New Orleans daily crescent., 1859-11-17
The Merle.n Girl ana her Anerse.n Tcv.v.
A writer in the New York Sunday Times tells
the following story Of his experience in the Mexi

can war:
| In number fifteen Of these pages told m expe-
nence of the Mexican war, and how dfeadfuIIy
was scared g. the storming Of the battery the
from Plan Del Rio. The action took place April
I5th ls47 Being too frightened to run away, wns
carried forward with the attacking column and cut
ana ana slasned away like madman, as was, through
iear. Ny lucky cowardice got me d staiY appoint
ment, and was dispatched to the rear TO hurry
| forward the supply trains and reinforcemenfs
h.afGhng pa a ron Vera Cruz BY way Of The little ham
graduated myself hugely on my good luck in thus
escaping the gore and glory Of the san9uinasy
seTles o. sk,rmlshea and general actions which
Belen. -, =. - 80 '''A'
In sl reckoned largely upon having pleasant gal
danger taken out Of it by the preyious passage or
a... victorious Glorious army. reckoned however, wifhout
s thsr tIss or hosts which was great mistake as
10y enappeneu 70 be Mexicans or g sGreasers',-a
set OF pioodthrsty scoundrels who alwavs having
,a ciYh war On hand, and pet band Of robbers in
a, esetg M mountain n gorge have no idea Of making
santa Anna thoroughly whipped and driven hail
towards his capital than bands Of Ianceros. and
rneaefos and guerrilla banditti Of all sorts. gath
cred IN the rear of the American armv ma sad
desperate attempts to interrupt fts
/ and nd cut on the reinforcements in detail -
me Puente Nacional, or National Bridge Spaus
Eli Little a,.. river called ne Antigua bsnes q
4 with tropical vegetation II Is shout ffSsen a
| sixteen miles nearer the gulf coast than PIan DGl
RIO. This and all the country east of IT, lie ii ~
tierras calientes, and exposed to- tie sc0ufee
Of yellow fever. The country only becomes healfy
after you pass the famous nights Of Cerro Gori5es
/ reached the neighborhood Of the Puente Ma
cIonai, and was riding costly along, when inst at
the sharp turn which the road makes there towards
| the bridge, the report of musket interrupted my
musings, and bullet knocked up the dust in front
of me. me ground was descending, but drove
nyrdr
! or nothing. u was short race, and out Of the
trying pan into the fire for at the bottom, hidden
| by the bend in the road until came plump into
the midst OF them, the passage was occupied in
! force by band Of the famous Padre Juanita's
| mountain lambs-a tender name for the most exc
cra6le company Of guerilla cut-throats developed
i by the war. My horse and were both shot down.
ianced, and generally carbonadoed before / had
time to get more than haif-scared, knew nothing
IN fact, but sensation as if somebody pinched mo
| vlciousiy N the sword-arm -t that was a bullet
wound; next, as if somebody else was giving me .
iove-tap over the head-that was a sabfe-cuf
After that came darkness and mere oblivion 1
knew nothing more. 4 En- al sas2
When next awakened to dim and incomplete
sense OF existence, i was comfortably in bed and
luxurious one, in the most coquettish Of bed
chambers, with gay French paper on the walls
a Yankee rockng-chair winking at me and saying,
" Hub OF the universe, sir, at your service 2 and
our Lady ct Guadaloupe simpering angelically at
me IRON the opposite wall, beg to remark thst
sitting in the Yankee rocking chair was perfectly
adorable Spanish girl of fifteen.
As am not writing novel cut all the heroics
ana ana come 1,!s to ae1es to oblge my fair enemies,
and with heroic self-denal-for could write :
volume on the subject OF what It took me two
weeks Of conyaescence to learn-yiz. that thsi
young lady of the rocking chair was Donna Dolores,
only daughter of Don Patricio Hurtados; that
was in room Of her fathers extensive and elegant
country house, about three miles from the Convent
OF San francisco, and overlooking the city Of Xa-
lapa. The Neapolitans call their city !" Dn pezz0
dc cieao caduto in tei1o'-a piece Of heaven
dropped to earth So Is Xalapa.
learned too, that Padre Juanitas lambs Of
grace had stripped and left me for dead that
Dolores and her father came BY that way not quite
an hour AFTER and seeing me lying there nsensiblc
and covered with wounds, Dolores had insisted
upon stopping; that she dsmounted from her mule,
and finding still lived, though in desperate case,
bound up my hurts, had me put into . liteg1. and
brought up by easy journeys to her father rsranch,
and, having got me there alive, nursed me III 4
waswell. Do you think did notlove her. never,
told her did but she knew, by womans intuition.
: that from the moment old Don Patricio ceasedt
story of how had been saved by her, there was
but herself But do need to tell you that she loved
me. Why? That cannot tell. Perhaps because
woman always loves the thing the man the child
for whom she has done the most which is anoth-
er and holer way of stating Rochfoucaulds bitter
apothegm, that we forgive those who injure rs.
but never those we have injured. ss @
/ was man. and Dolores scarcely yet woman in
age-yet was as her child. She sat all day be-
side me sang to me; told me quaint stories tried
with warm tears and the oldest logic to convert
me to the true faith and our lady of Guadaloupe
Perhaps you will laugh at me for confessing that
the rosary she gave me ! told faithfully as she
taught, and sometimes even now, take from its lit
tie case, and am not ashamed to say prayer overs
Laugh ONT is true. One day, when 2 btterer
devil possesses me than has ever yet, and time has
cicatrised the wound which searched deeper than
the saber of Padre Juanitas pet lamb, who
operated for my peculiar benefit may tell the
simple story Of my life at Don Patrico's; but net
| now. Now will tell you only how it ended.
| Don Patrcio was not Mexican, but Catalan,
which means man OF nerve, courage and action
| He was owner of silver mine. Jose, the ArrierO,
| whose answer to anybody who asked for his char
acter was Soy jose Mario, sehor, p0r uienie an
A,7iero de rico-todo eI InalldO con0sce ~
| brought down large instalment from the mine
Don Patricio's strong box: The fact being sus-
pected by party of the banditti with which the
environs of Xalapa, like the whole country, was
infested an attack was made by them on the house,
Like all large Mexican houses, in town country,
it was built of adobes, with few if any windows ON
the exterior-and these mere loop-holes- and rose
which was by the puertecalle, y or main gate. IN
one corner Of this quadrangle. under great flag
stone, was the hiding place Of the old Don's silver
Somebody had betrayed it, for after forcing the
gate the bandtti fought entirely to approach this
corner. The fight was pretty steady and equal
one. The naurauders had the larger force, but the
old Dons people were well armed, and all more or
| less under cover.
| do not know how it was-I never, in fact, could
account for it, but suppose it was because was
too much frightened to stay in the house however,
| when, with dozen of his people, the old DON
made sally from the dining-room to drive the
marauders out of the quadrangle, was close by
him, and became SO confused that got, in fact,
ahead of the crowd. and was in for little pistol
| and saber practice all alone on my own hook be-
fore knew it. Naturally enough, being yet weak,
l went down, and an unpleasant looking person.
with long moustache and short knife called
"cuchillo," had his knee on my breast, and his
piece of Sheffield ware in uncomfortable proximity
| to my throat. At that instant somebody threw
| themselves on him. and, happily for me, gave him
/ six inches of cold steel, before he could perform
the same Office for myself. You need not antici-
pate me; it was Dolores who did it it sprang
to my feet to catch and force her back into the
hobse. 1t was not so ordered-a bullet meant for
me found her. She staggered and fell into my
arms, and, kneeling down, 1 held her.
did not attend to the fight had forgotten it.
did not attempt to stanch the blood whichspurted
out under her left breast; only held my hand
tightly it, and counted the seconds of her life
BY the sharp jets which every heartbeat drove
through my fingers. One look in her face had told
me it was a death wound When the first brief
horrible sickness of the blow passed, for q second
she opened her eyes, and smiling into mine-oh, so
happily almost gaily-faltered out: Dying
for you-l shall not be left now--you would have
left Dolores-to fght-to love-she would then
have been many months dying--but now-dying so
| quick-upon your heart-thnnk Godni And 40