Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 2.djvu/249

Rh understand their own language, others achieved results that were at least interesting. Our officers, it hardly need be said, never lagged behind their men.

A fandango on hard ground beside a winding river with mandolins and guitars softly singing and moonlight sifting down through gently waving palms, was not despised, and to go from leaky canvas to a gilded ball-room for a whirl with a black-eyed beauty who could waltz with a full glass of water on her head, was a strong argument for treating Mexicans kindly. The dark señoritas of Jalapa in particular, and still more their celestial cousins of the golden hair and blue eyes, loved to dance, chat and intrigue, and now their wit and their fans had the opportunity of a lifetime; at Puebla, the full name of which meant The City of Angels, "bewitching glances" often made our officers feel "aguish," said one of them; and the capital stood first in this as in all other respects. Romance never had a more brilliant or a deadlier course. Many a brave heart was thrilled by a mysterious invitation that meant perhaps a kiss and perhaps a stab, and many a fearless gallant made a wild ride into the night. That woman's subtle power, added to the influence of our gentlemanly and highly educated officers in social intercourse, had important effects on public sentiment cannot be doubted. Still, fear of their own countrymen prevented people from associating openly with Americans to any great extent.

In short, as this phase of the subject is reviewed, one finds, much that was deplorable and in the case of a foreign war should always be guarded against. But that is not strange. War is ugly business; and since all of us begin conscious existence as savages, and many rise little above that stage, we should not be surprised if some of our soldiers, deprived to such an extent of uplifting influences, reverted more or less toward it. Besides, a grain or two of lawlessness is after all a normal and useful ingredient in human nature.

On the whole there was a vast deal to admire and praise. Scott, a man well versed in the history of campaigns, asserted that his troops displayed "the highest moral deportment and discipline ever known in an invading army." Doyle, after making careful inquiries all the way from Vera Cruz to the capital and viewing the case as a practical man, reported with