St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-09-25
%. D ROUGH AND READY.
How General Taylor Dismissed Two of
General Apudia's Spies.

AAo" DISMISSED Two OIL
General Apudia's Spies.
General Taylor, when he wen his
victories in Mexico, did not look much
like hero. lie was somewhat below
medium height, was short and stout.
in fact, was what one would call
dumpy. He wore straw hat, an old
linen buster that looked as if it might
not have been washed since he fought
the battle Of Palo Alto. His pants
were large and loose. and he wore
coarse soldier shoes. General Shields
used to narrate an interesting incident
that occurred one day when he was a
guest of 'tOld Rough and Readv's"
table at dinner, with Colonel Bliss and
son of Henry Clay. Just as they
were finishing dinner. guard filed in
with two prisoners that had lust been
arrested. The men had been for two
days peddling oranges through the
camp, and by accident one of the
soldiers had discovered that under
their coarse garments they wore the
finest linen. SO the two were arrested,
and carefully concealed about their
persons had been found papers con-
tanning very valuable information con-
cernlng the American camp, the NUN
Der OF men IN arms and the best points
tor attack. These papers were handed
over to General TAYLOR, and after read
ing them he passed them to the rest of
US They were unmlstakable evidences
tket the two men were spies Call
my interpreter demanded General
Taylor. The General could not speak
Spanish. The only Spanish word he
knew was ''rdmoS, and he used it on
all occasions. Whenever he invited
the Mexicans into camp, he said
"sanos,' and whenever he ordered
them out of camp, he said "ranos.
The interpreter having arrived, Cen
eral Taylor said to him: ASK them
who they are!" The prisoners replied
that they were Mexican soldiers.
''Humph! Thought so. Now ask them
what their rank is" They looked at
each other moment, as much as to
say. 1--WE might as we'll tell the TRUTH
and answered that they were Colonies,
one of them Chief of the Engineer
Corps at Monterey. ''Aha,' said Gen
eral Taylor, $50 much the worse And
now ask them who sent them here"
They replied that they had come in
obedience to the orders of General
Apudia. General Apudia sent you,
did he9' roared old Trough and
Ready" ''Well, l say General Apudia
is no gentleman, or he would not have
sent you here upon this sneaking
errand, to spy about our camp. l say
ha ie
had just begun to understand that the
man whom they were before was the
American General, and when he ut
tered this hasty opinion of their chief
they bowed very low. General Taylor
asked them if they knew the penalty of
their crime; if they, knew that, as spies,
they ought to be shot. AT once the
prisoners drew themselves up proudly
and said they knew the penalty, but if
they were to die they trusted they
wsa1ld meet their fate like brave men.
Their bravery pleased the bluff old
soldier, and after moments thought
he said: ''Well, I'll let you go this
time, but if | ever catch you spying
here again. I'll have you shot, shot
like, Mexican dogs! Now, uamos!
uGnzSs! And tell General Apudia that
when he wants to find out about our
army, he may send delegation of his
officers here and | will escort them
about myself and order a review of the
troops for their especial benefit The
liberated men scampered off briskly.
Shortly after that, General Taylor, at
the head of his victorious legions,
marched in and took possession of |
Monterey.-Ben. Per!ey Poore, IN Bos-
.0n Budget