It will be gathered from these instances that life was conducted on primitive lines in the Mexican sierras; but in the eyes of the new settlers, that rather added to than detracted from its charm. In any case, the climate went a long way towards making up for other deficiencies. Always cool enough up in the mountains for a fire of pine-boughs to be very welcome in the evening, winter was yet unknown, and day followed day of unclouded skies and brilliant sunshine; while the purple shadows on the distant heights looked so like the bloom of heather, that little imagination was needed to fancy one's self living on a Scotch moor in a perpetual June.

Then, too, it was pleasant to feel on good terms with the whole community, as, with one exception, the Englishmen were. Even the old Padre had come round by now, although at first he preached long sermons on the desirability of turning the hereticos out of the place. But he was a person of much perspicacity, and when he found that regular pay meant more fees for himself, he gave the entire village leave to work on all but the very highest saints' days. Indeed he impressed upon them from the pulpit that there were many ordinary saints in whose honour it was not at all necessary that they should take a day's holiday, as they

had been in the habit of doing; on the contrary, it was much better for them to keep on working for him and for their families-that was the relative order in which he put it. With all the odd reals and pesetas that he could squeeze out of his parishioners, his reverence was by no means wealthy, and as marriage fees were higher than any others, and formed his principal source of revenue, he promoted holy matrimony as if it had been a limited liability company. Left to

themselves, the Indians would have dispensed with it as a superfluous and expensive commodity; but their priest kept a very wide open eye upon them, and at the first symptom of lovemaking, took them off and married them at once.

A little later on, this padre grew tired of his mountain cure, and resolved on going to the city of Mexico. But he reflected that it would be a pity to leave any more money than he need, to be gathered in by his successor. So he made it widely known that before going he would marry any one who wished him to do so for the low sum of $10. He gathered in a few devoted couples at that price; but as soon as no more were forthcoming he dropped his fee to $5, with a pathetic reminder that he would soon be far from them, and unable to bind them together any longer. This brought in several

more lovers hovering on the verge of matrimony, who thought the offer too cheap to be resisted. As soon as the holy man was sure that there was not another $5 in the entire bachelor community, he said that he would perform the ceremony for a sheep, then for a pig, and so on, down to a fowl, until the whole country-side was married, and he departed with a rich harvest, leaving his successor to groan over the prospect of no fees coming in until some of the children grew up!

Of course all Mexicans, Indians included, are devout sons of the Church-and yet- ! There are out-of-the-way corners of the sierras where sometimes stray fragments of strange, wild stories can be heard about temples yet devoted to Aztec gods, which are hidden away in mountain fastnesses, and whose whereabouts are known only to the few tribes who, through all persecution and change, have kept the faith of their fathers. Outwardly devoted to the religion of the Spaniards, in secret they do homage and sacrifice to the old, old gods, whose day is over and whose power gone. There may be a little truth in these tales. No man knows how much. Indian races can keep their secrets well, and Mexico is a country where all things are possible, and most things come to pass.

CHAPTER XIII.

A BRUSH WITH BANDITTI.

TREACHERY IN CAMP-THE EX-MANAGER, DON EDUARDO, AND HIS SCHEME OF REVENGE THE GATHERING OF THE ENEMY-A DISCONTENTED PEON-SEBASTIANO DRUNK AND SEBASTIANO SOBER -THE PLOT LEAKS OUT-PECULIAR ARRANGEMENTS FOR DEFENCE -A SMART CAPTURE AN INSTANCE OF SUMMARY JUSTICEPOWER OF THE DISTRICT CACIQUE-A SUPPORTER OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN-AN OLD BATTLE-GROUND-THE CACIQUE'S DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGHT DEVOTION OF THE TRIBESMEN TO THEIR CHIEF-THE CLANNISH FEELING STILL EXISTENT IN

MEXICO.

ALL things considered, for a mining camp the picturesque little Indian town was pleasant enough, and the Englishmen thought themselves in a perfect Garden of Eden, compared with other places they had known. But, like the original garden, this one too had its little snake. In the present case the serpent took the shape of a former Mexican manager of the mines, who, before the advent of the English company, had been a person of much importance, able to cheat and bully the peons to

his heart's content, with little fear of being called to account. He had tried to continue this process under the new rule, and had been dismissed in consequence. Therefore he thirsted for the blood of every foreigner in the country, but especially for that of the superintendent who filled his post. He had contrived to annoy the entire staff in various little ways ever since his dismissal, but he did nothing overt until about a year from the time that they first arrived in the town. At this period some alterations seemed to be necessary in the original form of the company, and Jack had to journey to England in order to arrange the matter satisfactorily; leaving the English superintendent, together with the cashier and assayer, in charge, during his absence.

The ex-manager, Don Eduardo, thought that with only three of the hated gringoes on the spot, the time had arrived for him to carry out a little scheme of revenge which had been in his mind for a long while. During his management he had been accustomed to pay the peons 60 per cent of their wages in spoilt beans and maize, and only 40 per cent in cash. Therefore when the new company paid them entirely in coin, the natives thought at first that it would not last, but finding that the pay-rolls continued to be