Page:About Mexico - Past and Present.djvu/346

338 Habits and customs which are wrought into the very life of the people are fast giving way before American ideas. In spite of the national bugbear of annexation, Mexico is to-day in a receptive mood.

She seems to stand like one of her own Indians who come out of their cabins to see the train go by. Gaunt and speechless, with faces as unmoved as are those statues, they wave a permissive hand to the bold intruder as they stand gazing at this wonder of our rushing age. If old Popocatapetl, the home of the gods, is safely tunneled for a new track, and the holy hill of Cholula is cut away to make room for the inevitable locomotive, innovations like American looms and ploughs and reapers will surely be tolerated in old Mexico, and the modern express-wagon will be permitted to take the place of the primitive ox-cart.