"True," I replied, and I hastened to explain my reasons for not wishing Pike to become involved in the affair. I was barely in time, for I had no more than finished when the Lieutenant was announced. Not finding Don Pedro at home, he had called upon two or three other friends, who had expressed great concern for our safety, and advised him to consult with Malgares. Don Faciendo looked grave, but expressed a belief that all would be well if we held on as before with a bold front. This was also the opinion of the friends with whom we spent the evening at Senor Zuloaga's. CHAPTER XXX THE DUEL Upon our return to Walker's quarters, the Lieutenant, who had been working hard all day, at once retired. I remained up long enough to load my pistols, and write, first, a farewell letter to my lady, and second, a note to my friend explaining that I was to start early on a coach ride with Malgares. This I left with old Caesar, whom Walker had already instructed to rouse us before dawn. Faithful to orders, the old black had us out a good hour before sunrise, and a biscuit and pot of chocolate ready for our refreshment. We dressed and ate and made off, leaving Pike still fast asleep. Walker fetched his horse from the stables in the rear of the courtyard, and conducted me as far as the street. The expected coach was just wheeling into sight, preceded by a pair of outriders with torches, for the night was as black as Egypt. At once Walker sprang into the saddle and rode off through the gloom to join his principal, while I ran up to the coach and slipped in beside Malgares. With that the gilded carriage swung about and rumbled off along the first street which led northward. Having taken possession of my pistols and loading outfit, Malgares asked if I had any word to be given to Senorita Vallois, in the event of any misfortune. I handed him the letter, with the request that it be returned to me if all went well. "For her sake, you must see that it does go well!" he urged. "It is for her I fight. In any event, I must have struck him for what he said. For whether or not it is true General Wilkinson is or has been a traitor, in the pay of your Government, Lieutenant Medina intended his remark as a deliberate insult. But we are alike fully aware that it is because of the senorita we now meet." "God grant that for her sake you may win!--You will win, _amigo_!" exclaimed my friend; and with that, to divert my thoughts, he fell to chatting about various light subjects. Presently the coach turned eastward, and, after a time, southward. The gray dawn now broke the darkness, and the outriders, at an order from our coach-man, flung down their torches and rode back into the city. The ruddy gleams of the full dawn shot swiftly up the sky. Our driver put the lash to his horses, and we spun along through a dense cloud of dust, in a race with the sun.