"Think—" Roberto began to plead.
"What a cowardly thing it would be," she seemed to conclude for him, but with a far different thought.
"If you refuse, it means loss of your estate, degradation, imprisonment, perhaps death," Don Abrahan warned.
"Let it be so, then. I do refuse."
"What is this man, this alien who plays citizen for the purpose of introducing the enemy into this country, to you?" Roberto asked, perplexed, baffled, not able to understand. "Let him bear the blame, as he deserves to bear it. Nobody will believe you guilty."
"But I am guilty," she said, proud in the confession. "I have prayed for this war, I have prayed for the day when the United States army would march into this land and——"
"Silence!" Don Abrahan commanded in stern, loud voice.
"The cruelties and injustices, the oppression of the strong, the misery of the poor—all this would come to an end, all of it will come to an end, when the United States army marches here!"
"Helena Sprague, as a magistrate of the republic I arrest you on the charge of treason," Don Abrahan solemnly declared. "I seize your lands and properties in the name of the republic; I lay hold upon your cattle, your goods, your money, your effects, in the name of the republic. Such as spurn mercy when it is offered, must burn in the fire of justice."
"Take them, then, and my life if the republic wants it!" she said. She turned to Roberto, who stood by torn between loyalty to his country and love for its betrayer. "Toberman, is he gone, is he safe?" she asked.