Luis Mendoza had long been an object of avaricious suspicion to the government. He was rich, fond of foreigners—intelligent. All these were crimes; and it was known that he held correspondence with the friends of the enemy, if not with Rivera himself. Be this as it may, he was no partisan of the government; and the maxim of Rosas is, “those that are not for me are against me.” Mendoza was a marked man, and Le Brun was set to mark him; and, observe this, others marked Le Brun. Oh, how he now loathed his position! the suitor of his intended victim’s daughter—the friend, the private friend, of the very man whose every motion he was to watch and report—to betray the friend who reposed in him implicit trust. Can the ingenuity of tyranny go further than this? Le Brun knew well that Mendoza had held correspondence with the Unitarian party, who were opposed to Rosas, but this he never reported. He knew well that Mendoza hated the tyranny and policy of the Federals, and that the Unitarians expected to find in him a rich and influential supporter, if ever their party predominated; and this he did report, because he knew full well the government were aware of it. Thus did Le Brun seek a middle course, until he almost began to fancy that he was suspected himself; and thus, thoroughly disgusted with his position, he determined at last to free himself from his ignominious espionage, give Mendoza warning of his perilous situation, and, when every thing was arranged for his escape from the country, he would then take the credit for giving information, when it would be too late. Thus he would gain time to arrange his own complicated affairs, seek out Mendoza in his exile, and fulfil his dearest hopes by marrying Anita Mendoza.
Such was the scheme which Le Brun had formed to extricate himself from the troubled waters in which he perceived himself beginning to founder; and in this scheme he would no doubt have succeeded, had not the accidental incarceration of our honest friend Tom Thorne, and the bold freedom of his speech before the magistrate, forced him to commence his scheme at once and prematurely, if he wished to avoid the suspicion of friends whom he wished to save, or employers whom he wished to deceive. And with this view, the moment he was free from the presence of the juez de paz, he flew to the chacra of Mendoza.
“And how came you to know of the body that was found opposite my door?” said Mendoza to Le Brun, as they were riding together.
“Why, sir, Mr Thorne with a friend encountered it on coming from a party in the evening. They encountered some of—of the ‘Masorcheros,’” said Le Brun, (looking all round him, and whispering the phrase;) “and taking fright, I suppose, they requested to be taken to the police office for security; and before the magistrate he told what he had seen.”
“And how happened you to be there?” urged Mendoza.
“Sir,” replied the other, mingling truth and falsehood with great tact, “I had heard, nay knew, that the government were suspicious of you: the number of massacres the preceding night alarmed me for your safety. Making an excuse of a criminal complaint against a servant, I repaired to the juez de paz, to find out, if possible, upon what grounds their suspicious were founded. Thus we were engaged when Thorne entered. Whether he heard your name mentioned I know not, but Mr Thorne, sir, is suspicious of me. Yes, sir, I verily believe that Mr Thorne, in his jealousy—yes, it must be jealousy of my favour in the eyes of your daughter, that makes Thorne suspect me. Good God! Mendoza, to what have I fallen when I should be suspected by an idle, champagne-swilling babbler, of betraying the man to whom I am so much indebted, who, I may say, has made me what I am, and who has it in his power to make me happy or miserable for life. Oh, sir, sir! what a wretched country this is, when one learns to distrust even their best friends.”
“Come, come, Le Brun, not so bad as that yet. But, Don Felipe, have I not often told you that you were in too high favour with these hypocritical cut-throat miscreants in office?”
“And if I have found favour, which I never sought for, have not you reaped the benefit more than me? What have I to fear from them? I, who am supposed to be of their party, rat them! Should your skins have passed the custom-house? Could Mendoza’s gold in Mendoza’s name have been shipped to invest abroad? Could Mendoza, the Unitarian, have procured passports for the Unitarian brothers or compadres? And now, sir, at this very moment I am seeking to do for you what you have often asked me to do for others. That remark of yours, Mendoza, has nearly driven me distracted.”
“Don Felipe, forgive me! we are too much bound up together for me to suspect you now. Have you not the promise of my daughter’s hand? have you not the command of all my means? I believe, I know that I am an object of suspicion. I know that, at the present time, the miscreants stand at no obstacles; that my money would be instruments to strengthen their hands. I know you have saved my friends, and I believe you are anxious to save me. Forgive me for expressing my sentiments of horror against those who render it necessary that honest men and quiet citizens should seek of security at the hands of others.”
“Ay, sir, and these others not only thereby risk their own safety, but may be branded as traitors for so doing.”