Then the church close by us burst into illumination, and its bells joined in the clangor as we started down the hill.

The villagers were putting torches to the piles, and children were dancing in the glare, shooting off their little rockets and adding their full share to the general confusion.
In the olden time Huixquilucan had a bad reputation for highway robberies.

A great hill overlooking the town is called the hill of crosses, and here a cross by the wayside usually signifies a place of murder.

Many a traveller in the not distant past found his way from here as best he could to the capital city minus burden and money, minus hat and shoes, and sometimes minus clothing.

They used to say that from Toluca to the city a man was robbed three times; the first time they took his money, the second his watch and valuables, the third, his clothes.