“He’ll flinch quick enough!” Sanchez cried, grinning.
Don Audre Ruiz tossed the card away and dusted his hands as though the bit of pasteboard had soiled them. Then he raised his head proudly and looked Barbados straight in the eyes.
“How soon?” Don Audre Ruiz asked.
“How soon, caballero? Now, at once, and immediately! My men crave sport!” Barbados cried. “And while they listen to your shrieks and pleas for mercy they can drink some rich wine we took from Reina de Los Angeles.”
“Are you human man enough to let me have speech with Fray Felipe before I die?” Don Audre asked.
“Want to pray with him, do you?” Barbados sneered. “I’ll have him at the stake for you. You can pray through the smoke.”
There was a sudden jostling in the crowd, and Sergeant Gonzales shouldered his way to the front.
“Foul pirate!” said he. “Murderer and fiend, let me make a deal!”
“What is this?” Barbados asked.
“I am a bigger man than the caballero here, and fatter men roast better. Also, I wear the uniform of the Governor, and you hate such uniforms. I’m twice the coward that Don Ruiz is. I’d squirm and squeal twice as much. Ha! Would it not be better sport to roast me at the stake?”