Tnis  action  was  in  part  precipitated  by  a  message  which
Chico  received  while  at  Los  Angeles  from  Monterey.  He  had
brought  with  him  from  Mexico  a  niece,  or  more  probably  a  dam-
sel called  his  niece  for  appearance's  sake,  whom  he  had  left  at  the
latter  place.  The  message  advised  him  that  she  needed  looking
after.  He  immediately  made  ready  to  depart;  but  before  get-
ting off  he  succeeded  in  involving  himself  in  a  controversy  with
Manuel  Requena  the  alcalde,  whom  he  charged  with  violation
of  duty  in  not  preventing  the  action  of  the  vigilance  committee
and  with  Mariano  Romero  the  defender  of  Prudon,  Araujo  and
Arzaga,  whom  he  accused  as  Requena's  adviser.  The  quarrel
went  so  far  that  he  ordered  a  prosecution  to  be  instituted
against  them;  and  then  he  set  out  for  Monterey,  intending  as
soon  as  business  of  more  pressing  concern  would  allow  to  return
and  avenge  himself.
He  had  scarcely  reached  the  capital,  however,  before  he  man-
aged to  get  into  a  still  more  violent  quarrel  with  the  alcalde  of
that  place.  An  injured  husband  having  brought  a  complaint
against  the  disturber  of  his  peace,  the  alcalde  in  the  exercise  of
his  discretion  had  ordered  the  guilty  wife  as  well  as  her  friend
to  be  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.  The  husband  objected
to  the  imprisonment  of  his  wife  and  appealed  to  Chico,  who
being  won  over  to  his  cause  ordered  her  release.  A  few  even-
ings afterwards  there  occurred  a  puppet-show,  at  which  as
usual  upon  all  such  exhibitions  at  Monterey  nearly  the  whole


224  THE  MEXICAN  GOVERNORS.
