Page:The Fall of Maximilan's Empire.djvu/99



the few days that were needed for the "Tacony" to fly to Pensacola, take in coal and provisions, and return to her station, the great drama of Mexican affairs was swiftly drawing to a close. As the curtain was about to fall on the tragic finale, the telegraph and the mail were busy in conveying requests, petitions, and answers between the various high parties, so deeply interested both in the personal welfare of the young ex-Archduke of Austria, and the standing among nations of the struggling, bleeding Republic south of the Rio Grande.

We have seen that as early as April 6th, Count Wydenbruck had requested the good offices of the American Department of State to secure respect for the person of his emperor s brother. These had been rendered; a special and able courier being found in Mr. Frederick Hotze, late a lieutenant-colonel in the Mexican corps of Austrian volunteers, who, in refusing to accept the post of chief of staff to the sanguinary General Marquez (the "Tiger"), had drawn upon himself the displeasure of Maximilian, and had retired to the United States. Well acquainted with Mexico and with Mexicans, and