"Impossible!"
"Did you not notice, on your arrival, the wagons and carts arranged in one of the courts you crossed?"
"I did."
"I was on the point of starting, at the head of eighty picked men, to go and work certain mines we have heard about."
"Ah, ah!"
"Yes; but for the present the expedition will remain in statu quo, for the band I intended to lead into the desert will join you, or at least I presume so."
"What! you presume so?"
"Yes, because I cannot dispose of the band, or change the object of the expedition, without the general assent."
"That is true," said the count; and his features grew solemn.
"But do not feel alarmed," the captain continued; "we shall easily obtain that assent when the colonists know what interests I propose to serve."