Southern Argus., 1842-09-06

AV " 0O
mo. LII.
, WITHIN THE YEAR.
which bad been left them by the brave
and honorable" Gov. Armijo was the
poorest they were the possessors of at
the time oftheir capture. They were
all laken to room on the opposite
t. plaza, and there hdddled
many sheep in a butchers
9n the same day Capt. Lewis, we'll
and extremely we'll dressed,
We sahp to our quarters and took Iodg-
II, as lin the same house in which we
Is, fe confined, although in different
obm. He to us as he passed,
v5id that &C tht," and remark
led that he and see US in
short tim ed, how
ever, vii promise,
and thes "a sneaking
and uneasy 10 ke fellow whicn
we all remarked. Still we could hard
ly believe that he had been playing
traitorous or unmanly game.
That night Bustamente cas-rato our
room and stated thaI a5dflicu-
lar was to be fe4Jasl governor,
so soon as alI.the prisoners had been
sent off towards Mexico, and that from
what we could learn he thought that
Howard, Van Ness and Fitzgerald
would also obtain their liberty. His
story was corroborated by others who
called upon US.
The next morning the wagons con-
tanning the goods oftbe merchants were
drawn into the public square, and the
merchandise was taken out and dis
tributed among the different Mexican
regiments. Lewis was standing by the
Wagons with The Governor, and fire.
quently pointed out box or bale Of
goods which was placed in large pile
apparently for him. All the while he
appeared to be on excellent terms with
the Governor and the Mexican officers,
and was plainly seen and heard laugh
ing and joking with them. How the
heartless wretch could carry out bis
villany, and act thus in the very faces
as it were of his betrayed associates, is
mystery 10 me.
The distribution Of the goods lasted
nearly the whole day, each company
being paid off out ofthe pIunder accor-
ding to the length of time il had been
in the service. In the mean time four
Of the Texans, among them a gum
smith, a blacksmith, a musician, and
the hospital steward we had along with
the expedition, were liberated by Ar
milo, and from our window we could
see them walking at liberty. They
were not allowed TO communicate with
US: however, in any way. The Gov.
ernor wanted the services of these men
his only reason Tor giving them their
liberty.
Lewis frequently passed our win
dow on the 18th and 18th ofthe month,
but not once did he offer to speak to US
although he always bowed as he went
by. That the fellow had been acting
badly we had now little doubt, but the
extent ofhis vilIany was far from being
suspected. After dusk of the last men
toned day the nephew of Armio cal
led in to see us. He stated that was
TO be liberated Immediately, and also
gave it as his opinion that my three
companions would be set free.
The next morning Lewis entered
our room. There was a hang-dog ex-
preston, ifI may so call it, about him |
which denoted that he had committed |
some base action, so much so that he |
could not Look one of US in the face.
He however tried to convince US that
he was glad at having the opportunity
at least Of calling to bid US good bye
said that for some reason the Gov
ernor had given him his hberly-that |
was to be let of the next day, and that
he would have one more talk with the
Governor and try to effect the liberia
ton ofmy companions.-kfter this he
hurriedly shook hands, said he was to
start Immediately for Santa Fe, and
from that time to this not one of us has
seen the wretch. 1t may appear sin
guEar, to many of my readers, that we
did not at once suspect that Lewis had
proved traitor, especially with the ev-
idence before US that neither Col.
Cookies nor Gen. McLeod's party
had fred a gun before surrendering ;;
but they should bear in mind that Lew
lis bore an excellent reputation and
was universally esteemed by all, and
under these circumstances they will
feel that We must have been slow in har-
boring suspicion against him. 1t is
hard to suspect one with whom we
have long associated OH terms of init
macy-whose life has been unstained