"What is your name?"
"Gregorio Felpa. I am a dragoon, as you can see by my uniform, Excellency."
"What is your motive for wishing to see me?"
"An anxiety to render you an important service, Excellency."
"I thank you, but usually services are confoundedly dear, and I am not a rich man."
"You will become so."
"I hope so. But what is the great service you propose to render me?"
"I will explain to you, in two words. In every political question there are two sides, and that depends on the point of view from which you regard it. I am a child of Texas, son of a North American and an Indian woman, which means that I cordially detest the Americans."
"Come to facts."
"I am doing so. A soldier against my will, General Rubio has entrusted me with a dispatch for Captain Melendez, in which he gives him a place of meeting, so as to avoid the Rio Seco, where the report runs that you intend to ambush, in order to carry off the conducta."