The Free Lances: A Romance of the Mexican Valley

  CHAPTER THREE.

  OFFICERING THE FILIBUSTERS.

  The volunteer _rendezvous_ was in a tavern, better known by the name of"Coffee House," in the street called Poydras. The room which had beenchartered for the occasion was of ample dimensions, capable ofcontaining three hundred men. Drawn together by the printedproclamation that had attracted the attention of the young Irishman inhis afternoon stroll, two-thirds of the above number had collected, andof these at least one-half were determined upon proceeding to Texas.

  It was a crowd composed of heterogeneous elements--such as has everbeen, and ever will be, the men who volunteer for a military, moreespecially a filibustering expedition.

  Present in the hall were representatives of almost every civilisednation upon earth. Even some that could scarce boast of civilisation;for among the faces seen around the room were many so covered withbeards, and so browned with sun, as to tell of long sojourn in savageparts, if not association with the savages themselves. In obedience tothe counsels of the Texan, Florence Kearney--a candidate for commandover this motley crew--made early appearance in their midst. Not soearly as to find that, on entering the room, he was a stranger to itsoccupants. Cris Rock had been there before him, along with a half-scoreof his _confreres_--old Texans of the pure breed--who having taken partin most of the struggles of the young Republic, had strayed back to NewOrleans, partly for a spree, and partly to recruit fresh comrades to aidthem in propagating that principle which had first taken them to Texas--the "Monroe Doctrine."

  To these the young Irishman was at once confidentially introduced, and"stood drinks" freely. He would have done so without care of what wasto come of it; since it was but the habit of his generous nation. Norwould this of itself have given him any great advantage, for not longafter entering the room, he discovered that not only drinks, butdollars, were distributed freely by the opposition party, who seemedearnestly bent upon making a captain of their candidate.

  As yet Kearney had not looked upon his competitor, and was even ignorantof his name. Soon, however, it was communicated to him, just as the manhimself, escorted by a number of friends, made his appearance in theroom. The surprise of the young Irishman may be imagined; when he sawbefore him one already known, and too well-known,--his rival in theaffections of Luisa Valverde!

  Yes; Carlos Santander was also a candidate for the command of thefilibusters.

  To Kearney the thing was a surprise, and something besides. He knewSantander to be on terms of very friendly and intimate relationship notonly with Don Ignacio, but other Mexicans he had met at the exile'shouse. Strange, that the Creole should be aspiring to the leadership ofa band about to invade their country! For it was _invasion_ the Texansnow talked of, in retaliation for a late raid of the Mexicans to theircapital, San Antonio. But these banished Mexicans being enemies ofSanta Anna it was after all not so unnatural. By humiliating theDictator, they would be aiding their own party to get back into power--even though the help came from their hereditary foemen, the squatters ofTexas.

  All this passed through the mind of the young Irishman, though notaltogether to satisfy him. The presence of Santander there, as aspirantfor leadership, seemed strange notwithstanding.

  But he had no opportunity for indulging in conjectures--only time toexchange frowns at his rival and competitor, when a man in undressuniform--a Texan colonel--who acted as chairman of the meeting, mountingupon a table, cried "Silence!" and, after a short pithy speech, proposedthat the election of officers should at once proceed. The proposal wasseconded, no one objecting; and, without further parley, the "balloting"began.

  There was neither noise nor confusion. Indeed, the assembly was one ofthe quietest, and without any street crowd outside. There were reasonsfor observing a certain secrecy in the proceedings; for, although themovement was highly popular all over the States, there were somecompromising points of International law, and there had been talk ofGovernment interference.

  The election was conducted in the most primitive and simple fashion.The names of the candidates were written upon slips of paper, anddistributed throughout the room--only the members who had formed theorganisation having the right to vote. Each of them chose the slipbearing the name of him he intended to vote for, and dropped it into ahat carried round for the purpose. The other he threw away, or slippedif to his pocket.

  When all had deposited their ballots, the hat was capsized, and the bitsof paper shaken out upon the table. The chairman, assisted by two othermen, examined the votes and counted them. Then ensued a short intervalof silence, broken only by an occasional word of direction from thechairman, with the murmuring hum of the examiners, and at length came ina clear loud voice--that of the Texan colonel--"_The votes are in favourof Kearney! Florence Kearney elected Captain by a majority ofthirty-three_!"

  A cheer greeted the announcement, in which something like a screech fromCris Rock could be heard above all voices; while the giant himself wasseen rushing through the crowd to clasp the hand of his _protege_, whomhe had voluntarily assisted in promoting to a rank above himself.

  During the excitement, the defeated candidate was observed to skulk outof the room. Those who saw him go could tell by his look of sullendisappointment he had no intention of returning; and that thefilibustering cohort was not likely to have the name, "CarlosSantander," any longer on its roll-call.

  He and his were soon forgotten. The lieutenants were yet to be chosen.One after another--first, second, and _brevet_--was proposed, ballotedfor, and elected in the same way as the captain.

  Then there was a choice of sergeants and corporals, till theorganisation was pronounced complete. In fine, fell a shower ofcongratulations, with "drinks all round," and for several successiverounds. Patriotic speeches also, in the true "spread-eagle" style, withapplauding cheers, and jokes about Santa Anna and his _cork-leg_; whenthe company at length separated, after singing the "Star-SpangledBanner."