"Courage!" Bermudez said, softly.
"I will have it," he answered; "the hour of justice has arrived."
A strange change had suddenly taken place in him. This man, a few moments previously so timid, and whose hesitation was extreme, was metamorphosed. He seemed to have grown; his features had assumed an imposing rigidity, and his eyes flashed fire.
"No more childish fears," he said; "no further tergiversation. We must act."
Then turning to Flying Eagle, he asked him,—
"Is that man seriously wounded?"
The Indian carefully examined Don Stefano.
During the whole period of the examination, no one uttered a word. Everyone understood that Don Mariano had at length formed an energetic resolution, and that he would accomplish it remorselessly, and without hesitation, no matter what the consequences might be to him hereafter.
Flying Eagle returned in a few minutes.
"Well?" the gentleman asked him.