"Why, supposing that it is a trap, what will be the result of it?"
"In the first place that you will be a prisoner, and Texas be deprived of one of her most devoted defenders. In short, in your place I would not go, that is my brief and candid opinion. And," turning to his auditors, who had remained silent and motionless since their entrance, he asked them, "and you, Señores, what do you think of it?"
"It would be madness for the Jaguar to trust a man he does not know, and whose intentions may be bad," said Lanzi.
"He must remain here," Quoniam backed his friend up.
"The antelope is the wildest of animals, and yet its instinct makes it escape the hunters," the Comanche Chief said sententiously; "my brother will remain with his friends."
"The Jaguar walked up and down the jacal with visible annoyance and febrile impatience, while each thus gave his opinion.
"No," he said, with some violence, as he suddenly stopped; "no, I will not abandon Doña Carmela when she claims my assistance, for it would be an act of cowardice, which I will not commit, whatever the consequences may be: I will go to the Cueva del Venado."
"You will reflect, my friend," John Davis remarked.
"My reflections are all made; I will save Doña Carmela, even at the risk of my life."
"You will not do that, my friend," the American continued gently.