"Father Sandoval."
"Father Sandoval!" she exclaimed, with a start. "Impossible! He is a prisoner of the Spaniards."
"It is he, madam."
"That is strange. How is it that I have not been informed of his presence?"
"He arrived at the hacienda with Don Aurelio Gutiérrez."
"But I was close to Don Aurelio: he only had with him Yankee or Canadian wood rangers and two Mexican peons."
"Well, madam, one of those peons was no other than Father Sandoval. The reverend father thought it wise to assume this disguise in order, probably, more easily to escape the Spanish spies."
"Yes, that must have been the reason; prudence commanded him to act so. Go on."
"Father Sandoval has made himself known to all our adherents, and has been unanimously elected their chief."
"In truth, he alone possesses sufficient influence over the haughty hacenderos to command them. And what measures have been adopted?"