But when he looked
at his sore and bleeding feet he always thought of the patient burro
that he had lost. They marched several more days, and the road dropped
down into the lowlands, into the tierra caliente. The air grew thick and
hot and Ned, already worn, felt an almost overpowering languor. The
vegetation became that of the tropics. Then, passing through marshes and
sand dunes, they reached Vera Cruz, the chief port of Mexico, a small,
unhealthy city, forming a semicircle about a mile in length about the
bay.
Ned saw little of Vera Cruz, as they reached it at nightfall, but the
approach through alternations of stagnant marsh and shifting sand
affected him most unpleasantly. Offensive odors assailed him and he
remembered that this was a stronghold of cholera and yellow fever. He
ate rough food with the Tlascalans again, and then Cos sent for him.
"You have reached your home," said the General. "You will occupy the
largest and most expensive house in the place, and my men will take you
there at once. Do you not thank me?"
"I do not," replied Ned defiantly. Yet he knew that he had much to
dread.
"You are an ungrateful young dog of a Texan," said Cos, laughing
maliciously, "but I will confer my hospitality upon you, nevertheless.
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