"True! Then Xuarez won't be able to get more troops from Acauhtzin."
"He has got quite enough troops, as it is to make things unpleasant for the capital," said Tim, in Spanish, for the benefit of Don Sebastian. "Six thousand at Janjalla—five thousand Indians. Quite enough to invest the town. The Junta has but eight thousand troops in Tlatonac."
"Well, that's a good number!"
"Yes; but what with his own troops and the savages, Xuarez has three thousand to the good. Besides which, he is a capable general."
"If the Indians could only be detached from his cause, the rebellion might be crushed," said Jack, ponderingly. "It is the only way of saving the present Government."
"There is no chance of doing that," replied Tim, disconsolately. "The Indians are mad about the loss of the opal, and will fight like fiends to get it back."
"Perhaps they can be quietened by means of the opal!"
"Dios!" exclaimed Sebastian, turning in his saddle. "What mean you, Señor?"
"I have an idea," replied Jack, quietly. "It was suggested to me by a remark of Cocom's."
"And this idea?"