It is possible that my countenance may have expressed incredulity. It was difficult to conceive how the diminutive Mexican--as he appeared just then in my eyes--could have won the love of such a grand belle as he was describing Gabriella to be. Still was he not altogether unhandsome; and in earlier life--before his great misfortune had befallen him--he might have been gifted with some personal graces. High qualities, I had heard of his possessing--among others courage beyond question or suspicion; and in those frontier regions--accursed by the continual encroachment of Indian warfare, and where human life is every day in danger--that is a quality of the first class--esteemed by all, but by none more than those who stand most in need of protection--the women. Often there as elsewhere--more often than elsewhere--does courage take precedence of mere personal appearance, and boldness wins the smile of beauty. It was possible that the possession of this quality on the part of Pedro Archilete had influenced the heart of the fair Gabriella. This might explain her preference. The Mexican must have partially divined my thoughts, as was proved by the speech that followed. "Yes, _amigo_! more than one rich _haciendado_ would have been only too happy to have married Gabriella; and yet she consented to become my wife, though I was just as I am now. May be a little better looking than at this time; though I can't say that I ever passed for an Apollo. No--no--_senor_. It was not my good looks that won the heart of the girl." "Your good qualities?" "Not much to boast of, _cavallero_. True, in my youth, I had the name of being the best horseman in our village--the best _rastreador_--the most skilful trapper. I could `tail the bull,' `run the cock,' and pick up a girl's ribbon at full gallop--perhaps a little more adroitly than my competitors; but I think it was something else that first gained me the young girl's esteem. I had the good fortune once to save her life-- when, by her own imprudence, she had gone out too far from the village, and was attacked by a grizzly bear. _Ay de mi_! It mattered not. Poor nina! She might as well have perished then, by the monster's claws. She met her death from worse monsters--a death far more horrible; but you shall hear." "Go on! From what you have disclosed, I am painfully interested in your tale." CHAPTER NINETY THREE. A BLOODY BRIDAL. "_Puez senor_! what I am about to tell you happened full ten years ago, though it's as fresh in my mind as if it was yesterday. You may have heard of the village of Valverde? It is about fifty leagues south of Santa Fe, on the Rio del Norte--that portion of the valley we call the _Rio Abajo_. It was at one time a settlement of some importance--rich and prospering as any in New Mexico--but, in consequence of the incursions of the Apaches, it fell into decay. Is now a complete ruin without a single inhabitant."