128 A POLITE CAPTAIN. 
gret at having carried the matter to such an 
extreme, and “ended with the usual offer of 
his services to facilitate an adjustment. 
Those, however, which most influenced my 
course, were from Don José Artalejo (Juez de 
Hacienda, Judge of the Customs, of Chihua- 
hua), who offered to become responsible for 
a favorable issue if I would peaceably oa : 
and another from a Mr. Sutton, with w 
had formerly been connected in tases. 
The manly and upright deportment of this 
gentleman had inspired me with the greatest 
confidence, and therefore caused me to re- 
spect his opinions. But, besides my obliga- 
tion to submit to a mandate from the govern- 
ment, however arbitrary and oppressive, an- 
other strong motive which induced me te 
return, in obedience to the Governor’s order, 
was a latent misgiving lest any hostile move- 
ment on my part, no matter with what justice 
or necessity, might jeopardize the interests if 
not the lives of many of my countrymen in 
Chihuahua. 
With regard to ourselves and our imme- 
diate safety, we would have found but very 
little difficulty in fighting our way out of the 
country. We were all well-armed, and many 
appeared even anxious to have a brush with 
the besiegers. However, I informed the cap- 
tain that I was willing to return to Chihua- 
hua, with the three ‘criminals, provided we 
were permitted to go armed and free, as I 
was not aware of having committed an 
crime to justify an arrest. He rejoined that 
