LITMIR.BIZ

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transactions and the tariff due the governments was the only loss sustained ; but a much more extensive smuggling business was done by unscrupulous persons with property that was feloniously acquired. This class of thieves generally were organized to operate in gangs on both sides of the river and acted in collusion with each other by exchanging stolen property brought from Mexico for other property acquired in a like manner in Texas. In that way a large number of animals of all kinds were transferred from one side of the Rio Grande to the other with little risk of detection.

      One of the most notorious characters that was ever engaged in such practices was Manuel Telamantes, a Mexican, whose home was in Eagle Pass. At one time his character was held in the highest estimation and he

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      exerted a great influence among Americans. I was well acquainted with him, and at that time, in 1866, he was generally liked by all who knew him. He was also looked upon as a good and honest citizen until it was discovered that he was a leader of an organized gang of thieves and smugglers that had been in existence for years.

      He was a young and handsome fellow who dressed well and made a respectable appearance; he was also liberal with his means and conducted himself properly ; although at frequent intervals he absented himself for a short time and always returned with large sums of money, his busi- ness was not suspected, but after his character was ex- posed it became known that his secret expeditions were made to meet his confederates and to receive his share of the spoils.

      His career was prolonged until 1879, when it was made unsafe to engage in such enterprises, and his, like many others under similar circumstances, was closed by a vio- lent death. The particulars relating to the case, as they were represented to me, show that he entered Texas with a large herd of horses and mules, which were stolen in Mexico, and they were traded for beeves that had been stolen from ranchmen by associates in Texas. The thieves who received the horses and mules made good their escape, but Telamantes and his men with the cattle were pursued until overtaken between Fort Clark and the Rio Grande. The beeves were recovered, and Telamantes and his men were captured and hung.

      I do not doubt but that he had earned his fate, but when I recalled his many good qualities I could not help feeling regret that he had come to such an end. I saw him last in 1877, in San Antonio, when he offered to sell me one hundred and fifty choice mules, which were concealed somewhere in the mountains near Devil's River. He proposed to let me have the entire lot at a bargain, but I declined his offer. He was a bold fellow, and if he was a thief he took desperate chances in enterprises that

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      required brains that gave him control over men. He would have scorned the methods practiced by common thieves and highwaymen like that once attempted against me.

      The incident occurred in 1867, when I was returning from Eagle Pass and after I had delivered the Castroville mail-sack to Mr. John Vanze, the postmaster. A few minutes later he returned with the mail-pouch for San Antonio, and I paid him a twenty-dollar gold piece that John Kenedy, of Sabinal, had requested me to give him. I had taken it from a sack that contained about fifty dollars in Mexican silver, which I returned to its proper place under the seat during his absence.

      I was about to continue my journey when two men advanced and engaged two seats in my hack to San An- tonio, for which they paid me five dollars. I had noticed them at the post office when I exposed my money bag, and, doubtless, they supposed the coin was all in gold, when I took the gold piece from it, which they saw. There was nothing suspicious in their appearance, and I was pleased to have their company.

      The distance from Castroville to my father's house, where I changed my team, was only four miles, and we passed an unusual number of people on the way. Soon after starting an unaccountable feeling caused me to form an unfavorable opinion of my passengers and made me suspect that they were not all right, and the sequel will show that my impressions were correct.

      While the horses were being changed I greased the axles of my hack as usual, and when through the four-pound monkey-wrench which I used was returned to the tool-box in front. When ready to start I noticed that the cushion of the rear seat, which my passengers were waiting to occupy, did not fit properly, and I reached over to straighten it. As I raised the right-hand end I saw under it the monkey-wrench that I had replaced in its proper receptacle a half-hour before,

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      In the meantime no one but the two men had been near the vehicle, and I was convinced that they had placed the wrench in that place with murderous intentions. Evidently they designed using it as a weapon in a plan to kill and rob me, and I did not hesitate to charge them with the cowardly scheme. They denied having had anything to do with it, but I entertained contrary convictions and ordered them to leave the yard. They obeyed me without uttering another word, but my father, who was holding my team, called them back and insisted that I should return them the five dollars they had paid me. He said the poor fellows might need it, and I obeyed him, perhaps reluctantly, because, naturally, I felt no sympathy for them. Later I was told that they re- turned immediately to Castroville, and I afterwards learned that they were deserters from the United States army.

      The dangers I confronted in my travels were often compensated by pleasant entertainments at the end of my journey; and I recall one in which I took part that had no Indians or robbers connected with it, like those I have noticed. The occasion was a grand ball that was given about the latter part of June, 1867, in the customs-house at Piedras Negras, to celebrate the termination of the war that closed the reign of the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. All foreigners in Eagle Pass were invited, and many, including Thomas B. McManus, Charley Groos and myself, were in attendance, together with all the best people in that part of the country. My impression is that the news of Maximilian's executon, which took place on the 19th of June, had not been received, and the ball was an expression of joy on account of the restoration of the republic.

      My information with reference to that tragic event was acquired, principally, from individuals who participated in the war, and I will relate a few facts connected with the subject that were communicated by Colonel

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      Morales of the Mexican army. He spoke of the great sympathy of the people for Maximilian, after he was condemned to death, and particularly of its manifestation by five hundred of the most respectable ladies in the City of Mexico, who drew up an appeal for clemency. Dressed in black robes, the long procession presented themselves before the military tribunal with the petition for the emperor's pardon ; but it was useless ; his fate was sealed and he was beyond the hope of mercy.

      He witnessed the execution of Maximilian, Mejia, and Miramon, and his relation of the facts was very impressive. They were taken to a hill outside of the city of Queretaro by the platoons of soldiers that were detailed to execute them. When drawn up in line Maximilian advanced and presented each of the firing party a gold doubloon, with the request that they would take good aim until he gave them the signal to fire by removing his hand from his breast. After resuming his position he eulogized his generals and resigned to them the honor of dying first. After they fell he calmly con- fronted the death that awaited him and met it with a fearlessness that became him. In after years I saw the spot in the Cathedral of Mexico where the emperor and empress stood in all their pride and glory when crowned, and, as I thought of their sad fate I could see the chapel that marks the place where he and his generals were executed.

      Generals Mejia and Miramon were gallant and competent officers in whom the emperor placed implicit confidence and they proved themselves worthy of his trust, but another, in whom he confided to an equal extent, betrayed him. The " foreign legion," to whom was entrusted the duty of sustaining his throne, was composed of criminals taken from the prisons of Europe with the design of getting rid of them and were utterly unreliable as soldiers. I was told by responsible Mexican officers of both armies that the legion was a band of robbers who

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      plundered indiscriminately and that the regulars of the French army would have nothing to do with them. All the facts show that Maximilian was the victim of a conspiracy and his fate was regretted all over the

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