"Thank Heaven, we are approaching Puebla, and once inside the town we shall have nothing more to fear."
"Yes, but we are not there yet: you know the proverb as well as I do, Excellency."
"What proverb?"
"That twixt the cup and the lip there's many a slip."
"I hope that this time you will be mistaken."
"I wish it, too: but you called me, Excellency?"
"Yes; I had a hint to give you."
"I am anxious to hear it."
"In the case of our being attacked, I insist that you leave us to our own resources, and escape at full speed towards Puebla, taking with you don Andrés and his daughter, while we are fighting. Perhaps you will have time to place them in safety behind the walls of the town."
"I will obey you, Excellency. No one shall reach my master without passing over my corpse. Have you nothing more to say to me?"