Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/378

358 three voices, and had the gratification to find they were those of Señor Valdero and his retinue.

He had taken up his quarters at a hut a little out of the road side, and had come out with the rest attracted by the noise made by my horse's galloping, which was at its fullest speed. Having dismounted, the first thing I asked for was a looking-glass, but there was none in the humble residence; nevertheless, on account of my anxiety to obtain one, Señor Valdero most kindly unpacked one of his trunks,—a business of no ordinary trouble when made up for travelling in these countries,—and produced a small piece affixed to a pocket-book. In the mean time, they had washed my temples with brandy and water; and I had become so faint that I remember they poured down my throat a large quantity of pure alcohol, which had nearly suffocated me. The blow had, as I thought, been exactly above the temporal artery; but a bandage with a hard plugget, which I