"Lordy, Cap; what a questun to be axed, an' by yurself! Sure this chile air boun' to stick to ye, whatsomever ye do. Ef they'd been brigants, I shed 'a put my conscience in my pocket, and goe'd in wi' 'em all the same; s'long you're agreed. Nor I wudn't 'a minded turning monk for a spell. But men who intend foughtin' for freedom? Haleluyah! Cris Rock air all thar! Ye may tell him so." "He consents," said Kearney, reporting to the Mexican; "and willingly as myself. Indeed, Don Ruperto, we ought both to regard it as a grace--an honour--to be so associated, and we shall do the best we can to show ourselves worthy of it." "_Mil gracias, Senor_! The grace and honour are all given to us. Two such _valientes_, as I know you to be, will be no slight acquisition to our strength. And now, may I ask you to assume the garb which, as you see, is our present uniform? That by way of precaution for the time. You'll find suitable raiment inside. I've given Gregorio orders to get it ready. So you see, _Camarades_, I've been counting upon you." "Gehosofat!" exclaimed the Texan, when told of the dress he was expected to put on. "What wi' New Orleens store close, an' prison duds, an' the like, this chile hev had a goodish wheen o' changes since he stripped off his ole huntin' shirt. An' now a-goin' in for a monk! Wal; tho' I mayn't be the most sanctified, I reck'n I'll be the tallest in thar mon'stery." CHAPTER FORTY SIX. SAINT AUGUSTINE OF THE CAVES. One of the pleasantest villages in the valley of Mexico is San Augustin de las Cuevas--_Tlalpam_ by Aztec designation--both names due to some remarkable caverns in the immediate neighbourhood. It is some ten or twelve miles from the capital, on the southern or Acapulco road, just where this, forsaking the valley level, begins to ascend the Sierra, passing over which by Cruz del Marques, it continues on through the _tierras calentes_ of Cuernavaca and Guerrero to the famed port of the Pacific. San Augustin is a _pueblo_, endowed with certain municipal privileges. It boasts of an _alcalde-mayor_ with other corporate officers, and a staff of alguezils, or policemen. The heads of departments are mostly men of pure Spanish race--"gente de razon," as they proudly proclaim themselves--though many are in reality of mixed blood, Mestizos. Of this are the better class of shopkeepers, few in number, the _gente de razon_ at best forming a scarce discernible element in the population, which is mainly made up of the brown aborigines.