gh I am but one
against three I must accomplish the vow which I made at the death-bed of
a person who was very dear to me."

The three men whom Tiburcio meant--and whose names he repeated to
Bois-Rose--were Cuchillo, who had attempted to assassinate him; the
Senator, his rival: and Don Estevan, whom Tiburcio now believed to be
the murderer of Marcos Arellanos.

Bois-Rose tacitly applauded this exhibition of youthful ardour and
reckless courage.

"But you have not yet told me your name?" said he, interrogatively,
after a moment's hesitation.

"Tiburcio Arellanos," was the reply.

At the mention of the name the Canadian could not restrain a gesture
that expressed disappointment. There was nothing in the name to recall
the slightest souvenir. He had never heard it before.

The young man, however, observed the gesture.

"You have heard the name before?" he asked abruptly. "Perhaps you knew
my father, Marcos Arellanos? He has often been through the wildest
parts of the country where you may have met him. He was the most
celebrated gambusino in the province."

Instead of calling Marcos Arellanos his father, had Tiburcio said his
_adopted father_, his explanation might have elicited a different
response from the Canadian. As it was, he only said in reply:

"It is the first time I have heard the name. It was your face that
recalled to me some memories of events that happened--long, long ago--"

Without finishing what he meant to have said, the Canadian relapsed into
silence.

Tiburcio, too, ceased speaking for a while; he was reflecting on some
hopes that had suddenly sprung up within him. His meeting with the two
trappers appeared to him not so much a mere chance as a providential
circumstance. The secret which he possessed, almost useless to him
alone, might be rendered available with the assistance of two
auxiliaries such as they--it might become the key to the favour of Don
Augustin. It was not without repugnance that he reflected on this means
of winning the heart of Rosarita--or rather of purchasing it at the
price of gold--for Tiburcio believed that it was closed against any more
tender appeal. He had mentally resolved never to return to the
hacienda; but notwithstanding this vow he still indulged in a slight
remnant of hope--perhaps the echo of his own profound passion. This
hope overcame his repugnance; and he resolved to make known his design
to the trappers, and endeavour to obtain assistanc