This was amplified by a
touching pen-picture of the rancher's weeping family waiting at
the bank of the Rio Grande, and an affecting account of the grief
of the beautiful Guzman girls. It mattered not that there were no
daughters.
In other quarters the expedition was credited to members of a
secret order to which Ricardo had belonged; from a third source
came a statement that the Guzman family had hired a band of
Mexicans to exhume the body, so that proof of death might be
sufficient to satisfy an insurance company in which the rancher
had held a policy. Even at Jonesville there were conflicting
rumors.
But, whatever the facts of the rescue, it was generally recognized
that the result had been to bring on a crisis in the affairs of
the two nations. People declared that since the outrage was now
proven the next move was the duty of the State Department at
Washington. Therefore, when several days passed and nothing was
done, a wide-spread feeling of indignation grew. What mattered
these diplomatic communications between the two governments? it
was asked. Why wait for another investigation by General Longorio?
Strong influences, however, were at work to prevent that very
outcome for which the people of Texas prayed.
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