for the night. If we were out of the room, how were our places to be supplied? This we could do by getting our interpreter to say that "there lie two very sick," pointing to our mats, carefully folded over some baskets, and our hats laying as if they covered our faces. The probability of the officer taking it for granted [301] was the risk we had to run. In the mean time we would be in a stable opposite our prison-room, and concealed with our rope under some straw. At a few minutes before nine, having chosen a stormy, cold night, we could crawl past the sentinel upon all fours, and then climbing up against the gate, and one standing upon the shoulder of the other, could reach the top; then descending upon the opposite side by the rope, the first holding one end for the other to descend by, one being over, he could hold the rope for the other to ascend by, and thence to the shoulders of the first. This operation would place us upon the steps, which would ascend to the top of the castle, and by carefully crawling past the upper sentinels, and tying one end of the rope to the wheel of a cannon, we could descend to the bottom of the moat.

With all our arrangements completed for our migration, we were yet prevented from so doing at this time, on account of the following circumstances:

In the centre one of our prison-rooms, which contained thirty-six of our countrymen, a few lion-hearted fellows determined also to make the attempt at escaping. They had commenced the operation of going through an eight feet wall, and if Captain Reese and myself escaped by scaling the walls, which we now considered pretty certain of accomplishing, it would, consequently, break up all farther chances of others doing so by any means whatever. We then determined to join in the plan of going through the walls, and all escaping at the same time.[302]

The breach was in progress of being made, several weeks having been spent at work on it, and all who determined upon the hazard were in high spirits, when we were informed, through General Thompson and several other sources, that we would be released on the 13th of June, Santa Anna's birthday.2 Indeed, our information appeared to be so authentic we did not doubt it, and consequently knocked off from our work upon the breach in the wall. General Thompson wrote down to us to make preparation for going home; and, knowing that the yellow fever was raging at Vera Cruz in its most malignant form, I feared that our countrymen would go to that place in advance of any preparations for sailing, and fall victims to the disease, as did many of the Santa Fé prisoners the year previous. I addressed the following note to our countrymen in Mexico: