Page:Life in Mexico vol 2.djvu/130



 Concert — Diligence — Leave Puebla — Escort — View from the cathedral towers — Black forest — History of the crosses — Tales of murder — An alarm — Report of a skirmish — Rio Frio — Law concerning robbers — Their moderation — Return to Mexico — Carnival ball — Improvement in dress.

24th.

went to the concert with our friends, the Ho's. The music was better than the instruments, and the Señora Cesari looked handsome, as she always does, besides being beautifully dressed in white, with Paris wreaths. We took leave of our friends at the door of the hotel, at one in the morning, and lay down for two hours, in the full expectation of being robbed the following day, a circumstance which has now grown so common, that when the diligence from Puebla arrives in safety it excites rather more sensation than when it has been stopped. The Governor had ordered us an escort to Mexico, to be stationed about every six leagues, but last week the escort itself, and even the gallant officer at its head, were suspected of being the plunderers. Our chief hope lay in that well-known miraculous knowledge which they possess as to the value of all travellers' luggage, which no doubt not only makes them aware that we are mere pilgrims for pleasure,