She stopped; for suddenly the caballero had stepped beside her, the whimsical smile playing about his face.
“Good day, your excellency!” he said, bowing low.
And his excellency, the Governor, bent forward, eyes bulging, lower jaw sagging for a brief second, then straightened and roared aloud:
“By the saints! Killed Rojerio Rocha, eh, girl? Hah! By the saints, this man before us is Rojerio Rocha, my good friend! Ah, boy, boy! They told me you had been slain!”
Before them all he took the dishevelled caballero in his arms!
CHAPTER XXV
THE SERGEANT SLEEPS AGAIN
“Explain, rogue!” cried the Governor half an hour later. They were in the plaza, where a temporary camp had been established. The fires were out, the smoke had drifted away. Wounded had received attention, and preparations were being made for burying the dead. In all directions troopers pursued hostiles and cut them down.
His excellency had told how the revolt at San Luis Rey de Francia and other missions had been quelled. The body on the floor of the guest house had been examined and word passed that here was the genuine Fly-by-Night, renegade and conspirator, and that the real Rojerio Rocha had slain him.
“Explain?” the caballero echoed. “’Tis a simple matter. When I reached San Diego de Alcalá I was mistaken for this Fly-by-Night. I thought to have jest by assuming the rôle. Then the hostiles, taking me for their leader through the same misunderstanding, came to tell me their plans. Being a loyal man, I maintained my rôle to learn all possible, and tried in every way to delay the attack until the force from the north could arrive.”
“Very good, my boy!” his excellency exclaimed.