"I refuse to surrender myself to your tyrants. The people of Acauhtzin refuse to lay down their arms. Between myself and the illegal Junta now sitting at Tlatonac, there is no friendship, no trust, no faith. They proclaim me a rebel! I, Hypolito Xuarez, proclaim war!" He flung up his hand with a fiery gesture, and as he did so a hundred swords flashed from their scabbards. "War!" cried those in the hall. "War! Viva Xuarez!" Don Alonzo tore the message of the Republic in twain, and cast the pieces at the foot of the dais whereon Xuarez was seated. "So be it!" he cried, turning his back, "War!" "Hold!" said Xuarez, in a voice of thunder. "You came, Señores, under the protection of the English flag. You go with the opal banner flying at your masthead. Such a precaution was useless. I am not a barbarian to fire on a flag of truce; but you--you, Señores, are cowards to thus distrust an honourable foe." Before the Intendante could speak, Philip sprang forward, and faced the speaker. "The fault, Señor, if fault it be, is mine. The vessel in which we came is English, and, therefore, flies the English flag. In the port, I hoisted the opal banner, to show that these gentlemen were on board, and had come on a mission from the Junta." "An excellent explanation!" sneered Hypolito, frowning; "but untrue!" "Señor!" "Untrue, I say! You thought I would fire on your ship! You looked on me as a barbaric foe! You mistrusted me!" "And who would not?" said Jack's deep voice savagely, "who would not mistrust one who makes war on women?" "Be quiet, Jack." "I do not understand you, Señor Duval," said Xuarez, who knew the young engineer quite well. "Explain!" "Doña Dolores, the niece of Don Miguel Maraquando, has been kidnapped from Tlatonac! I accuse you of carrying her off." "I deny it, Señor! It is false," cried the rebel leader, a flush reddening the marble whiteness of his face. "Doña Dolores is not in Acauhtzin." "She may not be here, Señor, but you know where she is!" "I do not, Señor! You have no proof of what you say." "Pepe, the zambo, a spy in your pay, carried off a woman from Tlatonac," cried Rafael, stepping forward. "That woman was my cousin, Dolores." Xuarez started, and spoke rapidly to one of his officers, who thereupon left the room. "Ah! you know much, Señor," he resumed, scornfully; "but you are wrong; the zambo was my spy----" "Carambo!" "I repeat he was my spy in Tlatonac," said Xuarez, coolly; "and he left the city with a plan of your fortifications." "Por todos Santos," roared Garibay, fiercely, clapping his hand on his sword. "Call on whom you like, Señor Commandante! I have no reason to hide this from you or from the Junta, else would I have kept silent. I know when to hold my tongue, Señores; I know when to speak! I speak now! Go back and tell your President that I have a full plan of Tlatonac in my possession, and that I will use it to take your city, and level its walls to the ground."