Page:The Fall of Maximilan's Empire.djvu/67

Rh country almost always assumed a belligerent attitude, and a resort to arms was frequent. Insurrection and rebellion in the outlying provinces were not so serious things as they were in the United States; familiarity made the offence a light one. But when the fact was presented of a foreign power establishing in Mexico a monarchical form of government, with an alien prince at its head, the country had blazed forth in passion and defiance; and the anger against the Notables, the domestic traitors who had offered the throne to the alien, was only eclipsed by the hatred of that alien. The question now was. Might not the popular passion be bent and swayed, and the dictates of humanity as well as policy score a triumph in Mexico as in the United States? Immediately upon the receipt of the brief but pregnant despatch, Captain Roe had the gig manned, and, at that late hour, pulled alongside the "Jason." Calling the captain from his bed, he frankly gave him the despatch to read, saying that he now desired the co-operation of himself and the Austrian captain. There was no time to lose; every effort must be made to save the Prince's life. He wrote a note to the count, announcing the fact of the capture of Maximilian at Querétaro, and stating that Captain Aynesley would explain in full the proposition now agreed upon between them. The English captain consented to go out to the "Elizabeth," anchored at the outer reefs, and urge