Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1889 — TULA VELASQUEZ. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TULA VELASQUEZ.

BY AD H. GIBSON.

Y friend Leo Gordon was a gay young Southe r n e r, who had serve d through (the “lost cause.” He had gone into the war with all the enthusiasm and confidence that characterized the most intrepid wearers of the gray. It was not discom-

fiture at the termination of the civil struggle, with its very unexpected result, so much as the spirit of adventure, which led Leo to abandon his plantation on the Pearl River and seek that land of thrilling romance, Mexico, then in a belligerent state. Leo cast his fortune with the army of Juarez, then lighting bitterly against Maximilian, and many were his brave deeds, which won for him the respect of his comrades and the great chief himself. But it is not of my friend’s services in that struggle I shall write, but of a certain adventure, rose-hued deeply with romance, that was far from an ordinary one, in which Leo played a prominent part. With several comrades my friend had gone one night to the luxurious hacienda of a very wealthy Mexican ranchero, and begged the savagebrowed master to let them pass the night there. Their request was at first refused, but after much persuasion it was somewhat sullenly granted. The hacienda had a long, partially furnished wing that was not used by the ranchero’s family; this was assigned to the accommodation of the half-dozen Americans who had asked to pass the night in the hacienda, <and where they should remain wholly to themselves. The moon was up and silvering the brow of a warm, delicious night with a wealth of pellucid splendor. Glancing out of one of the long, narrow windows of the wing, Leo beheld the ample flower-gardens of his host. The beautiful blossoms, with their rich perfumes wafted to him ever and anon by the bland south winds, carried the young Southerner back to his home on the Pearl, with its flower-decked walks and balmy nooks. So lost was he in the memories the lovely scene had aroused, that he did not at first observe a young Mexican girl cautiously approaching the window from which he leaned.

As she drew near the window the young soldier caught sight of her. She raised one hand in warning, and placed the forefinger over, her crimson lips to enjoin his silence. “This is mystery personified,” said Leo to himself. But he kept silent. He did not even shift his attitude, as he did not wish to arouse his companions, who were resting on the couches of the large apartment, near by, and he feared any movement on his part might disturb them. So he watched carefully every step of the Mexican girl, and waited to learn the meaning of her strange procedure. As she stood with her fingers over her lips, she glanced quickly over her shoulder to make certain that her movements were not observed by any other than the American with whom her business evidently lay. Assuring herself that she had not not been watched or suspected, she glided close up to the window and whispered in a hasty but musical voice: “Look, senor! I place this down here for you. Get out and read it as soon as I am gone.” As she spoke she stooped and placed a note under a rose-bush. Then, plucking several blossoms from the bush, to avert suspicion if she was seen in that quarter, she turned and left him without vouchsafing another glance in his direction. “Leo’s curiosity was deeply stirred. Here was promise of romance and adventure certainly. He gazed after the girl until she was lost to view. He remarked that the girl was very pretty, but he was satisfied she was not of the higher walks of life. When they had ridden into the plaza that evening he had noticed, at the blinds of the casement, several feminine forms and faces. But they had so; concealed themselves that Leo and his companions had caught but a transient glimpse of them. “I’m ever ready to take part in an adventure,” he uttered to himself,

•and I’ll secure that note beneath the rose if the old duenna herself rules the garden.” He walked to the door, opened it, and passed out. He looked about him. No one was in sight. With an elastic spring his strong, well-trained limbs carried him over the fence which shut in the garden from their quarters. Once over the fence, Leo sauntered rather carelessly toward the bush where the note lay hidden for him. Feigning to admire the roses, he stooped, and with quick grasp possessed himself of the mysterious note. He was walking leisurely back to cover, with the delicately scented note thrust in his breast, when his steps were vastly accelerated by a huge Mexican bloodhound suddenly materializing among the bushes at the other end of the garden, and plunging after him. Leo felt that the dark orbs of the fair lady might be following him, and he would fain have been dignified in his retreat. But he found it very expedient to change his will in the case, after one sweeping glance into the capacious red mouth of the canine monster in hot pursuit, who had been so speedy to resent an intrusion on his master’s private and beautiful grounds. Leo said farewell to dignity for that time, and vaulted the fence in the face of his savage foe. He just made his escape and no more. He congratulated himself, as he hastily entered their part of the hacienda, that the Mexican dress he wore had no superfluous coattails to have suffered an inglorious

diminution in length, as it no doubt would have done. Safe within the quarters that had been assigned to him and his companions Leo broke the seal of the dainty little note, and with eager eyes perused the following lines: Senors Americanos: This is written you by an unfortunate maiden who. believing in your nobleness of soul, implores you to save her from a cruel late. My father, the ranchero, who reluctantly permits you to pass the night under his roof, is forcing me this night to wed an officer of Maximilian’s army whom I bate most vehemently; but he holds some ereat power over my father, and I am to be the victim. The one I truly love is El Capitan Ezualdo, one of the bravest in our chief (Juarez’s) army, and I am very desirous of flying to his protection. The ceremony is to be held at 10 o’clock to-night, when that detested man, Col. Henrique Fernandez, will be here to claim my unwilling heart and hand. He dare not venture within the lines of Juarez, except under the cover of deep night. The little chapel, which is opposite the wing you now occupy, is where the marriage rites will be performed. In writing this, good, brave Senors Americanos, I appeal to you to save me from this living death, and in doing so you will ever receive the sincere prayers of poor, unhappy Tula Velasquez. P. B. My trusty maid, Zela, will have horses ready in the grove beyond the garden, and we beg to fly under vour protection to that of my noble Ezualdo. T. V.

Leo read the note over several times and then said to himself: “Of course I’ll do all she asks and more, too, for my friend, Ezualdo. This is the girl I have heard the young officer mention with such deep esteem so often when we were together in camp. This promises more romance than anything it has been my lot to be mixed up in for a long time. We may as well get ourselves ready, I suppose, and consult each other in the matter.” So saying, he aroused his sleeping comrades and told them of Tula Velasquez’s appeal to them for help from the cruel union her father was forcing upon her. The party happened to be composed of young men of adventurous spirits, and most of them knew the handsome, noble Ezualdo in Juarez’s army, and were willing to engage in any combat or undertake any enterprise, no matter how daring, if, in so doing, they served him or his chief, Juarez. They accordingly made themselves ready and waited for the hour of ten to roll round.

Leo was on watch at the, narrow window, and when, at last, he saw the bridal party moving swiftly and as silently as specters towards the little chapel, he gave the signal to his companions to follow him. Very soon the little party was joined by six uninvited guests. The ranchero, who was leading the lovely but unwilling Tula, halted near’ the door of the chapel and looked back. Perhaps he had detected the tread of the Americans, although they had arrived almost noiselessly. At the same, time a tall, middle-aged Mexican officer. Henrique Fernandez, the would-be bridegroom, who was a little in advance of the bride and her father, and who was attended by two younger officers, all dressed in very gorgeous uniforms, became aware of the attendance of the American soldiers. The party stopped. Henrique Fernandez, in an imperious voice, demanded: .. “Don Velasquez, why this intrusion, and who are the strangers?” The moon had lowered herself behind a bold range of mountains in the west ere this, hence only the dim outlines of the intruders could be made

out, and nothing of faces and dress could be distinctly seen. “It is the Senors Americanos,” replied the savage voice of Velasquez. “Why are you here, senors?” he demanded.* Leo boldly stepped before the ranchero as he replied: “Don Velasquez, you are cruelly forcing your child to marry one whom her soul detests, this night, while her heart is in the keeping of the brave Ezualdo, of Juarez’s army. It is to save Tula Velasquez from the evil fate you Tseek to force upon her that we are here.” With a glad cry, Tula Velasquez tore herself from her father’s side, and rushed to the side of Leo just as he he struck the revolver, which the Mexican officer had leveled in his face, from his hand. Quickly leveling his own in the face of Henrique Fernandez, he said: “You are my prisoner, Colonel Fer nandez. Stir from vour tracks at youi peril.” The Mexican officer knew he was nc match for the young American, and one glance had been sufficient to show him that the least disobedience would invite his death. But he had not been forbidden to use his voice, so he yelled to Velasquez, who seemed too dazed at the unexpected attack to move, “Don Velasquez, call upon your servants foi help, and my men without!” The young officers who had accompanied Fernandez had all they could do in a hand-to-hand struggle with twc robust Americans. But the struggle was of short duration, for the young Mexicans soon surrendered. The ranchero gave a feeble call for help, which some of the men-servants quickly answered. A sort of melee commenced, that was brought on no one could tell exactly how. Pistol shots rang out on the still night air, by the chapel door, and the women servants shrieked and fled through the trees, the priest shouted to be heard above the din in vain; and in the height of it all, Leo, with a severe wound in his left arm, received he scarcely knew how, cut his way out with Colonel Fernandez, his prisoner still. Tula Velasquez and her maid, Zela, were by his side, and the other Americans followed fast behind. “Here, through the garden to yon grove!” whispered Tula Velasquez to Leo. “We shall find horses there for our escape. Go not out at the front entrance, as Mexican soldiers left on the plaza by Colonel Fernandez will again oppose us.” It did not require much time to reach the grove pointed out by Tula Velasquez, and where they found their horses ready for them, as Zela, the maid, had said. They soon mounted and rode away, with the shouts of Mexican soldiers, trying to find their route of escape, ringing in their ears. When at last their, trail was discovered the Mexicans gave them a hot chase for a short distance; but as they got near Juarez’s camp they abandoned the pursuit. Leo and his comrades dashed into camp, where the lovely

Tula was surrendered to her lover, Ezualdo, and the prisoners to Juarez himself, who found in Colonel Fernandez a foe he had long desired tc capture. My friend’s wound was so obstinate in healing he w 7 as compelled to leave the service soon after the adventure just narrated. Before he quit Mexico, however, he saw Tula Velasquez and Ezualdo happily made one.

“POSSESSED HIMSELF OF THE MYSTERIOUS NOTE.”

“DON VELASQUEZ, WHY THIS INTRUSION ?”