The news of my coming had preceded me and these free knights of
the mountains stood in rows along the corridors to receive me, backed up
by several well armed carbineros. The worthy padre would point out
the most distinguished of these gentlemen. 'That one,' he'd say, 'is in
for killing two travelers at such or such a pass. This one abducted
a wealthy man and demanded ransom from his family, to whom he sent the
ears of the unfortunate, and the ransom not coming, his throat was
slit. The one over there, killed four men before he was caught,' and so
on down the line, such cheerful histories were told. I politely saluted
each artist of the knife and carbine as I passed, and on leaving, one of
them stepped up and addressed me in a patois which the padre
translated. The request he made, struck me as being so ridiculous, that
I could scarcely refrain from laughing. It was to the effect that they
all had heard of my voyage down the river and all of them were anxious
to witness my departure on the morrow and knew if I would kindly
intercede with the Governor, they would have that happiness.
"The request was so absurd, that I had no thought of saying anything to
the Governor about it. In going out, the Governor invited us into his
private apartments, and while being entertained there, I jokingly told
him of the queer request the brigands had made.
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