In this way, the Captain, by pretending to admit the ideas of this ignorant Indian, had led him quietly to abandon them. By this time all were astir in the camp, the arrieros were rubbing down and loading the mules, while the troopers were saddling their horses and making all preparations for a start. The Captain watched all the movements with feverish energy, spurring some on, scolding others, and assuring himself that his orders were punctually carried out. When all the preparations were completed, the young officer ordered that the morning meal should be eaten all standing, and with the bridle passed over the arm, in order to lose no time, and then gave the signal for departure. The soldiers mounted, but at the moment when the column started to leave the camp finally, a loud noise was heard in the chaparral, the branches were violently pulled back, and a horseman dressed in a dragoon uniform appeared a short distance from the party, toward which he advanced at a gallop. On coming in front of the Captain, he stopped short, and raised his hand respectfully to the peak of his forage cap. "_Dios guarde a Vm!_" he said, "have I the honour of speaking with Captain Don Juan Melendez?" "I am he," the Captain answered in great surprise; "what do you want?" "Nothing personally," the trooper said, "but I have to place a despatch in your Excellency's hands." "A despatch--from whom?" "From his most Excellent General Don José-Maria Rubio, and the contents of the despatch must be important, for the General ordered me to make the utmost diligence, and I have ridden forty-seven leagues in nineteen hours, in order to arrive more quickly." "Good!" the Captain answered; "Give it here." The dragoon drew from his bosom a large letter with a red seal, and respectfully offered it to the officer. The latter took it and opened it, but, before reading it, he gave the motionless and impassive soldier before him a suspicious glance, which he endured, however, with imperturbable assurance. The man seemed to be about thirty years of age, tall and well built; he wore his uniform with a certain amount of ease; his intelligent features had an expression of craft and cunning, rendered more marked still by his incessantly moving black eyes, which only rested with considerable hesitation on the Captain. Sum total, this individual resembled all Mexican soldiers, and there was nothing about him that could attract attention or excite suspicion.