"Gil!" cried Lucia, in mortal terror.
"It's your life or his, and I'm damned if it's yours! I'll give you just three seconds to get out of here! Now," and there was a fire in his eyes that could deceive no one, "you hear me? One—two ..."
"Don't shoot!" cried the bandit. And he laughed outright, almost doubling up with mirth.
"It was a trick?" Gilbert asked, beginning to see light.
"Si. Ah, my frand, I 'ave make ze man from you at last! Fine man what would kill for 'is woman!" He patted him on the shoulder.
Gilbert looked at him seriously, and the terrible realization came to him. "I would have killed you! Yes, I would have killed you—and you are my friend!"
Lopez saw how earnest he was. "I know. And it makes me very 'appy. For at last you 'ave became ze man of intelligence—like me. You could not leave 'er go now, could you?"
Gilbert looked at the relieved Lucia. "No!" he cried.
"You not question ze what you call Destiny, do you?" Lopez said.
"No."