"I don't know," said the man, dryly. I made no more inquiries, wheeled my horse round, and rode off.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] In some parts of Mexico butcher-meat is cut into strips, dried in the sun, and sold by measure, like ribbons or cloth.
[28] An appellation given to a mine when it has become unprofitable.
[29] A sharp poniard.
CHAPTER V.
Assassination of the young Spanish Noble.
On returning to the town, I inquired which of the three or four hotels in Guanajuata was the cheapest, convinced that it was only in one of that description that the Biscayan was to be found. I was right in my conjecture, for the first person I met on alighting in the court-yard of the posada was Don Jaime de Villalobos. He was just going out when I presented myself suddenly before him, and I had scarcely dismounted ere he pressed me in his arms, according to the manner of his country. For my part, I listened with interest to his adventures after our separation. He told me that he had arrived at Guanajuato almost four days before me, and that his utmost wishes had been realized. A priest, who had been gained over by the relative of Donna Luz, had married them without difficulty, and since that time his young wife had been hidden in a convent, where he saw her every day, until he could take such steps as would allow them to leave Mexico. One circumstance only caused him a little alarm: he believed that he met in the streets, the night before, one of the servants who was in the train of his wife's father at the venta of Arroyo Zarco.
"But as I fancy that I see every where the appearance of spies and robbers," he said, gayly, "it is more than probable that I am deceived, and that they are seeking me at a greater distance than where I really am. And you," added he, "have you laid your hand on Don Tomas Verdugo yet?"