"Thank Heaven! He has, señorita; but the atrocious crime committed by Major Barnum is unworthy of a man, and more the deed of a savage brute than of a civilized being."
"Perhaps the major is not the author of the crime."
"The whites are accustomed to treat the Indians thus. Have I not heard them assert a thousand times that the redskins are not human beings? All weapons that kill them are lawful, and poison is one of the surest. This crime alone is sufficient to justify me in having quitted the ranks of the monsters."
"Speak no more on this subject, I beseech you; you make me shudder. I am obliged to confess that reason is on your side. When we witness such horrors, we begin to regret that we belong to a race capable of inventing them."
"What is the decision of the council?" asked Don Pedro, in order to turn the conversation.
"Tomorrow, at daybreak, a general assault will be delivered on the presidio."
"Tomorrow!" exclaimed Doña Hermosa, in a fright.
"Yes," he replied; "tomorrow I hope to revenge myself on those who were my brothers, and have forced me to repudiate them. Tomorrow I shall conquer or die."
"God protect the good cause!" said she ambiguously.
"Thanks, cousin," replied Don Torribio, mistaking the meaning of her exclamation.