126 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



up with me from La Union, his intention to join Mora- 

 zan's expedition, and his change of purpose in conse- 

 quence of meeting Morazan defeated on the road ; that 

 as yet he was not molested only because he was stay- 

 ing at my house. I was disturbed by this communica- 

 tion. I was open to the imputation of taking advan- 

 tage of my official character to harbour a partisan. I 

 was the only friend the captain had, and of course de- 

 termined to stand by him ; but he was not only an ob- 

 ject of suspicion, but actually known ; for much less 

 cause men were imprisoned and shot ; in case of any 

 outbreak, my house would not be a protection ; it was 

 best to avoid any excitement, and to have an under- 

 standing at once. With this view I returned to the 

 chief of the state, and mentioned the circumstances under 

 which we had travelled together, with the addition that, 

 as to myself, I would have taken a much more question- 

 able companion rather than travel alone ; and as to the 

 captain, if he had happened to be thrown ashore on their 

 coast, he would very likely have taken a campaign on 

 their side ; that he was not on his way to join the expe- 

 dition when we met Morazan, and assured him • most 

 earnestly that now he understood better the other side 

 of the question, and I would answer for his keeping 

 quiet. Don Rivera Paz, as I felt well assured, was de- 

 sirous to allay rather than create excitement in the city, 

 received my communication in the best spirit possible, 

 and said the captain had better present himself to the 

 government. I returned to my house, and found the 

 captain alone, already by no means pleased with the 

 turn of his fortunes. My communication did not relieve 

 him, but he accompanied me to the Government House. 

 I could hardly persuade myself that he was the same 

 man whose dashing appearance on the road had often 



