"Where are we going?" the Tigrero asked presently.
"To the Convent of the Bernardines."
"I fancy we are not going the right road."
"That is possible, but, at any rate, it is the safest."
"I humbly confess that I cannot understand it at all."
Mr. Rallier began laughing.
"My good fellow," he replied, "you will understand at the right time, so be easy. You need only know, that in acting as I am doing, I am carrying out to the letter the instructions of Valentine, my friend and yours. It was not for nothing that he has so long borne the name of the Trail-hunter; besides, you remember the prairie adage, which has always appeared to me full of good sense, 'The shortest road from one point to another is a crooked line.' Well, we are following the crooked line, that is all. Besides, in all that is about to take place, you must remain completely out of the question, and restrict yourself to being a spectator, rather than an actor, and willing to obey me in everything I may order. Does this part displease you?"
The Frenchman said this with the merry accent and delightful simplicity which formed the basis of his character, and which caused everybody to like him whom accident brought in contact with him.
"I have no repugnance to obey you, Señor Don Antonio," the Tigrero answered. "The confidence our common friend places in you is a sure guarantee to me of your intentions. Hence dispose of me as you think proper, without fearing the slightest objection on my part."
"That is the way to talk," the banker said, with a laugh. "Now, to begin, my dear señor, you will do me the pleasure of changing your dress, for the one you wear is slightly too worldly for the place to which we are going."