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
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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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MEXICAN NATIONAL HYMN. 389
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.
am
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392 ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO.
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ROY AND RAY IN MEXICO.
gau,melohan pe - gau y
V ^ V
re - pe - gau, pe
gau.
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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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
who can tell us about real little girls, with sensible, ordinary
parents, girls who are neither phenomenal nor silly. Simple,
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,
natural girls, who have the attractions of innocence and youth-
ful faults, ' The Sweet Sixteen ' Club made fudge, and went on
Jjicnies, and behaved just as jolly, nice maidens should." — Out-
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
side of Daddy's garden hedge and have three jolly
brothers. Their adventures and home life make a book
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
fun and most of the tro ubles of a member of a large
family. Her experiences, when the cares of a house-
hold fall on her shoulders, will strongly appeal to any
girl's housekeeping instincts; while her love of fun,
and especially her friendships, will find sympathetic re-
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 (/\/
F
1215
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