most to
fear--those who would sell her, body and soul, land and loyalty, to
foreign devils for gold. It is not against the outside world we fight--it
is the vile, the treacherous ones inside our borders."

"But how can you tell who is for, and who against?" asked Eveley
bewildered. "They all promise so much--and peace is assured--but there is
no peace. And who can tell where freedom really lies?"

"Alas, it is true," said Marie sadly. "But those with eyes that see and
hearts that love, know that Mexico is still in the hands of traitors, and
that the spirit of revolution must live."

"Of course you know more about it than I do," admitted Eveley. "We--we do
not understand the situation at all. I--think perhaps they are too shrewd
for us. Let's not talk of it--it excites you, dear. I want you to rest
and be quiet. I did not know that any one could love--Mexico--like that."

"Have you seen Mexico? Oh, not the dry, barren border country, but my
Mexico, rich with jewels and gold, studded with magnificent cities,
flowering with rare fruits and spices, a mellow, golden, matchless land,
peopled by those who are skilled in arts and science, lovers of beauty,
and--Ah, you do not know Mexico. You know only the half-breed savages who
run the borderland, preying on Mexican and American alike. You do not
know the real Mexico of beautiful women, and brave and gallant men. How
could you know?"

Then her voice became soft and dreamy again. "I visited here long years
ago. I was out in your Old Town, where the Indian maid Ramona lived. I
stood in the square there. Do you know the story, Eveley, of the early
days when your Captain Fremont and his band of soldiers stood there,
ready to lower the flag of Mexico and to raise in its place your Stars
and Stripes? As your soldier stepped forward to tear down our flag, a
little girl of Mexico, another Marie like me, who was watching with
aching heart from the window of the 'dobe house on the other side,
shocked at the outrage, leaped from the casement forgetting her fear of
the foreign soldiers, and with one tug of her sharp knife cut the rope.
As the flag of Mexico fell, she caught it in her bare hands, and pressed
it against her lips, her little form shaken with sobs. 'Forgive me,' she
said to the soldiers, but it is the flag of my country, I could not see
it dragged in the dust.'"

Eveley leaned over and put her hand on Marie's arm. "I have heard the
story many times, but I never caught t