20 i , Ten Years of my Life. 



pone it. I\ra3be that the expected arrival of Baron Ivlagniis 

 and the lawyers inspired him again with new hope, and made 

 him think our fears for his life exaggerated. He declared to 

 my husband that he would not make the attempt to escape 

 that night, but wait for the arrival of Baron Magnus, and said 

 that a few days more or less could not matter. My husband 

 was in despair. He implored the Emperor not to be deluded 

 by false hopes, but to profit by an opportunity which might 

 never occur again. All was in vain ; the Emperor remained 

 firm. 



Mr. Bahnsen, who had heard something of the plans of 

 escape, felt very uneasy in Queretaro, and being afraid that he 

 might get into difficulties with the Liberal Government, he left 

 for San Euis Potosi, where he remained in constant fear. 



Amongst the persons employed in the preparations for 

 escape was a Liberal ex-officer, who soon after the departure 

 of Mr. Bahnsen ran ou' with two thousand dollars which had 

 been confided to him. On discovering this, I telegraphed at 

 once to Mr. Bahnsen to stop the thief; but I got only the 

 following anonymous lines in reply : " Your friends in San 

 Luis wish you would not compromise them by telegraphic 

 despatches, as you did to-day.' 



The thief had been in the house of Mr. Bahnsen, and 

 frightened that gentleman out of his senses Vjy threatening that 

 he would disclose all he knew. He said also that he had only 

 eight hundred dollars left of the money, and Mr. Bshnsen was 

 glad when the fellow left the house with his booty. 



There was at that time an American lawyer, Judge Hall, in 

 Mexico, who had to arrange some business with the Liberal 

 Government for Mr. Halyday, of New York. Mr. Hall was 

 from California. He was an able lawyer, well versed in Mexi- 

 can law, and understood Spanish pertectly well. I spoke to 

 the I^mperor about Judge Hall, whom he saw, and resolved to 

 employ him for his defence. 



J udge Hall knew of the whole afi"air of the escape, and had 

 taken charge of the horses bought for it. 



It will be seen that I was perfectly right when I said that 

 the men whom my husband had employed for the escape of 

 the Emperor had no other intentions than to extort money. 

 When the escape was postponed and the arrival of the foreign 

 ministers and lawyers announced, they were afraid that the 



