
 of the party, Harry had only time to say, "I'll 
 tell you about it later." In a few moments, they 
 had taken their seats in the reviewing stand and 
 were quietly listening to their own old Declaration 
 of Independence. 
 
 "Doesn't it sound good?" whispered Roy, and 
 his father, hearing him, smiled and patted his 
 shoulder. At home, it isn't the fashion to read 
 the Declaration in most places, and a great many 
 
 * The words and music of the National Hymn are given at 
 the end of the book.
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 125 
 
 people seem to forget what the Fourth of July is 
 all about. But in a foreign country, it is generally 
 read every Fourth of July if there is any celebra- 
 tion at all. 
 
 After the Declaration, there were two speeches, 
 one of them by the American ambassador. Then 
 there was a general handshaking and the moment 
 the children longed for had come. They stood 
 quietly, but very much stirred up within, while 
 their father and mother were presented to the 
 President and his party and to the ambassador, 
 and at last began to fear they were to be forgotten ; 
 but the President himself kindly prevented that. 
 Catching sight of their bright, expectant eyes be- 
 hind the group, he turned to them and held out his 
 hand, saying, "And are these little ones from 
 the States, too?" 
 
 The children forgot the proper form of address, 
 if indeed they knew it, for in all their antici- 
 pations of the meeting they had never asked them- 
 selves what their own part should be, but had only 
 wondered what the President would do and say. 
 And now all they could think of was "General 
 President." So they said, "Yes, General Presi-
 
 126 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 dent," in concert, and put their small paws in his 
 large, firm hand with the greatest confidence, ad- 
 miration shining out of their eyes so plainly that 
 he could not help seeing it. 
 
 "And what do you think of Mexico?" he asked 
 quizzically. 
 
 "We like it," said Roy, modestly, while Ray 
 added impulsively, ' ' and we feel now as if we had 
 seen George Washington." 
 
 The President and those around him smiled, and 
 he was evidently not displeased and gave them a 
 final pressure of the hand, shaking his head and 
 saying, "Ah, no, that is too much!" to Ray's 
 simple compliment. 
 
 Then Harry whispered to the children that the 
 races were about to begin and suggested that they 
 go down into the garden again and get close to 
 the running track. There were all kinds of races, 
 and they lasted all day long — races of boys, of 
 men, of little children, of young girls, and of 
 married women — not very dignified races, some of 
 them, and Ray said she didn't suppose Americans 
 would be willing to make themselves ridiculous 
 like that for everybody to see.
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 127 
 
 "Oh, yes, you would see plenty of this kind of 
 thing, if you were in some places in the States, 
 to-day," said Mr. Stevens, "and there we should 
 think nothing of it and should just say that people 
 were having a good time." 
 
 "When do you suppose we are going to have 
 something to eat?" whispered Roy to his mother. 
 
 "We must wait until the President goes to his 
 luncheon," answered Mrs. Stevens. "He will go 
 soon, and I believe your father and Mr. Clarke are 
 invited to luncheon with him." 
 
 And in a few moments, the presidential party 
 moved toward a small, wooden building on the 
 grounds into which, for some time past, the 
 children had seen waiters carrying cold meats and 
 salads and bottles of wine. "Now we can go and 
 find something to eat," said Mrs. Clarke. "Harry, 
 you lead the way to any one of the restaurants 
 here and we'll just take a little luncheon to serve 
 until we can get back home." They soon found a 
 table in an open pavilion, and ate what Harry 
 called "a red-white-and-blue Hail Columbia 
 lunch." They had cold turkey ("But that's both 
 an American and a Mexican bird, you know," said
 
 128 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Harry), and Saratoga chips, and sliced cucumbers, 
 of which the visitors were very properly rather 
 shy, and finally two kinds of pie. "But I haven't 
 had enough, have you, Roy?" asked Harry. Roy 
 confessed that he could hold a little more. "Say, 
 let's have some tamales! Have you had any yet? 
 No? Then let's have some if this fellow's got 
 any." The tamales were produced, and Roy and 
 Ray watched Harry open his, with great curiosity. 
 It was something wrapped in corn-husks and had 
 been cooked in that way. As the successive blades 
 of the husk were turned back, between each two 
 was a layer of corn-paste much like the substance 
 of the tortillas, but steamed and moist instead of 
 baked and dry. In the heart of the tamale were 
 some rice, some chicken giblets, and a little cooked 
 fruit. Harry ate his with gusto, but Roy, after 
 one or two tastes, decided that it would be some 
 time before he should learn to like tamales; and 
 he filled up the hollow space reserved for them 
 with some candy Ray had bought. 
 
 "After awhile," said Mrs. Clarke, "we can go 
 over to the ice cream booth and have some ice 
 cream. ' '
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 129 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Harry, "it wouldn't be the 
 Fourth of July without ice cream." And that 
 was the way in which they ended the afternoon, 
 going home rather early, so as to come back for 
 the fireworks in the evening. 
 
 When evening came, however, Mrs. Stevens and 
 Ray were too tired to go out again, and so Roy 
 and his father went without them. They found 
 the rockets very beautiful, but the fireworks in 
 general lacking in the variety that they were used 
 to at home ; and they were surprised, both of them, 
 to find how well the Fourth could be celebrated 
 without gunpowder. 
 
 "Father, what did Harry mean by the Federal 
 District?" asked Roy, who had not forgotten that 
 there was one point on which his desire for in- 
 formation was not satisfied. 
 
 "The Federal District here means about the 
 same as the District of Columbia at home," said 
 Mr. Stevens. "It is a district belonging to the 
 general government, and not to any of the states. 
 Here it comprises about four hundred and fifty 
 square miles, and the City of Mexico is its capital. 
 The general government makes its laws."
 
 130 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "I don't believe I know anything about the 
 government of Mexico, ' ' said Roy. ' ' I know there 
 are twenty-eight states, and that's about all." 
 
 "Yes, and one territory, that of Tepic, not 
 much larger than the Federal District. Every 
 state has two senators, but instead of serving 
 six years as ours do, they are elected for two years 
 at a time on alternate years, one senator each year. 
 Then there is one representative for every forty 
 thousand of population or fraction of more than 
 twenty thousand in each state, and these repre- 
 sentatives form the Chamber of Deputies. All but 
 four of the states have railways now, those four 
 being Chiapas, Sinaloa, Tabasco, and Lower Cali- 
 fornia, and they are on the coast and have good 
 harbours." 
 
 "Lower California?" asked Roy in surprise. 
 "Does that belong to Mexico? I thought it be- 
 longed to the United States." 
 
 "You are thinking of Southern California," 
 said his father, "Lower California has never be- 
 longed to us, and it is a pity that the name can't 
 be changed, for it is misleading. It is perhaps as 
 unknown a piece of country as any in North
 
 THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN MEXICO 131 
 
 America. Some prospectors once Landed there, 
 along in the sixties I believe, and were never seen 
 again, and it is supposed they were murdered. If 
 a railroad should ever be put through the state, 
 things would change and improve there rapidly, in 
 all probability; but now it is the last place to 
 which a traveller would care to go. 
 
 "Here we are at the hotel. I've had a very 
 satisfactory Fourth of July. How about you?" 
 
 "Fine!" said Roy, "but I'm mighty sleepy 
 now."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE CONQUEST 
 
 " Before we go to the Museum," said Mr. 
 Stevens, one morning, "I think we ought to have 
 some account of the Conquest of Mexico. I am 
 very rusty on some parts of it, and I think you, 
 Helen, are the only one of the party who has been 
 re-reading the story. Can't you tell us about it 
 this afternoon, when we come in from our sight- 
 seeing?" 
 
 ' ' I have just been thinking of that, and wonder- 
 ing whether I could tell the story briefly and at the 
 same time make it interesting to the children," 
 replied Mrs. Stevens. "I'll try if you are not all 
 too tired. Can't we go somewhere out of doors, 
 and sit where we can look at something that will 
 help to make the story seem true?" 
 
 "Why not to the tree of La Noche Triste?" sug- 
 gested Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "The very thing, and if we go out about half- 
 
 132
 
 THE CONQUEST 133 
 
 past three, we shall be done with our story before 
 the driving begins and shall be able to come back 
 and see the carriages." 
 
 The children were delighted with this arrange- 
 ment, and at the hour appointed they all boarded 
 a car at the Plaza. It did not take them long to 
 reach Popotla and the famous tree which is an 
 ahuehuetl (ah-way-way'-tl), a kind of cypress. 
 Some years ago some Indians kindled a fire be- 
 neath it and injured it seriously, and since then it 
 has been protected by an iron railing. The chil- 
 dren looked with interest at the great tree, four 
 hundred years old, at least, and they wanted to 
 know why it was called the tree of the Sad Night. 
 "All in good time," said Mr. Stevens, as they 
 seated themselves on a long bench. "Let mother 
 tell her story and we shall come to the tree in due 
 
 course." 
 
 "Long, long before the Spaniards found this 
 country," began Mrs. Stevens, "it was occupied 
 by Indians who were partly civilised — at least, 
 they had a kind of civilisation of their own and 
 were not in the least like the Indians of North 
 America. The only records we have of them are
 
 134 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 some picture-writings on cloth made of the 
 maguey-plant, of which we have seen so 
 much in the Valley of Mexico. According to 
 these, we can trace their history back to the 
 seventh century, twelve hundred years and more 
 ago. ' ' 
 
 "My!" exclaimed Ray, "it makes me tired to 
 think of so many hundred years ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' I am not going to tell you everything that hap- 
 pened in them, so don't be frightened," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, smiling. "The first tribe we hear of is 
 the Toltecs, and they lived here until about the 
 twelfth century, when they were driven out by the 
 Chichimecs ; there were other tribes also, and then 
 toward the end of the twelfth century, the Aztecs 
 appear in history, the tribe found in the City of 
 Mexico by the Spaniards, after the Aztecs had 
 occupied the valley some three hundred years. 
 The Aztecs called their country Anahuac (An-ah'- 
 hwac), and their capital, which stood where the 
 City of Mexico stands now, was named Tenochtit'- 
 lan," (pronounced as it is spelled). "Their prin- 
 cipal building in the Capital stood just where the 
 great Cathedral stands now. The Aztecs were then
 
 THE CONQUEST 135 
 
 under the rule of Moctezuma (or Montezuma) IT, 
 whose family had been reigning since about 1460, 
 and they had brought into subjection a great 
 many tribes in the surrounding country. They 
 forced them to pay tribute of a great number of 
 young men and women every year, and when these 
 poor young people left their homes they knew they 
 would never see them again ; for the young women 
 were forced to become slaves to the Aztecs and 
 the young men were killed and their hearts served 
 up as a sacrifice to the Aztec gods. It is even 
 said that the rest of the body was eaten, the Aztecs 
 being cannibals." 
 
 "What horrible people!" exclaimed Kay, while 
 Eoy screwed up his face in disgust. 
 
 "But in a way the Aztecs were civilised," went 
 on Mrs. Stevens, "for they lived in real houses 
 and had fine public buildings, they made cloth and 
 worked in gold and silver, they had ways of 
 reckoning time, and they had the picture-writing 
 to record their history. However, as they were so 
 cruel to the tribes around them it is no wonder 
 that these tribes turned against them and helped 
 the Spaniards to conquer them when the chance
 
 136 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 came. When Columbus discovered America in 
 1492, he did not, as you know, visit the mainland, 
 only the West Indies; but so much interest was 
 aroused by his reports that from that time on, 
 other Spaniards were continually fitting out ex- 
 ploring expeditions. The first to touch this 
 country was that of Cor'doba in 1517. He landed 
 in Yucatan, which is a part of Mexico now. 
 Another expedition came out the next year, under 
 Grijalva (Gree-hal'-va), who landed on an island 
 opposite Vera Cruz." 
 
 Mr. Stevens had a map and pointed out the 
 places to the children as their mother named them, 
 so that they might see just how far each explorer 
 had gone. 
 
 ' ' Then in 1519 came Cortez, with Alvara'do, who 
 had come the year before, as one of his men. In 
 one of the suburbs of the City of Mexico is a 
 beautiful house, once owned by Captain Alvarado, 
 and now occupied by an American lady who is a 
 student of Mexican antiquities. Cortez had eleven 
 ships, one hundred and ten sailors, sixteen cavalry- 
 men with their horses, over five hundred foot- 
 soldiers, some Indians from Cuba, and ten small
 
 THE CONQUEST 137 
 
 cannon. He had two Indian prisoners to interpret 
 for him, for of course none of the Spaniards could 
 speak the Aztec language. 
 
 "One thing which very much helped the Span- 
 iards was a tradition which the Indian tribes had 
 of a white man named Quetzalcoatl (Ket-zal- 
 co-at'l), who was said to have once lived among 
 them and ruled mildly over them, teaching them 
 many things. Now they worshipped him under 
 the name of God of the Air. The legend ran that 
 after ruling them for twenty years he had sailed 
 away from them on a boat made of snakes, but had 
 told them before he went that at some future day 
 he or other white men would return and rule over 
 them as gently as he had done." 
 
 "Wasn't that strange? Who do you suppose 
 he was?" asked Roy. 
 
 "No one knows, but near Puebla there is a 
 great brick pyramid called the Pyramid of Cho- 
 lula, said to have been built by the only two people 
 left living after a great deluge in which all the 
 rest of the world were drowned. On this pyramid, 
 the people had built a temple to Quetzalcoatl, 
 with an image of him within it, and pilgrims came
 
 138 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 from all over the country to worship there. The 
 whole town was full of temples — Cortez says that 
 he counted four hundred towers in Cholula. If we 
 go to Puebla we shall try to see it, as we can go 
 there by tram." 
 
 "Oh, jolly!" exclaimed the children. 
 
 "We shall also see images in the Museum here 
 supposed to represent the God of the Air. Well, 
 as I said, when Cortez and his men and horses 
 appeared, they created a great sensation, as the 
 rumour ran that Quetzalcoatl 's prophecy had been 
 fulfilled. The people had never seen horses before 
 and thought they too were gods, and the Spaniards 
 regarded it as a great misfortune when one of the 
 horses was killed and so was proved to be mortal. 
 They buried it at night secretly so that the natives 
 might not get any of the body and find out that it 
 was mere animal flesh. 
 
 "A very clever Indian woman, named Marina, 
 who had been made a prisoner, became attached to 
 Cortez and helped him greatly by her knowledge of 
 the native tongues and of the nature of the people. 
 By her aid and that of the tribes who wished to 
 see the Aztecs conquered, Cortez arrived at
 
 THE CONQUEST 139 
 
 Tenochtitlan, or the City of Mexico, without very 
 serious losses. Moctezuma, who had heard of his 
 coming, and who had had spies at various places 
 to meet him and come back and report, had de- 
 cided that the best plan was to appear friendly. 
 He had no doubt that with his tens of thousands 
 of men he could conquer the small force of the 
 Spaniards. The Spanish at once began to behave 
 as conquerors, but did not have uninterrupted 
 success, and it was after a defeat that Cortez, 
 whose men had been driven out of the city over 
 the Tacubaya road, spent the night, it is said, 
 under this tree here. It may have been a Sad 
 Night, but we may be pretty sure that Cortez him- 
 self did not spend it in lamenting. A week later, 
 he won a victory, and then, with powder made 
 from sulphur taken from the crater of Popocate- 
 petl, he began the siege of the city. There were 
 with him forty cavalrymen, eighty bowmen, four 
 hundred and fifty foot-soldiers, and nine cannon. 
 The Aztecs had some hundred and twenty-five 
 thousand men, whose weapons were principally 
 bows and arrows. 
 
 "Moctezuma had been killed the dav before the
 
 140 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Sad Night, and not by a Spaniard but by bis own 
 nephew, Guatemot'zin, or Cuauhtemoc (you saw 
 his monument on the Paseo, the other day — a beau- 
 tiful one), who thought he was not sufficiently 
 vigorous against the Spaniards. Cuauhtemoc then 
 took command and held the city until his garrison 
 was starved into submission. The Spaniards 
 again entered the city, but all the treasure they 
 had seen before was gone. Cuauhtemoc was put to 
 the torture to make him tell what had become of it, 
 but in vain. And none of it has ever been found. 
 We shall see a painting in the San Carlo Academy 
 in the city, showing a part of the torture of 
 Cuauhtemoc. An old chief being tortured with 
 him — the soles of their feet were being roasted 
 over hot coals " 
 
 "Oh, mother !" begged Ray, clasping her hands. 
 
 "Yes, it is almost too dreadful to tell, dear — 
 this old chief looks at Cuauhtemoc entreatingly, as 
 if saying, 'I can't bear it any longer. Let us tell 
 them,' and Cuauhtemoc replies, 'Do you think, per- 
 haps, that I am taking my pleasure in my bath?' 
 and refuses to let him speak." 
 
 "He was brave, anyhow," said Roy.
 
 if 
 
 THE CONQUEST 141 
 
 'When the Spaniards conquered the city they 
 soon conquered more, and for three hundred years 
 the country was ruled by Spain. Cortez went back 
 finally to Spain, and died there in 1547— he has no 
 known descendants in Mexico. Many of his fol- 
 lowers and other Spaniards who came afterwards 
 married with the Indians, and it is this mixture 
 which makes the Mexicans. The old religion has 
 disappeared, for the Spaniards threw down all the 
 Indian idols, destroyed their temples, and put up 
 churches in their stead, but the Aztec language 
 still survives. Once a year, in August, the Indians 
 assemble around the monument to Cuauhtemoc 
 and deliver speeches in that language. And there 
 are villages off the railroad where some of the old 
 Aztec dances are still danced." 
 
 Mrs. Stevens paused for breath, rather tired of 
 her duties as historian ; but the children were still 
 curious. 
 
 "How did their buildings look?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Their first houses were built of reeds and 
 rushes from the lakes, for this Valley of Mexico 
 which is now without any very large body of water 
 was once full of shallow lakes, which have been
 
 142 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 drained off, all but six, under the Spaniards. But 
 the Aztecs soon learned to build very massive 
 houses of stone. They looked like nothing else 
 that has ever been found on this side of the globe, 
 and were more like the structures of Egypt than 
 like anything else. The great temple that stood 
 where the Cathedral stands now, was a pyramid 
 over one hundred feet high, and a hundred and 
 fourteen steps led up to it. At the top there was 
 room enough for thirty horsemen. What are 
 streets now were canals then, at least many of 
 them were, and some of them have the same names 
 as then." 
 
 "What became of Cuauhtemoc?" asked Eoy. 
 
 "He was put to death. The great temple was 
 destroyed, and the founding of the new city began 
 by building — what do you suppose?" 
 
 "A church?" "A palace?" "A monastery?" 
 guessed the children. 
 
 ' ' No, — a navy-yard ! ' ' 
 
 "A navy-yard! Up here in the mountains!" 
 exclaimed Roy. 
 
 "Yes, a navy-yard, to build boats to use on the 
 lakes," said Mrs. Stevens. "It seems very queer,
 
 THE CONQUEST 143 
 
 as one looks in every direction without seeing 
 water, to think that such a thing was ever needed 
 here." 
 
 "You can still see small lakes, though, by going 
 up to a height as we did at Guadalupe," said Mr. 
 Stevens. "There are six in the Valley, and one 
 of them, Lake Texcoco, is right in the centre and 
 of quite respectable size. And there is a little 
 town called Texcoco, not so very far from the city, 
 which has a bridge called the Bridge of the Ber- 
 gantines, from which the boats of that name built 
 by Cortez sailed away with his men to the siege of 
 the Capital." 
 
 "Dear me!" said Bay, who had been calling up 
 her knowledge of the early history of her own 
 country, "and all this was happening nearly a 
 hundred years before Virginia and Massachusetts 
 were settled." 
 
 "Yes," said her father, "and while Ponce de 
 Leon was in Florida and De Soto finding the 
 Mississippi, and Coronado civilising New Mexico. 
 The Spaniards were very busy in those days." 
 
 "And they have lost it all, even Cuba," said 
 Roy, thoughtfully. "I wonder why."
 
 144 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Ah, that is the question," said his father. 
 
 By this time, the sun 's rays were growing level, 
 and they thought it time to get back to the park at 
 the base of the Castle of Chapultepec, to watch the 
 driving. It was Thursday, one of the two especial 
 days for this great promenade (the other being 
 Sunday), and very soon after they took their 
 seats the procession began, growing larger as the 
 hour grew later. The driving lasts from five to 
 seven generally, unless rain comes to put a stop to 
 it. On this particular day, however, the weather 
 was obliging, and the party had the pleasure of 
 seeing all the best families of the city, with many 
 American residents and some tourists, driving in 
 all sorts of equipages, from the latest pattern in 
 automobiles to the poorest yellow-flagged hack. 
 The children thought the Mexican ladies very 
 pretty, and were very grateful to a gentleman who 
 pointed out to them the carriage of Senora Diaz, 
 wife of the President. They pronounced her 
 charming, especially when they saw her smiling at 
 some friends and making the graceful Mexican 
 salutation with the hand. "It is so much prettier 
 and politer than our way of waving the hand,"
 
 THE CONVIKST 145 
 
 said Kay. "Ours says 'Go away,' and theirs says 
 ' Come back. ' ' ' 
 
 "You'll be a thorough little Mexican, before 
 you get away," said her father. "You admire 
 everything so much." 
 
 "No, not quite everything," said Ray, "I don't 
 admire the rags and the dirt. And I do like the 
 United States best." 
 
 "Of course you do," said Roy, stoutly. 
 
 "But," persisted Ray, "I don't know how it is 
 — I can't explain it — I like to like other countries. 
 If they've got anything nice I want to own it and 
 not pretend that we are the best in everything." 
 
 "You just want to be fair," said Roy. 
 
 "Yes, and a little more — I want to be polite," 
 returned Ray. 
 
 "That's the spirit that makes travelling easy 
 all around," said her father. "Keep it up, Ray."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 THE MUSEUM 
 
 When the party first entered the patio of the 
 National Museum, they exclaimed with delight at 
 the beauty of the garden disclosed to view. l ' You 
 never would guess from the streets," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, "what beautiful things are hidden inside 
 these doorways. It always pays to look into any 
 public entrance." 
 
 The Hall of Archaeology, which is on the ground 
 floor of the Museum, proved to be so interesting 
 that the party had to leave the upper floors for 
 another day. It was full of images and stone rel- 
 ics of all sorts, of the Indian races who were the 
 earliest known inhabitants of Mexico. The only 
 other visitors in the room were peons with their 
 families, all barefooted and wrapped in their 
 serapes and rebozos, the women carrying nearly 
 always a little brown baby slung in the folds of 
 
 the rebozo as if in a hammock, sometimes in front, 
 
 146
 
 THE MUSEUM 147 
 
 sometimes on the back. They paused in their slow- 
 rounds to read the labels, which were in Spanish,- 
 at least, they seemed to be reading them, — and 
 Roy and Hay wondered if they still had any feel- 
 ing for the ancient gods of their race, and if per- 
 haps they came here as they would have come to 
 a temple. But who knows what is passing through 
 the mind of a peon? The children finally gave up 
 guessing, and turned their attention to the relics. 
 The first, of course, to attract every one is the 
 great Calendar Stone of the Aztecs which stands 
 opposite the doorway. "This is said to have been 
 embedded in the front wall of the great teocalli or 
 temple of the Aztecs and to have been buried for 
 many years, after the destruction of the temple," 
 said Mr. Stevens. "Then it was found and placed 
 in one of the Cathedral towers and finally brought 
 here." 
 
 "What does it mean?" asked Eay, "and why 
 do they call it the Calendar Stone!" 
 
 "I think they used it to represent time in some 
 way," said Roy, "because here in the middle is 
 something like the sun with something like rays 
 going out from it."
 
 148 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Yes," said his father, "it is sometimes called 
 the Stone of the Sun. This other great stone is 
 the sacrificial stone," pointing to another near by. 
 "It was found near the Cathedral in 1791, and they 
 were about to break it up and use it for paving- 
 stones when fortunately some people who knew its 
 value prevented its destruction. The story goes 
 that two stones like these were quarried out at 
 Coyoacan, a suburb, and that as they were being 
 brought on rollers to the temple their weight 
 broke down one of the bridges and they sank into 
 the lake, and these two stones were then made to 
 replace them and moved in over the same bridge, 
 which had been strengthened in the meantime. It 
 took five thousand men to do the moving, it is said, 
 and when the carving on them was finished, over 
 seven hundred human beings were sacrificed at 
 their dedication. In this stone," showing the 
 sacrificial stone, "you can see dimly the figures of 
 men dragging the victims to be sacrificed. And 
 here is a hollow in the middle for the blood and a 
 little channel running out to the edge to carry it 
 off." 
 
 "That makes it seem awfully true," said Roy,
 
 THE MUSEUM 149 
 
 as he looked curiously at the top of this wonderful 
 old stone, emblem of the cruel Aztec religion as 
 the Calendar Stone was of the advanced Aztec 
 civilisation. After these two relics, the thing that 
 most interested the children was the statue called 
 "El Indio Triste," the Sad Indian. 
 
 "What makes him sad?" asked Ray. 
 
 "He's sad because he's cold," said Roy, "don't 
 you see his blanket and the ear-lappets on his cap ? 
 and he's all bunched up together, as if he were 
 trying to keep warm." The children could not 
 help laughing at this idea, though Ray said she 
 didn't believe it was ever cold in Mexico. 
 
 "Yes, it is sometimes," maintained Roy. 
 "Harry Clarke told me that last winter lots of 
 poor people froze, and that the government gave 
 out blankets and had fires built in the streets. But 
 I really didn't mean it when I said the Sad Indian 
 was cold. Does any one know anything about it, 
 father?" 
 
 "The story goes that he betrayed his country- 
 men and never recovered from the shame of it and 
 always felt remorse; but judging from the hole 
 between the folded hands and the one through the
 
 150 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 feet, he must at one time have carried a banner, 
 and probably represents a standard-bearer or a 
 torch-bearer. The street where it was found in 
 182S is called the Street of the Sad Indian. One 
 of the temples had Indians with candlesticks of 
 stone on its walls, and this may be one of them." 
 
 The image of Chac-mol, the God of Fire, inter- 
 ested the children also, as it lay on its back, hold- 
 ing in both hands a disk representing the sun. 
 "He looks terribly uncomfortable," said Ray, 
 "with nothing to lean against. I think his elbows 
 must be pretty sore, by this time." 
 
 "Constant leaning doesn't seem to wear away 
 a stone like constant dropping," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, "but he certainly does look uncomfort- 
 able." 
 
 The children were anxious to see images of 
 the God of the Air, Quetzalcoatl, and were greatly 
 disturbed to find them so hideous. "I don't see 
 why they wanted such an ugly god as that to come 
 back and rule over them," said Ray. 
 
 "Ideas of beauty differ in different times and 
 countries and perhaps they thought these were 
 beautiful," said Mrs. Stevens.
 
 I he Sad Indian
 
 THE MUSEUM 151 
 
 "More likely," said Mr. Stevens, "they wanted 
 to repre'sent the power and fearsomeness of the 
 god, so that the people would be afraid to disobey 
 what the priests said were his wishes, and would 
 bring gifts and sacrifices to keep him in good 
 humour." 
 
 Many of the images made the children laugh, 
 and they quite enjoyed the morning, not finding it 
 at all tiresome as they expected; however, when 
 their father proposed going into the rooms where 
 more modern relics were to be seen, they were 
 quite ready. Mrs. Stevens did not care to climb 
 to the second floor that morning, and so the party 
 moved on to the rooms in which souvenirs of 
 Maximilian were kept. 
 
 Here they found two of his carriages, one of 
 them the state coach, splendid with gilding and 
 carving and colour, and his silver dinner service, 
 and on the walls pictures of the costumes worn by 
 officers of the Imperial household during his short 
 reign. "I don't feel as if I had Maximilian 
 straight," said Roy, "just where did he come in 
 and how did he come to be emperor?" 
 
 "He was an Austrian arch-duke, to begin
 
 152 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 with," said Mr. Stevens, "and he was induced to 
 come over at the time when the French invaded 
 the country. You remember I told you that Spain, 
 France, and Great Britain all had claims against 
 Mexico — because the government would not pay 
 its debts to citizens of those countries. France 
 claimed six hundred thousand dollars, a part of 
 which was a claim for sixty thousand dollars by 
 a French cook who said the Mexican soldiers had 
 stolen pies from him to that value." 
 
 "My! Sixty thousand dollars' worth of pies! 
 I should think that would have killed the whole 
 army, ' ' exclaimed Ray. 
 
 "Of course, that was ridiculous, and the Mexi- 
 cans laughed at it," said Mr. Stevens, "but the 
 matter was really serious, and the three countries 
 sent out a fleet bringing commissioners to treat 
 with the republic concerning these claims. All the 
 troops were to be withdrawn as soon as a treaty 
 had been signed, and the English and Spanish kept 
 their word. But Napoleon III, instead of with- 
 drawing his troops, sent more, and in 1863 they 
 entered the Capital, and then began that wander- 
 ing about of President Juarez of which I told you
 
 THE MUSEUM L53 
 
 the otlier day, and the war in which Diaz so dis- 
 tinguished himself. Maximilian was sent over in 
 1864, with his wife, Carlotta, daughter of Leopold 
 T, then King of Belgium, and Mexico was declared 
 an empire and they the emperor and empress. 
 Their rule was quite splendid while it lasted, and 
 it is said the City of Mexico owes its great boule- 
 vard to plans made by Carlotta. During this 
 period the United States had its Civil War on its 
 hands and could not attend to outside affairs, else 
 the empire might never have been inaugurated, 
 for we were very averse to having anything but 
 republics in the Western Hemisphere. In 1865, 
 when the end of our Civil War was in sight and 
 victory was with the nation, we turned our atten- 
 tion to Mexico's affairs and took sides with the 
 Mexicans. Napoleon, having got Maximilian into 
 the scrape and finding the empire unpopular in 
 the New World, deserted him and left him to get 
 out of it as best he could. You know that he was 
 captured at Queretaro by General Escobedo, and 
 executed with two of his generals, Miramon and 
 Mexia. lie left instructions that Carlotta, who 
 had gone to Europe to get help, was not to be told
 
 154 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 of his execution and, so far as I know, she never 
 has been, but has supposed that he died a natural 
 death." 
 
 "Why, is she living yet?" asked Ray. 
 
 "Yes, poor lady. She was taken back to Bel- 
 gium with the understanding that the cause had 
 failed and that Maximilian would follow. She be- 
 came very melancholy and finally lost her mind. 
 She was kept in the Chateau de Bechoute, not far 
 from Brussels. It is one of the saddest things 
 connected with the history of Mexico." 
 
 "I tell you, I wouldn't like to have been Na- 
 poleon, and have had all that on my conscience," 
 said Roy. 
 
 "Kings and emperors used to have a great 
 many things of that kind on their consciences," 
 said Mr. Stevens ; ' ' fortunately, in these days, they 
 are less powerful and more conscientious, appar- 
 ently, and the newspapers speak out and tell them 
 what the people think of them when they resort to 
 tricks of this kind." 
 
 "I can remember, as a little girl," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, "seeing the pictures in Harper's Weekly, 
 I think, showing the execution of Maximilian and
 
 THE MUSEUM 155 
 
 his generals. It was the first news I ever read 
 that I still remember." 
 
 "Well, then," said Roy, "we almost made up to 
 Mexico for taking Texas and California away 
 from her, didn't we? For if we hadn't stood by 
 her, France might have won and she might have 
 been an empire instead of a republic, and 
 governed by foreigners, mightn't she!" 
 
 "It looks so," said his father. 
 
 "Well, I feel better," said Roy; "I do hate to 
 have my country do anything mean, and if she 
 can 't take it back then I like to see her make up for 
 it somehow." 
 
 "So do I," said Ray. 
 
 "Time for dinner," said Mr. Stevens, looking 
 at his watch. "We'll come back here another 
 morning."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE MUSEUM AGAIN, AND CHAPULTEPEC 
 
 A few days later the family made their second 
 visit to the Museum, and, so far as the children 
 were concerned, found it even more interesting 
 than the first, because the objects of interest this 
 time belonged generally to more modern times, the 
 history of which the children could grasp. They 
 saw some of the famous picture-writings, it is 
 true, but they also saw charts and pictures show- 
 ing the natives of all the various states of Mexico 
 in their different costumes, some of them most 
 graceful and picturesque; they saw many relics 
 of the Conquest, such as the banner of Cortez, his 
 armour and the arms worn by some of his fol- 
 lowers, a helmet and cuirass worn by Captain 
 Alvarado, and a portrait of Cortez, but they also 
 saw many relics connected with the War of Inde- 
 pendence, which interested them much more. For 
 example, there was the banner taken by Father 
 
 156
 
 THE MUSEUM, AND CHAPULTEPEC 157 
 
 Hidalgo from his Little home-church and made the 
 standard of the War of Independence. ' It bore the 
 picture of the Madonna of Guadalupe with which 
 the family were now very familiar, from seeing it 
 in so many churches. There were Hidalgo's 
 musket, his cane, his favourite chair, and even his 
 handkerchief. The children looked at these relics 
 with as much respect and interest as if they had 
 been those of Paul Revere or Israel Putnam or 
 of any of their own Revolutionary heroes, for 
 they had grown to think very admiringly of the 
 patriot-priest who gave the call to arms in the 
 name of freedom. 
 
 The many objects that had once belonged to 
 Juarez, the Indian president, interested them 
 rather less, though they gazed curiously at his 
 clothes, of a style just old-fashioned enough to 
 strike them as somewhat ridiculous. The death- 
 mask and the bed on which Juarez died, with its 
 canopy and hangings, they looked at with solemn 
 faces; and they stood long before the full-length 
 portraits of Maximilian and Carlotta, in ball 
 costume, and with ill-concealed disapproval turned 
 away from the portrait of Napoleon III.
 
 158 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 But the portraits that interested them most 
 were those of the six young cadets who were killed 
 at Chapultepec. Very poor portraits they were, 
 probably, and certainly very poor as works of art, 
 but both Roy and Ray stood before them with 
 tears in their eyes, thinking how young these poor 
 boys were to have fallen in battle. They felt more 
 than ever anxious to go out and lay their wreaths 
 at the foot of the monument, and were very glad 
 to find that an excursion to Chapultepec was 
 planned for that very afternoon. 
 
 Mr. Stevens had been successful, through the 
 kind help of Mr. Clarke, in securing a permit to 
 visit the interior of the castle, something not 
 always easy to get. And about four o'clock, the 
 party, accompanied by Harry Clarke, who had a 
 holiday for some reason, started for Chapultepec. 
 "It means the Hill of the Grasshopper, doesn't 
 it?" said Ray. 
 
 "Yes, and why don't they call it that?" said 
 Roy, a little hard to please. 
 
 "They do," said Harry, "that's what Chapul- 
 tepec means — but you couldn't expect them to say 
 it in English, Roy."
 
 THE MUSEUM, AND CHAPULTEPEC 159 
 
 There was a general laugh at Roy's expense, in 
 which he could not help joining, though the fact 
 was that his grumpiness was owing to his not 
 feeling very well. When the car stopped at the 
 great entrance gate, the party got out and entered 
 the park at the foot of the hill, strolling among the 
 great ahuehuetls, and very soon coming to the 
 stone monument they were seeking, with its pro- 
 tecting iron railing. On one side were the names 
 of the cadets who fell in the defence of the castle, 
 and on the other of those who were taken pris- 
 oner, with the dates. The children could not 
 reach to deposit their modest wreaths of daisies, 
 but Mr. Stevens put them on his cane and placed 
 them just at the base of the shaft. An old Mexi- 
 can gentleman, who was passing by, stopped to 
 watch the proceeding, and smiled kindly when he 
 saw the little givers were Americans. ''They 
 say," said Mr. Stevens, as they turned away, 
 "that Moctezuma used to have a palace on this 
 great rocky hill, though this palace was built under 
 two of the Spanish viceroys and finished in 1785. 
 In Moctezuma 's time, they had to climb all the 
 way to the top, the chieftains and their followers
 
 160 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 in palanquins with slaves to carry them. And 
 once, the story goes, Mocteznma stopped his 
 bearers at the entrance to a cave, on the way up, 
 and went by himself into the cave, shortly after- 
 ward, to every one's surprise, calling to them from 
 the top of the hill. As the people did not know 
 there was an interior passage from the cave, they 
 thought the emperor had penetrated the rocks by 
 some miraculous power. Now there are good 
 footpaths and carriage roads, and even an ele- 
 vator part way up." 
 
 When the party reached the top, after winding 
 about among the trees and admiring the flowers 
 everywhere, particularly the pink geraniums that 
 climbed all the way up the rocks like a vine, they 
 found themselves on a broad esplanade from 
 which they could see all the pretty villages below 
 and the two snow-capped mountains that were 
 now becoming very familiar to them. 
 
 "I don't know what we'll do when we go where 
 we can't see old 'Popo,' " said Roy. "lam get- 
 ting so used to him that I look for him every 
 morning." 
 
 "Now, look off on this side," said Ray, who had
 
 THE MUSEUM, AND CHAPULTEPEC H'.l 
 
 been through the garden and into the gallery 
 which overlooked the Valley in another direction. 
 Here they saw the battlefields of Churubusco and 
 Molino del Key, the city with its towers and splen- 
 did domes, and the hill and chapel of Guadalupe. 
 It was a lovely, clear day, and everything was 
 visible that distance allowed, and the children 
 thought they had never seen so beautiful a land- 
 scape. They were at last learning to appreciate 
 scenery and to understand their father's and 
 mother's enthusiasm. 
 
 Still they were anxious to enter the castle, and 
 Mr. Stevens presented his permit to the guard, 
 who honoured it at once, introducing them into 
 the State apartments. Of course, as the Presi- 
 dent and his family were living there during 
 the summer, the private apartments were not 
 shown. 
 
 The Empress Carlotta is associated with much 
 of the magnificence of the palace, which was a 
 favourite place with her, but everything is marked 
 R. M., "Republica Mexicana." The oldest things 
 in the palace are two chairs said to have belonged 
 to Cortez. All the rooms of the palace open on
 
 162 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 marble balconies, and on the upper floor, reached 
 by a stairway with gilded balustrades, there are 
 fountains and terraced gardens. Outside the 
 palace are colonnades of white and tinted marbles, 
 and under the arches are copies of frescoes of 
 Pompeiian and Grecian designs. 
 
 ' ' I never, never, saw such a lovely place ! ' ' ex- 
 claimed Ray. ' ' It must make a person very happy 
 to live here." 
 
 "Did it look just like this — the hill, I mean — in 
 Moctezuma's time?" asked Roy. 
 
 "No, indeed, because once it was an island in 
 Lake Texcoco, and now it is four miles from the 
 shore of the lake," said Harry. 
 
 "Then all this ground around it was under 
 water?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed, and lots more. They have been 
 draining the water out of the Valley of Mexico for 
 hundreds of years." 
 
 "I wish we could see some of the cadets," said 
 Ray, remembering that one end or side of the 
 castle was occupied by the Military School of 
 Mexico; and as they followed the drive westward 
 they came to the school and Ray had her wish.
 
 THE MUSEUM, AND CHAPULTEPEC 1G3 
 
 Several cadets were standing about in groups, and 
 one, whom Harry Clarke happened to know 
 slightly, saluted the party politely. 
 
 "There are about three hundred of them here," 
 said Harry, "and on the anniversary of the battle 
 of Chapultepec they have memorial exercises and 
 decorate the monument." 
 
 "Has Mexico a large army?" asked Mr. 
 Stevens, who found Harry pretty well posted 
 about his adopted country. 
 
 "Only about thirty to thirty-five thousand, in- 
 cluding officers," said Harry. "You have seen 
 the rurales, haven't you?" 
 "Yes, an occasional one." 
 
 "There are over two thousand of them, and 
 when they are mounted they look fine. You know 
 they wear leather suits and felt sombreros to 
 match, all trimmed with silver. And they're like 
 a walking armory, with their cartridge-belts, and 
 revolvers, and swords. There's a little tram-line 
 across the mountains from Telmacan (Tay-wa- 
 can') to Esperanza, connecting the Mexican South- 
 ern and the Mexican railroads, and each car has 
 a rural for guard, in addition to the driver and
 
 164 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 conductor. It doesn't seem as if there were any- 
 thing to be afraid of, but the sight of the armed 
 guard makes you feel safe." 
 
 "We may take that tram one of these days," 
 said Mr. Stevens, "so I'm glad to hear we shall 
 have a protector. If you are all ready to go down, 
 now, we '11 stroll about among the trees awhile and 
 then go back to town." On the way down they 
 passed the cave, once the home of the Spirit of the 
 Spring, Malintzin, and near the bottom of the hill 
 the spring from which the city gets part of its 
 water supply. It was walled in by the viceroys 
 who were responsible for the building of the 
 castle. Moctezuma's tree is among the large 
 cypresses in the park, a double tree hundreds of 
 years old, without doubt, and forty-one feet 
 around. It is said that Moctezuma wept his defeat 
 under this tree as Cortez did under the tree of the 
 Sad Night. 
 
 As they went back through the city streets, 
 after leaving the car, they passed a building in a 
 very ordinary street from which a great confusion 
 of children's voices came forth. "That must be a 
 school," said Harry.
 
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 THE MUSEUM, AND CHAPULTEPEC 165 
 
 A school!" exclaimed Roy and Ray together. 
 "With all that noise?" 
 
 "Yes, they study aloud here in the lower grade 
 schools," said Harry. "Then the teacher knows 
 they're studying, you see. Let's see if we may go 
 in." He stepped into the patio and to the door of 
 one of the rooms on the ground floor, and asked 
 permission, which was at once granted, and he 
 beckoned the others to follow. The school was on 
 two floors, the rooms opening around a court, and 
 the youngest children were in the ground-floor 
 rooms, with women-teachers. As soon as the 
 party were seen at the door, the teacher nodded 
 to the little pupils and they all rose in their 
 places and their little hands went to their fore- 
 heads in a polite salute. They looked so "cute" 
 as Ray called it, that the visitors broke into smiles 
 and all bowed in return, and the little fellows sat 
 down again. There were nearly forty of them. 
 As it was clear that they would not go on with 
 their studying while visitors were present, the 
 party went on upstairs, when the babble at once 
 began again behind them. 
 
 Upstairs, the boys in the middle and rear
 
 166 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 rooms aroused the sympathy of the party, because 
 the only light they had in their rooms came in 
 through the doorway, and a little distance from 
 that the room was almost dark. Yet there they 
 were, poring over their books and straining their 
 eyes. The teacher who was going with the party 
 as guide said they had a great deal of eye-trouble 
 among the children, and the visitors did not 
 wonder at it. 
 
 "There are some very good, new school-build- 
 ings in the city," said Harry, "but this happens 
 to be one of the poor ones." 
 
 "Well, I'm glad I don't go to school in this 
 country," said Roy; "school from half-past eight 
 to four, and eleven months in the year, and then 
 such dark rooms as these ! ' ' 
 
 "You children don't realise, "said Mrs. Stevens, 
 "how well-off American school-children are in 
 their schoolhouses with all their fine equipment. 
 If you had a year in a school like this, you would 
 appreciate your blessings." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Ray. "I do already!"
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE VIGA 
 
 ''What is the Viga?" asked Roy at supper one 
 evening. "Harry Clarke says we must go up the 
 Viga, and everybody we meet at the hotel says, 
 ' Have you been up the Viga ? ' " 
 
 "It is an old, old waterway — a canal, they call 
 it, but it is not like our canals — that runs from 
 the city out to Xochimilko (Soch-i-mil'-ko), a two- 
 days trip," said Mr. Stevens. "It brings in the 
 charcoal, grass, garden-truck, etc., raised by the 
 people all along the way, and is used for passenger 
 traffic, too. I had thought we would make a short 
 trip up the canal to-morrow, as that is Sunday, 
 and Sunday is said to be the best day for the 
 trip." 
 
 "Oh, good!" exclaimed Ray. "I was wonder- 
 ing what we would do to-morrow. You'll go, 
 won't you, mother?" 
 
 "Yes, if the morning is pleasant. We shall go 
 
 167
 
 168 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 in the morning, shan't we?" Mrs. Stevens asked, 
 turning to her husband. 
 
 ' ' I suppose the morning will be better on account 
 of possible rain in the afternoon, though I believe 
 one doesn't see quite as many people there in the 
 morning. I think we might start from the hotel 
 at about half-past nine, if these young people 
 are up and have had something to eat by that 
 time. ' ' 
 
 "I think we've been pretty good about getting 
 up since we've been here," said Roy, who was 
 rather sore on the subject of early rising. 
 
 "Yes, you have been, my boy," said his mother. 
 "I think we've had to wait for you only once." 
 
 "We'll go to bed early to-night and then we'll 
 be sure to be up," said Ray, and at nine o'clock 
 when Mr. Stevens came in from doing an errand, 
 he found them both soundly sleeping. 
 
 So they not only arose early but "bright and 
 early" the next morning, all eagerness for the new 
 things they were to see. They walked up to the 
 Zocalo and took the small car that was to carry 
 them out to the Embarcadero (Em-bar-ca-day'-ro), 
 where the canal begins. So early in the morning,
 
 THE VIGA L69 
 
 this tram was not crowded. It ran through some 
 rather poor parts of the city, and when they got 
 out at the terminus, the children thought it was 
 about the most unattractive place they had yet 
 seen, for it was dirty and dusty, with very little 
 shade, very noisy, and full of poor and wretched- 
 looking people. Two interesting things, however, 
 caught their attention at once, the giant figures 
 in bronze of two Aztec chiefs, formerly stationed 
 in the Paseo, but too large there for their sur- 
 roundings and so brought here to this broad, open 
 place. All about the base of these monuments 
 clustered the descendants of the old race, laughing 
 and chattering, buying and selling, cooking and 
 eating, perhaps unconscious of their decline, per- 
 haps indifferent to it. The moment the party left 
 the car, they were surrounded by boatmen offering 
 their boats for the trip, describing the merits of 
 them, and all that was to be seen on the way, etc. 
 When it came to making a bargain, however, Mr. 
 Stevens had to lower their ideas of price some- 
 what, and as they found him firm in his determina- 
 tion not to be overcharged, and Mrs. Stevens was 
 able to convey this fad to them in tolerable
 
 170 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Spanish, they began to relent. The family selected 
 the first boatman who had approached them, a 
 smooth-faced boy of eighteen or nineteen, whose 
 boat was very gay with red and white curtains 
 and with red and white flowered chintz covers on 
 the seats. The boats were a kind of dugout, flat- 
 bottomed with slanting ends, and Roy soon found 
 that it was fun to lie flat on one of these ends and 
 look into the water. The canal was very unattract- 
 ive at first, being full of scraps of things that had 
 fallen into it from the boats and being without 
 shade just at the beginning; but a few strokes of 
 vigorous poling, done at the bow by the boatman, 
 brought them into cleaner water and among the 
 trees which, from there on, lined the banks and 
 made a pleasant shade. The canal was wide enough 
 for several boats to pass one another, but the boats 
 they met this morning were nearly all carrying 
 passengers, as Sunday is a fiesta when no one 
 works if he can help it. Funny and queer things 
 attracted the children's attention all along the 
 way; once they saw a young woman washing her 
 husband's hair, dipping up water from the canal 
 and throwing it over him in streams. Both were
 
 THE VIGA 171 
 
 stripped to the waist, so as not to get their clothes 
 wet in this deluging occupation. Again they came 
 to two young men digging for clams with their 
 hands, in the mud of the canal. Their beautiful 
 brown bodies shone in the sun, and their thick, 
 black, wavy hair and great dark eyes made one 
 think of the well-known picture of the "Neapoli- 
 tan Boy." They were very good-natured, and 
 when Mrs. Stevens asked what they were doing 
 and could not understand their soft-voiced reply, 
 one of them waded to the boat and brought her a 
 clam so that she might have her answer in an in- 
 telligible form. The boat passed under several 
 bridges and one of these was so low that the boat- 
 man signed to them all to sit down or lie down on 
 the floor of the boat. They wondered what he 
 would do with the frame on which his awning was 
 stretched, and were much amused when he folded 
 it back like the top of a carriage. He then 
 bent over and pushed the boat along by press- 
 ing with his hands against the bottom of the 
 bridge. 
 
 The party met a few families coining down the 
 canal with grass or grain of some kind, and in
 
 172 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 one boat a young man with his wife and baby sat 
 in the stern leaning against the soft, green mass 
 behind them. The baby was eating a tamale and 
 was evidently enjoying it, for she picked up every 
 crumb that fell into her lap. When she had done, 
 her father calmly took her little rebozo and wiped 
 her face and hands with it without much regard 
 for the garment. 
 
 A pleasure party they met had several children 
 among its members, and five of these were lying 
 on their stomachs, as Roy had done, dipping their 
 hands into the water and fishing for lily-pads, of 
 which there were a great many. All along the 
 canal they met, here and there, boats being towed 
 by some one on the bank as well as poled by the 
 boatmen; and occasionally, tied up to the bank, 
 they saw several boats fastened in line, making a 
 sort of train. These had staves across the top 
 and straw or reed mats over them. They saw 
 household goods in some of these and women 
 cooking, and the boatman said many people lived 
 in the queer-looking craft, having no homes at all 
 on land. This would not have seemed so bad, if 
 they had not had their domestic animals living
 
 THE VIGA 173 
 
 with them, dogs, and goats, and chickens. "Just 
 like Noah in the Ark," said Roy. 
 
 "Well, I hope Noah had more room," said Ray; 
 "he had to have, of course, because he had all the 
 animals in the world." 
 
 Among the boats they met were a few canoes, 
 with one man standing up in each and poling; one 
 of these they almost upset owing to their boat- 
 man's carelessness. There were one or two bum- 
 boats, too, managed by women, who went up and 
 down among the other boats selling food of 
 various kinds to the holiday-makers. 
 
 Mr. Stevens decided that Ixtaeal'co was as far 
 up the canal as they would go, and that, as they 
 still had to stop at Santa Anita to see the floating 
 gardens, they would not get out at Ixtacalco. So 
 they turned about and came back to Santa Anita, 
 getting a delightful breeze. They found the vil- 
 lage decorated with cheap flags and coloured paper 
 ornaments stretched on ropes across the street, 
 because it was the fiesta of Santa Anita, and they 
 stopped a moment at the door of the little church 
 and stood quietly among the worshippers, most of 
 whom were kneeling, and heard the music, which
 
 174 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 was unexpectedly good. The church was full of 
 set pieces of flowers, chiefly daisies, as well as of 
 bouquets from the people's gardens, and all the 
 lamps were trimmed with coloured paper like the 
 streets outside. 
 
 As they left their own boat and walked through 
 the village to the smaller craft in which they had 
 to continue their trip, they saw a curious sight. At 
 the back of one of the adobe huts, under an arbor, 
 they saw one countryman pulling another's tooth; 
 and as they came back past the same place, the 
 whilom dentist was now cutting the hair of a little 
 boy whose father held him fast in the chair, as he 
 did not much like the operation. 
 
 "He can turn his hand to 'most anything, can't 
 he?" said Roy. 
 
 "Well," said Ray, "don't you remember old 
 Dr. Walling told us the doctors and surgeons all 
 used to be barbers, too. I suppose these people 
 haven't divided the businesses yet." 
 
 A short walk brought them to another and 
 smaller canal, in which two smaller boats of the 
 same pattern were waiting. They stepped into 
 one, and their boatman began to pole them
 
 < 
 a
 
 THE VIGA 175 
 
 through one narrow canal after another, turning 
 the corners and weaving his way among the lily- 
 pads with great skill. 
 
 The gardens are great square patches of 
 ground which, many years ago, floated on the sur- 
 face of the water ; but the planting of willows and 
 other plants with spreading and tenacious roots 
 has at last anchored the gardens and only the 
 canals around them are left. Tall, slim poplar 
 and willow trees border the gardens, and in be- 
 tween, poppies and hollyhocks and morning- 
 glories provide an edge of colour which is very 
 pretty. Roy found that by reaching out he could 
 occasionally pull up a radish, or an onion, or a bit 
 of lettuce, and he made up quite a salad, taking 
 its ingredients one by one instead of together. 
 The boatman picked some of the long-stemmed 
 water-lilies and made chains for the children to 
 put around their necks, and a bouquet of the 
 purple lilies growing in clusters, for Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 The sky was very blue, the gardens very pretty, 
 and the motion of the boat quite easy and gentle, 
 and the children were delighted with the ride and
 
 176 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the experience. They were sorry to go back, but 
 were consoled by the fact that they arrived at the 
 Alameda, or park, in time to see the Sunday noon 
 promenade, while the band played, and they sat in 
 comfortable chairs and looked on.
 
 CHAPTEE XIV 
 ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 For several days Mrs. Stevens had noticed that 
 Roy, who was generally much more active than 
 Bay, had seemed languid and unusually quiet; and 
 she finally called her husband's attention to the 
 boy. 
 
 "I should not wonder," said Mr. Stevens, "if 
 the height of the city were affecting him, and 
 it might be a good plan for us to go to a lower 
 altitude for awhile. I will see Mr. Clarke, and ask 
 if he has a place to recommend. ' ' 
 
 And so it came about that, one morning, bright 
 and early, for all morning trains seem to leave 
 the City of Mexico at very early hours, the family 
 found themselves aboard the train for Cuerna- 
 vaca (Kwer-na-vah'-ca), a little town across the 
 mountains which, not more than six or seven 
 years ago, was accessible only by stage. The 
 children were rather pleased than otherwise to 
 
 177
 
 178 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 get aboard a train again, and decidedly glad that 
 they were to see a new town. To be sure the ride 
 was to last only about four hours, but it was to 
 carry them across the Ajusco (A-hus'-co) Moun- 
 tains and outside the Valley of Mexico, where 
 everything would be different. 
 
 The road left the city by an easy ascent, pass- 
 ing the suburbs of Tacubaya and Mixcoac and 
 others with which they had become familiar, the 
 great pink mill which is called the Molino del Rey 
 (King's Mill) and which marks the battlefield of 
 that name, the heights of Chapultepec, and the 
 other landmarks that had begun to seem like old 
 friends; and for a time it ran between beautiful 
 gardens and orchards full of fruit, apples, pears, 
 and peaches. "When we come back," said Mr. 
 Stevens, "the strawberry girls will board the 
 train here, and find plenty of customers; for, by 
 the time we have ridden nearly four hours, we 
 shall be hungry and only too glad to buy." 
 
 "I suppose they know that we have just had 
 breakfast, and that is why they aren't here now," 
 said Ray. "But I think I could eat some straw- 
 berries, anyhow, if I had them. They don't look
 
 ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 179 
 
 red-ripe like ours, but they are ripe, just the same, 
 and they are so much sweeter than ours." 
 
 "They have more water in them than ours," 
 said Roy, standing up for his beloved country and 
 all its products, as usual. 
 
 "Well, water's good," said Kay, not to be 
 argued down. 
 
 As the train climbed higher, they began to get 
 a more and more extended view of the valley, with 
 the city in its midst, and in the far distance a hazy 
 view of one or two of the six lakes that the valley 
 contains. The land on either side the train grew 
 more rocky and mountainous— it was lava-rock, 
 Mr. Stevens explained, and this part of the moun- 
 tains was called the Pedregal (Pay-dray-gahl'), or 
 "the stony place." The party were divided be- 
 tween admiration of the view and of the beautiful 
 wild flowers which grew in the clefts of the rocks 
 as luxuriantly as if cared for in a garden. They 
 had never seen the dahlia, the cosmos, and the bego- 
 nia growing wild before ; and there were dozens of 
 beautiful blossoms that none of them had ever 
 seen anywhere, among them a splendid scarlet lily. 
 
 "I wish we could stop off here and get some of
 
 180 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 these flowers," said Ray, and as if in answer to 
 her wish the train stopped, and the conductor, in 
 reply to Mr. Stevens' question, said it would 
 probably stand there ten minutes, as something 
 was wrong with a truck. He helped Mr. Stevens 
 off, who gathered flowers for them all and came 
 back laden with a mass of coloured blossoms in 
 which Ray buried her face with delight. 
 
 When they came near the summit of the 
 range, they began to stop at tiny stations, of 
 which a dozen people seemed sometimes to com- 
 prise all the inhabitants. They looked very poor 
 and forlorn in some cases, and as the children 
 watched the little ones scramble for pennies they 
 wondered how these mountaineers had lived be- 
 fore the trains began to come through, and when 
 the journey by stage was undertaken by so few 
 people. Some one told Mrs. Stevens that there 
 was so little water up here that the stations where 
 the train's water-tanks were situated were fairly 
 besieged when the trains came along, in order to 
 get water from the tank. There was nearly 
 always a rural standing near the station, waiting 
 to see if he was needed.
 
 ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 181 
 
 Finally they reached La Cima, the highest 
 point, where they were nearly ten thousand feet 
 above sea-level, the highest elevation the children 
 had ever reached. They were very much amused 
 at one passenger, a lady who kept asking the con- 
 ductor all along if the train had not yet come to 
 the top, and who began to get out her smelling- 
 salts and prepare to be ill as soon as the train 
 reached the station which she thought was the 
 highest. After it was passed, she put away her 
 medicines and preventives gradually, and when 
 the real summit was reached she was reading a 
 novel in blissful ignorance. Roy did not feel very 
 well, himself — his head ached and he felt as if he 
 were going to have nosebleed, but he kept very 
 quiet and in a short time the discomfort passed, 
 as the train descended. It was a wonderful 
 descent, through short tunnels, among great hills 
 of lava, looking down always at the new valley 
 they were soon to enter. For almost an hour 
 before they reached Cuernavaca, they could see it 
 down in the valley, apparently a little red-tiled 
 village on a flat plain, embowered in trees. When 
 they reached it, they were surprised to find it a
 
 182 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 good-sized town and far from flat, being situated 
 all along the banks of two steep barran'cas or 
 ravines. 
 
 Its domes and towers in the midst of the tree- 
 tops made it look like an Arabian town, the 
 children thought, judging from pictures they had 
 seen. 
 
 When the train stopped at the station, the first 
 thing that caught Ray's eye was a little Mexican 
 girl with chains of beads to sell. She had very 
 bright eyes and very white teeth, which she 
 showed in a ready smile, and she sold her beads 
 for fifty cents Mexican per string; but when Ray 
 came to examine them they were not all beads — 
 indeed most of them were seeds or beans, some 
 grey, the " Job's tears" that we see sometimes in 
 the States, and others red with a long black mark 
 on one side. These Ray found enchanting, but 
 her mother advised her not to buy at once, as she 
 would probably see many other things she might 
 prefer to spend her money for. 
 
 When the children saw the coach they were to 
 ride in from the station, they were much excited. 
 It was a great four-seated one, with a wooden
 
 ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 183 
 
 body painted bright red, four mules to draw it, 
 and a sort of rumble, or footman's seat, at the back. 
 The children begged to be allowed to ride in this, 
 and Mr. Stevens said they might, though their 
 mother thought it a rather doubtful proceed- 
 ing. "Oh, mother! no one knows us here," 
 begged Kay, "and it will be so jolly, dangling our 
 heels out there behind you." 
 
 "Well, you must take care not to fall off, then," 
 said Mrs. Stevens. "Hold on tight." 
 
 It was not at all an unnecessary caution, for 
 the streets of Cuernavaca, like those of most 
 Mexican towns, were paved with cobbles and full 
 of gutters, and the children found the drive ex- 
 citing beyond their expectations. The driver 
 cracked his long whip very often, and every time 
 he did so the mule receiving the lash jumped aside 
 and made the whole equipage, or "outfit" as they 
 say in the "West, swerve in that direction. They 
 rattled and plunged through the narrow streets, 
 the people fleeing before them to the sidewalks, 
 and drew up in front of the hotel where they were 
 to stay with a grand flourish. And behold ! there 
 was the little girl with the red beans! She had
 
 184 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 got the driver of another coach to give her "a 
 lift" back, and was there ahead of them with her 
 twinkling eyes and shining white teeth, her long 
 braids, and her little print gown which almost 
 touched the ground, although she did not look 
 much older than Eay. 
 
 A little white dog also came to welcome them, 
 and made the children feel at home at once. At 
 the door, sitting on the sidewalk, was an old, old 
 woman, skinny and wrinkled and brown, with a 
 heap of pottery all around her, in each piece of 
 which the decoration was composed of little square 
 or diamond-shaped bits of china and crockery set 
 into the clay while it was soft, in a sort of design. 
 ''How do they ever get all those pieces broken 
 so even and just the same size!" exclaimed Ray. 
 ''I think it is quite wonderful — but it isn't pretty 
 when it's done," she added. 
 
 "We must try to see some of their pottery in 
 the making," said Mrs. Stevens, "but now come 
 in, my dear, and let us get washed and refreshed 
 before luncheon." They entered the great door 
 of the patio, where the portero had already 
 placed their hand-baggage until their rooms were
 
 ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 185 
 
 assigned; but a noise made them turn back, and 
 there were their trunks on a car which carried 
 baggage and all sorts of merchandise from the 
 railroad to the centre of the town. It ran on the 
 tramway tracks and was like a freight-car with- 
 out any sides. Almost every day, it drew up like 
 that before the hotel, with trunks and valises for 
 the passengers, goods for the storekeepers, stuff 
 for the market, etc. The arrival of the coach and 
 this freight car from the "down train" was one of 
 the daily sensations, and after the children had 
 grown accustomed to the town, they were as 
 curious as the natives to see who and what had 
 come each day.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 CUERNAVACA 
 
 The patio of the hotel was a double one with 
 a sort of wide covered corridor through the 
 middle, paved with square red tiles and open on 
 both sides so that the guests could sit in it on 
 either side and look into one patio or the other. 
 And the patios were well worth looking into. 
 They were full of beautiful vines, climbing clear 
 to the roof or hanging down from the roof, and 
 of flowering plants or cactus growing in the big 
 red clay jars that the Mexicans call o lias (oy'-yas). 
 In one end was a round well of red clay where 
 potted plants leaned over to see themselves in the 
 water, and a little fountain played musically. 
 This water was used for the plants, and by the 
 little white dog and the birds as a drinking place. 
 Many humming-birds flitted about among the 
 vines. If you looked up, you saw the second-floor 
 gallery, also bordered by vines, and above that 
 
 186
 
 CUERNAVACA 187 
 
 the red-tiled, curly-edged roof with potted plants 
 ranged along the edge, their brilliant colours 
 shining in the sunlight. 
 
 "Oh, I wonder if we can get up on the roof!" 
 said Roy. 
 
 "Si, si," said the portero, smiling, for he under- 
 stood more English than he could speak. 
 
 ' ' He says yes, mother, ' ' said Ray. * ' May we go 
 up there this morning!" 
 
 "We'll see. What we have to do now is to make 
 ourselves presentable," said Mrs. Stevens, and 
 they all followed Mr. Stevens and the portero who 
 led the way to the rooms selected. 
 
 "Mercy!" said Ray when they saw them. 
 "We'll get lost in such a big place." And truly, 
 the rooms were immense for people used to the 
 small rooms of American houses and apart- 
 ments. One was at least forty feet long and 
 twenty wide, and the other adjoining it twenty 
 by sixteen. 
 
 "You and Ray can have a room together here," 
 said Mr. Stevens, turning to Roy. "I was afraid 
 you would both be lonely alone in such large 
 rooms. This has plenty of tall screens, so
 
 188 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 you can make two rooms or even four of it, if 
 you wish." 
 
 "And they all look out on the street and 
 have balconies — how very pleasant!" said Mrs. 
 Stevens, going from one long window to another 
 and stepping out on the little tiled balconies, just 
 wide enough for a chair or two. 
 
 "This room has the morning sun," said, the 
 portero. He said it in Spanish, but Mrs. Stevens 
 understood him and was very glad it was so, as 
 she said it would make the rooms cooler for after- 
 noon naps. The floors of the rooms, like those of 
 the gallery, were of red tiles, but in the rooms 
 there were great square mats woven of reeds, to 
 walk on. 
 
 ' ' They have electric lights ! ' ' said Roy. 
 
 "Yes," said his father, "they tell me there is 
 hardly a hotel of any pretensions in Mexico with- 
 out electric lights and electric bells, just as in 
 some of the smallest and remotest towns of Euro- 
 pean countries. Electricity seems to go every- 
 where." 
 
 By the time they had unpacked their trunks and 
 bags and the children had got into clean clothes,
 
 CUERNAVACA 189 
 
 it was time for dinner. ''You children can go 
 down and wait for us in the patio," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, so Roy and Ray were soon standing in 
 the doorway beside the portero, and gazing out 
 into the town which was to be their home for at 
 least a fortnight. The portero, they noticed, 
 never stood without leaning against something, 
 and always sat down, when he could, on a little 
 bench just inside the door. They learned after- 
 ward that at night the great door was shut and 
 barred, while a little door cut out of one side of 
 it was locked with a key — and such a key ! — about 
 eight inches long and thick in proportion. 
 
 The portero, wrapped in his serape, slept on a 
 straw mat on the floor or on the bench, and was at 
 hand to open the door for any one coming in late 
 at night or going out early in the morning before 
 the hotel was open. Many guests, they found, 
 liked to go out for horseback rides in the early 
 morning, coming back in time for a late breakfast. 
 There was a shop next door to the hotel, the 
 entrance to which was at right angles with the 
 hotel entrance so that the children could look in 
 from where they stood. Many women were in the
 
 190 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 shop, and as they had to wait their turn and the 
 few seats were occupied, they sat down on the 
 floor, wrapped in their rebozos, and patiently 
 waited for attention. Across the street was the 
 market-place and to the left the Plaza or public 
 square. One end of the hotel looked into the 
 square, and as the rooms on that end were not 
 occupied, the children were told they might go in 
 there and look out from the balconies whenever 
 they liked. They found out afterward that this 
 permission was quite valuable, and that the Plaza 
 was an interesting place to watch. 
 
 They were quite ready for dinner when the 
 doors of the dining-room were finally opened, and 
 did justice to the soup and steak and vegetables, 
 the egg-course and salad, and the pudding. ' ' It 's 
 all just like home, except the eggs," said Ray, 
 "we don't ever have eggs for dinner." The 
 children by this time had learned how to order 
 their eggs — "en pla'to," if they wished them 
 poached/ ' en ranche'ro," if they wanted them with 
 peppers, and "tortilla de huevos (way'-vos)," if 
 they wished an omelet, while "huevos fritos" and 
 "huevos duros" meant fried and hard-boiled eggs.
 
 CUERNAVACA 191 
 
 They could say 'heftek con papas" for beefsteak 
 with potatoes, though they nearly always laughed 
 when they said it, it sounded so funny. They 
 found here, however, that the waiter was as 
 anxious to learn English as they were to show off 
 their Spanish, so, whatever they asked for in 
 Spanish he promptly translated into English, to 
 show them he understood that language and 
 wanted to speak it and learn more. He was a nice 
 young fellow, and the children liked him very 
 much. All the waiters, the portero, and the mozo 
 who looked after the flowers, were dressed in white, 
 and the two latter were barefoot. The mozo 
 never walked, he trotted, and always seemed ab- 
 sorbed in his work. He had a very kind face and 
 never failed to smile when you spoke to him. 
 
 After dinner, the family went up on the roof 
 to "take the lay of the land" as Mr. Stevens said. 
 They found one corner of the roof covered, making 
 a loggia, where there were steamer-chairs, so that 
 one could sit there in the morning or evening and 
 get the view and the breeze. In the afternoon, it 
 was rather sunny even in the loggia. 
 
 On one side, they could look out over one side
 
 192 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 of the town, the lower side, and away across be- 
 yond the foothills and the lava rock they could see 
 Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, sometimes a cold 
 grey-white against the eastern sky, sometimes 
 rosy and cloud-like under the sunset glow. From 
 the other end of the roof they could see down into 
 the heart of the market-place, which was a hollow 
 square, and the children spent altogether a num- 
 ber of hours watching the movements of the 
 market-people. From the other points of view 
 there were other mountains, not snow-covered, but 
 almost equally beautiful, and the upper part of the 
 town, showing the Cathedral with its domes and 
 spires against the sky. When the party had taken 
 in the surroundings with many exclamations of 
 wonder and admiration, they went downstairs 
 again, and Roy and Ray and Mrs. Stevens gave 
 themselves the pleasure of a nap while Mr. 
 Stevens read his paper. When at last they all 
 came down to the patio, they met the wife of the 
 proprietor, Mrs. Knight, who said, "If you want 
 some amusement this evening you can find it by 
 going to one of the balconies overlooking the 
 Plaza." But she would not tell them what to ex-
 
 CUERNAVACA 193 
 
 pect, and only smiled at their curious questions. 
 You may be certain they lost no time after supper 
 in stationing themselves on the balcony, particu- 
 larly as they heard a band tuning up out in the 
 band-stand in the centre of the square. Pres- 
 ently the people of the town began to gather, the 
 women in rebozos and mantillas, the men wearing 
 their hats or sombreros. They sat in groups, the 
 men together, and the women together, on the 
 seats ranged in double rows facing each other 
 around the Plaza, until the music began. Then 
 they began to promenade around and around the 
 Plaza, the men going in an opposite direction from 
 the women, and making an outer circle, while the 
 women composed the inner one. 
 
 They promenaded as long as each number 
 lasted, and then sat down during the intermission. 
 Scarcely any one talked during the march, but eyes 
 were busy, and Mrs. Knight explained that much 
 of the courting was done during these prome- 
 nades by means of admiring and coquettish 
 glances. "They make me dizzy," said Roy, 
 finally; "I wish they'd reverse." 
 
 "See! there are some little bits of children
 
 194 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 marching!" exclaimed Ray, and she was right. 
 Two little girls of seven or eight, with a very 
 small boy not more than four, were keeping step 
 with the grown people and looking very easy and 
 as if they were accustomed to be there. 
 
 Round and round the circles went, until the 
 twins grew sleepy, but they did not want to go in 
 until they had heard "La Golondrina," the music 
 that fills the same place in a Mexican heart that 
 "Home, Sweet Home" does in the American.* 
 Presently, it came, sung by one of the band while 
 several others accompanied him on their instru- 
 ments. It proved to be very sweet and plaintive 
 music, and the family always looked for it after- 
 ward with pleasant anticipations. And with this 
 delightful music ringing in their ears, the children 
 went to bed, looking forward to many days in this 
 charming place. 
 
 *The words and music of li La Golondrina'" are given at 
 the end of the book.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CUERNAVACA 
 
 Roy and Ray were never tired of visiting the 
 market-place. It was opposite the hotel and 
 occupied a whole square. The centre was without 
 a roof, and so not every one could have a stall or 
 booth under cover; and those who could not, set 
 up a sort of shed made of canvas or simply one of 
 their useful reed mats supported on sticks. In 
 the slight shade cast by these mats they assembled 
 the goods they had for sale in little heaps on the 
 ground, and sold them at so much a heap. This, 
 of course, was the custom with fruit, seeds, nuts, 
 grains, and things of that kind, and the whole 
 family said they had never before seen so many 
 seeds and fruits they could not name. The flower- 
 sellers were under cover, and the meat-venders, 
 and the women selling cooked eatables. Most of 
 the pottery was piled up in the sun, and the 
 baskets and reed-work in general were in canvas 
 
 195
 
 196 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 tents or houses. Then the shopkeepers had booths 
 for selling serapes, rebozos, dress-prints, edgings, 
 and trinkets of various kinds. Along the sides of 
 the market in certain accustomed places, some 
 women had a rough kind of range made of clay 
 and stone, on which they cooked savoury soups and 
 stews and the "filling" for the enchiladas (en- 
 chee-lah'-das) and the tamales, as well as frijoles 
 and chile con came (chee'-lay con car'-nay), meat 
 with peppers. Families having booths in the 
 market and unable to do their own cooking, sent 
 here for their meals and ate them sitting on the 
 floor behind their counters. Other cooking-places 
 had tables with coarse white cloth coverings, and 
 served meals to those who came — principally 
 bread and eggs and coffee — never any butter, for 
 that is a scarce article in Mexico. Mrs. Knight 
 told the children that on the chief market-days, 
 Monday and Thursday, whole families of country 
 people got their living in the market; and the 
 children found out for themselves that many of 
 the people who had stalls under cover slept in 
 them at night, to keep watch over their goods and 
 be on hand early in the morning.
 
 ^ € 
 
 
 Market Scenes
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CUERNAVACA 197 
 
 "What is that white stuff they are selling 
 to-day?" asked Mrs. Stevens, one morning, in- 
 dicating a row of women sitting on mats in the 
 centre of the street, each with lumps of something 
 white in front of her. 
 
 "That is lime," said Mrs. Knight. "They cook 
 it with their corn to take the hull off the grain. 
 Then they carry a basket of corn to the mill — you 
 have seen the sign, 'Molino de Nixtamal'? — and 
 it is put through several machines and mixed with 
 the necessary quantity of water and comes out 
 dough, and they carry it away in the same basket. 
 The women stand or sit and watch the process, so 
 that it would not be easy for the mill-men to take 
 toll even if they wanted to." 
 
 "Do you do your marketing over there in the 
 market?" asked Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, except for meat and flowers. Those are 
 brought to the hotel — and, by the way, you must 
 see Angelina, the flower-woman, some day, she is 
 so pretty. Most of the citizens do their marketing 
 here, for there are no provision-shops. But we 
 never pay the first price for things, as tourists 
 very often do. I think we have to pay a little more
 
 198 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 than the Mexicans, but it seems so little, anyhow, 
 that one does not mind." 
 
 "I think the beggars are interesting," said Bay. 
 "I saw a blind young man to-day in the market, 
 and he had brought a cushion to kneel on, and he 
 knelt right up straight on the cushion and rolled 
 up his eyes so that you couldn 't help seeing he was 
 blind. He was right out in the sun without a hat; 
 if he hadn't been blind I should think that would 
 have made him so." 
 
 ''And there's a little boy that leads another little 
 blind boy around, and brings him right up in front 
 of you so you can't help seeing him, but he doesn't 
 say anything — he just looks pitiful," said Roy. 
 
 "Unfortunately," said Mrs. Knight, "the chil- 
 dren are so attractive and so 'cunning' as Ameri- 
 cans say, that tourists are very likely to scatter a 
 few pennies among them just to see their pleasure. 
 And all the children have learned to say 'Da mi 
 un centavo/ and say it even in English, 'Give me 
 wan cent.' " 
 
 Roy and Ray laughed — they were very familiar 
 with the demand and the accent always amused 
 them.
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CUERNAVACA 199 
 
 One of the places to which the family went one 
 morning was very fascinating to the grown people, 
 and not so much so to the children, though they 
 were interested in its history. This was the 
 Jardin (Har-deen') de la Borda, or Borda Garden. 
 There were stated hours and a fee for admission, 
 and the family soon learned that the safe time- 
 if there was any safe time, for the garden is not 
 well kept and has its dangers— was before noon. 
 
 Mrs. Stevens quite fell in love with the mossy 
 walks and walls, out of the crevices of which little 
 lizards glided, and over which the mango-trees 
 hung heavy with their beautiful yellow fruit with 
 its red cheeks. She liked the tangled white rose 
 vines over the arbor, and the clogged wells and 
 fountains, so full of leaves that they could hardly 
 flow— and above all, she liked the little lake with 
 its fleet of snow-white geese, and the terrace of 
 stone steps bordering all one side of it. For a 
 long time one day they sat and watched an old 
 Indian at the top of the steps, gathering mangoes 
 from the trees with something made of straw that 
 looked like a mammoth egg-beater— it spooned the 
 mangoes off the trees very deftly. He consented
 
 200 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 to let Roy try it, but though it looked easy, Roy 
 had to confess that there was skill in the use of 
 the tool, for he could not bring down a single 
 mango. The odour of the decaying mangoes on the 
 ground, with that of the dead leaves, was very 
 powerful and disagreeable, but there were two 
 places where they could escape it, the two pavilions 
 at the lower corners of the garden. These looked 
 away off across the barranca to the hills and 
 mountains, a view of which the elders never tired; 
 and as the pavilions were raised above the level of 
 the garden at that point, they were dry and safe. 
 It was here that Mr. Stevens told the twins one 
 day the history of the garden. 
 
 ' ' A poor boy came over here from France in the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century," he said, 
 "and became a miner. He ended by owning 
 several mines and becoming worth some sixty 
 millions of dollars. He founded this garden in 
 1762 and never tired of improving it, and it is 
 said that he spent more than a million dollars on 
 it. He hardly knew what to do with his money — 
 he had so much of it — but he spent another million 
 on the church at Tasco, fifty miles from here.
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CUERNAVACA 201 
 
 When he died, the garden descended to his 
 heirs. 
 
 "In the short reign of Maximilian and Carlotta, 
 it is said the people wished to buy the garden and 
 present it to them, as the empress was very fond 
 of it; and one payment had been made when the 
 downfall of the empire put an end to these 
 plans. The family owning the garden lives in 
 Europe, and the garden suffers in consequence 
 and is not kept up as it should be. If it were not 
 for the dangers arising from the rotting fruit and 
 stagnant water, it would be probably much more 
 used. But even in its present condition, it is 
 beautiful." 
 
 Usually, when Mr. and Mrs. Stevens spent an 
 hour in the garden, the children spent one in the 
 Cathedral-grounds instead. They were large and 
 dry and open to the sun, though there was shade 
 if one wanted it, and it was one of the few places 
 where there was grass. And there was nearly 
 always something going on in the Cathedral or 
 one of the two chapels, bringing the villagers 
 and country-people there, while the yard itself was 
 a thoroughfare and a short-cut for people going
 
 202 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 from one street to another. Roy and Ray liked to 
 sit on one of the tombs and see the peons take off 
 their hats and salute as they passed the church 
 door; they liked to see the young seminarists — 
 boys studying for the priesthood — marching from 
 one building to another with a priest in charge; 
 they liked to watch the priests themselves, as they 
 occasionally walked up and down the cloisters, 
 reading their breviaries or studying some theo- 
 logical book; they especially liked to see the 
 sacristan come to ring the Cathedral bells. The 
 rope hung outside the walls, within the reach of 
 any mischievous boy, but it was never tampered 
 with. The sacristan rang the hours, and on days 
 when there was a fiesta or saint's day, the bells of 
 all the churches kept up a continual ringing and 
 made such a discord that the family were all glad 
 when the services were over. 
 
 "Those bells just tumble head-over-heels when 
 they ring, ' ' said Roy ; ' ' you watch them and you '11 
 see;" and it did look sometimes as if they made 
 complete revolutions. 
 
 One day in particular was celebrated during 
 their stay — the feast of Maria Carmen, on July
 
 THE SIGHTS OF CUERNAVACA 203 
 
 16th. The wife of President Diaz was named 
 for Maria Carmen, so that it was her name- 
 day as well as the saint's. The little chapel 
 in one corner of the yard was filled to overflowing, 
 and the overflow, instead of going to another 
 church, simply knelt on the ground outside the 
 church door, and these people were quite as silent 
 and reverent as those inside the church. 
 
 One Sunday the family went to Mass at the 
 Cathedral. It was a most impressive sight, seen 
 from the rear of the long Cathedral, the rows 
 upon rows of women kneeling on one side of the 
 aisle, with their rebozos over their heads, and the 
 bareheaded, devout-looking men kneeling on 
 the other, while children knelt beside their 
 mothers and were taught to make the sign of the 
 cross. One thing, however, came near driving 
 Roy and Ray out of the church in disgrace. The 
 little white dog from the hotel had followed some 
 one — perhaps themselves — to the Cathedral yard, 
 and then, losing his guide, had decided to go to 
 Mass on his own account. He walked in very 
 quietly — no tail-wagging — and took his station 
 directly in the middle aisle at the rear, where he
 
 204 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 sat down for a time and watched intently what 
 was going on at the altar. Finally he did what 
 any one at the back of the congregation was free 
 to do — took his leave quietly when he thought 
 other affairs needed his presence. The children 
 fully expected he would bark when he saw them, 
 as he often did when he came to meet them else- 
 where, but he looked at them without a sign of 
 recognition, and his whole behaviour was so de- 
 corous and like that of a person who knew what 
 was due to the place and time, that Roy and Ray 
 could not help smiling and looking at each other so 
 meaningly that some of the congregation frowned 
 at them.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 
 
 There were many little excursions to be made 
 from Cuernavaca on foot or on burros or horse- 
 back, the Stevens family generally preferring to 
 go on foot, so that they could stop when they liked, 
 to examine things by the roadside or enjoy the 
 views. One of these trips was to San Anton, a 
 village across the barranca, where much of the 
 Cuernavaca pottery was made. It consisted of 
 one long street of adobe houses, each with its 
 enclosing adobe or stone wall and grove of trees 
 and bushes, so that it was all very countrified and 
 charming. On either side the road was a trench 
 full of running water, and in this the villagers 
 washed their dishes, their vegetables, their clothes 
 and themselves, much to the surprise and disgust 
 of the children. To be sure, they did not dip the 
 dishes in the stream, but they got from it the 
 bowlful of water in which their dishes were after- 
 
 20f)
 
 206 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ward washed, so that it amounted to the same 
 thing. The family once saw a little girl getting a 
 bath, sitting out in the sun on an inverted jar, while 
 her mother poured basinfuls of water over her and 
 rubbed her with her hands. And they often saw 
 the women washing their long, black hair at the 
 stream, afterward going about with it hanging 
 down the back until it dried. Some of them even 
 came into the village in this fashion. 
 
 One day as they strolled along through the vil- 
 lage, they began to notice how many plants and 
 trees of a useful kind grew in these tropical gar- 
 dens. There were figs, oranges, coffee, bananas, 
 limes, cocoa-palms, aguacates, prunes, pome- 
 granates, mangoes, and the mamay', besides 
 various fruit-bearing trees they did not 
 know. 
 
 "You could get a living right here in this 
 street," said Ray, "because something or other 
 would be ripe right through the year. ' ' 
 
 "You wouldn't have any meat, though," ob- 
 jected Roy. 
 
 "No, but some people don't eat meat," said 
 Ray.
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 207 
 
 ''Well, I wouldn't eat those funny strings they 
 have in the market that they call meat," said Roy, 
 positively. 
 
 One day they visited the village when the pot- 
 tery making was going on, and saw some of the 
 process. A man was mixing some earth with 
 water, as a beginning, to get it of the proper con- 
 sistency for kneading. Mrs. Stevens asked him 
 if he got the earth in his own garden, and he said 
 no, that the clay for pottery came from the 
 barranca. 
 
 The next step they saw at another place, where 
 a woman had a great lump of mixed clay beside 
 her, from which she was taking off enough to 
 make one of the curved platters on which tortillas 
 are baked. She had a great, round, flat stone in 
 front of her, on which some fine sand was spread 
 to keep the clay from sticking to the stone. She 
 knelt before this, on the ground, and with her 
 hands kneaded the mass of clay into a flat cake, 
 patting it with her hands and sometimes with a 
 stone, and as it grew thinner, whirling it around 
 and around on the stone with her hands at the 
 edge of the cake to make and keep it round. She
 
 208 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 did this so easily and naturally that it did not 
 occur to the children until afterward that it must 
 take much skill from long practice to do it so per- 
 fectly. When the clay was thin enough and round 
 enough to suit her, the woman transferred it to a 
 larger platter which had been made originally in 
 the same way, and hollowed it out with the large 
 platter for a pattern. Then it was set in a bed of 
 hot charcoal to bake. A bowl was shaped by 
 spreading it inside or outside another bowl, 
 according as she wished it smaller or larger. For 
 pitchers and jars, a potter's wheel turned by hand 
 was used. 
 
 The children were very careful not to get in the 
 way or stand too near, and imitated their parents 
 in saying "muchas gracias (moo'-chas gra'-cee- 
 as : many thanks) " for the permission to enter the 
 garden and look on ; so that the woman, while not 
 exactly gracious, was polite to them. Mrs. Stevens 
 said afterward that she was probably out of pa- 
 tience with tourists in general, as so many forget 
 that a man's house is his castle and take it for 
 granted they can go anywhere without an invita- 
 tion or permission, which naturally nobody likes,
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 209 
 
 not even an Indian. Usually, if they looked into a 
 gateway from the road, they saw the mother at 
 work at something and the children playing, and 
 were greeted with a whole battery of smiles. Once 
 they saw three or four tiny children sitting about 
 a little low table such as some of the market women 
 had in their stalls, playing with the broken dishes 
 that were some day to figure as the little squares 
 and diamonds in Cuernavaca pottery. 
 
 Another excursion was to Tlaltenan'go (pro- 
 nounced as spelled), where there was an interest- 
 ing old church. They found the walls covered 
 with votive offerings to Our Lady of Miracles, 
 little silver legs and arms and hearts, given by 
 people who believed she had cured their lame 
 limbs and diseased organs. There were also 
 hung on the walls very crude pictures, evidently 
 painted by the givers or some local artist, show- 
 ing the dangers from which they had been rescued 
 by Our Lady of Miracles. There were men falling 
 from horses or being run over by wagons, women 
 drowning or falling through bridges, dying per- 
 sons who had evidently been cured at the last 
 moment. The twins could not help laughing at
 
 210 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the curious drawing of these pictures, some of 
 which were truly ludicrous. 
 
 As they came out of the church, a strong, able- 
 bodied peon came by, driving a small donkey 
 attached to one of the high, two-wheeled carts 
 which were now so familiar to them all. They 
 were watching him as he drove down the road, 
 sitting with slack reins and looking about in every 
 direction, when they saw that the donkey had 
 suddenly quickened his pace. He went faster and 
 faster, and the driver, instead of trying to stop 
 him, when the cart reached the top of a small hill, 
 gave a jump and landed in a heap at the side of 
 the road, leaving the donkey to run away if he 
 wanted to. 
 
 "Why, he didn't even try to stop him!" ex- 
 claimed Roy. 
 
 "Perhaps he knew it was of no use," said 
 Ray; "maybe that donkey has run away 
 before." 
 
 "Well, if that's the case, he ought to have been 
 watching him and prevented it. I suppose he'll 
 go and paint a picture of his narrow escape now, 
 and put it in that church, and give some money to
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 211 
 
 Our Lady of Miracles. I'd rather do my own 
 miracles." 
 
 "I should certainly hope you could drive better 
 than that man," said Mr. Stevens, much amused 
 at Roy's indignation. Roy could not endure a 
 coward or one who called for help before he had 
 done his utmost to help himself. 
 
 A third excursion, to the twins the most inter- 
 esting of all, was a long walk out to the village 
 where Angelina, the flower-seller, lived. This had 
 more than one street, and had its church and its 
 elementary school, like San Anton and Tlalte- 
 nango, but the principal street was much like that 
 of San Anton. It was late in the afternoon, and 
 the sky was full of beautiful clouds, which they 
 often stopped to look at from the brow of a hill, 
 where great stretches of country also lay spread 
 out before them. They passed one hut newly 
 whitewashed which did not seem to be occupied, 
 and peeping into the garden found the workmen 
 all gone and no one anywhere about, no furnish- 
 ings in the house, and the garden evidently need- 
 ing care, as the flowers and vines were running 
 wild. They picked some flowers, honeysuckles
 
 212 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and roses, which grew in great profusion, and 
 found out soon afterward that the occupants of 
 the hut had had typhus fever, and that, after one 
 death, the others had moved out, and the hut was 
 being fumigated and renovated by the village 
 authorities. 
 
 "Shall we throw our flowers away?" asked 
 Ray, holding hers away from her at arm's length. 
 
 "No, I hardly think that necessary," said her 
 mother, smiling; "I dare say we come nearer than 
 this, every day, to some contagion or other with- 
 out knowing it. We must take some risks, and 
 it's better not to imagine them greater than they 
 
 are." 
 
 A few doors farther on they came to Angelina's 
 hut. It was in such a thicket of flowering bushes 
 that they could not see into the garden at all. 
 She caught sight of them and came to invite 
 them in, looking prettier than ever when she 
 smiled her welcome. She showed them her hut, 
 an adobe one with a roof that looked as if it leaked, 
 an earthen floor, and no furniture except the 
 straw sleeping-mats. Yes, there was one piece of 
 furniture — a shallow box, suspended from the
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 213 
 
 roof by cords attached to the corners, and about a 
 half-foot from the ground. This was the baby's 
 cradle, and he was just beginning to wake and cry 
 as they looked in; but a little brother, about five 
 years old, ran to him and began turning the 
 strings in such a way as to swing the box around, 
 and the baby went off to sleep again. 
 
 A few steps from the hut they found the kitchen, 
 just a few poles set up in the ground, supporting 
 a thatched roof. The ground was hollowed out 
 beneath, and a great stone bowl set in the hollow. 
 This was filled with charcoal, and in the charcoal 
 was set a pottery jar in which the supper was 
 cooking. It smelled very good, and so evidently 
 thought the kitten and the young dog which lay 
 along the edge of the bowl, sniffing in all that they 
 would probably get of the supper — the fragrance. 
 An older dog and cat, lying farther off, seemed 
 to have long ago learned that supper was not 
 for them and that it was of no use to be 
 expectant. 
 
 Just here, Angelina's husband appeared, carry- 
 ing the remaining child, a little girl who looked 
 very pale and languid. He asked if they would
 
 214 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 not like to see the roses, and they answered yes, 
 indeed, for they had often wondered where the 
 masses of roses came from that Angelina brought 
 to the hotel. So they followed him down a little 
 path among the bushes and presently came to a 
 half-acre garden of nothing but rose bushes, many 
 of them in bloom. It was a beautiful sight, and 
 Angelina went hither and thither, snipping off 
 some of the prettiest for her guests and offering 
 them with a bright smile that made them doubly 
 acceptable. Her husband, too, seemed very hos- 
 pitable. Mrs. Stevens said they must certainly 
 buy roses every time Angelina came to the hotel, 
 to help along the little household. "Do you 
 suppose," she said to her husband, as they came 
 away, ' ' that they own this land ? ' ' 
 
 "No, indeed," he replied; "it is very seldom 
 that a countryman owns land. He probably works 
 it on shares and has to turn in a part of all he 
 receives to his landlord." 
 
 "And she sells her roses at six cents a dozen!" 
 exclaimed Mrs. Stevens. "I don't see how they 
 can afford to pay rent at such prices." 
 
 "Some of the peons have a pretty hard time,"
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 215 
 
 said Mr. Stevens. "Their lot is like that of a 
 slave's in some respects, fairly comfortable under 
 a good landlord, very miserable under a bad one. 
 I have heard of one rich proprietor, for instance, 
 who pays his sheep-herders twenty-five cents a 
 day. If a sheep dies or is lost or stolen from the 
 large herd given in charge to one man, that man 
 has to forfeit two dollars. Wages are paid in 
 orders on certain stores, and these stores charge 
 the highest prices. Very soon the peon, who does 
 not know the value of money, as so little passes 
 through his hands, is in debt (he himself often 
 does not know how to keep his accounts) and con- 
 stantly going in deeper. He has no way of \ >ay ing, 
 and when he dies his contract is generally such 
 that his family have to assume the debt, thus 
 keeping the whole family in bondage." 
 
 "Dear me!" said Kay; "can't they ever get 
 out?" 
 
 "The most hopeful thing for the peon is the 
 fact that the government now gives his children 
 an education; and when these children grow up 
 understanding figures and business transactions 
 and able to read the papers, it is probable that
 
 216 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 they will find some way out of this unjust system, 
 though it may be a slow process." 
 
 "They say the peons are lazy," said Roy. 
 
 "Many of them are. They will work until they 
 have a little money coming to them and then stop 
 work until that is spent and they need more. It 
 is the failing of people who live in the tropics 
 where nature provides means of living so abund- 
 antly." 
 
 "I can't help thinking of that poor dog and 
 kitten," said Ray. "Do you suppose they 
 ever get anything to eat? They looked so 
 
 anxious." 
 
 ' ' I saw a dog die of starvation in the street, the 
 other day," said Roy. 
 
 "Oh, Roy! How did you know?" 
 
 "I was looking down from the roof, and I saw 
 him lying in the street. He was so thin that I 
 thought at first it was a long, black rag lying on 
 the ground. Then he began to jerk " 
 
 "Oh, Roy!" and Ray hid her eyes as if she too 
 saw the pathetic sight. 
 
 "And pretty soon he lay quite still, and two 
 guards came along and stooped down to see if he
 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE 217 
 
 was dead. And about an hour after I looked out 
 the window, and they had taken him away." 
 
 "Where do you suppose they took him, father?" 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "Probably out to the hills beyond the barranca, 
 away from the town, where the buzzards could get 
 at him. They are the street commissioners and 
 scavengers in Mexico, and they do their work 
 thoroughly and swiftly." 
 
 "I wonder if they really are disgusting birds in 
 appearance or if we just think they look so be- 
 cause we know how they get their living," said 
 Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 That night, the rain poured down in sheets and 
 awoke the children, and both of them exclaimed at 
 once, "Poor Angelina !" thinking of the leaky roof 
 and the earthen floor.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 A LITTLE HISTORY 
 
 "Is there any history to this town!" asked Roy 
 one morning, as they all sat on the roof enjoying 
 the breeze and the beautiful views on every side. 
 
 ' ' There must be, ' ' said Ray. ' ' Don 't you know, 
 part of this hotel was the house of one of Cortez' 
 generals, and they call that house over there" — 
 pointing to the Municipal building — "Cortez' 
 palace." 
 
 "Yes, indeed, the place is as old as Mexico City, 
 probably," said Mr. Stevens. "Before we go on 
 our expedition to-day, I will go around to the 
 library and see what I can find in the way of 
 history." 
 
 "Let us go with you, father, — we want to see 
 the library — perhaps they have a children's 
 room," said Ray. 
 
 "Very well, but don't let your expectations 
 
 218
 
 A LITTLE HISTORY 219 
 
 rise too liigh, for you may be disappointed. I 
 imagine you'll find the library quite a different 
 place from our little town library where you go to 
 get your story books and feel so much at home. I 
 don't suppose there is a children's library in all 
 Mexico. ' ' 
 
 ''Not in all Mexico?" repeated Ray. "Why, 
 what do the children do? How do they get along 
 without them t ' ' 
 
 "It is only a few years since we have had them 
 ourselves," said Mr. Stevens, "and we managed 
 to live pretty comfortably without them, though I 
 must confess I think them a tine thing when 
 properly managed." He was putting on his hat 
 as he spoke, and the children got theirs as they 
 went downstairs. 
 
 The library was on the second floor, over the 
 lobby of the theatre, and it was open from half- 
 past eight in the morning to noon. There were 
 long tables joined down the centre of the room, 
 and before each chair there was a book-rest, for 
 most of the books were rather large and heavy. 
 There was only one reader there when they went 
 in, and he was a boy of fourteen or fifteen reading
 
 220 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 a Spanish translation of Jules Verne's "Twenty- 
 Thousand Leagues under the Seas." Mr. Stevens 
 saw the title as they passed him. The librarian 
 was sitting at her table sewing, and the room was 
 very still. Mr. Stevens wrote their names in the 
 visitors' register, and then they began to look 
 along the shelves for their books. The only thing 
 Roy and Ray could find in English that they could 
 read with understanding was "Evangeline," and 
 although they had read it once, they decided it 
 would be better to read it again than to read 
 nothing. So they pointed it out to the librarian 
 and she brought it to the table where they had 
 chosen their seats. Mr. Stevens, meanwhile, had 
 found Bancroft's "History of Mexico," and the 
 librarian climbed up a short ladder and got the 
 book for him. It proved to be just what he 
 wanted, and they all read quietly — the room was 
 very, very still — for nearly an hour. A friend 
 of the librarian's came and brought her crochet- 
 ing, and the women chatted in an undertone over 
 their work. 
 
 When they had finally left this very silent 
 library and were tiptoeing downstairs, still under
 
 A LITTLE HISTORY 221 
 
 the spell of quiet, Roy said, "Did you find out 
 much about Cuernavaca, father?" 
 
 "Yes, it seems to have been rather an important 
 place at the time of the Conquest," said Mr. 
 Stevens. "It was an Indian town, independent 
 until the Aztecs conquered it and made it pay 
 tribute. When Mexico was besieged, the Indians 
 of this town sent help to the Aztecs, so that Cortez 
 had to deal with Cuernavaca also. He came over 
 here with some of his men, while he was having 
 his ships built for the attack on Mexico, but found 
 the barranca, or ravine, here, a serious obstacle to 
 taking the town. It was so narrow that the in- 
 habitants could fire upon the Spaniards from 
 sheltered places, without being seen. Cortez sent 
 his scouts up and down the barranca to find a 
 place where his men might cross, but they could 
 find nothing until one of his Indian allies dis- 
 covered a natural bridge formed by the branches 
 of two large trees which leaned across the bar- 
 ranca from opposite sides. He crossed on this 
 and was followed by others, Indians and Span- 
 iards. Three of the latter, owing to their armor, 
 which embarrassed them very much, fell into the
 
 222 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 barranca, but the others crossed safely and ap- 
 peared suddenly among the astonished inhabit- 
 ants, who had never thought of their crossing in 
 this way. It was not long before the rest of the 
 army followed by a bridge which the first comers 
 had repaired, and the inhabitants then fled to the 
 mountains. They returned after several days, 
 during which Cortez had burned the villages 
 around the town and plundered the town itself, 
 and as they were ready to surrender, Cortez 
 ordered the fighting to cease, and the town came 
 thus under the rule of the Spaniards. When the 
 City of Mexico was conquered, Cortez returned to 
 Cuernavaca for a time and built the palace they 
 call Cortez' palace, now the capital of the State of 
 Morelos." 
 
 "Did he build the Cathedral then, too?" asked 
 Ray. 
 
 ' ' That was built in 1529, eight years afterward, 
 and was a Franciscan convent at first — that is 
 why there are several buildings in the group in- 
 stead of simply a church. That clock in the tower 
 was given to Cortez by Charles V of Spain, and 
 used to be in the Cathedral of Segovia in Spain."
 
 < ( 
 
 A LITTLE HISTORY 223 
 
 They say Cortez killed his wife in the palace 
 here. Is that true, father?" asked Roy. 
 
 "It is hardly likely. He did kill his Cuban wife, 
 Catalina, at Coyoacan, just outside of Mexico, and 
 perhaps that gave rise to this story. But there is 
 later history connected with the town, for Maxi- 
 milian made it his summer home and had a pretty 
 place of retirement some miles out in the country. 
 He was very fond of this little place, and we may 
 go out to see it some day. Then General Morelos 
 was for some time a prisoner in the palace, during 
 the War of Independence, which is perhaps why 
 the state was named for him." 
 
 "We saw two portraits of him in one of the 
 rooms," said Roy. "Mother said something about 
 the Inquisition, but I didn't quite understand." 
 
 "She probably told you that he was the last 
 victim of the Inquisition. Since 1529, this Spanish 
 method of making converts and punishing people 
 who would not become converts, had obtained in 
 Mexico, and in all the Spanish colonies. The 
 victims were always executed, generally burned 
 alive, in some public place, and scarcely any one 
 arrested escaped sentence. Once, however, a Mex-
 
 224 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ican officer was summoned before the Inquisition 
 and brought all his regiment with him. lie told his 
 soldiers, when they reached the building, that if he 
 did not reappear in twenty minutes, they were to 
 come and find him. He came back, as you would 
 expect, before the twenty minutes were up." 
 
 "It's a pity they had not all had regiments," 
 said Ray. "Did the Inquisition burn many 
 people?" 
 
 "A great many. The first great burning — or 
 auto da fe — took place in 1574, when twenty-one 
 Lutherans were burned. Sometimes the persecu- 
 tors were kind enough to strangle their victims 
 before they burned them." 
 
 "I should think the people would have rushed 
 in and stopped such awful things, ' ' said Roy. 
 
 "On the contrary, it had the same fascination 
 for them that a bull-fight has nowadays. They 
 used to crowd the church steps and climb up on 
 the arches of the aqueduct to get a good view. 
 There is something hardening in seeing people or 
 animals suffer, so that the more one sees of such 
 things the less pity one feels. The mildest person 
 can make himself cruel in time if he tries,"
 
 A LITTLE HISTORY 225 
 
 " When did it all stop?" asked Roy. 
 
 "It lapsed for two years, 1812-14, during which 
 Spain had a liberal constitution, but was resumed 
 in 1815. Morelos, who was executed in that year, 
 was the last heretic who came before the Inquisi- 
 tion. Spain again became liberal, and in 1820 the 
 Inquisition was finally suppressed." 
 
 "1820!" exclaimed Ray; "why, grandfather 
 was living then — that isn't so very long ago." 
 
 "No, it was only a year before Mexican inde- 
 pendence was declared." 
 
 "I think I'll go and look at Morelos' portrait 
 again," said Roy; "I didn't know he had such an 
 interesting history." 
 
 "I remember it," said Ray; "he's very homely, 
 and in one portrait he's got a bandage around his 
 head." 
 
 "I don't care if he was homely," said Roy; 
 "he was brave and he died for his country and for 
 freedom of religion. Probably the bandage is on 
 account of a wound he got in battle." 
 
 When they got home, Mrs. Stevens asked, 
 "Well, did you find your children 's-room?" 
 
 "Oh, mother, it's just as different from our
 
 226 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 library as you can imagine!" exclaimed Ray. 
 "Nearly all old books and hardly any English 
 ones, and only one person reading there, and the 
 librarian sewing, and it was so still — so still I was 
 almost afraid to cough." 
 
 "So there is another point in which American 
 children have the advantage," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 ' ' What would you do if you had only that kind of 
 a library at home, and no Miss Agnes to find in- 
 teresting books for you and help you to look up 
 the questions in your school work?" 
 
 "I don't think they would have been allowed in 
 this library at all if they had not been with a 
 grown person," said Mr. Stevens. "However, it 
 is not so very many years since most of our 
 libraries would not give books to children, but 
 when they did begin to do it, they did it all at 
 once and very generously. Perhaps, some day, 
 Mexico will awaken to the importance of free cir- 
 culating libraries, especially for the children."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 
 
 The children had been clamoring for a burro- 
 ride, and so one day Mr. Stevens engaged four 
 burros and a boy to drive them, and they went to 
 see an old hacienda where sugar-cane was the 
 crop. The burros were brought to the door of the 
 hotel, each with his gay saddle with a little railing 
 as a support to the back, and a short bit of rope 
 as a bridle. People always looked so comfortable 
 riding on these little beasts, which went so easily 
 and slowly, that the family were rather eager to 
 try it than otherwise, though Mrs. Stevens had 
 her misgivings. Soon they were in their saddles, 
 and with the donkey-boy walking behind to prod 
 the burros with his stick when they needed it, they 
 ambled down a steep, stony street and out into a 
 country road, with trees and bushes and huts 
 bordering it at first, and later leading up and 
 down hill, across small creeks, and through almost 
 
 227
 
 228 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 uninhabited country. The motion was very easy 
 and the children were delighted, and they thought 
 their father looked very funny with his long legs 
 almost touching the ground on either side of his 
 burro. They all expected him to take the lead in 
 the march, the path being often very narrow, and 
 the burros then obliged to go in Indian file; but 
 they found the burros settled that matter among 
 themselves. It proved to be Roy's burro that took 
 the lead and nearly always kept it, for when they 
 came to a narrow place the other animals lingered 
 until Roy and his donkey had gone ahead. They 
 had one accident that might have been serious but 
 fortunately was not. Mrs. Stevens' saddle was 
 not very tight or set far enough back, and as they 
 were all going down a steep hill, her burro sud- 
 denly decided that he wanted a decaying mango 
 lying in the road. He bent his head to get it and 
 this, with the natural decline of the road and the 
 looseness of the saddle, sent Mrs. Stevens over his 
 head before she realised what was happening. 
 She was not hurt, as she fell on her hands and in a 
 clayey spot, but she was shaken up and unnerved, 
 and refused to mount again for some time, and
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 229 
 
 Mr. Stevens dismounted and walked with her for 
 a mile, until she had enough courage to remount. 
 The burro, meanwhile, ate all the mangoes he 
 wanted and enjoyed his freedom. They passed 
 through two villages before they came to the 
 hacienda, all around whose gates there were 
 thatched huts built of sugar-cane stalks such as 
 the children had never seen before. 
 
 "They don't seem so civilised as the adobe 
 huts," said Ray, "but the people look just the 
 
 same." 
 
 It was Saturday and seemed to be a general 
 holiday. No one was doing any work, and they 
 heard the tinkling of a guitar and the sound of 
 singing in one of the huts. The farmhouse was 
 a long, three-storied building, and walls extended 
 out from both ends of it enclosing two courtyards. 
 One of these proved to be a sort of stable-yard in 
 part, with stalls under the projecting roof on two 
 sides, while in the building at the back was some 
 heavy machinery. The other courtyard looked as 
 if it had been built in the middle ages as part of a 
 fortress. The farmhouse walls that overlooked 
 it were very, very thick, with portholes for
 
 230 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 guns and cannon, and great buttresses made 
 an extra support for the walls. 
 
 "They must have thought the enemy would 
 penetrate into this courtyard by the walls or by 
 capturing the gate, so they were ready to defend 
 the building from the back," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "What kind of plantation is this?" asked Roy. 
 "And what was that machinery we saw?" 
 
 "They raise sugar-cane here and make aguardi- 
 ente (ah-gwar-dy-en'-teh)," answered Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Oh, yes!" said Ray; "that's what mother 
 burns in her alcohol lamp." 
 
 "Yes, it is used here as alcohol and wood alcohol 
 are with us," said Mr. Stevens, "and it is nicer 
 for such use because it has not the disagreeable 
 odour the others have. The machinery we saw 
 probably has something to do with making it. 
 Y T ou know this hacienda was once owned by Cortez 
 himself, and when he died he left it to the Hospital 
 of Jesus in the City of Mexico, and the income 
 from the plantation still goes to support the 
 hospital." 
 
 "I remember that hospital," said Roy. "One 
 day father and I were going along the street and
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 231 
 
 we saw an old building, and the patio looked so 
 interesting that I peeped in. But there was 
 nothing and nobody to be seen but a little girl, 
 and she wanted to know what I wanted." 
 
 "Why, Roy, how did you know what she said?" 
 asked Ray, incredulously. 
 
 "She said, 'Que quiere listed, senorito?' " said 
 Roy, rather vexed. "I've been here long enough 
 to know what that means, I hope, hearing it every 
 day in the markets and shops." 
 
 "What did you answer!" asked Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "I pointed to the flowers and vines and said, 
 'Bonitos, muy bonitos,' and she smiled, and then I 
 came away." 
 
 "Very good," said his mother. "You are get- 
 ting on, and I'm glad to see you are trying to 
 speak a little. You won't feel half so helpless if 
 you stretch your wings and try a little flight every 
 day. Isn't there a portrait of Cortez in that 
 hospital?" she asked, turning to Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "There was. It was painted in Cortez' lifetime 
 purposely for the hospital, and is said to be the 
 best one there is." 
 
 This excursion and the one to Maximilian's
 
 232 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 country retreat finished the family's stay in 
 Cuernavaca. This latter was not so far but that 
 they could walk to it, which was a great relief to 
 Mrs. Stevens, though the children would have 
 liked to go on burros. They passed through one 
 or two villages, and turning off the main road 
 found themselves confronting a rather rickety, 
 ornamental fence or wall of wood, opening into a 
 courtyard with the house on two sides of it and a 
 covered passage leading into a garden at the back. 
 There was a well in the courtyard over which 
 hung a mango-tree, and to keep the mangoes 
 from falling into the water, which looked stagnant 
 enough already, the present owner had covered it 
 with a sort of lattice-work. 
 
 Young chickens and goslings were everywhere, 
 for the place had been turned into a chicken-ranch 
 by the tenant, who was an American. 
 
 "Isn't that too bad!" exclaimed Ray; "to turn 
 an emperor's summer-house into a place to raise 
 chickens ! ' ' 
 
 "I daresay it is more usefully employed than 
 it was in Maximilian's time," said her father. 
 "You mustn't be too romantic, Ray."
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 233 
 
 "Well, I can't help being sorry for all thai 
 Maximilian family," confessed Ray. "They had 
 such a little time to be happy in. Where is Maxi- 
 milian buried, father?" 
 
 ''In Austria, though his body was not taken 
 there until some time after his death. That he 
 expected to be taken back to Austria was evident, 
 for he asked to be shot in the body so that his 
 mother might look upon his face again. They had 
 told him that Carlotta was dead, and he had re- 
 plied that that was one tie less to bind him to 
 earth." 
 
 "Didn't any one try to save him?" 
 
 "Yes, his wife besought both Louis Napoleon 
 and the Pope to interfere, but in vain. Even the 
 United States tried to save him from execution. 
 A noted princess rode one hundred and sixty 
 miles to beg President Juarez to set aside Hie 
 sentence, but the Mexicans thought they must 
 make an example of him, and so ended the last 
 attempt at a foreign empire in Mexico." 
 
 "How would President Diaz have acted, do you 
 suppose?" asked Roy. 
 
 "I cannot tell; but when the Austrians wished
 
 234 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 to erect a chapel on the hill where the execution 
 took place, he allowed it to be done, and soon 
 afterward Mexico and Austria formally became 
 friends again. ' ' 
 
 The children were quite still and thoughtful for 
 awhile, as they walked homeward. Suddenly, Ray 
 asked, "Did you see that man that just passed 
 us?" 
 
 "Yes," said Roy; "why?" 
 
 "Did you notice that little green spot he had 
 right here on his forehead?" said Ray, pointing 
 to her temple. 
 
 "Yes, I've seen several of them wearing those 
 green plasters. What are they for, father?" 
 
 "I don't know," said Mr. Stevens; "I hadn't 
 noticed them." 
 
 "We'll ask Mrs. Knight," said Ray, and when 
 Mrs. Knight met them in the patio as they came 
 in, it was the first thing Ray spoke of. 
 
 "I was going to call your attention to that," 
 replied Mrs. Knight. "It is a way the peons have 
 of curing themselves of headache, ague, etc. It 
 is just a piece of eucalyptus leaf from the eucalyp- 
 tus trees you see growing about in the villages.
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 235 
 
 You know we manufacture eucalyptol from it and 
 take it as a medicine, while they go straight to the 
 tree and pick their own medicine." 
 
 "How convenient!" said Ray, "and so much 
 pleasanter to stick the medicine on you like a 
 plaster than to take it inside of you !" 
 
 "But not so pretty," said her father, teasingly. 
 
 "Why, I don't think it's ugly to have a little 
 piece of fresh, green leaf on your face — it's much 
 prettier than black court plaster, and people wear 
 that to make them look pretty." 
 
 "There is a nux vomica tree in the town," said 
 Mrs. Knight; "the only one I know of for miles. 
 You ought to go to see that." And they did, one 
 day, finding it a large tree with wide-spreading 
 branches, and glossy, dark green leaves, some- 
 thing like a large poplar leaf. 
 
 Mrs. Stevens, who was a homoeopath, looked at 
 the tree almost with veneration. 
 
 "You could not only get your living from these 
 trees about here, but you could get your dying," 
 said Mr. Stevens, "for the nux vomica seed is 
 poison." 
 
 "Your dying and your keep-from-dying," said
 
 236 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Roy, " because if you take it right it's good for 
 you and not poison." 
 
 "And you can get the other kind of dyeing, 
 too, in Mexico," said Mrs. Stevens, "for the Mexi- 
 cans make their own dyes to colour their cloth 
 with — at least, they did at one time. Now many 
 of their serapes and rebozos come from the United 
 States, and they tell me the sombreros are made 
 in New -Jersey." 
 
 "Oh, dear!" exclaimed Ray, "that just takes 
 all the poetry out of them," which made Roy quite 
 indignant. He said she ought to be glad to see 
 American trade growing like that. 
 
 That evening was their last in Cuernavaca, and 
 when the little orchestra came and played "La 
 Golondrina" in the patio, they all said it made 
 them feel homesick already for Cuernavaca, where 
 they had begun to feel so much at home. 
 
 "You must come down sometime in the winter, 
 and perhaps spend a Christmas here," said Mrs. 
 Knight. 
 
 "How do you keep the patio warm in winter?" 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "Oh, my child, the patio is just as warm then as
 
 <*££ : 
 
 A Ci'kknavac a Boy
 
 MORE EXCURSIONS 237 
 
 it is now. We try to make it look Like Christmas 
 by our decorations — you know the poinsettia is 
 called the 'Christmas flower' here, and we always 
 have it for the keynote of our decorations." 
 
 "We are just beginning to use it in the States 
 as a Christmas plant," said Mrs. Stevens. "It 
 has such a cheerful red, and red seems to be the 
 Christmas colour, for some reason. The patio 
 must look very bright and gay, but I can't quite 
 imagine a warm, summery Christmas." 
 
 "No snow, and no skating, and no icicles on the 
 trees and roofs, and no bright fires!" exclaimed 
 Ray. "No, I'd rather come down here in summer 
 and have our Christmas at home, where it's like 
 Christmas." 
 
 "You forget that the first Christmas was in a 
 country where they seldom have snow except on 
 the tops of the mountains, and where the mercury 
 never falls below twenty-eight degrees," said Mr. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "Then our Christmas is not the real Christ- 
 mas?" said Ray, much astonished. 
 
 "It is not like the original Christmas, if that is 
 what you mean."
 
 238 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Well, well!" was all Ray could say. She 
 had supposed that the way things were in the 
 United States was, generally speaking, the proper 
 way. 
 
 "Travel and learn!" said Roy, teasingly, but 
 he too was a little surprised.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 SOUTHWARD 
 
 In order to get anywhere else except to the 
 "hot country" in the State of Guerrero, the 
 Stevenses had to go back to the City of Mexico 
 and start out again. They spent one evening at 
 their hotel in the Capital going over maps and 
 time-tables, to see what could best be done in the 
 time they had, and finally decided to spend a day 
 or two at Puebla, going from there out to Tlaxcala 
 and Cholula, then down to Oaxaca and Mitla, 
 back to Tehuacan, to Esperanza by tram, 
 thence to Orizaba for a day and night, and 
 thence back to the City of Mexico. If they had 
 good weather and no delays on the road, this could 
 be done in eight days, but in order to feel less 
 cramped for time, they thought they would not try 
 to be back before the eleventh day. 
 
 They found it very little trouble to make travel- 
 ling plans in Mexico, for, in general, there was but 
 
 239
 
 240 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 one train a day that would take them where they 
 wanted to go. As there was nothing remarkable 
 in the way of scenery between Mexico and Puebla, 
 they decided to take that short trip in the night. 
 As the sleeper was left behind at Apizaco in the 
 night and picked np by an early morning train, 
 they found to their surprise that they had slept 
 very quietly on a side-track most of the night. It 
 was still very early when they reached Puebla and 
 drove to a hotel kept by an elderly Swiss with a 
 long, white beard. He spoke English and made 
 them comfortable in two sunny rooms and gave 
 them a good breakfast, after which they set out 
 to see Puebla. They found it a city of rather 
 handsome dwellings and shops, particularly 
 around the Plaza. The great Cathedral was the 
 first place they visited, and here they found the 
 immense columns of the interior draped in crim- 
 son velvet during a nine-days ' celebration of some 
 saint. Service was going on, and the children saw 
 for the first time a wheel of bells used in the Mass. 
 There was one on each side the chancel, a wheel 
 about two feet in diameter suspended at a height 
 of nine or ten feet, and to the edge were im-
 
 SOUTHWARD 241 
 
 movably attached small bells, which could ring 
 only when the wheel was turned. At certain 
 points in the service two of the acolytes, or serv- 
 ing boys, went to these wheels, turned them by a 
 rope, and produced a very disagreeable jangling 
 from the bells. "I'll bet those boys like to do 
 that," said Ray; "boys always like to make a 
 noise," and indeed the acolytes did look as if they 
 enjoyed it. Mr. Stevens said the interior of this 
 Cathedral was considered the finest in Mexico, 
 and the children thought probably it was — it cer- 
 tainly looked very large and rich — but they did 
 not care much about cathedrals, and were glad 
 when their father and mother turned toward the 
 market. This was quite differently arranged 
 from that in Cuernavaca. There were long rows 
 of stalls, all under cover, and certain kinds of 
 articles were in one row and others in another, 
 and there was no surrounding building. It was 
 hard to get the children past the stalls where the 
 native pottery was sold, from the largest platters 
 and jars to the tiniest toy dishes. Ray just had 
 to have some of these last, but she had to carry 
 them in her hands without any wrappings, for the
 
 242 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 market people seldom have a bit of paper to wrap 
 anything in — customers are supposed to come 
 with bags or baskets. There were beautiful, flexi- 
 ble baskets, too, and Mrs. Stevens bought several 
 of these — they were so flexible they took up very 
 little room in one's trunk — and there were clay 
 figures representing different kinds of people, the 
 charcoal venders, the olla-carriers, etc., and carv- 
 ings in onyx, a rich white and yellow stone that is 
 found near Puebla. In one of the shops they 
 found many things made of it, but the thing that 
 pleased and amused the children most was two 
 fried eggs of papier mache, lying on a platter. 
 They looked real enough to eat, "Only they would 
 be cold by this time," said Roy. 
 
 "Is this a historic place?" he asked. 
 
 "Every place in Mexico has more or less his- 
 tory," said his father. "Puebla as a city was 
 founded in 1532 by the Spaniards, so it is not an old 
 Indian city, like many of the others. The story 
 goes that one of the Spanish friars who came over 
 at the time of the Conquest was looking for a place 
 to build a city somewhere between the coast and 
 the City of Mexico, and one night he had a dream.
 
 SOUTHWARD 243 
 
 He saw a beautiful landscape, marked with vol- 
 canoes, small hills, and two rivers, and two angels 
 came with a rod and chain and began to lay out 
 the streets and squares of a town. On awakening, 
 he resolved to take this dream as an omen, and he 
 went about looking for a landscape to correspond 
 with the one in his dream. He found it here, at 
 last, and named his town Puebla de los Angeles 
 (Ang'-hel-es), the City of the Angels; now it is 
 shortened to Puebla, or the City." 
 
 "I wonder if you have noticed how much tiles 
 are used here in the buildings," said Mrs. Stevens 
 to the twins. They had not, but they began to 
 look about them and, to be sure, it was the most 
 thoroughly tiled city they had seen. The domes 
 of the churches were of glossy tiles, yellow and 
 blue and white and (lowered, and the floors were 
 tiled, and tiles were set into the walls of private 
 houses, while one house had its whole front made 
 of them. 
 
 "There is nothing as beautiful, though, as the 
 Jockey Club building in the City of Mexico," said 
 Mrs. Stevens, and the children agreed with her. 
 That had been covered with blue and white tiles
 
 244 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 from India, brought over early in the eighteenth 
 century, each costing, it was said, its actual weight 
 in silver. 
 
 "The name of Puebla was changed to Puebla 
 Zaragoza in 1862, after the battle of the 5th of 
 May or Cinco de Mayo, fought just outside the city. 
 In this battle General Zaragoza drove back the 
 French invaders and won a victory over a force 
 three times the size of his own." 
 
 "Did we ever have anything to do with the 
 place!" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, General Winfield Scott occupied it with 
 his soldiers in 1847, during the Mexican War. 
 Diaz took it back from the French in 1867, after 
 they had held it four years, and since then it has 
 been left in peace. It was here that Diaz was im- 
 prisoned in the buildings of the State College, 
 when a young soldier, and escaped by scaling the 
 wall." 
 
 "Well, father," said Roy, who was not satisfied 
 with legends, but wanted facts, "of course that 
 isn't a true story of the way the city was founded, 
 and what is the true one?" 
 
 "They say some of the inhabitants of Tlaxcala
 
 SOUTHWARD 245 
 
 came over, about fifty families, from their own 
 town and started this one. Tlaxcala was then a 
 city of three hundred thousand people and Puebla 
 was a mere village. Now, Tlaxcala has four thou- 
 sand people and Puebla has nearly a hundred 
 thousand. We are going over to Tlaxcala this 
 afternoon, as there are one or two things there we 
 ought to see." 
 
 "Oh, good!" exclaimed Ray. "That is an old, 
 old town, isn't it? You can tell by the name, I 
 believe. The towns that begin with Tl or have a 
 tl in the name are always old Indian towns, aren't 
 they?" 
 
 "Quite right," said Mrs. Stevens; "I'm glad 
 you are so observing. Yes, we shall see some of 
 the most interesting things there that we have 
 seen anywhere." 
 
 And in the afternoon they took the train to the 
 little station of Santa Ana and from there a mule- 
 car across the valley, a six-miles ride through 
 fields and picturesque villages, with the snow- 
 peaked mountains visible in the distance. 
 
 The tram stopped in the public square of the 
 town, surrounded on two sides by shops with
 
 246 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 covered sidewalks, the roofs supported by pillars, 
 on the third side by the Municipal buildings, and 
 on the fourth by the elegant ruins of what seemed 
 to have been a bishop's palace, judging from the 
 symbols of the bishopric, the mitre, staff and keys, 
 etc., that decorated the front of beautiful yellow 
 tiles. 
 
 In the Municipal buildings and in the Museum 
 they saw several things connected with the Con- 
 quest, copies of the portraits of the Indian chiefs 
 of Tlaxcala who became allies and friends of 
 Cortez and were baptised as Christians in 1520, 
 a year before the Spaniards entered the Capital; 
 idols belonging to the old Indian days and old 
 pottery, found in tilling the fields ; and there was 
 a banner which Cortez had given to the Indians, 
 and the silk robes the chiefs wore when they were 
 baptised, and the splendid embroidered vestments 
 the priests wore on the same occasion. 
 
 "Just think!" said Ray, in a tone of awe, 
 "those clothes are nearly four hundred years old 
 and look as nice as that! They won't be able to 
 see much of our clothes four hundred years from 
 now, will they?"
 
 SOUTHWARD 247 
 
 "Not of yours and Hoy's, certainly," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, smiling; "it is all I can do to make them 
 last from one season to another." 
 
 From the Municipal buildings, the party wan- 
 dered through the little market-place, now almost 
 empty, for it was afternoon and not a market-day 
 — noticing that this market was of still another 
 arrangement. Here there were separate plat- 
 forms, each with its roof, and each devoted to a 
 special kind of merchandise. For instance, one 
 house was marked "Rebozos," and one "Fruta," 
 etc. 
 
 "They say," said Mrs. Stevens, "that the 
 people here speak Aztec as much as, or even more 
 than, they do Spanish, and that there are some 
 who do not speak Spanish at all. ' ' 
 
 "Why, I didn't know anybody spoke Aztec any 
 more!" exclaimed Roy, astonished. 
 
 "Yes, it is still a living language, as we say. I 
 think there are books in it, or at least grammars 
 of Aztec." 
 
 "Now, where are we going!" asked Ray, as 
 they began to climb a street that went uphill, 
 paved with cobbles and bordered by tall trees.
 
 248 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "We are going to see the oldest church in the 
 whole western hemisphere," said Mr. Stevens; 
 "one that was begun in 1521, the year of the Con- 
 quest, and in which Christianity was first preached 
 in the New World." 
 
 "And that was only three hundred and fifty 
 years ago, or so," said Mrs. Stevens. "Think 
 what changes have happened in an even shorter 
 period, in the United States— the savages almost 
 exterminated, the wild beasts killed off from Maine 
 to Texas and Washington to Florida, towns and 
 cities almost everywhere, schools and churches 
 and libraries." 
 
 "And the white people crowding in so that they 
 quarrel with the Indian over what little land he 
 has left," said Mr. Stevens. "The changes are 
 far fewer here, for the Indians, instead of being 
 exterminated, were converted, outwardly, at least, 
 and adopted many of the customs of the con- 
 queror, giving him in turn some of their own. 
 Progress has been much slower and its traces are 
 much more easily seen, since there is so little tear- 
 ing down of old things to make room for the new, 
 as with us."
 
 SOUTHWARD 249 
 
 "Yes, but we never had dry land made out of 
 water or a navy-yard up in the mountains or an 
 island turned into a rock in a park, like Chapulte- 
 pec," said Roy. 
 
 "No, there you are right. Still, there is the 
 opposite going on in our country, where we are 
 turning our dry deserts into moist farming land." 
 
 By this time they had reached the arched gate- 
 way in the wall at the top of the hill, and found 
 themselves in front of the little old church of San 
 Francisco. At one end of the wall was the bell- 
 tower which overlooked a wide expanse of country 
 as well as the local bull-ring. 
 
 "There is the barracks, — it used to be a con- 
 vent," said Mr. Stevens, pointing to the building 
 on the left, where several soldiers were standing. 
 
 "I suppose the soldiers can go across the gate- 
 way to the bell-tower and see the bull-fights with- 
 out paying," said Ray. 
 
 ' ' They may, if they want to, ' ' said Roy ; ' ' once 
 is enough for me. All the free passes in the world 
 wouldn't make me go again." 
 
 Inside the church they found the old pulpit 
 with a tablet, stating that the gospel had been
 
 2-50 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 preached from it for the first time in the New 
 World, and there was also the great font where 
 had been baptised the chiefs whose portraits they 
 had seen. The children, wandering about, started 
 back as they were about to enter a small chapel, 
 thinking they had seen a dead body ; but it proved 
 to be a wooden image of Jesus, lying on a bed 
 with pillows and coverlets, red spots to represent 
 blood streaming from His brow and the wounds in 
 the hands. Two women were kneeling at the 
 head and foot, where small candles were burning 
 faintly, and while the twins stood looking in, 
 another woman came softly in with bunches of 
 yellow marigolds from her little garden in the 
 country, which she began to place reverently all 
 about the edge of the bed. When this was done, 
 she went around it, kneeling and kissing the hands 
 and feet of the figure most fervently and affection- 
 ately. 
 
 The two children were differently affected. 
 Roy wondered how any one could have any belief 
 in an ugly, wooden image, and Ray could not help 
 being impressed by the faith and love of the poor 
 women to whom it seemed to mean so much.
 
 SOUTHWARD 251 
 
 On their way farther up the hill to see another 
 church, the family passed two curious things, 
 looking like big barrels, in the middle of the 
 roadway. 
 
 ''What on earth are they?" asked Roy. 
 
 Nobody knew or could even guess, so that Mr. 
 Stevens had to look it up in his guide-book and 
 found that they were a sort of corn-crib, to keep 
 rats from carrying off the owner's corn. They 
 were covered at the top loosely with a bit of wood 
 and a thatch to keep the rain off, but had no real 
 protection against thieves, showing that the neigh- 
 bours and the villagers must be honest people. 
 
 "I have always heard Mexicans were thieves," 
 said Mrs. Stevens, "and here we have been stop- 
 ping in hotels for a month and leaving everything 
 lying about except money and jewels, which we 
 would not leave about anywhere, even at home, 
 and nothing has been taken or even disturbed." 
 
 "They cheat you when they sell things," said 
 Roy. 
 
 "No, they don't cheat you," said Ray, stoutly; 
 "they ask you higher prices than they ask one 
 another because you've got more money and don't
 
 252 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 mind spending it; but you don't have to pay if 
 you don't want to — that isn't cheating." 
 
 "Besides, shopkeepers do that everywhere 
 when they are dealing with Americans, for they 
 think all Americans have money and nothing to 
 do but spend it," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 And on the whole, Roy was finally convinced 
 that overcharging was not cheating, though it 
 might not be right. 
 
 When they reached Santa Ana on their home- 
 ward journey, it had grown almost dark, and the 
 little station was very dimly lighted, but they 
 could see the ticket-office and get their tickets. 
 The station platform was covered with country- 
 people who had come to sell sweet bread and cakes 
 to the passengers on the train which was due. 
 They had their wares in large, round, deep 
 baskets, with a lantern set in the middle so that 
 their cakes could be seen and so that they could 
 make change, and they squatted on the floor in the 
 dim candlelight with their serapes and rebozos 
 drawn up around their necks, for the air was 
 chill, making a picturesque sight. The children 
 bought some of the cakes, choosing some that had
 
 SOUTHWARD 253 
 
 designs in white and pink sugar on the top, be- 
 cause Roy said they looked like Aztec decorations, 
 while Mr. and Mrs. Stevens found the brioches, or 
 sweet bread, very good indeed. They reached the 
 hotel in Puebla in time to get a nine-o'clock sup- 
 per, and went to bed very well satisfied with their 
 day.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 
 
 The next morning was given to an expedition 
 to the Pyramid of Cholula. They took the tram 
 for the eight-mile ride to the village or town of 
 Cholula, finding the trip very delightful. The 
 road ran part of the way alongside of an aque- 
 duct — they had learned to know aqueducts, not 
 only by their arches but by their narrow tops. At 
 first, the children had thought they were bridges 
 and wondered why the people had built such 
 narrow ones, often apparently dangerous to cross 
 on. Now, they thought it a very picturesque 
 and beautiful way to bring water into a town or 
 city, much more so than the underground pipes 
 at home. 
 
 "We don't have room for anything in our 
 streets," sighed Ray; "there are so many people 
 and teams!" 
 
 "We do have some aqueducts," said Mr. 
 
 254
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 255 
 
 Stevens, "but you haven't happened to see them. 
 I must show them to you when we go back." 
 
 They found the town of Cholula about the size 
 of Tlaxcala, and the guide-book said that the 
 market-place was still called by its Indian name, 
 "Tianquiz." 
 
 "Is this place older even than Tlaxcala?" asked 
 Roy. 
 
 "Nobody knows. It must be a very, very old 
 place, because when the Spaniards came they 
 found Indians here who could not tell them any- 
 thing about the ancient history of the pyramid, it 
 had been erected so long ago, by a people even 
 they did not know." 
 
 "I never saw so many churches in such a 
 little place," said Ray. 
 
 "Yes, there are thirty or more, now, and in 
 Cortez' time he counted four hundred towers, 
 representing nearly four hundred temples. So 
 you see it must have been as large as Tlaxcala, 
 probably." 
 
 "I can't get used to calling a place a city when 
 it just has huts," said Roy; "it seems to me it's 
 the kind of buildings that ought to make a city."
 
 256 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ''As a rule, it's the number of people that en- 
 titles a place to the name of city; and in those 
 days they had something besides huts, for their 
 temples were very fine," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 ''Well, where's the pyramid?" said Roy. 
 "Why don't we come to it?" 
 
 His father and mother smiled; they had pur- 
 posely refrained from saying what the pyramid 
 looked like, in order to surprise the children. 
 
 "Don't you see it?" asked Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Nothing that looks to me like a pyramid. I 
 thought it would be like those pyramids in Egypt, 
 all big, square rocks that you had to be dragged 
 up to the top of," replied Roy. 
 
 "Here's a hill," said Ray, "would you call that 
 a pyramid ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, that hill at our right is the pyramid, or, 
 rather, it covers the pyramid. Under the grass 
 and bushes and trees are layer upon layer of brick 
 and clay and limestone up to one hundred and 
 seventy-seven feet in height. At the base, this 
 erection is twice as long as the great pyramid of 
 Cheops in Egypt, and the whole base covers 
 twenty acres. Y T ou could see formerly that it was
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 257 
 
 built in terraces, something like those of Egypt, 
 but now the earth and vegetation have covered 
 these up and made the surface more or less 
 even." 
 
 "We shan't have to be dragged up, Roy," said 
 Mrs. Stevens, "for around on the west side there 
 is a stone stairway. They say the sides of the 
 pyramid faced exactly east, west, north, and 
 south. ' ' 
 
 They found the stairway and by taking the 
 steps slowly they arrived at the top without any 
 great fatigue. Ray liked it much better, she said, 
 than being hauled and pulled from one terrace to 
 another as Mark Twain said travellers were got 
 to the top in Egypt. Many of her ideas of Euro- 
 pean travel had been received from "Innocents 
 Abroad," which she and Roy had pored over since 
 they were able to read. 
 
 Once at the top, the family had a fine view of 
 the valley surrounding them, the mountains, the 
 temples, and of other villages. They saw two 
 other pyramids, not so large nor so high. One of 
 these had sides almost vertical and had to be 
 scaled by climbing a ladder; but as there was
 
 258 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 nothing to be seen at the top, even the children did 
 not care to climb it. 
 
 "Now, father, tell us all you know about the 
 pyramid," said Ray, as they seated themselves, 
 slightly out of breath, at the top of the 
 steps. 
 
 "No one knows very much," replied Mr. 
 Stevens. "The pyramid was here when the 
 Aztecs came, and the people they found here told 
 them it was built by some giants, the only beings 
 left on earth after a great deluge had drowned 
 everybody else. These giants set out to build a 
 tower up to heaven, as a refuge in case of another 
 deluge, but the gods were so angry at such pre- 
 sumption that they sent down fire from heaven 
 and destroyed the giants." 
 
 "Almost like the Flood and the Tower of Babel 
 in the Old Testament!" exclaimed Roy. 
 
 "Yes, these old Indians seem to have had 
 several legends corresponding to the stories in the 
 Hebrew records," said Mr. Stevens. "It makes 
 them even more mysterious and interesting. 
 When the Spaniards came, a great temple stood 
 on the top of the pyramid, with fires that threw a
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 259 
 
 light over the country around. In the temple was 
 the image of Quetzalcoat'l, not the one you saw in 
 the Museum, however. This one represented him 
 as black, with a great mitre on life head and fire 
 issuing from it, a golden collar, turquoise ear- 
 rings, a jewelled sceptre and a shield with paint- 
 ings on it, to symbolise his control over the winds, 
 for he was the god of the air. ' ' 
 
 "And he was going to come back some day and 
 rule over them, and when they saw the Spaniards 
 they thought they had come with him, wasn't that 
 what you told us?" asked Ray. 
 
 "Yes, they had been waiting many centuries, 
 and in the meantime this pyramid and its temple 
 had been visited constantly by pilgrims from 
 hundreds of miles around.'' 
 
 "Well, maybe the Spaniards weren't very mild 
 and gentle, like What 's-his-name, but they couldn't 
 have looked half as fierce; and after all, they did 
 rule over the Indians and get them civilised," 
 said Roy. 
 
 "Yes, good has come of the Conquest," said Mr. 
 Stevens, "for even the Spaniards were not so 
 cruel as the Indian tribes were to one another;
 
 260 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and the fact that after only three hundred years, 
 the people could throw off the Spanish yoke and 
 govern themselves and in less than fifty years 
 thereafter count for something among the civilised 
 nations of the earth, shows that there was a fine 
 foundation, and that the mixture of Spanish blood 
 at the time was the alloy needed to make the native 
 material workable." 
 
 The children didn't understand this very well, 
 so they made no comment, but proposed to see 
 which could get down the steps of the pyramid 
 first; and as their mother gave the word, they 
 started and were soon leaping and jumping and 
 running toward the foot of the steps. 
 
 At the foot, they waited for their parents, and 
 Ray greeted them with a question. "What did 
 the Spaniards do when they found the temple and 
 the image?" she asked. 
 
 "They tore down the temple, as they always 
 did, and that church we glanced into was put up 
 in its stead. What became of the image I don't 
 know, but I can guess what became of its 
 gold collar and turquoise earrings and jewelled 
 sceptre," said Mr. Stevens.
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 261 
 
 "Yes, so can I," said Ray; "the soldiers took 
 them." 
 
 "What time do we start to-morrow, father, for 
 the South?" asked Roy. 
 
 "We must get up at five in the morn- 
 ing 
 
 "Oh, dear!" groaned the children. 
 
 " Get breakfast at the station, and take the 
 
 train at fifteen minutes past six." 
 
 "And when shall we get to Oaxaca?" 
 
 "About half-past six in the evening, just in 
 time for dinner." 
 
 "We'll certainly have to go to bed early," said 
 Ray, and so they did. At five the next morning 
 the twins were still sleeping soundly when a soft 
 voice and a gentle tap on the door from the por- 
 tero woke them from their dreams. They rubbed 
 their eyes and jumped out of bed, for they knew 
 that if they missed this train it would only mean 
 waiting until the next morning and starting at 
 the same hour. Their mother came in to help 
 them finish dressing, and went all around the 
 room with the lighted candle to make sure they 
 were not leaving anything.
 
 262 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "What a nice portero that was," she said, "to 
 wake us so gently without rousing the whole 
 house ! In one of our hotels, he would have gone 
 along the corridors in heavy boots or shoes, bang- 
 ing on the doors and shouting 'Five o'clock! five 
 o'clock!' and everybody in the house would have 
 been scolding the departing guests for being the 
 cause of all the noise." 
 
 "Well, five o'clock is five o'clock, whether he 
 shouts it or whispers it, so far as I'm concerned," 
 said Roy, yawning; "it's quite too early to get 
 up." 
 
 "Be sure to put on your overcoat, my boy, for 
 it will be chilly until the sun gets well up," said 
 his mother, "and Ray must wear her heavy 
 jacket." 
 
 When they came creeping noiselessly down- 
 stairs they found the portero sitting on the hard 
 wooden bench where he had been sleeping, with all 
 their hand-baggage about him. The cochero (co- 
 chay'-ro), whom they had engaged the evening be- 
 fore, stood outside with his carriage, and after 
 giving some money to the portero, who wished 
 them a cordial "good journey," they all stowed
 
 THE GREAT PYRAMID 203 
 
 themselves in the coach and went rattling through 
 
 the cobblestone streets, past the barred and 
 shuttered houses and the silent shops and 
 churches. Nobody was stirring except the street- 
 cleaners, who were busy on every block with their 
 brooms and brushes and square pieces of matting 
 for dustpans. They all had their serapes close up 
 about their necks and shoulders, for it was indeed 
 very chilly before sunrise even in August. Here 
 and there a pale street-lamp burned, but there 
 were no lights in the houses and no smoke from 
 the chimneys. The latter is not strange, since 
 there were no chimneys, most Mexican kitchens 
 having charcoal ranges and letting the smoke 
 escape into the room and thence out of the doors 
 and windows. This is why the kitchen walls gradu- 
 ally become dingier and dingier until, in the 
 poorer houses, where they are almost never 
 cleaned, they are quite black. 
 
 At last the party arrived at the station and found 
 quite a crowd of third-class passengers waiting, 
 many of whom looked as if they had passed the 
 night there for want of a better place to stay 
 These had their provisions with them or were buy
 
 264 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ing them at little shops and stands near by, and 
 eating them, as usual, seated on the steps or the 
 ground. 
 
 Fortunately, the Stevens family could do better 
 than this, and they soon found the dining-room of 
 the station, where a Chinaman called "Charlie" 
 waited on them and another Chinaman cooked 
 what they ordered in his little kitchen, visible 
 from where they sat. He gave them some bacon 
 and eggs, very hot toast, and fair coffee, and 
 they boarded the train ready and eager for new 
 sights and experiences.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 OAXACA 
 
 "Look hard at Popo, children," said Mrs. 
 Stevens; "you won't see him again for ten 
 days." 
 
 The Smoking Mountain and the Sleeping 
 Woman were very white and beautiful against the 
 western sky with the morning sun shining on them, 
 and the children for awhile looked more at them 
 than at the scenery they were passing through. 
 They became finally very much interested in a 
 Mexican family of the better class, father, mother, 
 and four children, who were making a journey to 
 the baths of Tehuacan, in the same car with them- 
 selves. They all seemed in fine spirits, and were 
 very demonstrative, and when, occasionally, the 
 children would go to speak to the father or mother, 
 it was pretty to see them kiss the hand of 
 either parent impulsively and affectionately. The 
 
 265
 
 266 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 younger boy and girl thought of an amusement 
 which Roy and Ray afterward tried with great 
 success. Opening two adjoining car-windows, the 
 girl at the forward window held out pieces of 
 paper which the wind caught and blew back, and 
 the boy at the other window tried to catch them 
 as they flew by. It was quite exciting until he 
 grew so expert that he caught nearly every piece, 
 when he ceased to be interested and the game was 
 given up. 
 
 The children felt quite sorry to see the family 
 get out at Tehuacan, and responded regretfully to 
 the smiling good-bye salutations of their Mexican 
 fellow-travellers. But they consoled themselves 
 with some good ham sandwiches which "Charlie" 
 had put up for them, and began to pay more atten- 
 tion to the country they were passing through. It 
 was very beautiful, especially when they entered 
 the canons, with the river running alongside of 
 them and the mountains towering over their 
 heads ; and the sides of the mountains were dotted 
 everywhere with the curious organ-cactus which 
 grew here to be a great tree. Then after they 
 began to descend to more tropical levels they
 
 OAXACA 267 
 
 passed queer thatched huts in which the natives 
 lived, shaded by banana trees, and villages where 
 the people and animals seemed all to live on an 
 equality and everybody was out of doors. Though 
 this was the only train from the north in twenty- 
 four hours, the villagers did not seem to take 
 much interest in it, and only those who had things 
 to sell came to greet it. 
 
 Once, as they ran close along the rocky sides of 
 the canon, the twins, who were standing on the 
 rear platform, saw something they could hardly 
 believe to be true. They came running into the 
 car, each wanting to be first with the story, but 
 as Roy had been first to see, Ray decided he ought 
 to be allowed to make the report. 
 
 "Father! mother!" he cried; "we saw people 
 living in a cave ! ' ' 
 
 "Really?" asked Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, really, a man and a woman, and a young 
 lady, and a little girl. The rock was hollowed out 
 and made a roof and a floor and it was about 
 eight or ten feet below the tracks and we could 
 look right in." 
 
 "Perhaps they were just stopping there to eat
 
 268 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 and were going somewhere along the railroad,'' 
 suggested Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "No, I'm sure they were living there," said 
 Ray. 
 
 "We'll watch for them, coming back," said 
 Roy. 
 
 "If you find them still there several days from 
 now, we must certainly believe they live there," 
 said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 And I may as well say now that the children 
 did see them on their return, and observed their 
 furniture, which consisted of grass sleeping-mats, 
 some jars and bowls on a ledge, the usual little 
 charcoal stove of red clay, and some baskets. 
 They looked clean and contented, and the children 
 were fascinated with this easy way of housekeep- 
 ing and delighted to think they could say they had 
 seen real cave-dwellers. 
 
 "What do they do when it rains, father?" asked 
 Ray. 
 
 "If it does not rain toward the cave-opening, 
 they are safe," said Mr. Stevens, "and if it does, 
 I suppose they can hang up some of their mats to 
 shut out the worst of it. Such a cave as this has
 
 OAXACA 269 
 
 an advantage over the caves of northern Mexico, 
 for most of those are dark and this one is light 
 and well-ventilated." 
 
 "I wonder if they would like to live as we do," 
 said Roy. 
 
 "I imagine they would find it much harder than 
 we should to live as they do," said his father. 
 
 "It must be a cool, shady place to live in when 
 it's hot," said Ray; "just like our cellar!" 
 
 The lowest point on the line was Quiotepec 
 (Kee-o'-te-pec), less than two thousand feet above 
 sea-level, and for a time the road ran through a 
 tropical district until they reached Tomellin (To- 
 may'-in), the dinner station. The children were 
 hungry, but could hardly get past the fruit-sellers, 
 a group of women seated on the station platform, 
 each with her basket of oranges, bananas, limes, 
 aguacates, and other fruit. The fruit looked 
 delicious and seemed to them very cheap, but their 
 father and mother said it would be still cheaper 
 just before the train started, so Roy and Ray 
 passed them reluctantly and went in to dinner. 
 It was a very good dinner, indeed, cooked and 
 served by Chinamen, and the children did full
 
 270 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 justice to it. It seemed strange to have American 
 pie and cake away down there, but their father 
 reminded them that the road was under English 
 management and that most of the first-class travel 
 was American and English. When it was over, 
 the twins felt very little need of fruit, though they 
 bought some because it looked so pretty in the big 
 bowls and baskets the women carried. 
 
 The scenerv as the road ascended from this 
 point was very grand, and when they reached 
 Las Sedas, the highest point of the line, the 
 children could not help being impressed with the 
 magnificent view, where one range of mountains 
 stood out beyond another, as far as the eye could 
 reach, "just like big waves," Roy said. It was 
 dusk when the train at last reached Oaxaca, the 
 end of the route for the time being, though one of 
 these days the road may be completed all the way 
 to Central and even South America. 
 
 They could not see much of Oaxaca at that time 
 of night, but they were so tired that this did not 
 make much difference. They sat down at a small 
 table in the patio of the hotel, which was roofed 
 over and used as a dining-room — and the children
 
 OAXACA 271 
 
 could hardly keep their eyes open long enough to 
 eat their soup. They were glad enough to be put 
 to bed in their little ground-floor rooms, to which 
 a pleasant Mexican maid conducted them through 
 several patios filled with flowering plants, and to 
 fall asleep to the sound of musically falling water 
 from the fountain in the nearest patio. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Stevens, having seen the children safely in 
 bed, strolled out to the Plaza to hear the band 
 play and see the natives having their weekly 
 promenade. 
 
 In the morning the children awoke quite ready 
 for anything, and the first thing the family did 
 after breakfast was to take their usual walk about 
 the streets, to look at the churches, the markets, 
 and the people in the squares. 
 
 The town seemed different in some ways from 
 the others they had seen, though the houses looked 
 very much the same. Probably, the difference 
 was in the people, who were not so handsome and 
 did not seem so good-natured as those at Cuer- 
 navaca. Ray turned to her mother with a shiver 
 and a look of disgust as she pointed to a youth 
 cleaning the streets with his hands, sweeping up
 
 272 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the dirt with his fingers into his braided straw 
 mat. 
 
 "Yes," said her mother, "that seems the most 
 hopeless thing about these people — they do not 
 seem to know cleanly ways of doing things, even 
 when they mean to be clean." 
 
 The market, as usual, was the most interesting 
 place. Ray was so delighted with a parrot that 
 imitated a bad cough that she wanted to buy it, 
 but Mrs. Stevens very wisely refused. A cough- 
 ing parrot might be quite amusing for a short 
 time but would soon be a most annoying com- 
 panion. It seemed as if there were everything 
 imaginable in this market, but the sensation of 
 the day met them as they came out into the 
 street. 
 
 "Just look at that!" exclaimed Roy, as he 
 caught Ray's arm and turned her around, and 
 Ray was equally excited. Indeed, the whole 
 family stood and stared; for they saw a young 
 man carrying a round bushel basket on his back 
 and in the basket sat a wrinkled, skinny, withered 
 old woman, with her head and arms visible, the 
 latter held out to beg for alms,
 
 OAXACA 273 
 
 ''Well, that beats the Dutch!" exclaimed Mr. 
 Stevens. "That is a new way of begging." 
 
 "Wouldn't you think it would be easier to leave 
 her at home and work for a living than to carry 
 that load about all day long?" said Roy. 
 
 "There must be something the matter with her 
 limbs," said Mrs. Stevens, "or she never could 
 be got into that basket." 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Stevens, doubt- 
 fully. "If she is as shrivelled up all over as her 
 arms and shoulders are, she might go in very com- 
 fortably, though I suppose she is crippled in 
 some way." 
 
 "Do you suppose it is his mother?" asked Ray, 
 in an awestruck tone. 
 
 "More like his grandmother, or even his great- 
 grandmother," said Roy; "she looks as old as the 
 hills." 
 
 "Would you do that for mother, Roy?" asked 
 Ray, with her eyes fixed pityingly on the old 
 woman, to whom Mrs. Stevens had given a few 
 centavos. 
 
 "No, I wouldn't,'" said Roy, stoutly, "unless" — 
 he hesitated — "unless there wasn't any other way
 
 274 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 in the world to take care of her. I'd work till I 
 dropped, before I 'd do it. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, my dear, I hope you would," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, "for even if you were willing I shouldn't 
 be, if I were ever so helpless. Besides, / might be 
 the one to drop." 
 
 "We can't say he does it because he is lazy," 
 said Mr. Stevens, much puzzled, "because this 
 must be much harder than working. ' ' 
 
 "Perhaps his grandmother likes to see things 
 and this is the only way she can," suggested Ray, 
 at which idea they all had to laugh. In the mean- 
 time, the two beggars had passed on, no one ex- 
 cept the Stevenses having paid any attention to 
 them, so that they must have been a common 
 sight- 
 There was a very magnificent church in Oaxaca 
 which the family wished to visit, but by mistake 
 they got to a little chapel of the same name. The 
 first sight that greeted them as they entered the 
 bare, whitewashed little place, was a painted, 
 wooden image of Jesus seated near the door, 
 wearing the crown of thorns, with drops of blood 
 painted on His face, the upper part of the body
 
 OAXACA 275 
 
 wearing a cape of cloth, while the lower was 
 dressed in a pair of coarse white cotton drawers, 
 with a drawstring at the waist and knees, and an 
 edging of ruffles and lace. "Poor things!" mur- 
 mured Mrs. Stevens, "they did the best they 
 could," while the children did not know whether 
 to laugh or be shocked at this queer treatment of 
 a sacred image. 
 
 The real church of Santo Domingo was not far 
 away, and when they entered it they were not 
 surprised to hear that thirteen million dollars had 
 been spent on it. The roof and walls of the im- 
 mense building were covered with figures carved 
 in relief, full-length portraits of saints and mar- 
 tyrs, rich tracery with fruits and flowers inter- 
 mingled, and all in colours and gilt. At one time 
 the figures of the saints had been literally covered 
 with gold leaf, but the soldiers quartered near by 
 in war times had carried off much of this. The 
 church was not really beautiful, but it was 
 gorgeous, and the most expensive church building 
 in the New World. 
 
 "I suppose Oaxaca has got some history, too," 
 said Roy.
 
 276 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Mr. Stevens, "Cortez sent 
 bis men down here the very year of the Conquest, 
 1521, and having a fine report of all this country 
 got the King of Spain to give him a grant of a 
 large estate, containing twenty or more towns and 
 villages and more than twenty thousand people 
 who became subject to him. Oaxaca was one of 
 the towns, and Cortez took the title of Marquis of 
 Oaxaca, after which he was generally called 'the 
 Marquis.' " 
 
 1 ' My ! wasn 't he a thief ! ' ' exclaimed Roy. 
 
 "It is interesting to know that his men came 
 down here pretty nearly by the same road we took 
 in coming down by rail," said Mr. Stevens. "It 
 was an old town when they found it, dating 
 back at least to 1485, and probably much 
 earlier." 
 
 "Has it any modern history?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, President Juarez was born here in 1806 
 and President Diaz in 1830. The city has been 
 called 'A dwelling place of heroes in the garden 
 of the gods,' referring to its great men and its 
 beautiful surroundings. All through the war for 
 independence, Oaxaca was the scene of fighting
 
 OAXACA 277 
 
 and was first taken for the patriots by General 
 Morelos." 
 
 "The same we heard of in Cuernavaea?" 
 
 "Yes, the same. Later, it fell into the hands of 
 the royalists and again of the patriots, and so on 
 until the war ended and independence was won. 
 In the war against Santa Anna, Diaz defended 
 Oaxaca twice against the usurper, and when, 
 during the war against the French, Bazaine be- 
 sieged the town, Diaz held it until he was taken 
 prisoner. Only a year later, he came back and 
 recaptured it." 
 
 "He lived here awhile, didn't he?" asked Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, this is where the Mexicans gave him the 
 estate called La Noria, and where he spent the 
 first two years of his married life." 
 
 "I just love to know I've been where he has 
 lived!" exclaimed Ray, enthusiastically. 
 
 "You are a little hero-worshipper," said her 
 mother, smiling.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 
 
 A delightful surprise awaited the children 
 next morning at breakfast. They came into the 
 dining-room or dining-court, as they thought it 
 ought to be called, and saw Mr. Clarke and Harry 
 seated at one of the tables. 
 
 "Why," exclaimed every one, "we didn't know 
 you were here ! ' ' 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Clarke, "Harry and I came 
 down day before yesterday, I on business and he 
 for company. The business is over, and as we 
 have both seen Oaxaca, we were just trying to 
 decide what we should do to-day." 
 
 "Why not go to Mitla with us?" asked all the 
 Stevenses at once. 
 
 "That is an idea," said Mr. Clarke; "I went 
 there once, years ago, but Harry has never seen 
 the ruins. How shall we arrange it? One coach 
 will not hold us all." 
 
 278
 
 o 
 
 v.
 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 279 
 
 "You and Mr. Stevens take one team, father, 
 and let me go with the others. And you can come 
 behind us so as to see that nothing happens to 
 us," suggested Harry. The children began to 
 dance about joyfully, when they found this plan 
 was to be carried out, and it was arranged that 
 they should start at half-past nine. 
 
 "Is there really any danger?" asked Mrs. 
 SI evens, a little frightened at the thought of 
 driving the long distance without a man in the 
 carriage and with the three children to take 
 care of. 
 
 "Not the least, if you have a good driver," 
 replied Mr. Clarke. "My sister went to Mitla 
 quite alone from Oaxaca, when she was here. It 
 so happened that none of us could go with her at 
 the time, her stay was limited, and she was deter- 
 mined to see the ruins. I felt rather anxious 
 about it, but I wrote the landlord here asking him 
 to pick out a driver who was a good man as well 
 as a good coachman, and he took pains to do so. 
 She said afterward she had not a moment's anxi- 
 ety and enjoyed it all immensely. She spoke very 
 little Spanish, and my chief fear was that she
 
 280 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 might fall ill or that there might be some accident 
 and she might not be able to communicate with 
 the people about her. Fortunately, nothing hap- 
 pened, and she has always been glad of the 
 experience." 
 
 "I think she was pretty brave," said Ray. 
 
 "One must usually risk a little for the best 
 things," said Mr. Clarke, smiling at her. "But 
 you needn't be at all afraid to-day, little maid, 
 for we shall drive along close behind you." 
 
 The two teams drew up to the door promptly at 
 half-past nine, and the outfit amused the children 
 very much. The carriages were furnished with 
 very few springs, the wheels were very far apart, 
 the curtains and seats very dilapidated, and the 
 drivers much in need of being "scrubbed on the 
 stones" as Harry said. The pole-animals were 
 mules and the leaders three rather thin and 
 shabby horses. The driver was furnished with 
 an exceedingly long whip which he coiled and 
 flung far out to touch the near leader, with such 
 recklessness that it was dangerous to be any- 
 where about. Indeed, the Indians they met had 
 frequently to take to the bushes to save their
 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 281 
 
 heads and shoulders, and some of them evidently 
 did not like it very much, judging from their 
 scowls. The word was finally given to the drivers 
 to start, the drivers gave the word to the steeds, 
 and away they went, rattling over the cobble- 
 stones of Oaxaca, bum] ting over the culverts in the 
 middle of the narrow streets and trenching upon 
 the narrow sidewalks, until Roy maintained that 
 nil his teeth were loose and the three children 
 stopped talking for fear they should bite their 
 tongues. 
 
 "Is it this way all the way, I wonder," said 
 Mrs. Stevens, in despair. 
 
 "Oh, no, mother, don't you remember," said 
 Ray, "that the guide-book said once we were out 
 of Oaxaca it was a good road?" 
 
 "So it did," said her mother, "and we'll live 
 in hope." 
 
 The guide-book proved to be right for the most 
 part, though there were many places where the 
 rains had washed off the dirt and left the rocks 
 exposed, making jolting-places where Ray par- 
 ticularly, being light in weight, Mew right off the 
 seat and up into the air. They all took these very
 
 282 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 good-naturedly, and Harry's suggestion that per- 
 haps she might fly up high enough to come down 
 in the other carriage was received with shouts of 
 laughter. 
 
 They met a constant stream of Indians coming 
 to Oaxaca to market, and noticed what they had 
 already observed on the railway journey south, 
 that the beast of burden here was the ox rather 
 than the donkey, though the donkey was still 
 used. The oxen were hitched to the carts and 
 to the plow, and the donkeys carried people 
 and the smaller burdens. 
 
 " Aren't these oxen splendid creatures!" ex- 
 claimed Harry. 
 
 "Not quite so fine as the Roman ones," said 
 Mrs. Stevens, "many of which are pure white, but 
 these certainly are massive. The carts are very 
 interesting, too." 
 
 "Some of them are different from the others," 
 said Ray; "they all have poles standing up 
 around them, but some have netting stretched 
 from one pole to another." 
 
 "That's to carry things that would fall out in 
 the spaces between the poles," said Roy, "like
 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 283 
 
 charcoal and vegetables. The grass and hay and 
 things like that don't need the netting. What 
 funny wheels they have!" 
 
 "Yes, perfectly solid like car-wheels, only made 
 of wood," said Harry. "Have you noticed how 
 low the oxen are geared! The oxbow holds their 
 noses almost to the ground." 
 
 "They must be glad to get it off and stretch 
 their necks," said Ray. "I saw one man in 
 Oaxaca unhitch his oxen from the cart, when he 
 stopped to deliver a load of charcoal." 
 
 "And his wife and baby were sitting right in 
 with the charcoal," said her mother. 
 
 "Yes, and when they got out and he tipped the 
 cart up at one end the baby crawled in under the 
 other and began picking up little bits of coal, and 
 the black dust just sifted through the bottom of 
 the car all over him," added Roy. 
 
 "I wonder if they eat charcoal as well as cook 
 with it," said Ray. "They must do something to 
 make their teeth so white." 
 
 "It seems to me these oxen are very smart," 
 said Roy; "the man isn't driving at all, and they 
 go along just the same, and if he wants them to
 
 284 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 turn out he just pokes the near ox with his stick 
 and they understand. He seems to drive with his 
 stick entirely, for I haven't seen any reins. And 
 all the harness they have is just the oxbow." 
 
 ' ' The people seem to think we are very funny, ' : 
 said Ray; "they often smile as if they were 
 amused at us." 
 
 "Perhaps it is because your hat is on one side," 
 said her mother, straightening the hat. 
 
 "I should think it would be hind-side-before, 
 from the number of times I have gone up and 
 come down," said Ray, laughing, "but I think 
 it is just because we all look different from 
 them. ' ' 
 
 "Well, we're even there," said Roy, "for we 
 often smile at them." 
 
 "I'm going to see if they'll speak to me," said 
 Ray; "may I, mother?" 
 
 "Yes, if you'll pick out a party with children in 
 it," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 Ray was delighted to find that her smile and nod 
 were returned by the mothers if not by the 
 children, and soon the whole party were saluting 
 and being saluted as they drove along. It made
 
 THE IIOAI) TO MITLA 285 
 
 the drive much more cheerful and "less lone- 
 some," Kay said. 
 
 When the morning was about half over, the 
 driver stopped, looked back at the other driver 
 and made signs. Driver number two communi- 
 cated with his passengers and nodded yes, and 
 driver number one promptly turned into a road 
 at the right that ran into a grove of trees and a 
 village. 
 
 "Why, where are we going?" asked Roy. 
 
 "This must be the way to the great tree of Tule 
 (Tu'-lay)," said his mother, "and apparently 
 most of the villagers are going with us." 
 
 There was certainly quite a following of people, 
 and as there was recess at the village school at 
 this moment most of the crowd were small boys. 
 They immediately noticed Mrs. Stevens' camera, 
 and all flocked about the carriage suggesting that 
 she take, their photographs. One of them, a boy 
 of eleven, seemed to be the leader and the most 
 persistent. "But," said Mrs. Stevens, in fun, 
 "why should I take your picture? You are not 
 good-looking." 
 
 "Yes," said the boy, quite seriously, "yes, T am
 
 286 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 good-looking," and he really was very handsome, 
 so that she would have been tempted to take him 
 if she could have separated him from the crowd, 
 which seemed impossible. The carriage stopped 
 at the gate of the village churchyard, and the 
 children were soon inside the enclosure, so im- 
 pressed with the size of the great tree that at first 
 they could only walk around and around it with- 
 out saying a word. Six feet from the ground, it 
 measured one hundred and fifty-four feet around, 
 and twenty-eight people standing with their backs 
 against it and their arms outstretched, touching 
 hands, could just encircle it. 
 
 "I wonder how old it is," said Roy; "it must 
 have been here long before the Spaniards." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Harry, "as old as the ruined 
 temples, I imagine, and no one knows when they 
 were built." 
 
 "What kind of a tree is it?" asked Ray. 
 
 "An ahuehuetl, the same as the tree of La 
 Noche Triste, don't you see?" said Roy. 
 
 "Yes, so it is, a kind of cypress." 
 
 "What's this, mother, here on the side?" called 
 Roy.
 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 287 
 
 "Oh, I was looking for that," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 "That's where Humboldt, the great German 
 traveller, wrote an inscription on the bark. It is 
 almost covered with new bark. He was here in 
 1803, I believe." 
 
 "Well, then we can get some idea of its age," 
 said Harry, "for that was over a hundred years 
 ago, and this two inches of bark shows the growth 
 of that period." 
 
 "Then it must date back to the Flood," said 
 Roy, joking. 
 
 The other carriage had come by this time, and 
 after a further examination of the tree the two 
 parties resumed their drive and were soon at 
 Tlacolula, a little blue and white village with a 
 pretty plaza where they were to take luncheon. 
 They entered the small hotel through a sort of 
 general store, and found themselves in a long, 
 narrow patio with a tiled gallery and the usual 
 flowering vines and central cypress. The sun 
 shone into one side of it while the other was in 
 shade, and in the shade tables covered with clean, 
 white cloths were awaiting any travellers that 
 might come along. To say that the children did
 
 288 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 justice to the soup and beefsteak, the brioches and 
 chocolate, is unnecessary, for the long drive in 
 the open air and the "shaking down" it had given 
 to what they had already eaten had left a great 
 void to be filled. The drivers were not forgotten, 
 and though they had carried dry bread with them 
 for their mid-day meal in case their employers 
 should not see fit to remember them at noon, they 
 were much better pleased to have the hot enchi- 
 ladas that Mr. Clarke ordered sent out to them, 
 and were still wiping the crumbs from their 
 moustaches when the party again got into the 
 carriages. 
 
 After that the journey was on a down grade 
 most of the time and they reached Mitla early in 
 the afternoon, before the daily dust-storm had 
 more than begun and while the sun was still 
 shining. They were glad to alight and stretch 
 their limbs, and yet, as they looked back on the 
 beautiful drive across the plain with mountains 
 on either side, with trees and shrubs, vines and 
 flowers bordering the road, with the cactus vil- 
 lages, the pretty, saucy children and barking dogs 
 and glimpses of Indian life, the continual proces-
 
 THE ROAD TO MITLA 289 
 
 sion of country people going and coming, they all 
 agreed that it was the most interesting drive they 
 had ever had, and that they would really be sorry 
 for travellers when the railroad was extended to 
 Mitla as was promised and expected.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 MITLA 
 
 They entered Mitla by crossing a half-dried-up 
 stream, and found themselves in the usual village 
 of adobe huts with cactus hedges around the little, 
 barren yards — one could not call them gardens. 
 At every opening in the hedge stood smiling 
 children, for whom the coming of such travellers 
 was the event of the day, and every family seemed 
 to own a dog whose business it was to bark at 
 teams or strangers. The hacienda of Don Felix 
 Quero (Fay'-lix Kay'-ro), where they were to stop, 
 since there was no hotel in the town, was situated 
 on the Plaza. It was a long, low, whitewashed 
 house with a gallery along the front, facing the 
 market-place — a large, open space with three 
 great cypress-trees and a low, tiled shed in the 
 shape of an L. Don Felix's family was the 
 only white family in the village, and he kept 
 
 290
 
 MITLA 291 
 
 the general store of the place in one corner of his 
 house. 
 
 "It looks just like the little stores in the villages 
 at home," said Kay, as they went in and met Don 
 Felix, a short, kindly little man with grey hair 
 and moustache. After their names were all 
 written in the register, Don Felix led them 
 through the shop into his large and beautiful 
 patio, where it seemed as if there were "every- 
 thing that was in the botany," Harry said, and 
 introduced them to his daughter, a smiling, cor- 
 dial, little sefiorita with a ruffled apron and a 
 bunch of keys as signs of her housekeepership. 
 She opened three of the six rooms at one end of 
 the patio, and Kay and her mother took one, Roy 
 and his father another, and Mr. Clarke and Harry 
 the third. After a few minutes spent in brushing 
 and washing off the dust of their journey, Ray 
 came out into the tiled gallery and found 
 Roy, who was already out and looking about 
 him. 
 
 "We've got such a nice room," said Ray, en- 
 thusiastically; "little canopies over the beds, like 
 tents, and a barred window and a rosebush peep-
 
 292 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ing in at the bars. And mother has a table and a 
 chair and I have a table and a chair, and each one 
 of us has a clothes-rack. And there are two 
 candles and two wash-bowls, everything in 
 couples." 
 
 ' ' You must have been spending your time count- 
 ing things," said Roy. "I've been out here look- 
 ing around the patio. See the birds," and he 
 pointed to a row of cages overhead where mock- 
 ing birds and parroquets were hanging. "There's 
 a big fountain right in the middle," he con- 
 tinued, "you can hardly see it for the vines, but 
 it's there and it's a kind of well, too, for I saw 
 them draw water from it." 
 
 Just then a big front door opened from the 
 Plaza and the horses of their team were brought 
 in by the mozo and watered at the well, and were 
 then led through the patio to a sort of barn-yard 
 beyond. Two white cats came strolling into the 
 gallery and rubbed against the children, and then 
 a big, white setter, with a very benevolent face, 
 came to sniff at them. 
 
 "I'd just love to stay here a week," said Ray, 
 and Roy heartily agreed with her.
 
 MITLA 293 
 
 Presently, the others appeared, and after 
 arranging with the hospitable senorita to have 
 dinner at seven, they departed on foot for the 
 ruins, which were not very far off. A few dogs 
 barked at them, but no one paid any attention and 
 the dogs presently retired; then several small 
 children seemed to spring up from the ground at 
 various places and the party had quite an escort 
 by the time they arrived at the ruins. The twins 
 were delighted to find they had to cross a stream 
 on the stones, and both Roy and Ray were quite 
 anxious lest their mother should not be able to 
 cross, and were full of directions as to how to 
 do it. 
 
 "Here, take my hand, mother!" said Roy. 
 
 ''Don't step on that stone, mother, it's wob- 
 bly," advised Ray. 
 
 "Why, children, you seem to think I 
 am quite a helpless body," laughed Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "It's just because we don't want anything to 
 happen to the only mother we've got," said Raw 
 affectionately. 
 
 "How about the only father you've got?" said
 
 294 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 Mr. Stevens, in an injured tone. "I suppose I 
 might fall into this raging stream and get 
 drowned, for all you would take notice." 
 
 "Raging stream!" exclaimed Ray, "I don't be- 
 lieve it ever raged in its life." 
 
 "Just wait until to-morrow," said Mr. Clarke. 
 "If we should have a good night's rain, it would 
 be impossible for you to get to the ruins to- 
 morrow except by fording. ' ' 
 
 "It hardly seems possible," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 ' ' We must make the most of our time to-day, then, 
 lest this should be our only visit." 
 
 As they climbed the low hill on the farther side 
 of the creek-bed, a man came out of one of the 
 adobe huts carrying some keys and announced 
 himself as the custodian of the ruins and a guide. 
 He tried to shoo the little Indians away, but they 
 were not easily dispersed and always came back 
 again. 
 
 "I wonder if the guide knows any English and 
 can tell us about the ruins," said Mrs. Stevens. 
 Mr. Stevens asked the man if he spoke English, 
 and found he did not, though he could understand 
 the language a little.
 
 MITLA 295 
 
 "I think Mr. Clarke can tell us all that is known, 
 can you not?" asked Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "There is very little known," replied Mr. 
 Clarke. "It is not known whether the buildings 
 were temples or fortresses, and whether they 
 were built by the Toltecs, a race that came before 
 the Aztecs, or by some unknown race. One thing 
 you will notice is that there are no curves or 
 arches in the construction — all the corners and 
 openings are right-angled and square-cornered, 
 and that is a feature of the ruins known to be 
 Toltec. On the other hand, the Toltecs usually 
 built pyramids also, and there are no pyramids 
 here." As he spoke, they came to the first 
 building or court. They found, after they had 
 finished their inspection that there had been four 
 walled courts around an open central court or 
 patio, facing exactly to the four points of the 
 compass. 
 
 The north court was less ruined than the others, 
 and under the southern court was a subterranean 
 passage. Ray hung back a little when the guide 
 lighted a candle and, climbing down into an 
 opening, requested them to follow him; but seeing
 
 296 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 that all the others were going, she made up her 
 mind that she would rather go than be left alone, 
 so she followed the party with some misgivings. 
 Once down in the passage, however, she did not 
 find it so dark as she expected, and several times 
 lingered behind the party to examine the pattern 
 of the decoration on the walls. She wished she 
 had a pencil and paper, just to put down a sug- 
 gestion of the design, for she found no two pat- 
 terns alike and she thought some of them would 
 be lovely to do in braid or in stitching on her 
 doll's clothes. 
 
 "Come on, Ray," called Roy, "we're going to 
 look at the visitors' book." 
 
 The guide kept this in a corner where the 
 passage made a turn, and requested them all to 
 write their names in it. They looked back through 
 the pages and found several quite celebrated 
 names, and among others those of a whole party 
 of Chinese. These had written some comments 
 on the ruins which one of the party translated into 
 English. They said the ruins were very much like 
 certain temples in northern China and in their 
 opinion had been built by the same race of people.
 
 MITLA 297 
 
 "How did they ever get here?" asked Barry, 
 wonderingly. 
 
 "By Beliring's Strait, T suppose," said Mr. 
 Clarke. "Only the other day there were relics 
 found in the State of Washington, which are said 
 to be undoubtedly Aztec, showing thai these early 
 races have at least had communication with the 
 northern coast." 
 
 "What was this, I wonder," said Roy, as they 
 came into a room larger than the others, with 
 great columns nearly seven feet thick extending 
 in a row down the middle. 
 
 "They call it now the 'Hall of Monoliths,'" 
 said Mr. Clarke, "but what the builders intended 
 it for, we don't know. These columns and the 
 great door-caps are of one solid stone, each of the 
 latter twelve to eighteen feet long, four to six feet 
 wide, and three to five feet thick. No one knows 
 how these great stones were lifted to their 
 places." 
 
 "Do you notice," said Mr. Stevens, "that all 
 these stones are fitted together without any cement 
 to hold them.'" 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Stevens, "and many of the
 
 298 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 pieces are very small, and yet they fit together 
 like mosaics. Thev were wonderful builders, 
 those people, whoever they were." 
 
 "Don't you suppose we shall ever find out?" 
 said Roy. "If I began to study hieroglyphics and 
 architecture and history now and kept on for 
 years and years, do you suppose I could make the 
 discovery?" 
 
 "You might not make the discovery, but you 
 would find out a great many other things," said 
 Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "I'd like to find out something nobody ever 
 knew before," said Roy. 
 
 "It might be worth trying, just for the pleasure 
 of the study," said Mr. Clarke. 
 
 "Let's do it together, Harry," said Roy. 
 
 "All right," replied Harry; "I'll be right here 
 on the spot and you'll be where you can get all 
 the books and teachers." 
 
 They were quite absorbed in their plans, when 
 suddenly some one announced that it was raining. 
 
 "Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Stevens, "we have 
 no umbrellas. Can't we wait until the rain is 
 over ? ' '
 
 MITLA 299 
 
 "That might be to-morrow morning," said Mr. 
 Clarke, "but we can wait until some of those 
 children can go and get our umbrellas. Just stay 
 here under shelter until I send for them." 
 
 He went in search of the little Indians, whom 
 the guide had not allowed to come into the under- 
 ground passages, and returned presently very 
 much amused. "That pretty little girl that fol- 
 lowed us has gone for them," he said, "but she 
 wouldn't do it until I promised faithfully to pay 
 her. She wouldn't believe the guide, so I had to 
 assure her that she would not lose anything by the 
 
 service." 
 
 It was some time before the umbrellas came, 
 and in the meantime the boys and Ray wandered 
 about the passages, examining what they could see 
 of the walls. The guide had shown them a little 
 scrap of picture-writing outside on a background 
 of terra-cotta colour, and they thought that by 
 careful looking they might find some more. When 
 the party finally came out from underground, 
 what with climbing up and raising their umbrellas 
 and finding places to step — for the ground was 
 already quite soft and it was raining hard — no-
 
 300 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 body, not even the guide, noticed that the party 
 was not complete. He locked the gateway to the 
 passage and the party had got some yards away, 
 all hurrying, when the little Indian girl came run- 
 ning after them with excited exclamations that 
 none of them understood except the guide. He 
 stopped suddenly, listening to her, turned and 
 gave a quick review of the party who were still 
 marching on, and suddenly set out on a run back 
 to the ruins. At the same moment, Mrs. Stevens 
 turned to her husband, who was behind her, ex- 
 claiming, "Kay! where is Ray?" Everybody 
 stopped short. 
 
 "I was talking and I didn't notice she wasn't 
 with us," said Mr. Stevens, already on his way 
 back. 
 
 "I thought she was behind with you," said 
 Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 Roy said nothing, but ran back after his father 
 and the guide. In a moment, the guide appeared, 
 carrying Ray, whom he set down upon the ground 
 with a comforting pat on the shoulder and a fa- 
 therly smile, for he had little girls of his own, and 
 Mr. Stevens caught her up and gave her a hug.
 
 it 
 
 MITLA 301 
 
 ; How did it happen, child? Were you fright- 
 ened?" 
 
 "Not much," said Ray, bravely, though she was 
 rather pale. "I must have been in one of the 
 other passages when you came out," she ex- 
 plained, "and I was trying to copy something off 
 the wall — see?" showing a design in pencil on a 
 bit of paper she had borrowed from her father, 
 "and suddenly I noticed how still it was, and I 
 went back and you had all gone. At first, I didn't 
 know what to do. It seemed so silly to shout for 
 help when I knew you would soon miss me — and I 
 knew there weren't any wild beasts or snakes in 
 there — so I was just going to wait at the entrance, 
 when I saw the little Indian girl and made signs 
 to her." 
 
 The whole party had come back and were 
 listening to Ray's story, and they all compli- 
 mented her on her self-control. 
 
 "Some little girls would not have stopped to 
 reason at all, but would have begun screaming and 
 crying at the very idea of being left alone," said 
 Mr. Clarke. 
 
 "My sister isn't one of that kind," said Roy,
 
 302 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 proudly, and Ray was more pleased at this than 
 at any other praise, for Roy did not often pay 
 compliments. 
 
 Very soon, the three children were laughing 
 over the incident, and were planning to write a 
 story called "The Prisoner of Mitla," of which 
 Ray was to be the heroine. 
 
 Even in so short a time, they found the tiny 
 stream had risen and that they had to pick their 
 way very carefully to keep from wetting their 
 feet. When they reached one of the huts, the little 
 Indian girl, who had been following them, came up 
 to Mr. Clarke, demanding "Mi paga?" 
 
 "Porque?" he inquired. She pointed to Ray, 
 but had the grace to look a little ashamed as she 
 met his scornful look. 
 
 "What does she want!" asked Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "To be paid for calling our attention to the loss 
 of the little girl," said Mr. Clarke. "Don't give 
 her anything — she ought to be ashamed." 
 
 "Father, let me give her something?" said 
 Ray; "I'd like to do it — not because she called 
 you but because she was so excited and so anxious, 
 you know. She was really sorry for me."
 
 MITLA 303 
 
 So they waited in the rain and Ray got out her 
 little knit purse and offered the Indian girl some 
 money, but just as the child was about to take it 
 some sense of shame overcame her and she turned 
 and ran away. 
 
 "I'll leave it with Don Felix for her," said Ray, 
 quietly, "she'll have to take it if we're all gone." 
 
 "Well, now we must get home as quickly as 
 possible," said Mrs. Stevens, "and get on dry 
 shoes, for I know these must be wet." 
 
 Mr. Stevens paid the guide and engaged him 
 for a little while the next morning, if it did not 
 rain, to show them a few other ruins in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and then they all hurried back to the 
 hacienda, glad to. get under shelter from the rain, 
 which was now almost a pour.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 MITLA CONTINUED 
 
 "It seems, somehow, as if we ought to go to a 
 fire to get dry," said Roy, as they sat in the 
 gallery, waiting for dinner, and watched the rain 
 pouring down into the patio. 
 
 "But we aren't wet," said Ray. 
 
 "No, I know we aren't really, but it seems as if 
 everything were wet when you sit out of doors and 
 see the rain come down like that." 
 
 And truly in the rainy season, a heavy pour or a 
 continuous drizzle of several days does make 
 everything damp all through, so that Roy was 
 partly right. 
 
 "What I miss is a rocking-chair," confessed 
 
 Mrs. Stevens. "It doesn't seem as if one could 
 
 really rest in these stationary chairs. And, so 
 
 far, we have had rocking-chairs at most of our 
 
 hotels, so that I have not got used to doing without 
 
 them," 
 
 304
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 3<>f> 
 
 "Well, we are very fortunate to have so com- 
 fortable a place as this," said Mr. Clarke. "The 
 house is as clean as wax, and you'll see that we 
 shall get a good dinner, not at all Mexican. Don 
 Felix seems to have learned the tastes of his 
 visitors, who are very often Americans and 
 English, and to know just what to give 
 them." 
 
 "They don't have to water these plants at all 
 in the rainy season, do they?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, almost as much. The water dries off or 
 sinks in so quickly. You remember that at 
 Cuernavaca everything was watered twice a 
 day. ' ' 
 
 "Then in the dry season I suppose they begin 
 again as soon as they get around once, and just 
 keep at it all the time," said Harry. 
 
 "Might as well be a mill-wheel," said Roy. 
 
 And very soon the two boys were telling each 
 other how they would do things if they lived in 
 Mexico and had the power. Ray began to yawn — 
 she didn't care about the conversation and she 
 thought it a long time until dinner. 
 
 "Don't you want to see the kitchen, Ray?"
 
 306 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 asked Mr. Clarke. "I think they'll let us look in, 
 and perhaps you haven't seen one of the Mexican 
 ranges." 
 
 "Oh, yes!" answered Ray; "I always meant to 
 go at Cuernavaca, but I always forgot." 
 
 Just then the mozo came by and Mr. Clarke 
 asked if there would be any objection to their see- 
 ing the kitchen. The mozo went to inquire and 
 reported that they would be welcome, so the two 
 followed him through a passage into a smaller 
 patio surrounded by out-buildings where charcoal 
 and other things were kept. 
 
 Along one side of the second patio ran a gallery 
 with the usual tiled floor, and out of this opened 
 the kitchen. "My, what a big room!" exclaimed 
 Ray, as she peeped in. 
 
 "Pasa! (Enter!)," said a stout, little woman 
 who, they afterward found, was Sehora Quero, and 
 who was superintending the dinner. All around 
 the walls hung utensils of copper, and on the floor 
 stood jars and bowls of red pottery and baskets of 
 various sizes. In the centre of the room, extend- 
 ing out from one of the walls, was a clay construc- 
 tion that proved to be the range.
 
 A Mexican Kitchen Range
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 307 
 
 "Is that the kitchen-stove?" asked Ray, sur- 
 prised. 
 
 "That is the usual Mexican stove," replied Mr. 
 Clarke. "Those holes you see all along the side 
 are to give draught to the coals and also to allow 
 the ashes to be taken out; and each of those pots 
 you see on top stands on a grating covered with 
 hot coals." 
 
 "It seems like our ranges in everything that 
 you have to have," said Ray, "though it looks so 
 different." 
 
 "Yes, the principles of fire-making are pretty 
 much the same everywhere," said Mr. Clarke. 
 "Judging from my sense of smell, this fire is 
 doing some very good cooking." 
 
 "It makes me hungry," said Ray, sniffing the 
 pleasant odour, at which the cook and the senora 
 both smiled, while the little girl who helped in the 
 kitchen and whose eves had never left Rav for a 
 moment, laughed heartily, showing all her pretty, 
 white teeth. 
 
 Mr. Clarke thanked the senora and said it was 
 evident there was a good dinner coming, and they 
 found their way back to the others. At last, after
 
 308 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the patio had been lighted by two lamps with re- 
 flectors, it was announced that dinner was served, 
 and the party all filed into the comedor (co-may- 
 dor'), or dining-room. This had a bare floor and 
 nothing on the whitewashed walls, and with the 
 table draped in spotless white and the mozo who 
 waited all in white, it seemed fitting that the soup 
 should be white, too. 
 
 "What makes it so good?" asked Roy. 
 
 "I think it must have cheese in it," said Mr. 
 Clarke. "The Mexicans make delicious cheeses, 
 and they use them to flavour nearly every- 
 thing." 
 
 "Yes, it does taste like cheese," said Mrs. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "I could enjoy my soup more, if I weren't so 
 anxious for my next course," confessed Harry, 
 and they all admitted that they felt equally 
 hungry, not to say greedy. The next course 
 proved to be a beautifully poached egg apiece 
 with rice cooked to perfection, every grain stand- 
 ing by itself. Then came a good beefsteak with 
 thinly sliced fried potatoes and a small dish of 
 stewed fruit. After that, to the children's great
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 309 
 
 joy and surprise, delicious little griddle-cakes 
 with fresh, strained honey. Then fruit, and 
 finally coffee and little sweet cakes. 
 
 "A dinner fit for a king, for everything was 
 cooked exactly right," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Stevens. "I hope, 
 Mr. Clarke, you will send our compliments to the 
 cook, and tell her we haven't had as good a meal 
 at any hotel in Mexico." 
 
 "I'm wondering what we are going to do next," 
 said Harry, as they rose from the table. 
 
 "I brought a game along," said Ray. 
 
 "And I brought a book," said Roy. 
 
 "We men have our cigars to dispose of, while 
 we talk business," said Mr. Clarke. 
 
 "And I am going to write letters," announced 
 Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, but where are we going to get the light 
 for all this?" asked Harry. "There are only 
 candles in our rooms." 
 
 " Oh, I don 't think we can go to our rooms now, ' ' 
 said Mrs. Stevens; "that would be too unsocial. 
 We'll ask the senorita to give us lamps on these 
 two tables here in the gallery. It's not so damp
 
 310 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 but that we can sit here if we wrap up a 
 little." 
 
 So it was arranged. Mrs. Stevens was soon 
 writing her letters under the light of a kerosene 
 lamp, at one table, while the boys played their 
 game at the other, and the two men sat in a corner 
 and talked, not needing a light. Ray was tired 
 and lay on a long seat by her mother's table, 
 wrapped in a shawl, feeling very warm and com- 
 fortable, listening partly to the voices of the 
 others and partly to the splash, splash of the rain 
 as it fell on the leaves of the plants or ran 
 gurgling down the outlets provided at the corners 
 and centre of the patio. She wished they had a 
 piazza and a garden like these at home. When 
 the others were ready to go to bed, they found 
 her already fast asleep, soothed by the steady 
 music of the rain. 
 
 In the morning, they waked to find the rain 
 over, though the sky was still grey. The roses, 
 washed clean and fresh, were peeping in at the 
 barred windows from the flower-garden behind 
 the house, and all the party had slept so quietly 
 and soundly after their drive that they came out
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 311 
 
 of their rooms quite ready for another day's 
 trip. 
 
 "We are going to have breakfast right here in 
 the gallery," exclaimed Ray, and the children all 
 rejoiced, for they loved to eat out of doors — it 
 was so like a picnic. 
 
 "I don't see why we don't eat out of doors 
 more," said Mrs. Stevens. "I think we must do 
 it oftener when we get back home." 
 
 "Our side porch is just right," said Ray, "and 
 Katy can pass things to us out of the kitchen- 
 window. Won 't that be fun ! ' ' 
 
 As they sat down at the round table, the party 
 all exclaimed with pleasure at the tiny buttonhole 
 bouquet the mozo had put at each plate, with a 
 pin for fastening it. 
 
 "He certainly does things very prettily. Who 
 would expect it in this far corner of the world .' ' ' 
 said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "I think we shall even enjoy our breakfast more 
 for this little attention," said Mrs. Stevens, and 
 they all bowed and smiled as the mozo came for- 
 ward to serve them. Again they had the little 
 griddle-cakes with honey, and the children were
 
 312 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 helped a second time and were so enthusiastic 
 over them that Mr. Stevens said he felt sure that 
 when Mitla was mentioned thereafter the chil- 
 dren's first thought would be of griddle-cakes 
 instead of ruins. 
 
 "Well, / think griddle-cakes are pleasanter to 
 think of than ruins," said Ray. 
 
 ' ' You 'd rather be shut up in a griddle-cake than 
 in a ruin, anyway, wouldn't you, Ray?" suggested 
 Roy. 
 
 "Yes, I could eat my way out," laughed 
 Ray. 
 
 "That makes me think of a story," said Mr. 
 Clarke. "A young minister who had once 
 preached in the backwoods told me the only time 
 he ever lost control of himself and actually 
 laughed in the pulpit was in one of these back- 
 woods churches. All the women had brought their 
 children, even their babies, having no one to leave 
 them with, and they had brought various eatables 
 to keep the children busy and contented. One 
 woman had carried some cold griddle-cakes, large 
 ones. The minister rose to begin his sermon and 
 was at first astonished and then very much
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 313 
 
 amused to see her little boy lying on his back in 
 the middle aisle, with a cake spread over his face. 
 He had bitten out holes for his eyes and mouth, 
 and was sticking his tongue out through the latter 
 opening. Nobody was paying any attention to 
 him and no one seemed to see anything funny in 
 it except the poor, young minister, who had to 
 control himself as best he could." 
 
 "I can just see that kid," said Harry, laughing. 
 
 "We must try it when we get home," said Roy. 
 "These cakes are too little." 
 
 "Where are we going this morning, father?" 
 asked Ray. 
 
 "Over to see the sepulchre," said Mr. Stevens. 
 "We are to start back at ten, and we shall just 
 have time to do it." 
 
 "I'd like to see the ruins by morning light," 
 said Harry, who had not forgotten the plan for 
 making the great discovery. 
 
 "Then you'll have to swim or ford the river, my 
 boy," said his father. "That rain last night was 
 enough to make a good-sized stream of our 
 little creek. You'd better be content with the 
 sepulchre."
 
 314 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 The party started at once after breakfast to 
 find the excavation, which was discovered in 1894 
 and which the Indians had used as a corn-bin. It 
 proved to be not very large, only about eight by 
 six feet, and below the level of the rest of the 
 ground. What it had been originally no one 
 knows, but because little images, probably of gods, 
 had been found there, it was supposed to have 
 been a place of burial. 
 
 "This whole valley is full of ruins, less perfect 
 however than those we have seen," said Mr. 
 Clarke. "There are other temples — if temples 
 they were — and pyramids, and the modern church 
 over there which is now being repaired and ex- 
 tended stands on the site of one of the old temples 
 and is built in part of the temple material. In the 
 building at the back is some of that terra-cotta 
 coloured background that we found in the ruins 
 yesterday." 
 
 Just here, some Indian children came up, 
 offering for sale little relics found in the sepul- 
 chre, clay heads of idols, more or less distinct in 
 form. Among them was the little messenger 
 of the day before, and Ray saw her opportunity.
 
 MITLA C'ONTINUKI) 315 
 
 * ' I '11 buy a relic of her, shan't I, mother?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, if you wish." 
 
 ''You can't carry it out of Mexico," warned 
 Harry; "the law doesn't allow it." 
 
 Ray hesitated, then said suddenly, "Well, I 
 can do something else with it," and she pressed 
 some money into the little girl's hand, smiling as 
 she did so, and took the funny little clay head in 
 return. That night, Mr. Clarke, at his hotel, felt 
 something in his coat-pocket when he made ready 
 for bed, and, investigating, found Kay's idol. So 
 that it did not go out of Mexico. 
 
 The morning excursion was soon over, and while 
 the horses and mules were being harnessed under 
 the big ahuehuetl in front of the hacienda, the 
 elders of the party talked with Don Felix and the 
 senora. When the latter found that the Stevenses 
 had come from New York, she asked if that was not 
 in the United States, and on hearing that it was, 
 suggested to her husband that they might know 
 "Juanita (Wa-nee'-ta) in California." The senor 
 thought it might be worth while to ask, and was 
 disappointed to find that none of the family had
 
 316 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ever been to California and that it was a long, 
 long way from New York. The boys were a little 
 disposed to laugh at this simplicity, but the elders 
 thought it quite charming. 
 
 "But you wouldn't like me not to know 
 any more than that," said Roy to his 
 mother. 
 
 "About the United States, no; for that is your 
 own country. But I should hardly expect you to 
 know the distance from El Paso to Campeche 
 (Cam-pay'-chay), or from Tehuantepec (Tay- 
 huan'-te-pec) to Manzanillo (Man-za-nee'-yo) — do 
 you?" 
 
 "No," confessed Roy; "they may be next door 
 to each other, for all I know." 
 
 "I daresay Don Felix knows," said Mrs. 
 Stevens quietly, and Roy saw the point. 
 
 The departure was at last made, with hand- 
 shaking and compliments and cordial smiles all 
 around, even the children venturing to say " Adios 
 (Ah-dee-os': Good-bye)." Then with much whip- 
 cracking and much shouting of "Andele! (An- 
 day-lay ) ' ' to the mules, the journey back to Oaxaca 
 began, the pleasanter for the heavy rain which
 
 X 
 
 3 
 
 7, 
 
 O 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 M
 
 MITLA CONTINUED 317 
 
 had laid the dust and softened the roads, except 
 where it had washed all the soil off the rocks. 
 These the children called bumping-places, and 
 Ray as before began to "rise in the world." It 
 was nearly four in the afternoon when they again 
 found themselves in Oaxaca, quite ready for a 
 bath and a nap.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 
 
 The whole party travelled north together as far 
 as Tehuacan, Mr. Clarke going on alone from 
 there while Harry, mueh to the children's delight, 
 was allowed to stay with the Stevenses and go on 
 with them to Orizaba. 
 
 To do this, they were obliged to stay in Tehua- 
 can over night, and went out to' the new hotel 
 which was becoming famous for its baths. As 
 they had to get back to the town in time for the 
 train at half-past seven the next morning, they 
 had only time to see that the town was pretty and 
 looked flourishing. It had no especial history, but 
 they learned that the mineral waters there had 
 been known by the Indians for many years and 
 had been used by them to cure various diseases 
 long before the white men had found them. 
 
 In the morning, after a hasty breakfast and a 
 
 318
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 319 
 
 chilly ride in an open tram to the town, they 
 took their seats in the first-class compartment of 
 the tram going to Esperanza, where they were to 
 connect with the train for Orizaba. There were 
 three cars going in a group, two good-sized trams 
 with first- and second-class compartments, ar- 
 ranged very much like the cars on European 
 trains, with the doors at the sides and the two 
 seats facing each other, but without a sign of 
 upholstery, not even a cushion. Then there was 
 a little car for third-class passengers, which ran 
 behind the others, keeping close to them for safety. 
 
 "These seats are pretty hard for a four-hour 
 ride," said Mrs. Stevens. "It's fortunate that I 
 have my big shawl where we can get at it easily, 
 for we can use that for a cushion." 
 
 "There's our rural!" exclaimed Harry; "the 
 man in the grey uniform with the cartridge-belt 
 and the holsters; he will ride with us and there's 
 another one for the car ahead of us." 
 
 "Do you suppose anything will happen to us?" 
 asked Ray, a little frightened. 
 
 1 ' No, indeed ; but you see this road runs through 
 a rather uninhabited country, and many people
 
 320 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 would not use the tram-line unless it were made to 
 look safe. The second-class compartment is full 
 and there are several women and girls without 
 any man to look after them," replied Harry. 
 
 As he spoke, the door opened and a Mexican 
 gentleman of middle age got in, with a general 
 "Buenos diets (Bway'-nos dee'.-as : Good-day)." 
 He was dressed in white duck, with a fine silk 
 handkerchief around his neck and a handsome 
 diamond ring on his finger. His hair was very 
 grey, and he had a nice, friendly face with a pair 
 of twinkling eyes that had plenty of fun in them. 
 His son, a young fellow of twenty, had come to 
 see him off for Vera Cruz, and to help him carry 
 his packages. These consisted of several Mexican 
 baskets of different shapes, full of things done up 
 in paper, two bottles of wine, and a large valise. 
 It took a long time to get the things safely stowed 
 away and they took up all the room under the 
 seats not already taken by the Stevenses' bags. 
 When the first horn blew for starting, the young 
 fellow climbed up on the step and he and his 
 father threw their arms about each other, patted 
 each other on the back, and kissed each other on
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 321 
 
 both cheeks. Ray and her mother thought it very 
 pretty, but the boys turned away to hide a smile. 
 They thought it very poor taste for men to show 
 their feelings in public. 
 
 "I dare say he's coming back in two or three 
 days," said Harry. "What's the use of making 
 all that fuss? It's one of the things I can't get 
 used to here." 
 
 "But he might never come back," said Ray, 
 "and then, you see, his son would be glad they 
 showed each other how much they cared." 
 
 "Well, you can care without going through all 
 that business," said Roy, contemptuously; "it 
 isn't like men." 
 
 "It isn't like American men, you mean," said 
 his mother. "Remember that American men 
 form only a small proportion of all the civilised 
 men in the world. Nearl} 7 all other men — except 
 the British — show their affection for one another, 
 and I must say I like it." 
 
 "Do you, father?" asked Ray. 
 
 The boys were quite surprised when Mr. Stevens 
 said that he did, for they had certainly expected 
 him to take their view.
 
 .322 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "They may not feel any more than we do," 
 said Mr. Stevens, "but it does not mean that they 
 feel less, and it certainly smooths things very 
 much to let your friends and family know oc- 
 casionallv that vou do think of them affection- 
 ately; and between father and son, especially 
 when the father is growing old, I think it is really 
 very nice to see some demonstration of feeling." 
 
 "Well, father," said Roy, "when I see you 
 growing old, I'll begin to hug and kiss you and 
 pat you on the back. ' ' 
 
 "Very well," said Mr. Stevens, laughing; "I'll 
 wait patiently." 
 
 "It'll be a long time," said Ray, "so I'll do it 
 now," and she gave her father a big squeeze, 
 which made the Mexican gentleman smile. He 
 could speak a little English, too, it seemed, for he 
 said, "Good, very good!" 
 
 The car started, at last, with the Mexican 
 gentleman at the window, looking back and waving 
 his hand as long as he could see his son. 
 
 The rural had taken his position on the back 
 platform and the long ride began. There was 
 nothing in the scenery that was particularly in-
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 3'2o 
 
 teresting, though when they stopped at the few 
 little towns along the way, it was entertaining to 
 see people get in and out. At one place, the rural 
 stood in the sunshine and Mrs. Stevens asked to 
 be allowed to take his picture, whereupon he im- 
 mediately went to get the other rural and they 
 stood together, looking very picturesque, but un- 
 fortunately all in vain as the picture did not come 
 out well. It was nearly noon when they reached 
 Esperanza, a very important point at that time of 
 day, as the trains between Vera Cruz and the city 
 of Mexico meet there and wait a half-hour for the 
 passengers to eat luncheon or dinner. The Mexi- 
 can gentleman explained all this to them and con- 
 ducted them to the dining-room of the station, but 
 did not go in himself, and they found afterward 
 that his many baskets contained food for the 
 meals between Tehuacan and Vera Cruz. While 
 they were eating at rather than eating the some- 
 what coarse food provided at the station, the train 
 from Vera Cruz arrived, and the room was at once 
 filled with the most motley collection of human 
 beings they had ever seen in one place. Indians 
 and Mexicans and Spanish. Germans and English.
 
 324 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 French and Swiss, Canes and Austrians and 
 Swedes, with some negroes and Chinamen— it 
 seemed as if almost every race and nationality 
 were represented. Foreign languages filled the 
 air. 
 
 "If they were only piling bricks instead of eat- 
 ing frijoles, it would be just like the Tower of 
 Babel," said Harry. 
 
 "I never imagined," said Mrs. Stevens, "that 
 immigration into Mexico was so varied." 
 
 "Probably we have just as many kinds coming 
 to us," said Mr. Stevens, "but as we have steam- 
 ship lines coming from all countries, the emi- 
 grants come on their own national lines and the 
 different nationalities do not get together so much 
 as they do here. Besides, there are so many trains 
 going out from our ports in every direction and 
 so' many emigrants stop in New York or near 
 there, that we do not see whole trainloads of 
 foreigners as we do here, where there are only 
 two or three trains a day and where the port re- 
 tains very few of the people who land." 
 
 "There is our train!" exclaimed Harry, as a 
 train drew up at the station, headed toward the
 
 THE REtfURN JOURNEY 3J.» 
 
 coast. Another lot of hungry passengers now 
 entered the room, adding to the confusion, and the 
 Stevens party thought best to go out and take 
 their seats. 
 
 "Take seats on the right-hand side," said Mr. 
 Stevens; "that is the scenery side going east, and 
 you know this bit of the road between Hsperanza 
 and Orizaba is one of the choice rides of the 
 country for scenery." 
 
 He spoke truly, for the person least sensitive to 
 natural beauty could not help being enthusiastic 
 over the wonderful views among the mountains 
 and valleys of this stretch of road. The railway 
 curves in and out around the slopes of the moun- 
 tains, through tunnels and over heights, gradu- 
 ally descending from a height of over eight 
 thousand feet to not quite four thousand feet in 
 only twenty-nine miles. The children craned their 
 necks out of the windows and gazed in amazement 
 at the steep precipices along which the train 
 rolled, looking at the track they had just travelled 
 away behind and above them and at the track they 
 were coming to, curving down below them into the 
 valley. It seemed incredible that they could ever
 
 326 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 have been in the one place and that they could 
 ever expect to be in the other. The train stopped 
 at La Boca, to take on water, and the party all got 
 out to take a better view from their narrow ledge 
 of the great mountains and of the stream that 
 cascaded down the mountain side for over a 
 thousand feet. If they could have stood outside 
 and seen their train crossing some of the bridges 
 at these dizzy heights, they would certainly have 
 felt a little uneasy. But the place at which the 
 boys and Ray grew most enthusiastic was farther 
 on, at the point where they could look down and 
 see, away below them in the valley, the town of 
 Maltrata, looking like a toy village with its dots of 
 red roofs, tiny trees, and little fields and gardens 
 like squares on a toy checkerboard. It was fully 
 two thousand feet below them and lay spread out 
 like a map. They thought the name of the valley, 
 La Joya (Hoy'-a), the jewel, was well given. 
 
 After this, they crossed a bridge a hundred and 
 forty feet high, over a chasm through which a 
 great cascade went leaping down, and finally came 
 out into the valley, with green fields on either side 
 and the mountains surrounding them and shutting
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 327 
 
 off any far view. The great peak of Orizaba, 
 
 nearly eighteen thousand feel high, with its 
 shining cap of snow, was fortunately visible when 
 the train stopped, but soon after it was lost to 
 sight as the daily rain grew nearer. Indeed, the 
 party had just time to get to their hotel before the 
 rain came. Fortunately, it did not last long and 
 there was time for a short walk about the streets 
 before dinner, but their real sightseeing they 
 were obliged to leave until the next day.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 ORIZABA AND BACK TO THE CAPITAL 
 
 In the morning, the party took a long walk in 
 and out among the streets and squares of Orizaba, 
 a beautiful town in a beautiful situation. Unlike 
 Cuernavaca, where one could look off for long 
 distances, the town was hemmed in closely by 
 mountains, but these in themselves were magnifi- 
 cent. It was not so high as most of the places 
 they had visited, being only a little over four 
 thousand feet above sea-level, but it was high 
 enough to be healthful and is often resorted to by 
 the people of the coast in times of fever. Many 
 foreigners, landing at Vera Cruz, do not like to 
 stop there over night and so go up to Orizaba at 
 once, in order to be perfectly safe. 
 
 The hotels seemed to be nearly all on the main 
 street, so that the street-cars drawn by mules 
 could take passengers to any of them. There 
 
 328
 
 BACK TO THE CAPITAL 329 
 
 were a few coaches in town to be hired, but they 
 were in a dreadful state of dilapidation and 
 looked as if they might date from Maximilian's 
 time. 
 
 The town itself, owing doubtless to its being on 
 the line between Vera Cruz and the Capital, and a 
 favourite stopping-place for people from other 
 countries, seemed much less Mexican and much 
 more European than either Cuernavaca or 
 Oaxaca. The people had no distinctive costume 
 and there were fewer peons in the street, while 
 some of the shops were very up-to-date, and many 
 of the houses, which one could look into through 
 the iron-barred windows as one went along, were 
 elegantly furnished in an entirely modern way. 
 In the public square there was a monument to the 
 killed and wounded in the Mexican War, and 
 another representing Father Hidalgo pronouncin 
 the Grito. 
 
 At the Cathedral, which was on a slight eleva- 
 tion above the Plaza, the children watched with 
 interest a band of women who were going together 
 from one altar to another, kneeling to pray aloud 
 at each one. Thev wore a set of narrow ribbons, 
 
 g
 
 330 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 red, white and green, around their necks, tied at 
 the back, and were evidently members of some 
 society. But the thing that arrested their atten- 
 tion next and held it for a long time was a very 
 curious image of St. Michael. 
 
 "Do you suppose he looked like that when he 
 went out to slay the dragon?" whispered Harry, 
 laughing. 
 
 "He is very much dressed up in Guido Reni's 
 painting," said Mrs. Stevens, "but that is nothing 
 compared to this." And truly, that any one 
 could have such a conception of the saint was 
 wonderful. 
 
 The figure was apparently of wood, about two- 
 thirds life size. The head was adorned with long, 
 brown, very symmetrical curls, topped by a tinsel 
 crown from which floated several blue ostrich 
 plumes. The dress of red silk, white lace, and gilt, 
 was made like that of a ballet-dancer, low-necked, 
 with elbow sleeves, the skirts flounced and rosetted 
 with lace and ribbon. The legs from the knee 
 halfway down were bare, showing the muscles of 
 knee and calf, and below to a point over the instep 
 were dressed in a sort of silk buskin trimmed
 
 BACK TO THE CAPITAL 331 
 
 with lace, imitating those in the painting. One 
 braceleted arm was extended while with the other 
 hand the figure presented mincingly a pink 
 rose. 
 
 "But look here!" exclaimed Mrs. Stevens, 
 pointing to a small box in front of the figure, with 
 a slit for coins. " 'Alms for St. Michael!' Did 
 you ever see anything so incongruous!" 
 
 "Looks to me as if he were pretty well off 
 already," said Roy. 
 
 "I'd give him something if I thought he would 
 take off his hoops and buy some goods to lengthen 
 his skirts," said Ray. 
 
 "I suppose the country people admire him ever 
 so much," said Harry, "but what do they think he 
 needs money for?" 
 
 "Well, he's very much more cheerful than most 
 of the images we have seen. We may be thankful 
 for that, anyhow," remarked Mr. Stevens; "I feel 
 like giving him something just for that." 
 
 "Yes, these bleeding, suffering images are 
 dreadful— I suppose it's the Spanish blood in the 
 people that makes them like that sort of repre- 
 sentation," said Mrs. Stevens.
 
 332 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "And the Spaniards are very fond of dressing 
 up their saints in gaudy and expensive clothes, 
 too, aren't they?" suggested Harry. 
 
 "Yes, some of them are fairly loaded with gold 
 and silver lace and tissue and embroidery," re- 
 plied Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 From the Cathedral, they visited the market- 
 place, where the products were rather more 
 tropical than in some others they had visited ; but 
 the best part of their sightseeing was the trip to 
 one of the numerous cascades, the road lying be- 
 tween coffee-groves, which almost surround the 
 town. 
 
 "I think coffee is as pretty as holly when it is 
 growing," said Ray, and they all agreed with 
 her. It looked very much like holly, in fact, with 
 its stiff, glossy, dark green, spiny leaves, and its 
 berries, first green, then red, then dark brown. 
 
 "Guess how many coffee-grains in a berry," 
 said Harry. 
 
 "Why, one, isn't that all?" asked Roy. 
 
 "No, two. See here," and Harry split open a 
 berry and showed them the two grains lying with 
 the flat sides touching and the little groove through
 
 HACK TO THE CAPITAL 333 
 
 the middle that they had often noticed in the 
 grocer's coffee at home. 
 
 "What's the reason their coffee doesn't taste 
 like ours?" asked Ray. 
 
 "One reason is that they powder it, while we 
 grind it; and another, that they like it a little bit 
 burned and we don't have it so. It tastes some- 
 what like Turkish coffee, which is almost a 
 syrup," said Mrs. Stevens, adding, "Of course, I 
 mean the black coffee, without milk." 
 
 "Is Orizaba old, too?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Yes, it was here before the Spanish came. It 
 was the scene of some fighting in the war against 
 the French, and it was one of the favourite resorts 
 of Maximilian," replied his father. 
 
 "Pooi- man! I get sorrier for him all the 
 time," said Ray. "To lose such a beautiful 
 country when he once had it, and have to be killed 
 besides and never see his own country again." 
 
 "The French troops offered to take him back 
 with them, but he wouldn't go," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Well, a number of his prominent supporters 
 had been taken prisoners by the native army and
 
 334 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 lie could not get the promise of Juarez to pardon 
 thero, so he would not desert them. He thought 
 he ought to stay on the chance of being able to do 
 something for them, and if he could not, that he 
 ought to suffer with them." 
 
 "There was really something noble about him, 
 wasn't there?" said Roy. 
 
 "Yes, he was deceived, and almost as much a 
 victim of Louis Napoleon as the natives them- 
 selves." 
 
 It was with a great deal of regret that the party 
 left Orizaba on their return journey, not because 
 there was so much to see as in some other towns, 
 but because it was such a beautiful place to rest in. 
 
 They found themselves travelling with a great 
 many people who were coming up from the 
 steamers at Vera Cruz and going to the Capital, 
 and after they had been some time in their car 
 and heard a number of conversations going on, 
 they estimated that there were eight or nine 
 nationalities represented in that one car, not to 
 speak of the rest of the train. The men all 
 smoked, many of them incessantly, for one may 
 smoke anywhere in Mexico except in church or in
 
 HACK TO THE CAPITAL 335 
 
 the theatre during the acts, and they all talked as 
 incessantly as they smoked. After they had 
 crossed the mountains and were in the low foot- 
 hills, the train stopped in an uninhabited place 
 without any apparent reason. The party won- 
 dered idly what could be the cause, and finally 
 Harry and Roy went out to see. They came back 
 in a few minutes looking so pale and subdued 
 that Mrs. Stevens immediately asked what had 
 happened. 
 
 "We've just seen three men shot — three 
 Indians," said Harrv. 
 
 "Shot? Was the train attacked?" asked Mr. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "Oh, father!" exclaimed Ray, beginning to 
 tremble. 
 
 "Be still, Ray. Tell us about it, Harry, if you 
 can. I remember now hearing something that 
 sounded like shots. How was it?" 
 
 "We've had them on the train with us all 
 along," said Harry; "it seems three Indians 
 tried to derail a train here on this spot some weeks 
 ago and the rurales have been looking for them 
 ever since. They caught them yesterday, and one
 
 336 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 confessed and they had all the evidence they 
 needed that the others were his accomplices, so, 
 according to the usual practice, the soldiers 
 brought them to the spot where they committed 
 the crime and executed them there, so that they 
 would know what they were being punished for." 
 "Had they not been tried? "asked Mrs. Stevens, 
 somewhat disapprovingly. 
 
 "By the soldiers, yes, but not in court. It was 
 unnecessary, since their guilt was confessed and 
 proven. ' ' 
 
 "Did they succeed in derailing a train?" asked 
 Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes, a freight train happened along next, but 
 it might have been a passenger train and many 
 people might have been killed. The men — one of 
 them, at least — had some grievance against the 
 railroad and took this way to get even." 
 
 "I suppose they would not understand a trial 
 in court," said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "No, and if it dragged on a long time they 
 would forget what it was all about, probably. 
 They took it pretty well, didn't they, Roy?" 
 "Yes," said Roy; "they didn't make any fuss at
 
 BACK TO THE CAPITAL 337 
 
 all, and the soldiers <li<l not treat them harshly 
 
 either. They just led them to the place where 
 they were to stand and guarded them there, while 
 the other soldiers did the firing from the train. 
 They were killed instantly, and fell. There was a 
 doctor who went and examined them, and then the 
 bodies were put on a freight-car and left with a 
 guard for the next train down to carry them back 
 to their own place." 
 
 "Well, really," said Mrs. Stevens, "if one stops 
 to think, they have the most sensible way of 
 punishing, if life is to be taken at all." 
 
 "Have you noticed the way they manage con- 
 victs here?" asked Harry. 
 
 "Was it convicts we used to see at Cuernavaca, 
 marching through the streets every day with the 
 soldiers?" asked Ray. 
 
 "Yes, those were convicts from the state's 
 prison. You know Cuernavaca is the state capital 
 and they were working on the new park the town 
 is laying out. Every man has a soldier to guard 
 him." 
 
 "That is why they have no handcuffs, or ball 
 and chain on the legs, then," said Roy.
 
 338 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 1 'Yes, that is why I thought they could not be 
 convicts," said Ray. 
 
 ' ' They never handcuff them here, ' ' said Harry, 
 "but each man has his keeper among the soldiers, 
 and if the man tries to escape the keeper has his 
 gun in plain sight, ready for use." 
 
 "Seems to me it's harder on the soldier than on 
 the convict, to have to sit all day in the sun with 
 nothing to do but keep your eye on one man," said 
 Roy. 
 
 "They rig up little tents of those grass mats, 
 for shade," said Harry, "and it's cool and 
 pleasant up on the hills. But, of course, they can 
 never think of anything but the one thing they 
 have to do." 
 
 "One evening," said Ray, "when they were 
 coming back to the prison, I saw some children 
 run out from one of the houses and kiss one of 
 the men — I suppose he was their father. The 
 guards didn't seem to mind, because they had all 
 halted anyhow, to rest." 
 
 "The soldiers are very humane, as a rule," said 
 Harry, "and the town police are generally pretty 
 good to the people."
 
 a i 
 
 BACK TO THE CAPITAL 33 ( J 
 
 That reminds me," said Mrs. Stevens, "of 
 something I saw in Cuernavaca, one day. Two 
 women met under my balcony, a young one and a 
 middle-aged one, and spoke together in a low tone 
 for a half-minute. And suddenly the older one 
 brought down the jar she was carrying, with all 
 her force, on the other one's head, breaking the 
 jar to bits. Then she slapped her across the face 
 with the palm of her hand, and the other one stood 
 still and took it without a word, though it must 
 have hurt her dreadfully. I expected to see a 
 crowd gather and the police come running up with 
 their clubs, but only a solitary officer came slowly 
 up and spoke a few words in a low voice, after the 
 woman had made her explanation, and ordered 
 them to move on. They separated, and none of 
 the people who saw it paid any attention." 
 
 "They were mother and daughter, probably," 
 said Harry. "The parents have the right to cor- 
 rect their children even after they are grown, and 
 I suppose the girl had been doing something her 
 mother didn't approve of." 
 
 "Imagine your doing that to me, mother, even 
 now when 1 am not grown up," said Kay, shaking
 
 340 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 her head. "I like American mothers' ways the 
 best." 
 
 The train had begun to move, and the pas- 
 sengers, most of whom had gone out to see the 
 execution or to hear about it, came back to their 
 seats. The boys were very quiet — it had been a 
 serious experience for them, and they did not re- 
 cover their spirits until they had nearly reached 
 the Capital.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 NORTHWARD TO GUANAJUATO 
 
 The City of Mexico seemed very familiar as 
 they came into it for the second time and recog- 
 nised various landmarks. As for Harry, though 
 he had had a very delightful trip, he was glad to 
 be at home again, for so much of his life had been 
 spent there that no place in the United States 
 would have seemed to him as much like home as 
 this foreign city. His mother met the train and 
 he parted from the Stevenses with many promises 
 to exchange letters with the children. He was not 
 likely to see them again, for they were to start on 
 their journey north the next day but one. 
 
 "Now, we have a friend in Mexico!" said Ray, 
 with great satisfaction, as they rode to the hotel, 
 "and we'll be getting letters with Mexican stamps 
 on them. You can do a lot of trading with them, 
 Roy, for your stamp collection." 
 
 "Yes, we've made arrangements to exchange 
 
 341
 
 342 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 duplicates, too," said Roy. "Harry's father gets 
 all kinds of South American and Central Ameri- 
 can stamps and he's going to send me some for 
 my European duplicates." 
 
 The next day was spent in packing for the long 
 northern journey with only two stops, at Guana- 
 juato (Gwan-a-wah'-to) and Chihuahua. The 
 family haunted the curio shops, buying photo- 
 graphs and all sorts of Mexican souvenirs, "be- 
 cause," said Ray, "the girls won't believe some 
 of the things I tell them unless I have something 
 to show to prove it." She was buying a little clay 
 model of the cooking-stove used by the peons, as 
 she spoke. 
 
 "Besides," said Roy, "it will make things much 
 easier for you to explain." 
 
 The train for the United States in which they 
 had decided to go, left the city early in the morn- 
 ing, as usual, and their first stop was to be at 
 Silao, where they were to take a branch road for 
 Marfil, and there a mule-tram with four mules, for 
 Guanajuato. 
 
 "It seems a very hard place to get to," said 
 Roy. "What makes it important?"
 
 NORTHWARD TO (il'AN A.H'ATO 343 
 
 "We are going there because it is so very pic- 
 turesque and unusual," said Mr. Stevens, "but 
 the importance of the town lies in the fact that it 
 is in one of the richest silver-mining districts in 
 the world and that there are very extensive works 
 for the reducing of silver — taking it from the ores 
 — between Marfil and Guanajuato. The mines 
 were discovered in 1548 by two muleteers, and up 
 to this time over one thousand million dollars' 
 worth of ore have been taken from them. The 
 Mint is one of the most important in Mexico." 
 
 "Shall we go to it?" asked Kay. 
 
 "Yes, if we have time. I understand that one 
 could stay for a week or ten days in Guanajuato 
 without exhausting the interests of the place, and 
 as we have only two days we shall have to make 
 pretty good use of our time." 
 
 The road they were travelling ran through 
 several very interesting places — that is, they 
 looked so from a distance, for the towns were 
 usually at some distance from the stations. First, 
 there was the great Tajo de Nochistongo (Ta'-ho 
 day No-chis-ton'-go), the drainage canal begun in 
 1G07 to drain the Valley of Mexico, and abandoned
 
 344 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 after years of work and much expense. Fifteen 
 thousand Indians were employed on this work, in 
 its early days. It is from a hundred and fifty to 
 two hundred feet deep and ranges in width from 
 three hundred to seven hundred feet at the top, 
 and slopes to a very few feet at the bottom, to 
 prevent the caving-in of the sides. The waters of 
 the valley were finally carried off by a tunnel to 
 the eastward of the city. "It looks now just like 
 a big, natural barranca," said Roy. 
 
 The town of Queretaro the children watched 
 for eagerly, knowing that it was the town where 
 Maximilian and his generals were imprisoned and 
 executed. They could see only at a distance the 
 domes and spires of the town, among the green of 
 the orange- and lemon-trees, but the conductor 
 pointed out to them the low hill, called the Hill of 
 the Bells, where the execution took place. 
 
 "There is a pretty story of the founding of 
 the Church of Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross), at 
 Queretaro," said Mrs. Stevens, as the train moved 
 away from the station. "It seems that a great 
 chief came determined to convert the Indians to 
 Christianity, the matter to be decided by fighting.
 
 NORTHWARD TO GUANAJUATO 345 
 
 If he won, the people were to declare themselves 
 converted and were to be baptised; if they won, 
 they were to be at liberty to remain heathen. 
 While the battle was going on, however, the sky 
 was overshadowed by clouds and in the midst 
 appeared Saint Iago with a cross of fire. This 
 miracle at once decided the Indians to yield, and 
 the Church of the Holy Cross was afterward built 
 in memory of it." 
 
 "How many miracles they had in those days!" 
 said Ray. "Almost every town has some story. 
 It makes the United States seem very bare." 
 
 "Bare? What do you mean by that?" asked 
 Roy. 
 
 "Why — " hesitated Ray — "just bare — with- 
 out any pretty things to make the history in- 
 teresting." 
 
 "Just 'dry so,' as they say in Texas, eh?" 
 suggested Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "Yes," said Ray. "Of course, we know they 
 aren't true, but all the same it's nice to hear them 
 and to think there are still some people that be- 
 lieve them." 
 
 Just here, a fellow-passenger came to show
 
 346 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 tliem some opals he had bought at the station, and 
 they all put their heads together to examine the 
 beautiful, little stones in which fiery and milky 
 lights mingle with pale blue and green to make 
 one of the most fascinating gems we have. 
 
 At Celaya (Ce-lah'-ya), Mr. Stevens bought a 
 box of the dukes (sweet-meats) for which the 
 place is celebrated, and at Irapuato (Ee-ra-pwah'- 
 to) a basket of the famous strawberries which are 
 produced there all the year around. They were 
 very glad they had not paid the price first de- 
 manded for these, when they came to examine the 
 basket and found that the best berries were 
 ranged on top, while below they were much 
 smaller and poorer. 
 
 It was almost dark when they reached Silao, 
 where they were to take the train for Marfil, but 
 there was enough light to see that they were 
 riding through a very hilly and picturesque coun- 
 try. When they had finished this little eleven-mile 
 journey, they found several trams awaiting them, 
 labelled first-, second-, and third-class, and each 
 drawn by four mules. The car they entered was 
 nearly full of Mexicans of the better class, but
 
 NORTHWARD TO GUANAJUATO 347 
 
 there were two or three young Americans who 
 were in business connected with the mines or the 
 railway, and Mr. Stevens soon entered into con- 
 versation with them. 
 
 Meanwhile, the children's eyes grew bigger and 
 rounder as the cars climbed the hills and they saw 
 the lights of houses twinkling above them on 
 every side at what seemed impossible heights. 
 They could hardly wait until daylight to find out 
 just what sort of place they were in. A boy from 
 the hotel boarded the car when they reached the 
 limits of the city, and took charge of their bag- 
 gage; and his smiling welcome quite cheered up 
 Mrs. Stevens, who thought they were getting into 
 a very remote and foreign and desolate district, 
 where they might all be robbed and possibly put 
 out of the way entirely. 
 
 The car stopped in the Plaza, which was rather 
 dimly lighted and where they could just see 
 vaguely the outlines of the opera-house and other 
 surrounding buildings, and a few steps brought 
 them to the street on which their hotel was situ- 
 ated. It seemed like a tunnel, for it was vaulted 
 over the whole length of the block, and the one or
 
 348 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 two lamps suspended at the sides served only to 
 "make the darkness visible." There seemed to 
 be no ground-floor to the hotel at all, and a short 
 flight of winding steps brought them to the office, 
 which was a little cubby-hole off the dining-room, 
 while the bedrooms, on the same floor, were 
 ranged around a square patio. The ceilings 
 were so high in proportion to the size of the 
 rooms that it was like living in a tower, the chil- 
 dren thought. 
 
 Supper was over, but the young man who had 
 brought them found some bread and butter and 
 cold meat, cake and tea, to satisfy their hunger, 
 and after they had paid due attention to their 
 appetites they went to their rooms. The children 
 had adjoining rooms opening upon the same 
 balcony, and before going to bed they opened the 
 long door-like windows and stepped out to look at 
 the street and to hear a guitar serenade that was 
 going on near by. A building nearly opposite was 
 lighted up, for it was not yet nine o'clock, and they 
 could see that there were maps and charts on the 
 walls, a globe in one corner, and that the furniture 
 consisted of desks at which men seemed to be at
 
 NORTHWARD TO GUANAJUATO 349 
 
 work. Presently, at some unknown signal, the 
 men all disappeared, the lights went out, and in a 
 moment more men and young boys wrapped in 
 serapes turned the corner and separated, going 
 off by different ways, in groups or alone, all very 
 quietly. 
 
 "Do you suppose it was a secret meeting? Are 
 they conspirators.'" whispered Ray, as a solitary 
 figure passed under the balcony. 
 
 "Looks queer, doesn't it!" said Roy; "but they 
 can't be conspirators, because they would have 
 had the blinds down. The room looks like a 
 schoolroom." 
 
 And in the morning they found that it was a 
 schoolroom, and that in the evening the school 
 was for men and boys who had to earn their living 
 during the day. 
 
 "I suppose they're too tired to make a noise, 
 by the time they have worked all day and studied 
 all the evening," said Bay, "but that isn't the 
 way they come out of school in our country. 
 
 ? *
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 
 
 When the family came to breakfast the next 
 morning, they came convinced that they were 
 going to like Guanajuato and find it most inter- 
 esting, for they had caught glimpses of the high 
 hills on which the native houses were perched like 
 birdhouses, with winding steps ascending in every 
 direction. Some streets, in fact, were all steps, 
 and the small houses often could not find a level 
 spot to stand on and so accommodated themselves 
 to the incline of the hills. Mr. Stevens' plan was 
 to go to the Plaza around the corner of the hotel 
 and take the tram that went up to the top of the 
 town, the Presa de la Olla (Pray'-sa day la Oy'-ya) 
 or reservoir. They were assured that in this way 
 they would see the best residences and get the 
 best general view of the situation of the town. 
 The Plaza, or Jardin de la Union (Har-deen' day 
 la Oo-nion') was the starting-place of the only two 
 
 350
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 351 
 
 car-lines, the one going back to Marfil and the 
 other going up to the Alameda and the Presa. 
 Each car had four mules for the ascent on account 
 of the hard grade. The people who went up to 
 the Alameda were, as a rule, of the better class of 
 citizens who either lived or had business to trans- 
 act in the best quarter. The party did not do 
 much talking on the way up, except to exclaim 
 occasionally, "Oh, what a lovely cottage!" "See 
 that beautiful bougainvillea climbing all over that 
 house!" "Look at that little house with a moat 
 and a bridge!" "See, Roy, you could fish right 
 out of the window if you lived there!" "What a 
 beautiful garden!" "Oh, mother, wouldn't you 
 like to live in that great, handsome house with all 
 those verandahs and flowers!" Their eyes were 
 fully occupied all the way and by the time they 
 reached the little park where the band was 
 accustomed to play in the evening, the children 
 had decided that they would not mind at all 
 having to live in Guanajuato. 
 
 "It's the prettiest town we have seen yet," said 
 Ray, positively. 
 
 "Prettier than Cuernavaca?" asked her mother.
 
 352 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Well, no, nothing could be prettier than Cuer- 
 navaca, but it's more — more — what is the word I 
 want?" 
 
 "More picturesque, perhaps — more unusual." 
 
 'Yes, that's it. It would make better pictures. 
 I saw a lady making pictures as we came up the 
 hill." 
 
 "Yes, so did I," said Roy; "I think she's stay- 
 ing at our hotel. She had a whole crowd of chil- 
 dren around her and some grown people." 
 
 "We must meet her and find out what she is 
 painting," said Mrs. Stevens. "Perhaps she has 
 something we can take home with us to remember 
 the place by." 
 
 "Yes, and show the others what it looks like 
 here, because I don't see how we could tell any- 
 body," said Roy. 
 
 At the Alameda, the car stopped and the family 
 got out and walked through the long, narrow 
 garden that occupied the middle of the street and 
 that was full of trees and vines and fountains, 
 with seats here and there. They climbed a little 
 further to the reservoir, which was really like a 
 small lake, with pretty cottages on its margin, and
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 353 
 
 from there they had a wonderful view of the town 
 and surrounding country. Great hills surround 
 
 the town, and as it has grown it has stretched up 
 the elei'ts of these hills in every direction, like a 
 vine throwing out branches and clutching for sup- 
 port on all sides. The walk downhill was full of 
 little incidents — beautiful Mexican ladies chatting 
 and examining the condition of their flowers, a 
 little beggar girl with her dog crouching in the 
 corner of one of the picturesque gateways; the 
 tiny houses which were also shops, opened on 
 the street, sometimes a step or two below it, where 
 shoemakers and other workmen carried on their 
 work in the doorway in order to get the necessary 
 light and perhaps to see what was passing. They 
 saw no houses, though, as "deep" as some at 
 Cuernavaca, where a flight of stairs often led 
 from the street down into the living-room. 
 
 When they reached the Jardin de la Union, they 
 had still time before dinner to go into the opera- 
 house, which is one of the finest on the con- 
 tinent. It is called the Theatre Juarez. Two 
 great stone lions sat on pedestals halfway up the 
 entrance steps, which led to a great portico with
 
 354 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 handsome stone columns; these and the buildings 
 having the green tinge peculiar to the stone of 
 the hills roundabout the town. The interior was 
 very rich and imposing, with the railings painted 
 in pale tints of pink and blue, the box curtains of 
 silk-velvet, and the seats in the foyer, where 
 people promenade between the acts, of red velvet 
 embroidered in gold. The chandeliers of coloured 
 glass came from Paris, the custodian told them. 
 He was evidently very proud of the house and 
 very careful of it. All the handsome furniture 
 was covered, and he had to lift up the covers to 
 show its gorgeousness. 
 
 "I don't see," said Roy, "how people as poor 
 as most of these can have such a fine theatre. 
 How could they afford to build it and how can 
 they afford to go to anything that costs money?" 
 
 "My impression is that either the general 
 government or the state builds these principal 
 theatres and opera-houses, as they do in Europe, 
 and subsidises them, that is, gives them so much 
 money a year, for running expenses," said Mr. 
 Stevens. 
 
 "I don't suppose they often have expensive
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 355 
 
 entertainments here," remarked Mrs. Stevens, 
 "for I noticed that at Cuernavaca and Oaxaca the 
 principal entertainments were cinematograph 
 shows. The Capital, of course, has excellent 
 companies from Europe for both dramatic and 
 operatic performances." 
 
 In the afternoon, the party wandered about the 
 streets, finding nothing that could equal in interest 
 the people themselves. The market-place spread 
 out into numerous little by-streets, as apparently 
 fruit and vegetables were the only things sold in 
 the central stone market-house. The children were 
 interested in some little red balls that looked like 
 beets and turned out to be part of a kind of cactus. 
 The people bought them to eat, evidently. One 
 thing Ray thought she must have, a toy chair four 
 or five inches high with a woven seat, in imitation 
 of the low seats used by the market-women. 
 
 "I never saw so many people with nothing to 
 do, even at Cuernavaca," said Roy, as they 
 passed a long row of women sitting on the ground 
 beside a high wall, wrapped in their rebozos, 
 talking very little, and apparently engaged in 
 nothing more profitable than gazing at the
 
 356 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 passers-by. As they were almost opposite the 
 city prison, it is possible that they were there ou 
 the chance of seeing a friend or relative who was 
 among the prisoners; but in various parts of the 
 town the family afterward noticed the same habit 
 of sitting on the ground in long, silent rows. 
 
 ''Look, children, there is something we have 
 always wanted to see and have never come across 
 before," said Mr. Stevens, calling their attention 
 to the curbstone opposite the other end of the 
 jail. 
 
 "It's those letter-writing men!" exclaimed 
 Ray, and the whole family stood and gazed, quite 
 forgetful of their manners. Ranged along the 
 curbstone were seated several men of various 
 ages, each with a little low table or desk in front 
 of him, with writing materials on it, and along- 
 side each man sat a client dictating a letter. It 
 was done in such a low voice that no bystander 
 could hear, and some of the customers seemed to 
 find it almost as impossible to find words as to 
 write them. When a letter was finished, the peon 
 took his envelope with its enclosure, paid his fee — 
 according to the length of the letter — and de-
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 357 
 
 parted. There wore several women sitting on a 
 doorstep Dear by, evidently awaiting their turn. 
 
 "It's almost as good as having a stenog- 
 rapher," said Roy, and Kay sighed, "I wish I 
 could pay somebody to write my letters — I do 
 hate to do it myself." 
 
 "They say," said Mrs. Stevens, "that the work 
 of the professional letter-writer is disappearing, 
 now that the children are being educated, and the 
 boys and girls write the family-letters." 
 
 "I've noticed several times," said Roy, "young 
 people sitting on the doorsteps writing and the 
 family all sitting around inside — I suppose they 
 were telling them what to say." 
 
 "Have you noticed that the women here wear 
 gowns more like those of the same class with us?" 
 said Mrs. Stevens. "I have seen a number of 
 ready-made print gowns." 
 
 "Yes, and the men nearly all wear heavy blan- 
 kets instead of serapes. I suppose it is colder 
 here than anywhere else we have been," replied 
 Mr. Stevens. Suddenly stopping short, he said, 
 "Let's go in here, it's the government pawn- 
 shop."
 
 358 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "What's that?" asked Ray. 
 
 "A place established by the government in 
 every city where the people can pawn things when 
 necessary, at a reasonable rate. See this poor 
 woman ! ' ' 
 
 A very shabby-looking woman, with a little 
 child, came in and deposited a pair of flat- 
 irons. 
 
 "She must make her living with those — I sup- 
 pose she is a laundress," said Mrs. Stevens, look- 
 ing at her husband and lifting her eyebrows in- 
 quiringly. He caught her meaning at once and 
 nodded with a smile, and after asking how much 
 the woman was to get for the irons, Mrs. Stevens 
 gently put the sum in her hand and pushed the 
 flat-irons back to her. The gloomy face lighted up 
 first with surprise and then with pleasure and 
 gratitude, and stammering her thanks the woman 
 bade the child also say" Gracias , gracias , senora! ' 
 and hurried out, hugging her flat-irons. Just here 
 a young fellow came in to pawn his serape. 
 
 "Are you going to give him something, too?" 
 asked Roy. 
 
 "No, indeed — he is young and able-bodied and
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 359 
 
 probably pawns his blanket to get rid of carrying 
 it all day, or to get money for pulque (pul'-kay: 
 liquor made from the maguey), or for gambling," 
 said Mr. Stevens. 
 
 "But, Horace," said Mrs. Stevens in a low tone, 
 "just look at that serape — it's dingy, but it's one 
 of those beautiful old weaves and patterns that 
 are getting so scarce. Do you think I might ask 
 him to sell it? I could have it disinfected and 
 cleaned and it would make a handsome table-cover 
 or couch-cover." 
 
 "Try him and see," advised Mr. Stevens. 
 
 At first the man did not understand, — then he re- 
 fused, — but the sight of the silver in Mr. Stevens' 
 hand decided him, and he finally parted with his 
 old serape for enough to buy two blankets, and evi- 
 dently thought he had much the best of the 
 bargain. Mrs. Stevens was equally pleased, for 
 she said she had seen exactly the same quality in 
 the shops of the Capital for which large sums were 
 asked. The pawnbroker offered to wrap up the 
 serape, which was quite kind of him as they had 
 just deprived him of two customers, and the party 
 took up their line of march again, congratulating
 
 300 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 themselves on having gone into the shop at just 
 the right moment. 
 
 "Aren't we going into the jail?" asked Roy, 
 anxiously. "This is where Father Hidalgo was 
 imprisoned, isn't it!" 
 
 ' ' Not exactly. He captured it early in the war, 
 and afterward when he was caught and executed, 
 with his fellow-patriots, their heads were brought 
 here and exposed outside the prison, hanging on 
 great hooks from the wall just under the roof. 
 You can see their names now, over the places 
 where the heads were exhibited." 
 
 The children looked up and read "Allende (Al- 
 yen'-de)," "Aldama," "Jiminez (Him'-i-nez)," 
 and "Hidalgo," and under the last name the 
 great hook was still visible. 
 
 "Ugh," said Ray, with a shudder. "I'm afraid 
 I'll dream about it." 
 
 "There's a very interesting story of the cap- 
 ture of the building," remarked Mr. Stevens. 
 "Some one was wanted to set fire to the doors, 
 but as the walls were closely guarded and the 
 building defended by missiles from the top, it was 
 a risky thing to undertake, and Hidalgo called for
 
 GUANAJUATO, HILL OF THE FROGS 3G1 
 
 volunteers. A peon offered his services, pro- 
 tected his back with a wide slab of stone, and 
 taking a torch ran up to the great doors and set 
 them on fire. Once the attacking party were in- 
 side, they drove the royalists to the roof and cap- 
 tured them. There is a statue of this hero in the 
 prison, and we'll see it if we may go in and look 
 at it." 
 
 The guard made no objection when they entered. 
 In the entrance corridor against the wall lay a row 
 of guards asleep, being off duty yet required to be 
 on the premises. In the dark corners of the 
 rooms they passed through, some slight noise or 
 a sudden movement called their attention to cer- 
 tain old people who were allowed to beg there or 
 who were waiting to see prisoners. Finally, in a 
 corner, protected by a grating, they found the 
 statue — not a work of art, but interesting on 
 account of the legend. The figure wore the som- 
 brero and sandals, a workman's apron, and carried 
 a gun strapped across the front. 
 
 ''If they had statues to all the heroes in that 
 war, they would be pretty well supplied with 
 statues," said Roy, admiringly.
 
 362 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 On their way to the hotel they passed a school- 
 building where some singing — the closing exercise 
 — was going on. Ray told her father about the con- 
 spirators and the night-school, and he said that 
 there were night-schools in most of the cities. The 
 children remembered then that they had seen a 
 school in Oaxaca which they were told was open in 
 the evenings for grown people. And in Cuer- 
 navaca they had visited a very well-attended 
 kindergarten. Roy and Ray had never supposed 
 that they would be so interested in the schools of 
 a country as they found themselves in those of 
 Mexico, and they realised now more clearly than 
 ever the great work that President Diaz had done 
 for the country in establishing and promoting 
 education of all grades and kinds.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 MORE GUANAJUATO 
 
 The next morning Mr. Stevens look Roy and 
 Ray to the Mint, Mrs. Stevens preferring to stay 
 at the hotel until they were ready to go over to 
 the western part of the town, when they were to 
 call for her. 
 
 The silver reduction-works are all along the 
 road from Marfil to Guanajuato, the mines being 
 some distance off among the hills, and the ore is 
 carried to the works on burros. There is one mine 
 called the Valencia, which is reached by trail only, 
 though there is a car-track belonging to the mine 
 going part of the way out. This is an old mine 
 and the works are like a fortress, as they were 
 built in the days of the bandits. The mine was 
 furnished with a great bell with which to summon 
 help from the town in time of need, as in former 
 times the trains of mules carrying bullion were 
 often attacked. 
 
 363
 
 364 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Where did these bandits come from? Who 
 were they?" asked Ray. 
 
 "I am sorry to say they often belonged to very 
 good families," replied Mr. Stevens, "for it 
 seemed to be considered no disgrace to rob and 
 plunder provided one were not found out. They 
 tell a story of a hold-up in this region in the old 
 stage-line days, and of the capture of the bandits 
 after a sharp skirmish in which eleven of them 
 were killed. By a curious coincidence, there were 
 several funerals in some very reputable families 
 just about that time. It would be interesting to 
 trace the profession of the brigand back to its 
 origin, and find out why he has such a reputation 
 with the people and where the glamour comes 
 from that seems always to be thrown around his 
 adventures." 
 
 "Are there many Americans here?" asked Roy. 
 
 "About a hundred, I am told — chiefly young 
 men working in connection with the mines or the 
 railroads. It must be pretty forlorn for them 
 here, with so few American families and homes." 
 
 "The painting lady told mother that one young 
 man came up while she was painting one day and
 
 MORE GUANAJUATO 365 
 
 said, 'Do von mind if I watch you awhile.' I'm 
 just so lonesome, I don't know what to do.' So he 
 sat down and talked to her a long time and told 
 her all about himself." 
 
 "I wish there could he free reading-rooms and 
 travelling libraries in all the Mexican cities where 
 there are Americans, with plenty of good books 
 and the best magazines. The books could go from 
 one town to another and serve a great number of 
 people, and the reading-rooms would give the 
 young fellows a quiet place for games and reading 
 and smoking and for meeting other Americans," 
 said Mr. Stevens, thoughtfully. 
 
 ''And they could have some nice aunt-like 
 American lady to keep the rooms, and maybe she 
 would darn their stockings for them," added Ray, 
 enthusiastically. 
 
 "I don't think T could stand it here all by my- 
 self," said Roy; "I'm afraid I'd take to drinking 
 pulque." 
 
 They reached the Mint just at this moment, and 
 saw the bars of silver melted and stamped and the 
 milled edges put on the coins, just as they had 
 seen it done in Philadelphia; but one thing inter-
 
 U6 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ested them as a novelty. There were two Indians 
 whose business it was to see that the coins were 
 perfect before they went out into circulation. 
 These men picked up from the heap of coins 
 around them a handful of twenty, never more nor 
 less, and simply by running their fingers over 
 each could tell if there was any imperfection. If 
 they threw a coin aside as defective, it was at once 
 melted down and recoined. 
 
 "What wonderful finger-ends they must have!" 
 whispered Ray, afraid to speak aloud lest she 
 might disturb their operations. 
 
 When Mrs. Stevens joined them, a little later, 
 they made their way to the bottom of the town and 
 up the western hill to quite another kind of neigh- 
 bourhood. Here the houses were very small and 
 the people evidently of the poorer class. They 
 swarmed out of the houses like bees from a hive 
 and the streets were crowded. At one place every 
 one was standing still, watching a strange pro- 
 cession, headed and closed by the city police. It 
 was composed of women, nearly all old, and all 
 looking very sad and paying no attention to the 
 crowd that looked on.
 
 MORE GUANAJUATO 367 
 
 "What does it mean?" asked Mrs. Stevens of 
 a Mexican lady, who explained very willingly thai 
 they were women who had no means of making a 
 living, being old or orphaned and friendless, and 
 that the guards were taking them to the poor- 
 house or what corresponds to the American 
 poor-house. The people looking on were very 
 respectful and sympathetic, and several of them 
 exclaimed " Pobrecitas! (Po-vray-cee'-tas : Poor 
 things!)" in a tone of compassion. 
 
 "What is that great fortress-looking thing at 
 the top of that high hill?" asked Roy. 
 
 "The Campo Santo, or cemetery," replied his 
 father, "and it is the place we are bound for 
 to-day. If you don't want to climb this steep 
 street, you can ride up on donkeys." 
 
 The children jumped at the chance and were 
 soon ambling up the hill on the sure-footed beasts, 
 with a driver behind them, while their parents 
 toiled slowly after them, Mrs. Stevens' former 
 experience having given her a deep distrust of the 
 animal. At the top of the street they joined 
 forces again, and were soon inside the walls and 
 among the tombs, which had their headstones
 
 368 ROY AND KAY IN MEXICO 
 
 hung with wreaths made of beads, of artificial 
 flowers and metal ornaments. But the tombs that 
 at once attracted Boy's and Bay's attention were 
 ranged along the wall in a sort of cloister and 
 were made of masonry with openings large enough 
 to insert a coffin endwise. The opening was 
 then sealed up and the name, age and date, with 
 some text or other epitaph, were inscribed on the 
 outside. These tombs were arranged one above 
 another, to a height of twelve or fifteen feet. 
 
 "If an American dies in Mexico, what happens 
 to him?" asked Boy. 
 
 "One of four things," said Mr. Stevens. "The 
 law forbids bodies to be taken out of the country 
 until five years after death, on account of possible 
 contagion. But by the expenditure of a great deal 
 of money for embalming and packing, etc., the 
 transfer to the States can be made under great 
 difficulties. It costs as much as a thousand dollars 
 sometimes. By waiting five years, depositing the 
 body meantime in one of these vaults and paying- 
 rent for the place, one may transport it to the 
 States without objection and with only the usual 
 • 'xpense. If the body is to remain in Mexico, one
 
 MORE GUANAJUATO 369 
 
 of these i daces can be rented ( a perpetuidad 
 (pair pay-tu-ee-dad' : in perpetuity),' and it will 
 not be disturbed; if there is no one to claim it, 
 it will be kept here a year or so on the chance of 
 a claimant appearing and then, if still unclaimed, 
 will be put in the common trench with hundreds 
 of other bodies." 
 
 "Well, that's fair, I guess," said Roy. 
 
 "Yes, for with us an unclaimed body goes to the 
 Potter's Field or city burying-ground, at once, I 
 believe." 
 
 At this point, the guide inquired if they wished 
 to go into the catacombs. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens 
 looked at each other and at the children, hesi- 
 tating. 
 
 "We'll let them decide," said Mr. Stevens 
 finally, and he told them that the catacombs were 
 occupied by bodies which had formerly been in the 
 vaults but which, the rent not being renewed at 
 the end of five years, and no instruction being re- 
 ceived in regard to them, were taken out of the 
 tombs and placed in these underground corridors. 
 That is, they were brought there if the body was 
 mummified. If there were nothing left but bones,
 
 370 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 those went into the trench. "Do just as you think 
 best about going down," said Mr. Stevens, in con- 
 elusion ; and Roy and Ray, after a little shrinking 
 back, decided to go, not so much because they 
 wished to see the mummies as because they did 
 not wish to be left behind alone. A few steps 
 downward below the trap-door which a boy held 
 open for them, brought them into an anteroom 
 through the glass door of which they looked into 
 the corridor where the mummies leaned against 
 the wall, clad in white sheet-like coverings pro- 
 vided by the government. It was a grotesque 
 sight, as they stood there year after year, gradu- 
 ally falling into deeper decay, with tufts of hair 
 clinging to the skull in some cases, the teeth show- 
 ing white and ghastly, and no two of them looking 
 any more alike in death than in life. There was 
 something very dreadful about it to the children, 
 and Ray whispered to Roy as they turned away, 
 "I'd rather be burned in the crematory, and then 
 if anybody wanted to look at the ashes, I should 
 not mind." 
 
 "Well, let's get out of this," said Mr. Stevens, 
 abruptly, and they soon found themselves at the
 
 MORE GUANAJUATO 371 
 
 gate, after feeing the boy, who had presented 
 each of them with a flower plucked from the 
 cemetery flower-beds. 
 
 "We must get the view from here," said Mrs. 
 Stevens, as they stepped outside the wall, "for it 
 is said to be one of the finest in Mexico." 
 
 They sat down and looked at the city below and 
 the green hills surrounding it and melting into 
 blue ones in the distance, the little white houses 
 like dove-cots stuck here and there along the 
 ledges of the hills, the going and the coming of 
 the people on foot and on donkeys up the long, 
 steep streets, and soon the thought of the grue- 
 some things they had just seen was effaced by the 
 beauties of this wonderful scenery. When they 
 reached the hotel again and realised that they 
 must go over early to Silao to take their train 
 again for the north, the children were quite dis- 
 appointed. They felt that they had seen few- 
 places so interesting as Guanajuato and they 
 would have liked to stay much longer. 
 
 "But at Chihuahua, we shall see Cousin 
 Francis, shan't we? and he will tell us a lot about 
 the mines," said Ray, trying to console herself.
 
 372 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Yes, if we are fortunate enough to find him 
 at home." 
 
 "Well, we've got that much more of Mexico to 
 look forward to, anyhow," said Roy. 
 
 "You're getting to be a convert, aren't you, 
 Roy?" said his mother, smiling. 
 
 "It's so different and that makes it so interest- 
 ing," said Roy, in apology. "Of course, to live in, 
 it isn't half so nice as it is at home; but to travel 
 in, it's the most interesting country I ever expect 
 to see."
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 CHIHUAHUA AND HOME 
 
 At Silao, while they waited for their train, the 
 party had the odd experience of dining in an old 
 freight-car, which some Chinamen kept as a 
 restaurant. There was one car for first-class and 
 one for second- or third-class custom, and the 
 tables were set lengthwise of the car, light enter- 
 ing through the broad doors at the side, to which 
 steps had been built up. The dinner was very 
 good and things looked very clean in the first-class 
 car. 
 
 The journey from Silao to Chihuahua was only 
 moderately interesting, for after the strange and 
 foreign things they had been seeing, the northern 
 part of Mexico seemed less and less novel. Be- 
 sides, they were again on a sleeping-car and that 
 alone was enough to make the journey seem like 
 one in the States. At Aguas Calientes (Ah'-gwas 
 Cal-i-en'-tays) there was the excitement of seeing 
 
 373
 
 374 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 the venders of drawn-work, for this town is the 
 headquarters of the industry. They were not 
 allowed upon the station platform but could come 
 up to a certain railing where the passengers from 
 trains could meet them and examine their work. 
 Such beautiful work much of it was that Mrs. 
 Stevens could not resist buying a piece or two 
 and Ray also bought from her pocket-money a 
 pretty handkerchief for her best friend at home. 
 Prices went lower and lower as the time drew near 
 for the train to start, and often afterward in the 
 States Ray remembered with regret the lovely 
 things they might have bought and did not. 
 
 "What does Aguas Calientes mean?" asked 
 Roy. 
 
 "Hot waters or scalding waters," said his 
 mother. "There are very famous baths here, and 
 even that ditch over there runs hot water. Those 
 little houses are public bath-houses and before 
 they were put up the poorer natives used to bathe 
 openly in the ditch or stream. The springs are 
 about a mile away, I believe." 
 
 "The conductor has just told me," said Mr. 
 Stevens, "that the baths first erected were named
 
 CHIHUAHUA AND HOME 375 
 
 for John the Baptist and the apostles, and each 
 had its name and its temperature written over the 
 entrance." 
 
 "I wish we could have stopped here," said Ray. 
 
 "Some time you may come again," said Mr. 
 Stevens. "But both Silao and Aguas Calientes 
 are railroad towns with large railway shops and 
 much affected by American influences. They are 
 much less Mexican in atmosphere than the more 
 southern places, and likely to be still less so as 
 time goes on." 
 
 "I always used to think," said Roy, "that the 
 minute you crossed the line from one country to 
 another, things were different; but it seems as if 
 we were getting back to the States and American 
 ways by degrees, seeing these northern towns like 
 this." 
 
 Zacatecas (Zah-ca-tay'-cas) was the only other 
 town on the way that made them wish to stop. It 
 is one of the principal mining cities of the world, 
 yet it looks from a distance like a collection of 
 Arab dwellings. The blue and yellow of some of 
 these stand out in the sharp sunlight, making the 
 town look like a lovely mosaic in pale colours.
 
 370 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 ' ' I daresay we are going over some of the mines 
 now, ' ' said Mr. Stevens as the road curved in and 
 out among the hills, "and probably some of those 
 donkey-trains we see are loaded with silver ore." 
 
 The train was late, as usual, owing + o the rainy 
 season and the danger of washouts, and had to 
 proceed very carefully. Indeed, with all its 
 caution, there were times when it swayed danger- 
 ously from side to side on its uneven road-bed. 
 At one place, they were delayed for two or three 
 hours by a freight-wreck ahead of them. 
 
 "If we were at home, we should be afraid the 
 next train would run into us," said Roy, "but 
 when there are only about two trains a day you 
 don't have to be anxious about collisions." 
 
 Night came on, and morning, which should have 
 brought them into Chihuahua in time for break- 
 fast, found them still on the road. Their welcome 
 was all the warmer, however, when they finally 
 arrived toward noon and found their cousins, who 
 had been at the station several times in the course 
 of the morning. 
 
 The family were soon sitting in the pretty little 
 patio of Mr. Francis Stevens' cottage, not far
 
 CHIHUAHUA AND HOMK 377 
 
 from the new park or alaineda in the American 
 quarter of the city, discussing Mexico and the 
 Mexicans. As they had expected, Chihuahua 
 proved to be even more Americanised than Aguas 
 Calientes. When they drove out in the afternoon. 
 they found the public buildings looked more like 
 those at home than any they had seen; but there 
 was one thing that connected the city closely with 
 all that they had seen before and that was the fact 
 that Hidalgo and his followers had been im- 
 prisoned and executed here. The children climbed 
 up by a winding stairway into the old tower where 
 the patriots had waited for their execution, and 
 wondered whether they themselves could have 
 been patriots to the death. 
 
 When Mr. Francis pointed out to them in the 
 Plaza the monument to Hidalgo, on the spot where 
 the execution took place, they stood a long time 
 looking at it as if they would fix it in their 
 memories. 
 
 The Cathedral itself, begun in 1717 and finished 
 after about seventy-five j T ears, interested the 
 children chiefly on account of the story of its 
 building. Instead of using a scaffolding, the
 
 378 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 builders raised the earth about it as the walls went 
 up, and the materials were carried up this earthen 
 runway. By the time the towers were finished, 
 the runway extended away beyond the limits of 
 the Plaza. 
 
 "Of all the funny ways to build!" exclaimed 
 Roy. 
 
 "What do you suppose they did with all the 
 earth afterward?" asked Ray. 
 
 "Oh, scraped it away with their hands into 
 those reed mats, I suppose," said Roy, scornfully. 
 "It would be their way of doing things." 
 
 "They are pretty slow and awkward in their 
 methods," said Mr. Francis, laughing, "but I 
 hardly think they are as bad as that. The church 
 cost eight hundred thousand dollars and was built 
 with a tax levied by the priests on the mine of 
 Santa Eulalia, near the city. They were to have 
 two reales on every pound of silver. So you see 
 what a very rich mine it must be. It is one of the 
 oldest, too." 
 
 "Won't you tell us something about the mines 
 in Mexico, Cousin Francis?" asked Roy. 
 
 "I suppose you know," said Mr. Francis, "that
 
 Jr. 
 
 < 
 
 Ed 
 
 O 
 
 2
 
 CHIHUAHUA AND HOME 370 
 
 the principal product is silver. There is some 
 gold, but not much, so far as known, though the 
 Aztecs had many gold ornaments. Then there is 
 an iron mountain in the State of Durango, and 
 there is considerable coal, with some lead and 
 copper. Sulphur has been mined from the crater 
 of Popocatepetl since the days of the Conquest — 
 it is in a very pure state. ' ' 
 
 "Who owns the mines?" asked Roy. 
 
 "Mexicans largely, though there are some 
 foreign companies, and many of the mining- 
 engineers, assayers, etc., are foreigners. The 
 Americans, English, and Germans, are all invest- 
 ing and gradually introducing modern machinery. 
 In the mines where old methods are used, the 
 miners climb up and down shafts of several 
 hundred feet in depth by ladders or by steps cut 
 in the side of the shaft. Some have the old wind- 
 lass arrangement, worked by mules." 
 
 "The mines are not very easy to get to, are 
 they?" asked Mrs. Stevens. 
 
 "Not very. It means a long trip on horseback 
 or on donkeys. If you were going to stay longer 
 I should urge your going up with me, but I could
 
 380 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 not return with you in less than four or five days 
 and that would interfere with your plans, if you 
 are really bent on going on as soon as you 
 say. ' ' 
 
 1 'Yes, we must not stay," said Mr. Stevens, 
 regretfully, "but one of these days, perhaps, Roy 
 and I will come down again and then we shall 
 certainly want to see the inside of several mines. 
 There is so much more to be seen in Mexico than 
 we had any idea of that one visit is certainly not 
 going to be enough. This time, we have looked at 
 the old things and places and observed the Mexi- 
 cans. Another time, we shall study the mines and 
 mills and great manufactures and observe modern 
 Mexico." 
 
 "It is going to be a great country," said Mr. 
 Francis, "for it has wonderful resources and it is 
 making steady and rapid progress. If the people 
 at large can only keep up with this progress, it has 
 a wonderful future. Given the administration of 
 a second Diaz, the people also will progress in 
 education, in freedom from superstition, and in 
 appreciation of all that goes to make modern 
 civilisation. For the present and doubtless for
 
 CHIHUAHUA AND HOME 381 
 
 years to conic, they will need a firm hand at the 
 
 wheel and a sagacious head." 
 
 "One thing I'd like to know," said Roy, 
 thought t'ul I v. "I'd like to know what President 
 Diaz himself would say now if he had to prophesy 
 about Mexico twenty-five years from now." 
 
 Mr. Francis smiled. "He could do it truly if any 
 one could, for he knows the character and the 
 possibilities of the Mexican people and he has 
 often shown a far-sightedness in his plans that 
 amounted to prophecy. But he would probably 
 say 'Quien sabef 'Who knows?' " 
 
 A day later, the Stevenses said good-bye to 
 their cousins and set out upon their last day's 
 travel in Mexico. It was an uneventful day's 
 journey, though Kay said, when they stopped at a 
 tiny station where a few peons had gathered, "I 
 feel like looking hard at everything that isn't 
 American because it's going to be gone so 
 soon, even if I've seen it a hundred times 
 before. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, so do I," said her mother, "and yet I 
 shall be glad to be on our own soil again. How 
 about you, Roy?"
 
 382 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO 
 
 "Well, [Ve had enough this time," said Roy, 
 "but I'd be rather sorry if I thought I wasn't ever 
 coming again." 
 
 "I hope it won't all be changed and just like the 
 States next time," said Ray. 
 
 "Don't be afraid," said her father. "There 
 will still be the old ruins and there will still be the 
 people — it won't be so easy to change them in a 
 short time. But it is true that the ways of doing 
 things will change — we shall have to go away 
 from the highways to find primitive customs 
 and costumes in a few years. The peons are 
 giving up the serape in the manufacturing 
 towns and the white suits and sombreros may 
 follow." 
 
 It was late evening, owing to further delays, 
 when they crossed the Rio Grande at El Paso, 
 leaving the Mexican town of Juarez behind them. 
 Lights shone along the banks of the river — the 
 American customs officials came through the train 
 and called upon the passengers to declare their 
 drawn-work — the fine new station was crowded 
 witli people, and everywhere they heard American 
 expressions in American voices — "The Mexicans
 
 CHIHUAHUA AM) HOME 383 
 
 have such nice voices," said Kay, sighing, — and 
 soon they were swallowed up in the crowd, on the 
 way to their connecting train. Mexico, the land of 
 manana (to-morrow), was behind them, and the 
 land of to-day was before them. 
 
 THE END
 
 38-4 
 
 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
 MEXICAN NATIONAL HYMN. 
 
 Music by Don Jaime Nunc Words by Don Francisco 
 Gonzalez Bocanegra. 
 Coro. 
 
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 386 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
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 1-1 1 1 Bangrientos combates los viste, 
 Por tu amor palpitando sus senos, 
 Arrostrar la metralla sereuos, 
 Y la uiuerte 6 la gloria buscar. 
 
 Si el recuerdo de antiguas hazafiaa 
 De tus hijos inflama la mente, 
 Los recuerdos del triunfo tu frente 
 Volverdu ininortales ;i urnar. Coro. 
 
 Colno al golpe del rayo la encina 
 Se derrumba hasta el hondo torrente 
 Ladiscordia vencida, inipotente, 
 A los pies del arcaugel cayo. 
 
 Ya no mas de tus hijos la sangre 
 Se derrama en contienda de hermanos ; 
 S61o encueutra el acero en sus manos 
 Quieu tu uombre sagrado insult6. Coro. 
 
 Vuelve altivo d los patrios hogares 
 El guerrero a cantar su victoria, 
 Ostentaudo las palmas de gloria 
 Que supiera en la lid conquistar. 
 
 Tornardnse sus lauros saugrientos 
 Eu guinialdas de niirtos y rosas, 
 Que el amor de las hijas y esposas, 
 Tambi6n sabe d los bravos premiar. Coro 
 
 Y el que al golpe de ardiente metralla 
 De la patria en las aras sucumba, 
 Obtendrd eu rcompensa una tumba 
 Donde brille de gloria la luz. 
 
 Y de Iguala la ensena querida 
 A su espada sangrienta enlazada, 
 De laurel inmortal coronada 
 Formard de su fosa la cruz. Coro. 
 
 i Patria I ; Patria! tus hijos te juran 
 Exhalar en tus aras su aliento 
 Si el clarfn con su belico acento 
 Los convoca d lidiar con valor. 
 
 jPara tf las guinialdas de oliva! 
 ;Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria! 
 |Un laurel para tf de victoria! 
 jUn sepulcro para ellos de honor! 
 
 CORO. 
 
 Mexicanos, al grito de guerra 
 El acero aprestad y el bridou, 
 V retiemble «*n su centro la tieiTa, 
 Al sonoro rugir del cafidn.
 
 390 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
 In bloodiest combats thou seed them, 
 For thy honor their hearts bravely beating, 
 Serenely the death-missiles meeting, 
 And seeking or glory or death. 
 If the records of ancient achievements, 
 Of thy children illumine the spirit, 
 Equal triumphs their proivess shall merit, 
 To wear on thy brow as a wreath. Chorus. 
 
 As the live-oak at stroke of the lightning 
 Crashes into the stream deeply flowing, 
 Discord, vanquished and powerless showing, 
 At the feet of the archangel lay. 
 Now no more shall the blood of thy children 
 Be shed in a conflict of brothers, 
 The sword in their hands for no others 
 
 Than those ivho thy name would betray. Chorus. 
 
 Proud returns to his country maternal 
 The warrior, his victory chanting, 
 His trophies triumphantly vaunting 
 That he fought for and won on the field. 
 His garlands of laurel, all gory, 
 Into myrtles and roses converted, 
 Fit guerdon for heroes brave-hearted, 
 Such as women xoith love ever yield. Chorus. 
 
 And he who by murderous weapons 
 For his country expires at her altars, 
 From the justice that nevermore falters, 
 Shall receive a bright, glorious tomb. 
 Of Iguala the banner beloved, 
 
 Hound his still bleeding sabre entwining, 
 With laurel immortal combining, 
 Forms the cross pointing up from the gloom. 
 
 Chorus 
 country, my country, thy children 
 Their life-blood to thee have devoted, 
 When the clarion's call, brazen-throated, 
 To battle shall summon the brave. 
 For thee then the garlands of olive ! 
 For them a most glorious memorial I 
 The laurels for thy brow the aureole ! 
 For them deathless fame and the grave ! 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Mexicans, at the sound of the war-cry, 
 
 The sword and the charger prepare, 
 Let the earth to its innermost tremble 
 
 When the cannon's deep roar shakes the air.
 
 LA PALO. MA. 
 LA PALOMA. 
 
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 392 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
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 394 
 
 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
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 396 
 
 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
 gau,melohan pe - gau y 
 
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 When I went out from Havana, Heaven bless me I 
 No one but my own self espied me on the ivay, 
 And a pretty Mexican — there you see me ! — 
 Who came after, following me, si Sehor. 
 
 If to thy window cometh a dove, 
 
 Treat it with endearments, for it is myself, dear. 
 
 Tell it thy love tales, joy of my being, 
 
 And crown it with flowers, for it is my own. 
 
 Ah, chinita, say yes! Ah, but give me thy love! 
 
 Oh, come with me, come with me, 
 
 Chinita, my home awaits my love. 
 
 Ah, chinita, say yes, Ah, but give me thy love. 
 
 Ah, come vjith me, come with me, chinita, 
 
 My home awaits my love. 
 
 Have I not sfiown thee, have I not shown thee, 
 
 The quadrilateral, so much besung, 
 
 That the Austrians have presented, 
 
 To my master, so much portrayed? 
 
 And the little paper certificate 
 
 That the war has terminated, 
 
 With three seals they have sealed it for me, 
 
 Have sealed it, reseated it, ami sealed it.
 
 LA GOLONDRlNA. 
 LA GOLONDRlNA. 
 
 CAXCION I'OI'ILAK. 
 
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 400 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO. 
 
 Adonde iril veloz y fatigada 
 La golondrina que de aqui se va, 
 
 si en el viento se hallard, extraviada 
 Buscando abrigo y no lo encontrard- 
 
 Junto a mi lecho le pondre' su nido 
 
 En donde pueda la estacion pasar ; 
 Tambien yo estoy en la region perdido 
 cielo santo ! y sin poder volar. 
 
 Where ivill it go, the swift and weary swallow 
 
 That from this place is winging forth its way ? 
 What if a straying loind it blindly follow, 
 
 Seeking where none exists a sheltering stay ! 
 Near to my bedside shall it make its homing, 
 
 While the long season slowly passes by, 
 For also I in this strange land am roaming, 
 
 And I, blessed heaven, can not fly ! 
 
 Deje tambien mi patria idolatrada, 
 
 Esa mansi6n que me miro nacer, 
 Mi vida es hoy errante y angustiada 
 
 I ya no puedo a mi mansion volver. 
 Ave querida, amada peregrina, 
 
 Mi corazon al tuyo estrechare, 
 Oire tu canto, tierna golondrina, 
 
 Itecordare mi patria y llorare. 
 
 1 too my cherished country have deserted, 
 
 The little house where first I saw the light — 
 My life has wretched been since I departed, 
 
 Nor toward that home can I again iving flight. 
 Beloved swallow, pilgrim dear and slender, 
 
 My heart with thine companionship shall keep, 
 Hearing thy voice in song, swallow tender, 
 
 I shall recall my land and softly iveep.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aguacate, The, 110 
 Aguas Calientes, 373 
 Alamo, The, 28, S3 
 
 American Young Men in Mex- 
 ico, 364. 
 Animals, Domestic, 43, 213, 216 
 Aztecs, The, 131 
 
 Baths of Tehuacan, 318 
 
 Beggars, 67, 71, 198, 272 
 Borda Garden, The, 19!) 
 Brooms, 46 
 Bull-fights, 114 
 Burial Laws, 368 
 Burro-riding, 227 
 
 Cake-venders, 252 
 
 Calendar Stone, The, 147 
 Carlotta, Empress, The, 153 
 Cathedral of Chihuahua, 377 
 Cathedral of City of Mexico, 
 
 65 
 Cathedral of Cuernavaca, 201, 
 
 2 > j 
 
 Cathedral of Guadalupe, 80, 84 
 Cathedral of Puebla, 240 
 Cave-dwellers, 267 
 Cemetery and Catacombs at 
 
 Guanjuato, 367 
 Chapultepec, 31, 158 
 Chihuahua, 376 
 Cholula, Pyramid of, 137, 254 
 
 Christmas, American, in Mex- 
 ico, 237 
 
 Church, Oldest, in Western 
 Hemisphere, 248 
 
 City of Mexico, 55 
 
 Coffee, 332 
 
 Concerts, Band, in Cuernavaca, 
 193 
 
 Confetti, 119 
 
 Conquest of Mexico, 132 
 
 Convicts, 337 
 
 Corn-cribs, 251 
 
 Cortez, Hernando, 136, 221, 276 
 
 Cuauhtemoc, 140 
 
 Cuernavaca, 181, 192, 195 
 
 Cuernavaca, History of, 221 
 
 Customs at Mexican frontier, 
 34 
 
 Diaz, Porfirio, 91, 123 
 
 Education, 104 
 
 Esperanza, 323 
 Eucalyptus plasters, 234 
 Evil eye, The, 24 
 Execution, An, 335 
 
 Family, Mexican, A, 265 
 Federal district, The, 129 
 Flower-market of City of Mex- 
 ico, 70 
 Fourth of July, 118 
 
 401
 
 402 
 
 INDEX 
 
 French invasion, The, 94, 152, 
 
 333 
 Funerals, 90 
 
 Game of Mexican History, 17, 
 
 26 
 Gardens, Floating, 175 
 Golondrina, La, 194 
 Golondrina, La (music), 397 
 Government of Mexico, 101, 130 
 Greetings, Mexican, 320 
 Grito, The, 77 
 Guanajuato, 342, 351, 363 
 
 Haciendas, 51, 230 
 
 Hidalgo, Padre, 76, 157, 360, 
 
 377 
 Hotel in Cuernavaca, 186 
 Hotel Yturbide, 59 
 
 Images, Sacred, 250, 274, 330 
 Independence Bell of Mexico, 
 
 76 
 Independence, Mexican, War 
 
 of, 77 
 Inquisition, The, 223 
 
 Juarez, Benito, 93, 95, 99, 156 
 
 Kitchens, 263, 306 
 
 Laundry, A, 53 
 
 Letter-writers, Professional, 356 
 
 Library, public, A, 219 
 
 Maltrata, 326 
 
 Map of Mexican journey, 1 
 Market-places, 195, 241, 247 
 Maximilian, Emperor, The, 97, 
 153, 232, 333 
 
 Mexican War, The, 29 
 Mexico, Northern, 43 
 Mines and mining, 49, 378 
 Mint at Guanajuato, The, 365 
 Mitla, Journey to, 278 
 Mitla, Ruins of, 295, 314 
 Mitla, Village of, 290 
 Money, 38 
 
 Moctezuma II, 135, 159 
 Morelos, General, 223, 225 
 
 Napoleon III, 152 
 National holiday, The, 78 
 National hymn, The (music), 
 
 384 
 National Museum, The, 146, 156 
 National palace, The, 76 
 Navy-yard, A, in the moun- 
 tains, 142 
 Nixtamal, 197 
 
 Oaxaca, 271 
 Orizaba, 328 
 Oxen and ox-carts, 282 
 
 Paloma, La (music), 391 
 
 Paseo de la Reforma, The, 144 
 
 Patios, 58, 106, 186, 292, 310 
 
 Pawnshop, government, A, 357 
 
 Pedregal, The, 179 
 
 Pelota, 111 
 
 Peon, heroic, The, 360 
 
 Peons, 146, 214 
 
 Peon's home, A, 212 
 
 Porteros, 189, 262 
 
 Pottery, Cuernavaca, 184, 207 
 
 Puebla de los Angeles, 240 
 
 Puebla, History of, 242 
 
 Queretaro, 344 
 Quetzalcoatl, 137, 150, 259
 
 INDKX 
 
 40:3 
 
 R lira Irs, The, 102, 163 
 
 Sacrifldal Stone, The, 148 
 
 Sad Indian, The, 149 
 
 Sails of stone, 85 
 
 San Anton, Village of, 205 
 
 San Antonio (Texas), 22 
 
 San Luis Potosi, 47 
 
 Santa Anita, Village of, 173 
 
 Santa Anna, General, 86, 93 
 
 Santo Domingo, Church of 
 
 (Oaxaca), 275 
 Scenic journey, A, 325 
 School, American, The, 107 
 School, public, Mexican, A, 164 
 School, military, National, The, 
 
 162 
 Schools, Night, 348, 362 
 Serape, The, 53 
 Silver mines, 343, 363 
 
 Tajo de Nochistongo, 313 
 
 Tamale, The, 128 
 
 Texas, Republic of, The, 28 
 
 Theatre Juarez, 353 
 
 Tlacolula, 287 
 
 Tlaltenango, 209 
 
 Tlaxcala, 245 
 
 Tortilla, The, 109 
 
 Tram ride from Tehuaean to 
 
 Esperanza, 319 
 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
 
 32 
 Tree of La Noehe Triste, 13 J, 
 
 139 
 Tule, Great tree of, 285 
 
 Valley of Mexico, 55, 143 
 Viga canal, The,. 167 
 Virgin of Guadalupe, 80 
 
 Winter weather, 149, 237 
 
 Yturbide, General and Em- 
 peror, 61 
 
 Zacatecas, 375 
 Zocalo, The, 65
 
 By CARROLL WATSON RANKIN 
 
 TWO STORIES FOR GIRLS 
 
 Dandelion Cottage 
 
 Illustrated by Mines. Shinn and Finlky. $1.50 
 
 Four young girls secure the use of a tumble-down 
 cottage, on condition that they shall keep the grounds 
 in order. They set up housekeeping under numerous 
 disadvantages, and have many amusements and queer 
 experiences. 
 
 "A capital story. It is refreshing to come upon an author 
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 wholesome, and withal most entertaining."— Outlook. 
 
 "The humor of the tale is well borne out in the pictures." — 
 Dial. 
 
 " The story is one of cheerfulness and fun, and is to be warmly 
 commended as one of the best of the season " — Boston Herald. 
 
 " The story is a story for its own sake, brightly and cheerfully 
 told."— Chicago Tr ibune. 
 
 The Girls of Gardenville 
 
 Illustrated by Mary Wellman. i2mo. $1.50 
 
 Interesting, amusing, and natural stories of a girls' 
 club— "The Sweet Sixteen" of Gardenville. The 
 doings of these girls at home, among themselves assem- 
 bled, or on excursions, are pleasantly, healthfully, and 
 wholesomely related. 
 
 " It is pleasant to have another book about a group of merry, 
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 ful faults, ' The Sweet Sixteen ' Club made fudge, and went on 
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 00k. 
 
 " The same cheerfulness of activity that hovered around ' Dan- 
 delion Cottage' is perceptible around 'The Girls of Garden- 
 ville ' "—Chicago Tribune. 
 
 " Will captivate as many adults as if it were written for them. 
 . . . The secret of Mrs. Rankin's charm is her naturalness . . . 
 real girls . . . not young ladies with 'pigtails,' but girls of six- 
 teen who are not twenty-five— deserves much credit ... as 
 original as amusing . . . positively refreshing."— Boston Tran- 
 script. 
 
 Henry Holt and Company 
 
 Publishers (viii '06) New York
 
 By MARION A. TAGGART 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE LITTLE GREY HOUSE," " MISS LOCHINVAR," ETC. 
 
 Two Stories for Young Folks 
 DADDY'S DAUGHTERS 
 
 Illustrated by G. W. BRECK. #1.50 
 
 "Daddy," an admirable, patient, "literary" man, 
 who, like many of his kind, finds it a trifle hard to make 
 both ends meet, and four girls, his daughters, are dis- 
 tinctly individualized. More girls live on the other 
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 full of natural, lively young folks and their doings, yet 
 tinged throughout with the delicate refinement of the 
 sympathy between the artistic father and his girls. 
 
 "A lot of sound, hearty children provide the proper sort of 
 fun."— AT. Y. Sun. 
 
 " Miss Taggart's pleasant story is admirably adapted, not only 
 to the tastes but also to the needs of young girls. May be heartily 
 commended."— Providence Journal. 
 
 NUT BROWN JOAN 
 
 With frontispiece and decorations by BLANCHE OSTERTAG 
 
 #1-5° 
 
 Joan is an energetic, lovable girl, who has all the 
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 sponse in the hearts of older boys and girls. 
 
 "A wholesome and pretty story of a family of young people 
 not the least attractive of whom is their ugly duckling, Nut 
 Brown Joan. Her pleasant fellowship with a boy nicknamed 
 Darby is one of the nice things in this little homely history. — 
 Outlook. 
 
 "A story for older girls, well worth while, and onewhichit 
 will be well to bear in mind for a gift at the holiday season. — 
 Brooklyn Eagle. 
 
 Henry Holt and Company 
 
 Publishers <iv, '07) New York
 
 The Boys of Bob's Hill 
 
 Hy CHARLES PIERCE BURTON 
 
 Illustrated by George A. Williams. i2mo. Si. 25. 
 
 A lively story of a party of boys in a small New England 
 town. Fun, sport, and exciting adventures are every-day 
 matters. On holidays everything happening in their neigh- 
 borhood leads up to hair-breadth escapes or jolly mishaps. 
 
 " A first-rate juvenile ... a real story for the live human boy — any 
 boy will read it eagerly to the end . . . quite thrilling adventures." — 
 Chicago Ret ord-Hei al,t. 
 
 "Tom Sawyer would have been a worthy member of the Bob's Hill 
 crowd and shared their good times and thrilling adventures with 
 uncommon relish. ... A jolly group of youngsters as nearly true to 
 the real thing in boy nature as one can ever expect to find between 
 covers." — Christ ia n Register. 
 
 Nelson's Yankee Boy 
 
 By FREDERICK II. COSTELLO, author of " On Fighting 
 Decks in 1812." 
 
 Illustrated by W. H. Dunton. 121110. $1.50. 
 
 An American sailor boy is impressed by the English and 
 is present at Trafalgar and Nelson's death. The story con- 
 cludes with a sea-fight in our own War of 18 12. 
 
 " Most interesting . . . certain to be enjoyed by any intelligent 
 boy."— Outlook. 
 
 "A rattling good story."— Philadelphia Press. 
 
 " A boy of whom all ' Yankees ' may be proud ... is entertaining, 
 oftentimes thrilling. Nor is there anything improbable about it; the 
 boy is honest and true, and the whole tone of the book is invigorating." 
 — Ch icago Tr ii un r \ 
 
 Prince Henry's Sailor Boy 
 
 By OTTO VON BRUNECK. Freely Translated and 
 Adapted by Mary J. Safford 
 
 With illustrations by George A. Williams. i2mo. $1.50. 
 
 A tale of life in the German Navy to-day. Claus Erichsen 
 goes to Japan, China, Africa, and elsewhere, and has a few 
 troubles, but many more jolly adventures. 
 
 " Well written and interesting."— Dial. 
 
 " A complete and, we are sure, able picture of the life lived by a 
 German sailor lad. . . . A brisk, interesting plot."— Providence Journal. 
 
 " Excellently adapted to the taste of American youth ... a tirst- 
 rate story. . . . It has plenty of adventure."— Ph iladelphia Press. 
 
 "Told in a way to keep the young eyes steadily at work from the 
 tirst page."— Washington Star. 
 
 Henry Holt and Company 
 
 1'ulUishers ,ix, '05) New York
 
 STANDARD CYCLOPEDIAS FOR YOUNG OR OLD 
 
 CHAMPLIN'S 
 
 Young Folks' Cyclopedias 
 
 By JOHN D. CHAMPLIN 
 
 Late Associate Editor of the American Cyclopadia 
 Bound in substantial red buckram. Each volume- complete 
 in itself and sold separately. i2mo, $3.00 per volume, retail 
 
 COMMON THINGS 
 
 New, Enlarged Edition, 850 pp. Profusely Illustrated 
 
 "A book which will be of permanent value to any boy or girl to 
 whom it may be given, and which rills a place in the juvenile library, 
 never, so far as I know, supplied before." — Susan Coolidge. 
 
 PERSONS AND PLACES 
 
 New, Up-to-Date Edition, 985 pp. Over 375 Illustrations 
 
 "We know copies of the work to which their young owners turn 
 instantly for information upon every theme about which they have 
 questions to ask. More than this, we know that some of these copies 
 are read daily, as well as consulted; that their owners turn the leaves 
 as they might those of a fairy book, reading intently articles of which 
 they had not thought before seeing them, and treating the book simply 
 as one capable of furnishing the rarest entertainment in exhaustless 
 quantities," — N. Y. Evening Post. 
 
 LITERATURE AND ART 
 
 604 pp. 270 Illustrations 
 
 "Few poems, plays/novels, pictures, statues, or fictitious characters 
 that children — or most of their parents — of our day are likely to inquire 
 about will be missed here. Mr. Champlin's judgment seems unusually 
 sound." — The Nation. 
 
 GAMES AND SPORTS 
 
 By John D. Champlin and Arthur Bostwick 
 
 Revised Edition, 784 pp. 900 Illustrations 
 
 "Should form a part of every juvenile library, whether public or 
 private." — The Independent. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 By John D. Champlin, assisted by Frederick A. Lucas 
 725 pp. Over 800 Illustrations 
 
 "Here, in compact and attractive form, is valuable and reliable in- 
 formation on every phase of natural history, on every item of interest 
 to the student. Invaluable to the teacher and school, and should be on 
 every teacher's desk for ready reference, and the children should be 
 taught to go to this volume for information useful and interesting." — 
 Journal of Education. 
 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK (U, \)6) CHICAGO
 
 1158 00684 5860 (/\/ 
 
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