"Alas! How long will we be together, Juan? I am afraid of this war; should Don Hypolito conquer!" Here she paused and slightly shuddered.
"He shall not conquer, cara. What can he do with a few adherents against the power of the Government?"
"Still, the Indians——"
"You are afraid they will join with him. To what end? Xuarez cannot restore the worship of the Chalchuih Tlatonac."
"Juan!" said Dolores, anxiously, "it is not of Xuarez I am so much afraid as of the Indians. If there is a war, they may carry me off."
"Carry you off!" repeated Jack, in a puzzled tone of voice. "Why, how could they do that? and for what reason?"
"They could do it easily by some subtle device; bolts and bars and walled towns are nothing to them when they set their hearts on anything. And they would carry me away because I am the guardian of the Chalchuih Tlatonac."
"Who told you all this?"
"Cocom."
"But he does not worship the opal or the old gods. He is a devout Catholic."