re that, por Dios, and they make me proud of my race. Miramon,
Mejia, they are the leaven. They redeem Lopez, they redeem Marquez, they
redeem the deserters who now so largely form my armies, who before had
deserted me for the French invasion. By the signal example of these two
men to die to-morrow, the world shall know that Mexicans are not all
traitors. And as we grow, we Mexicans, we may grow beyond the empty
loyalty of glowing Spanish words. Remembering such an example, we may
come to be, in our very hearts, breathing things of honor. We have been
shackled because of infamy during the last centuries. Can you wonder,
then, that we use the treacherous weapon of the Conquistadores?--But
that's apart. The loyalty of Miramon and Mejia has been loyalty to an
invader, a wrong their country will not forgive. But our cultured
gentleman of Europe, our vain fool who would regenerate the poor Indito,
he will perhaps not feel so ashamed of us, not when he has two such
companions in death, and not when he learns, though painfully, that the
rod of Mexican justice respects neither immunity nor privilege of birth.
There, senorita, I've had to talk more about this one individual than
about the hundreds of others who have been punished for much less than
he."

"But it must be terrible to die, senor. And _he_ doesn't realize,
while a delay of only a few days----"

"Would suffice for his escape?"

Jacqueline reddened guiltily. "No, to prepare for his end," she said.

The Presidente smiled tolerantly. "Never fear," he answered first her
confusion, "our justice stands committed, and to wink at escape now
would be cowardly. Yet, whether you meant it or not, you are right, and
the execution stands postponed until the nineteenth. A doomed man may
learn much in three days to comfort him--on his way. But the criminal of
all is lacking."

"Marquez, you mean?"

"U'm, him also. But I was thinking of Louis Napoleon, _and_ his
wife."

The order of postponement, being openly telegraphed to Escobedo at
Queretaro, was known at once in San Luis, and caused a fury of
excitement. For none doubted but that it meant eventual pardon. The
tender hearted rejoiced. The rabid ones muttered. The wise shook dubious
heads. And even as Jacqueline and Berthe were hurrying back to Queretaro
in the canvas-covered coach, another caller was admitted roundly on the
president's privacy, without so much as being announced. Juarez wondered
if his orderly had gone c