CARRERA AT QUE ZALTEN ANG O. 207 



desisted from his immediate purpose of shooting the 

 cura, and delivered him over to the soldiers. Don 

 Juan Lavanigna was saved by Carrera's secretary, who 

 exhibited in El Tiempo, the government paper of Gua- 

 timala, an extract from a letter written by Don Juan to 

 a friend in Guatimala, praising Carrera's deportment on 

 his previous entry into Quezaltenango, and the disci- 

 pline and good behaviour of his troops. 



Early the next morning Carrera marched into Quez- 

 altenango, with the cura and Don Juan as prisoners. 

 The municipality waited upon him in the plaza ; but, un- 

 happily, the Indian intrusted with the letter to Morazan 

 had loitered in the town, and at this unfortunate mo- 

 ment presented it to Carrera. Before his secretary had 

 finished reading it, Carrera, in a transport of fury, 

 drew his sword to kill them on the spot with his own 

 hand, wounded Molina, the alcalde-mayor, and two oth- 

 er members of the municipality, but checked himself 

 and ordered the soldiers to seize them. He then rode 

 to the corregidor, where he again broke out into fury, 

 and drew his sword upon him. A woman in the room 

 threw herself before the corregidor, and Carrera struck 

 around her several times, but finally checked himself 

 again, and ordered the corregidor to be shot unless 

 he raised five thousand dollars by contributions upon 

 the town. Don Juan and the cura he had locked up in 

 a room with the threat to shoot them at five o'clock that 

 afternoon unless they paid him one thousand dollars 

 each, and the former two hundred, and the latter one 

 hundred to his secretary. Don Juan was the principal 

 merchant in the town, but even for him it was difficult 

 to raise that sum. The poor cura told Carrera that he 

 was not worth a cent in the world except his furniture 

 and books. No one was allowed to visit him except 



