Juan this morning, and offer to pay him ten per
cent of the duties, down, in hard dollars, ten per
cent more in six months, and the remainder in
state bonds. What did he reply? That he could
not wait so Iong, and that the state securities
were only waste paper;—which, is very true,
but owing to the misgovernment under which
the country groans. What is the consequence?
It is that we must send the vessel to another
port, and that the population must suffer,
on account of the unenlightened policy of a
tyrant."

"And what we want, and what the inhabitants
of Milcarrambas are prepared for," Mr.
Smith put in, " is a revolution, which shall place
you in power, and enable us to carry on our
trade."

The heart of Don Ramon Redondo beat fast,
as the path of ambition, from which he had been
jostled by an adverse electoral vote, was thus
reopened before him. Difficulties presented
themselves, however, to his cautious mind; but these
were removed one after the other by his kind
and judicious bottle-holders. He was told that
several officers of the National Guard had been
sounded, and that they all worshipped their old
commander, and were ready to "pronounce" in
his favour; while the poorer classes, and the
Indians of the town, sighed for a return of the
happy days enjoyed by them under the gentle
sway of the noble and generous Redondo.
Finally, upon an intimation from Mr. Jones
that he and his partners were prepared to defray
the "necessary expenses" of the affair, Don
Ramon began distinctly to feel that he was the
natural ruler of Milcarrambas, the only
representative of the "party of order and enlightenment;"
and that his fellow-citizens had claims
upon him, not to respond to which would be quite
a crime. At his suggestion the party adjourned
to the quietest chamber in the house, where
a transfer of specie immediately took place;
also several pieces of paper were produced, and
one or two were solemnly burned:—a proceeding
which gave the prospective saviour of his country
so much pleasure that it is to be presumed
they bore his signature.

Messengers were then despatched to summon
quietly a few of the heroes of the National
Guard and other leaders of public opinion; upon
whose arrival, other little pecuniary matters were
arranged to the satisfaction of all parties
concerned. Before the meeting broke up, a
confidential servant brought from Mr. Smith's house
a bag containing a quantity of silver in small
change, to be used to stimulate the enthusiasm
of the populace. And every one of the conspirators
felt that the morrow was destined to be a
great and memorable day in the annals of
Milcarrambas.

Don Ramon retired to snatch a few hours of
troubled sleep, full of dreams of glory and
power, such as may be supposed to have been
present with Napoleon on the evening of the
17th Brumaire; or to have haunted the pillow of
Sultan Mahmoud before the first cannon had
been fired against the Janissaries who stood
between his vaulting ambition and the unlimited
sovereignty to which it aspired.

A little before sunrise he was roused by a
brown servant, who brought him his chocolate,
and informed him that his name was shouted by
the people at a tumultuous meeting in the great
Plaza of the town, coupled with the wildest vivas
and the most emphatic allusions to liberty, the
constitution, and other political blessings, which
he was expected to bestow in the course of a
few hours. The chosen one groaned in spirit,
for he was not accustomed to get up quite so
early, and the abstinence and excitement of the
previous day had broken his sleep until a short
time before this untimely disturbance. Moreover,
as he drank his fragrant chocolate and
nibbled his crisp biscuit, he felt a soothing of
animosity against his political rival; perhaps he
even wished that his foreign friends had not
taken advantage of his moment of weakness and
discontent to lead him a dance through scenes
of trouble and discomfort, with the possibility
of an end horrible to think of.

However, the wine was drawn, and it was
necessary to drink it to the dregs; so Don Ramon
arose and girt on a ponderous sabre, with
regard to the antecedents of which he was in the
habit of telling the most wonderful stories to
the guests assembled round his hospitable board.
Descending to the front door of his house,
he found about thirty or forty ragged patriots
eagerly awaiting him, by whom he was hailed
as their approaching deliverer from the oppressions
of Cachorro. A smart young fellow, in a
red shirt and green scarf, who was first mate of
the Pepita, acted as fugleman to the cheering,
and, on the appearance of his chief, handed him
a paper, on which a short proclamation had
been drawn up by the eloquent and politic
Lecarottier. This was immediately read aloud
by a volunteer secretary of state, and, although
not listened to with much attention, excited
the popular enthusiasm: which was doubled
when Don Ramon, in a short but spirit-stirring
speech, ordered his nautical lieutenant
to lead the heroic and enlightened citizens
to the nearest house where alcoholic fluids
were sold. The revolutionary forces accordingly
proceeded thither in good order, gaining
so many recruits on the way that the stock
of pulqué and mescal in the first tavern they
occupied was consumed in a marvellously short
space of time. A good deal of marching and
counter-marching then took place, in order to
visit all the shops where arrangements had been
made by Don Ramon's agents for the granting
of unlimited credit to the friends of order and
enlightenment. A dropping fire of old flint
muskets and horse-pistols was also kept up, to
the injury of no one, as the pieces were generally
pointed directly upward, but with the
effect of rousing at a small expense that
rapturous feeling of combativeness which is said to
be experienced by soldiers in the heat of battle.
When, towards mid-day, Don Ramon, mounted
on a tall grey mule and attended by a score of
devoted and influential friends, rode into the