hat it was necessary to get her lover away just as soon as he was able
to ride a horse.

Lying on the rug in front of the fire she had been thinking of him when,
suddenly, her quick ear, more than ever alert in these days, caught the
sound of a stealthy footstep outside the cabin. With no fear whatever
except in relation to the discovery of her lover, the Girl went
noiselessly to the window and peered out into the darkness. A man was
making signs that he wished to speak with her. For a moment she stood
watching in perplexity, but almost instantly her instinct told her that
one of that race, for she believed the man to be a Mexican, would never
dare to come to her cabin at that time of night unless it was on a
friendly errand. So putting her face close to the pane to reassure
herself that she had not been mistaken in regard to his nationality, she
then went to the door and held it wide open for the man to enter, at the
same time putting her finger to her lips as a sign that he should be
very still.

"What are you doin' here? What do you want?" she asked in a low voice,
at the same time leading him to the side of the room further away from
her lover.

Jose Castro's first words were in Spanish, but immediately perceiving
that he failed to make her understand, he nodded comprehendingly, and
said:

"All righta--I espeak Engleesh--I am Jose Castro too well known to the
_Maestro_. I want to see 'im."

The Girl's intuition told her that a member of the band stood before
her, and she regarded him suspiciously. Not that she believed that he
was disloyal and had come there with hostile intent, but because she
felt that she must be absolutely sure of her ground before she revealed
the fact that Johnson was in the cabin. She let some moments pass before
she replied:

"I don't know nothin' about your master. Who is he?"

An indulgent smile crossed the Mexican's face.

"That ver' good to tella other peoples; but I know 'im here too much.
You trusta me--me quita safe."

All this was said with many gestures and an air that convinced the Girl
that he was speaking the truth. But since she deemed it best that the
invalid should be kept from any excitement, she resolved to make the
Mexican divulge to her the nature of his important errand.

"How do you know he's here?" she began warily. "What do you want 'im
for?"

The Mexican's shifty eyes wandered all over the room as if to make
certain that no inimical ears were listening;