A mere accident caused me to decide what course to follow. Several merchants in Mexico, profiting by one of those political lulls so rare in the republic, were about to send a rich convoy of silver (conducta de platas) to Vera Cruz. Some muleteers were loading their mules with sacks of piastres, inclosed in little wooden boxes, in the great court of one of the houses in the street of Monterilla, where I lived. The sight of these preparations had drawn a great crowd of spectators around the gate, myself among the rest. When the mules had received their precious burden, they all instinctively huddled together in a corner of the court. A score of mozos de mulas (stable-helpers) kept up a running fire of oaths while at their work. Under the archway of the court the arriero[40] brought matters to a close by signing the bills of lading, and invoking the Virgin and all the saints to give him a safe and successful trip, every now and then stopping to scold the helpers. In the street, the multitude speculated on the possibility of such a rich lading surviving the perils of a long and dangerous road, while the greatest part of the spectators in tatters did not take the least pains to conceal their real sentiments.
"Canario!" said a lépero, covering a breast seamed with scars with a cloak almost torn to ribbons, "if I had only a beast like the one that cavalier has between his legs!"
And he eyed a horse, black as jet, which a ranchero was riding. The animal, tightly reined in by his rider, champed his bit furiously, and threw the foam to the right and left. I could not help admiring the beauty of the horse, and remarking at the same time the firm but easy seat of the cavalier, who seemed to manage his steed only by his own will, a quality possessed in the highest degree by the gentlemen of Mexico.
"Well! what would you do if you had, Gregorito?" asked one of his companions.
"Canario! I would accompany the conducta to a spot on the road I know well; and though, as you are well aware, I am no braggart, I should count myself very unlucky if one or two such loads did not fall to my share."
"One or two loads, Gregorito!" said the other, in a tone of surprise.
"Yes, three loads at most. You know I never had very much ambition, but the horseman there seems to have even less than I."
The ranchero, in appearance at least, looked on the whole convoy with disdain, but what was passing through his mind it was impossible to tell from his face.
Meanwhile a squadron of lancers, designed to serve as an escort, had great difficulty in keeping the crowd out of the court, among whom Gregorito was one of the most modest in the expression of his desires. The fluttering rags of the léperos, and the waving pennons at the points of their lances, formed a curious contrast. The loading was at length completed, the last mule left the court, and the detachment formed up to accompany the convoy. The crowd gradually melted away, and at last only the ranchero remained, who appeared to be counting the mules with care, besides eyeing attentively every individual mozo. At last the ranchero began to put his horse in motion. At this moment the lépero Gregorito approached him, and begged him to allow him to light his cigarette at his. A long and animated conversation, in a low tone, took place between the two men, but I paid little heed to an incident which appeared to me so insignificant. I left the place, and went home.
The sight of the convoy awakened in me a desire which I was not long in putting into execution. The departure of the convoy, whose escort I could easily join, would furnish me with the only opportunity I should ever have, not only of escaping the ennui of a diligence, but also of satiating my curiosity by exploring, in perfect security and by short stages, the long route between Mexico and Vera Cruz. The loaded mules would travel but slowly, and I could easily rejoin them, even though they were at several leagues distance from Mexico—thanks to the proved swiftness of my horse—so as to allow me a couple of days even to bid farewell to my friends. I began in all haste to make the necessary preparations for departure. My first object was to procure a horse for my servant. He had been so ill mounted during our long journey while searching for, and flying from, the bravo, that his horse had broken down entirely after we re-entered Mexico, and I had ordered him to replace it by another. As for my own steed, one of those I had brought with me from the hacienda of Noria, he nobly justified the name of Storm which I had given him; the strength and vigor which his free life in the desert had produced rendered him fit to endure the hardest fatigues.