Although the dragoon officer had in some measure requited the service, by afterwards snatching the _arriero_ from the jaws of the devouring flood, he did not on that account feel a whit less grateful. Neither did Gertrudis, who with her thoughts of love had already mingled her prayers for him, who had a just title to be called the saviour of Don Rafael's life. The man, Valerio Trujano, whose nature at a later period became immortalised by the siege of Huajapam, was at this time about forty years of age; but his fine delicate features, overshadowed by an abundance of glossy black hair, gave him the appearance of being much younger. "Senor Don Mariano," said he, on coming into the presence of the haciendado, "I have come to bid _adios_, and thank you for your hospitality." "What!" exclaimed Don Mariano, "surely you are not going to leave us so soon? No, no." Gertrudis at the same time expressed her unwillingness that he should depart. "I must leave you, Don Mariano," answered the _arriero_. "The man who has business to attend to is not always his own master. When his heart impels him to turn to the right, his affairs often carry him to the left. He who is _in debt_, is still less master of himself." "You owe a sum of money, then?" said Don Rafael, interrogatively, at the same time advancing towards the _arriero_ and offering him his hand. "Why could you not have told me of this? Whatever be the amount, I--" "Ah! _cavallero_," interrupted Trujano, with a smile, "it is a bad plan to borrow from one for the purpose of paying another. I could not think of accepting a loan. It is not from pride, but a sense of duty that I decline your generous offer; and I hope you will not be offended. The sum I owe is not a very heavy one--a few hundred dollars. Since it has pleased God that my mules should find a shelter in the stables of Don Mariano, and thus escape the inundation, I can now take the road through the mountains to Oajaca, where the money I shall receive for my _recua_ will, I hope, entirely clear me from debt." "What!" cried Don Mariano, in a tone of surprise, "do you talk of selling your mules--the only means you have of gaining your livelihood?" "Yes," modestly replied the muleteer, "I intend selling them. I do so in order that I may be able to go where my vocation calls me. I should have gone already; but being in debt up to this time, my life belonged to my creditors rather than to myself, and I had not the right to expose it to danger." "To expose your life?" interrogated Gertrudis, with an accent that bespoke her interest in the brave man. "Just so, Senorita," responded the _arriero_. "I have seen the heads of Lopez and Armenta exposed upon the high road of San Luis del Rey. Who knows but that my own may soon figure beside them? I speak openly," continued Trujano, looking round upon his audience, "and as if before God. I know that my host, no more than God himself, would betray a secret thus confided to him."