“But you are glad anyway, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Did you see Christine?” asked Alison suddenly. “Did she tell you all the news?”
“She told me some of it. I learned that she still hopes against hope. She is very true.”
Alison looked at him as though she would read something in his face. His eyes met hers frankly. “Perhaps some day she may feel differently,” said the girl.
“Yes, she is young and one cannot wait forever,” said Neal thoughtfully. “Shall we go on, Alison?”
“Oh, yes, I forgot that we were standing here for no reason. I have a hundred questions to ask and you can answer them as we ride along. When did you leave Mexico?”
“A few days after we had entered the city. It has been a clean sweep for us straight through. There was some sharp fighting, but we’ve got all we tried for and Santa Anna has lit out.”
“Then there will be peace.”
“We think so. They are negotiating for it. We should have had it earlier if the Mexicans had known when they were beaten. We took everything in sight on our way down, but they didn’t seem to think that we meant anything by it. Must have thought we were killing ’em off for fun as we made a little pleasure trip through their country.”