In their incursions, as mounted riflemen, they besieged villages,
slaughtered the inhabitants, plundered churches, and burned
dwellings; they carried off captive females, drove herds of cattle
to distant markets. Through the auspices of this band, as is now
well known, many young females were carried off and sold into
slavery, where they and their offspring yet remain. While pursuing
this nefarious course of life, Romescos accumulated more than twenty
thousand dollars; and yet,--though ferocity increased with the
daring of his profession,--there was one impulse of his nature,
deeply buried, directing his ambition. Amid the dangers of war, the
tumult of conflict, the passion for daring-this impulse kept alive
the associations of home,--it was love! In early life he had formed
an attachment for a beautiful young lady of his native town; it had
ripened with his years; the thoughts of her, and the hope of
regaining her love if he gained wealth, so worked upon his mind that
he resolved to abandon the life of a guerillo, and return home.
After an absence of fourteen years he found the object of his early
love,--that woman who had refused to requite his affection,--a widow,
having buried her husband, a gentleman of position, some months
previous.
Romescos had money,--the man was not considered; he is not considered
where slavery spreads its vices to corrupt social life. He had been
careful to keep his business a profound secret, and pressing his
affections, soon found the object of his ambition keenly sensitive
to his advances.
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