Querétaro, that there was a plot to assassinate all the Spaniards, and that a quantity of arms were stored in the houses of one Sámano and Epigmenio Gonzalez. He also stated that the corregidor knew of it. The cura, being a friend of Dominguez, at once placed the facts before him, advising him either to proceed against Epigmenio Gonzalez or share imprisonment with him. Whereupon the corregidor went to consult with the escribano, who, already aware of the corregidor's complicity, dissimulated by declaring that he did not believe a word of the statement. Corregidor Dominguez, however, persisted that his information was correct, and Juan Fernando suggested that he should ask assistance of the comandante Ignacio García Rebollo, and search Gonzalez's house. This was done, and forty men placed under arms, twenty of whom under the corregidor surrounded the house of Gonzalez while the comandante, with the remaining twenty, invested that of Sámano.
Had the corregidor been fortunate enough to avoid communication with the escribano, all might have gone well with the revolutionists and himself; but the escribano displayed such zeal, and instituted so thorough a search of the house, that the escape of the inmates was rendered impossible, and a quantity of ammunition and weapons was discovered. The corregidor, however unwilling, was now compelled to arrest Epigmenio, his brother, and all the household. While he was thus occupied, his wife, faithful to the cause, devised means[1] to communicate with Allende at San
- ↑ Alaman says that Dominguez locked the entrance gates of the house on his departure, and that Doña Joséfa signalled to Ignacio Perez, the prison alcalde, whose room was immediately beneath her recámara, by tapping thrice on the floor. Perez, being an ardent supporter of the revolution, considered the intelligence which she communicated through the wicket-grating so important that he undertook to convey the message himself. Not finding Allende at San Miguel, where he arrived at daylight on the 15th, he sought Aldama and informed him of what was taking place. Hist. Mej., i. 368-9. Liceaga states on the authority of a manuscript that two messengers, Francisco Lopez and Francisco Anaya, were also sent by the corregidora, the former alone arriving at the destination, and as late as five in the evening of the 15th. That Allende, however, should have already left for Dolores on the arrival of Perez, being informed of danger by the intercepted order for his
