struggle, commanded the cavalry, and it is to his skill that we Mexicans
owe the glory of having saved our flag from a deep stain.

"Postscriptum.--We perceive that the cowardly and mercenary Martinez has
received the punishment his treachery so well deserved; during his
flight he was met by some Indians and murdered. May divine Providence
thus punish all traitors to the Mexican government!"

I regret to say that the last paragraph was true. The brave Martinez,
who had stood to the last, who had faced death in many battles, had been
foully murdered, but not, as was reported, by an Indian; he had fallen
under the knife of an assassin--- but it was a Mexican who had been
bribed to the base deed.

Up to the present all had prospered. I was called "The Liberator, the
Protector of California." Splendid offers were made to me, and the
independence of California would have been secured, had I only had two
small vessels to reduce the southern seaports which had not yet declared
themselves, either fearing the consequences of a rebellion, or
disliking the idea of owing their liberation to a foreign condottiere,
and a large force of savages.

The Apaches returned homes with eighty mules loaded with their booty; so
did the Arrapahoes with pretty nearly an equal quantity. My Shoshones I
satisfied with promises, and returned with them to the settlement, to
prepare myself for forthcoming events.

A few chapters backwards I mentioned that I had despatched my old
servant to Monterey. He had taken with him a considerable portion of my
jewels and gold to make purchases, which were firmly to establish my