"Who goes there?" roared the verado, as he jumped to one side.
"A friend," replied Don Torribio, leaving his hiding place and advancing into the open.
"What! You, Señor Don Torribio Quiroga? You are welcome. Then you listened too?"
"¡Cuerpo de Cristo! Didn't I listen! I think I have profited by it, to get edifying news about Don Fernando."
"Since you overheard the conversation, what do you think of it?"
"This caballero seems to me a black villain enough; but we will thwart his infamous plans."
"God grant we may!" muttered the verado, with a sigh.
"And now, what are your own intentions?"
"Mine! I swear I do not know. I know nothing, except that my head swims. Did you hear? They want to rid themselves of me quietly! In my opinion, they are the greatest wretches in the prairie."
"Pooh! I have known them a long time; they give me very little uneasiness."