"I wish it most earnestly, canarios! for he is a determined man; but I confess to you that I shall not be entirely at my ease till I have seen him fall beneath the bullets of the soldiers."
"You will not have long to wait. General Ventura has ordered me to go and meet the regiment of dragoons he expects, in order to hurry them on, and bring them into the town this very night, if possible. So soon as the governor has an imposing force at his disposal he will no longer fear a revolt on the part of the troops, and give the order for execution without delay."
"May Heaven grant it! But," he added with a sigh of regret, "what a pity that most of our scamps deserted us! We should have almost arrived at the placer by this time, and been safe from the vengeance of our enemies."
"Patience, señor padre; all is for the best, perhaps, trust to me. Andrés, my horse."
"You will start at once, then?"
"Yes. I recommend you to watch carefully over our prisoner."
The monk shrugged his shoulders.
"Our affairs are tolerably well embarrassed already; then why burden ourselves with a woman?"
The squatter frowned.
"That is my business," he exclaimed in a peremptory tone. "Keep all stupid observations to yourself. A thousand devils! I know what I am about. That woman will possibly prove our safeguard at a later date."