Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/127

Rh was endeavoring to gain over the provincial infantry battalion of Guanajuato, and to that end opened his plan to several of the subaltern officers. One of these, Garrido, the band-master, exposed the affair on the 13th of September to his captain, Francisco Bustamante, who lost no time in informing his superior officer, Diego Berzábal, who communicated the matter to the intendente Riaño, and offered to arrest Hidalgo. Riaño, however, preferred to watch affairs, and instructed Francisco Iriarte, who was going to San Felipe, to report occurrences in Dolores, and sent orders to San Miguel to arrest Allende and Aldama. The despatch was, however, intercepted by Allende, who received timely warning of the denouncement made by Garrido, and thus gained some little time to deliberate with his associates at San Miguel as to their proper course.

While this was taking place in Guanajuato, Captain Arias turned traitor in Querétaro, and to secure his own safety denounced the plot on the 10th of September to the alcalde Juan de Ochoa. This officer immediately despatched a courier with a written account drawn up by the escribano Juan Fernando Dorninguez to the viceroy, who was already on his way from Yera Cruz. Again, on the 13th, a man named Francisco Bueras informed Padre Gil, cura of