"Why, this is a trap!" the terrified senator exclaimed.
"You have but twenty minutes to make the preparations for your departure."
The senator seized the letter eagerly, and, without replying, rushed out of the room like a madman. Don Tadeo could not repress a smile at his extreme terror, and said to himself—
"Poor devil! he little suspects that I should be highly pleased if the Araucanians obtained the paper."
"Everything is ready," said Don Gregorio, entering.
"That is well. Let the troops be drawn up in two bodies just outside the city. Where is Joan?"
"I am here," the latter replied, coming forward.
"I wish to confide to my brother a mission of life and death."
"I will accomplish it, or die in the attempt."
"Deliver this necklace to the Spanish general, Fuentes, who commands in Concepción." Don Tadeo drew from his breast a dagger of a curious shape, the bronze knob of which served as a seal. "My brother will also take this dagger; on seeing it the general will know that Joan comes from me."