“No one is ever killed in a duel,” said Roddy; “I’ll fire in the air, and he will probably miss me. I certainly hope so. But there will be one good result. It will show Alvarez that I’m not a friend of Vega’s, nor helping him in his revolution.”
“You don’t have to shoot a man to show you’re not a friend of his,” protested Peter.
They were interrupted by the hasty approach of Vega’s chief advisers and nearest friends, General Pulido and Colonel Ramon.
“Pino seems in a hurry,” said Roddy. “I had no idea he was so bloodthirsty.”
“Colonel Vega,” began Pulido abruptly, “has just informed us of the unfortunate incident. We have come to tell you that no duel can take place. It is monstrous. The life of Colonel Vega does not belong to him, it belongs to the Cause. We will not permit him to risk it needlessly. You, of all people, should see that. You must apologize.”
The demand, and the peremptory tone in which it was delivered, caused the fighting blood of Roddy’s Irish grandfathers to bubble in his veins.
“‘Must’ and ‘apologize!’” protested Roddy, in icy tones; “Those are difficult words, gentlemen.”
“Consider,” cried Pulido, “what great events hang upon the life of Colonel Vega.”
“My own life is extremely interesting to me,” said Roddy. “But I have done nothing which needs apology.”
Colonel Ramon now interrupted anxiously.