He knelt on one knee before her, holding out his open hands.
"If you would only believe in me and trust me, my beautiful gringo flower! You will learn in time to do so, for I shall teach you. Some day you shall bless your guardian angel that to-night I found you and snatched you from your boastful lover."
To his surprise, she leaned toward him, as if to permit him to clasp her in his arms. A moment later, with a swift movement, she caught at the wolf mask and tore it from his head.
"Porfias del Norte!" she cried, falling back and staring at him as he knelt with the moonlight shining on his face and his bandaged head.
He smiled in that remarkable manner that ever made his face seem handsome to a wonderful degree.
"Yes, señorita," he murmured, with that strange sweetness in his voice, "I am Porfias del Norte."
"Not dead!"
"Far from it, fair one."
"But Frank said——"
"He thought he had left me dead in the old hut where I was shot down by a treacherous dog who shall pay the penalty with his life. The bullet struck me here, but Heaven changed its course and spared my life. My time had not come, Señorita Inza."