A CORNER OF THE MARKET-PLACE.
"I can best explain the matter by giving an illustration," Señor Sanchez replied. "There is a hacienda called Venta de Los Pagarros about twenty-five miles from Tepotitlan, which belongs to Señor Perez. It is twenty miles long, and there are nearly 50,000 head of cattle upon it. Señor Perez bought it for a very low price, as the robbers had driven away the former occupants, and nobody dared live there. He strengthened his buildings so that nothing but artillery could do anything against them, and then he organized his men into a military force and armed and drilled them till they were excellent soldiers. They were all well mounted, and he had thus a force of 200 men about him, ready to start at an hour's notice by day or night. When a band of robbers was heard of, it was pursued and hunted down, and no prisoners were taken. In two years nearly 100 robbers were killed by Perez and his men, and the country became quiet. Other proprietors followed his example and brought about a peaceful state of affairs."
"That is very much the plan on which the owners of the great mills at Queretaro protected themselves," Fred remarked, and then the conversation changed to other topics.
There were broad fields of wheat and barley visible from the windows of the train, and Fred observed that the fields were separated, and protected from the incursions of cattle, by fences or hedges of cactus. Their new friend explained that it was the cheapest fence in the world to make; they had only to take the long shoots of the organ cactus, cut them into proper lengths, and stick these lengths, or sections, into a trench where the fence was to be. The dirt piled around the end of the sections serves to keep them in place, they soon take root and grow, and as they live for a hundred years or so the owner has no further trouble with them. No animal larger than a rabbit can get through such a fence, and it is equally impervious to a man unless armed with a hatchet.
Señor Sanchez left the train at a station about forty miles east of Guadalajara. The youths named a day when they would visit him, and then continued their journey to the city.
For what they saw and did in Guadalajara we will refer to Fred's note-book:
"It is a handsome city," said the youth, "and we are not surprised to learn that it is considered next to Mexico in importance. It has a dozen or more fine churches, and its cathedral, which was completed in 1618, is one of the oldest in the country, and is considered next to those of the capital and Puebla in point of wealth and grandeur. It occupies one side of the Grand Plaza, has two tapering steeples and a handsome dome, and altogether is well calculated to impress every beholder, whatever may be his religious leanings.
"The interior reminded us of the cathedral of Mexico in a general way, though the detail is greatly varied. What surprised us most was the high altar, which is thirty feet high and broad in proportion, and as rich as carving and precious metals can make it. It was made in Rome, and hauled here, we cannot tell how, over the terrible roads between this place and Vera Cruz. Some of the blocks weigh several tons, and we shuddered as we thought what an expenditure of muscle, human and quadrupedal, must have been required to bring these masses of stone from the sea-coast 500 miles away.