Part 8 (1/2)
Privacy, besides, has to do with this protective screen; the azotea being a place of almost daily resort, if the weather be fine, and a favourite lounging place, where visitors are frequently received This peculiarity in dwelling-house architecture has an oriental origin, and is still co the Moors, as all round the Mediterranean
Strange enough, the Conquistadors found so the Mexicans--where the Aztecan houses were flat or terrace-topped Examples yet exist in Northern and New Mexico, in the towns of the Pecos Zunis, and Moquis It is but natural, therefore, that the people who now call themselves Mexicans should have followed a pattern thus furnished them by their ancestry in both hemispheres
Cliards its durability; no sharp frosts or heavy snows being there to affect it
Besides, in no country in the world is out-door life more enjoyable than in Mexico, the rainy s are dry
Still another cause contributes to make the roof of a Mexican house a pleasant place of resort Sea-coal and its sether absent, are few and far between; such as there are being inconspicuous In the _sie) of Anahuac there is no call for the-rooed in only by the very delicate or very rich In the kitchens, charcoal is the con, the outside atmosphere is preserved pure and cloudless as that which overhung the Hesperides
A well-appointed azotea is provided with pots containing shrubs and evergreen plants; soe, lime, camellia, ferns, and palms; while here and there one is conspicuous by a _h above the parapet to afford a better view of the surrounding country
It would be difficult to find landscape , than that which surrounds the city of Mexico Look in what direction one will, the eye is furnished with a feast Plains, verdant and varied in tint, fro e plantations (ueyals), occupy a considerable portion of the surface; fields of _chili_ pepper and frijoles (kidney beans); here and there wide sheets of water between, glistening silver-like under the sun; bounding all a periphery of mountains,snow--the grandest mountains, too, since they are the Cordilleras of the Sierra Madre or main Andean chain, which here parted by some Plutonic caprice, in its embrace the beautiful valley of Mexico, elevated more than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea
Surveying it froht the eye and gladden the heart And yet on the azotea of a certain house, or rather in the _ lady, who looked over it without delight in her eye or gladness in her heart
Instead, the ihts that, besides being sad, dwelt not on the landscape or its beauties
Luisa Valverde it was, thinking of another land, beautiful too, where she had passed several years in exile; the last of them marked by an era the sweetest and happiest of her life For it was there she first loved; Florence Kearney being he who had won her heart And the beloved one--where was he now? She knew not; did not even knohether he still lived He had parted fronorant of the exigencies which had ruled his sudden departure fro captain of the volunteer band; which, as she soon after became aware, had proceeded direct to Texas Furthermore, she had heard all about the issue of the ill-fated expedition; of the gallant struggleit, with the havoc caused in their ranks; of the survivors being brought on to the city of Mexico, and the cruel treat attempt to escape from the Guards, its successful issue for a ti the mountains co that had happened to that brave band of which her lover was one of the leaders
She had been in Mexico throughout all this; for shortly after the departure of the volunteers for Orleans, her father had received the pardon we have spoken of And there she had been watching the Mier Expedition through every step of its progress, eagerly collecting every scrap of infor to it published in the Mexican papers; with anxious heart, straining her ears over the lists of killed and wounded And when at length the account cas at El Salado, apprehensively as ever scanned she that death-roll of nigh twenty na freely until she had reached the last, and saw that nothese was his she feared to find
So far her researches were, in a sense, satisfactory Still, she was not satisfied Neither to read or hear word of hi Such a hero as he, how could his name be hidden? Gallant deeds were done by the Tejanos, their Mexican enemies admitted it Surely in these Don Florencio had taken part, and borne himself bravely? Yes, she was sure of that But why had he not been mentioned? And where was he now?
The last question was that whichShe could think of but one answer to it; this saddening enough He ht never have reached the Rio Grande, but perished on the way Perhaps his life had conominious end--by disease, accident, or other fatality--and his bodyin so comrades had hastily buried it
More than once had Luisa Valverde given way to such a train of reflection during the ht pallor to her cheeks and melancholy into her heart So much, that not all the honours to which her father had been restored--not all the coaieties in which she was expected to take part--could win her froloom that seemed likely to become settled on her soul
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WAITING AND WATCHING
As a rule, people of ive way to it within doors in the privacy of their own apartht to assuage hers upon the house-top, to which she was accusto there for hours alone For this she had opportunity; her father, busied with State affairs, spendingthe diurnal hours--at Government headquarters in the _Palacio_
On this day, however, Luisa Valverde s, and under an i her Her behaviour, too, was different When she made her way up and took stand inside thedreamily on the landscape, with no care for its attractions, were turned in a particular direction, and beca froside the aqueduct of Chapultepec, parts fro abruptly to the left Beyond this point the causeway, carried on auey plants, and Peruvian pepper trees, cannot be seen frohest house-top in the city
Why on this day, lance to the bend in the road, there keeping it steadfast? For what reason was the expression upon her countenance so different from that of other days? No listless look now; instead, an earnest eager gaze, as though she expected to see soreatest interest to her It could only be the co since visible by the side of the aqueduct
And one she did expect to co steed, but a simple pedestrian--in short, her own servant She had sent hi for, and awaiting his return It was the nature of his errand which caused her to look for him so earnestly
On no common business had he been despatched, but one of a confidential character, and requiring tact in its execution But Jose, a _mestizo_ who her confidence, and she had no fear of his betraying her Not that it was a life or death matter; only a question of delicacy For his errand was to inquire, whether a the Texan prisoners taken to Tacubaya one was called Florence Kearney
As it was now the third day after their arrival in Mexico, it ht this information before The explanation is easy Her father owned a country house in the environs of San Augustine, so she had only the day before heard that the captive train, long looked-for, had at length arrived Soon as hearing it, she had hastened her return to town, and was now taking steps to ascertain whether her lover still lived
She did not think of h a rumour had reached her that some of the prisoners were there But surely not Don Florencio! If alive, it was not likely he would be thus disgraced: at least she could not believe it Little drearade in her eyes the hts