"I will conquer," the general exclaimed, hotly.
"May Heaven grant it!" the adventurer replied, sorrowfully; "For victory alone can absolve you."
He rose.
"Are you leaving me already?" the President asked him.
"I must, Excellency; have I not to bring the money here, which I at least took from your enemies?" Miramón hung his head sadly.
"Pardon me, General, I was wrong, I should not have spoken thus; do I not know in my own case that misfortune is a bad adviser?"
"Have you nothing to ask of me?"
"Yes, a blank signature."
The general at once gave it to him.
"There," he said, "shall I see you again before your departure from Mexico?"