"Amigos," again from the girl, "listen to what you hear. Some father is stricken down in body by the renegades, but his soul is calling aloud in bitterness for his child. Who will rush after the renegades and hang to their flank, as the wolf stays the flight of the elk? Who will go, I ask?"
The Indians shifted from foot to foot. Some of the peonas looked inquiringly at their husbands. No one spoke.
"I will go," suddenly from Carmelita, her form straightening, her face paling. "Who will go with me?" she challenged. "I am only a woman, yet will I handle a rifle in such a cause as this. Who will go with me?"
A grizzled Indian stepped haltingly up to the girl. "I am only old Enrico," he said. "I used to be one of the fighting men of the señor, your father, but a bullet from Yoscolo's band smashed my hip years ago and left me fit only to hoe potatoes. Señorita doña, I will go with you and harry Stanislaus with what strength I have. I can never die in a better cause."
The señorita waited. There were no other volunteers.
Enrico, turning, faced his fellows. "I'll not say, men," he exclaimed, "but whatever ye be, go to service in the house, and let the maids there ride with the señorita doña and me to the chastising of Stanislaus. Go, for we are wasting time while the hostiles' pace marks leagues the hour. Go! Cook the feed, wash the dishes, make the beds, while the peonas do the fighting. Ye cowards! Go into the house where ye belong."
Enrico's sarcasm brought no result. He turned back to Carmelita.
The girl looked past the old peon's upturned face, over the heads of the unresponsive Indians, out into the distance, her eyes resting on the eastern hills.
"I hear no other offer. So be it. A woman and a crippled old man ride forth alone. It shall not be said that the deed of to-day passes unopposed." Her face hardened, bright spots showing in either cheek. Her mouth set in lines which bespoke the fixity of her purpose.
Enrico raised his hands with affection and reverence. "Señorita doña, these arms carried thee before thy tongue could lisp a word. I will go without thee. Thou must not——"