248 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



and the comforts and elegances of living, vv^as really 

 exciting. 



As we rode along a gay calesa approached us, 

 occupied by a gentleman and lady, well dressed and 

 handsome, and, to our surprise, in the lady we rec- 

 ognised the fair subject upon whom we had begun 

 business as Daguerreotype portrait takers, and 

 whose gift of a cake had penetrated the very leath- 

 er of my saddle-bags. A few short weeks had made 

 a great change in her condition ; she was now 

 riding by the side of her lawful proprietor. We at- 

 tempted, by the courtesy of oijr salute, to withdraw 

 attention from our wearing apparel. Unluckily, 

 Doctor Cabot's sombrero was tied under his chin, 

 so that he could not get it off. Mine, with one of 

 the strings carried away, described a circle in the 

 air, and, as the doctor maliciously said, disappeared 

 under my horse. The gentleman nodded conde- 

 scendingly, but it was flattering ourselves to believe 

 that the lady took any notice of us whatever. 



But though old friends forgot us, we were not 

 unnoticed by the citizens of Tekax. As we rode 

 along all eyes were turned upon us. We stopped 

 in the plaza, which, with its great church and the 

 buildings around it, was the finest we had seen in 

 the country, and all the people ran out to the cor- 

 ridors to gaze at us. It was an unprecedented thing 

 for strangers to pass through this place. European 

 saddles, holsters, and arms were strange, and, in- 

 cluding Albino, we made the cabalistic number of 



