Upon our asking him how much time would be needed "to prepare the soil," we received no definite reply.

He, himself, planned to leave for home the following morning, Friday; so we suggested that we would go first to Puebla, and reach his capital on Monday.

He plainly considered this somewhat hasty, but grunted his assent, and we left him, somewhat surprised at his unusual gruffness and lack of interest.
Early Monday morning, we appeared upon the scene.

After breakfast we betook ourselves to the state palace; the governor was already in his reception room, but, instead of being ushered promptly into his presence, as had always happened in our previous visits, we were left to sit two hours in the outer office.

Finally, on our displaying some impatience, a message was again taken to his Excellency, and a few minutes later, the _jefe politico_ of the district bustled past us into the carefully guarded reception chamber.