mountaineer,
as, springing from his seat, he tore the scarf from her hands and dashed
it on the ground, trampling it beneath his feet, and tearing it to very
rags.

"A fight--a fight!" shouted out a number of voices; and now the crowd
closed in upon the dancing space, and a hundred tongues mingled in
wild altercation. Although a few professed themselves indignant that a
stranger should be thus insulted, I saw plainly that the majority were
with their countryman, whom they agreed in regarding as a most outraged
and injured individual. To my great astonishment, I discovered that
my friend Seth took the same view of the matter, and was even more
energetic than the others in reprobation of my conduct.

"Don't you see," cried he to me, "that you have taken his sweetheart
from him? The muchacha has done all this to provoke his jealousy."

"Oui, oui," said a thin, miserable-looking Frenchman, "vous avez tire la
bouteille; il faut payer le vin."

In all probability, had not the crowd separated us most effectually,
these comments and counsels had been all uttered "after the fact;" for
I dashed forward to strike my antagonist, and was only held back by main
force, as Seth whispered in my ear, "Take it coolly, lad; it must be a
fight now, and don't unsteady your hand by flying into a passion."

Meanwhile the noise and confusion waxed louder and louder; and from the
glances directed towards me there was very little doubt how strongly
public opinion pronounced against me.

"No, no!" broke in Seth,--in reply to some speech whose purport I
could only guess at, for I did not hear the words,--"that would be a
downright shame. Let the lad have fair play. There's a pretty bit of
ground outside the garden, for either sword or pistol-work, whichever
you choose it to be. I 'll not stand anything else."

Another very fiery discussion ensued upon this, the end of which was
that I was led away by Seth and one of his comrades to my room, with the
satisfactory assurance that at the very first dawn of day I was to meet
the Mexican peasant in single combat.

"You have two good hours of sleep before you," said Seth, as we entered
my room; "and my advice is, don't lose a minute of them."

It has been a mystery to me, up to the very hour I am writing in, how
far my friend Seth Chiseller's conduct on this occasion accorded with
good faith. Certainly, it would have been impossible for any one to have
evinced a more chivalrous regard for my hon