Walthew opened his arms, and Blanca cuddled to him.
"It is so wonderful!" he breathed, after the first long kiss. "So wonderful that you are really going back to the States with me!"
"You are not going back the same," she smiled up at him; and he stooped and kissed the smile.
"——You have seen the vision," she finished; "romance has touched you."
"It was you who opened my eyes. Perhaps now they are dazzled; but we will never let the vision quite fade. Romance shall spread her bright wings above the home I'm going to build you on the river bluff——"
Again he found her mouth, and drank deep.
The silence was broken by a rattle of leather and a jingle of steel that startled them, and as they turned quickly and walked up the path a dark figure rose out of the gloom ahead and stood before them, sinister and threatening. When Walthew had answered the sentry's challenge, Blanca shivered.
"I had forgotten for a few minutes," she said. "Rio Frio is not taken yet, and you must fight for us."
"For two or three days, if all goes well. It can't be a long struggle. Rio Frio is bound to fall."
Blanca clung closer to him.