been upon those
pack-saddles no man could surely say. The explanation vouchsafed that
the lading had been firewood was not, all things considered, wholly
satisfactory; but it could not be disproved. And as the possession of
warm pack-saddles and warm-backed _burros_ is not an indictable
offense even in Mexico, the _contraresguardo_ could do nothing better
in the premises than swear with much heartiness and ride sullenly
away. And to the honor of Lampazos be it said that when, in due course
of time, Pepe returned and withdrew his _burro_-train from the town,
not a single package of the _contrabando_ had been stolen or lost!

So Pepe, by his genius and his good luck, proved his right to wear his
spurs. And the merchants of the interior held him in high esteem; and
people generally looked upon him as a rising young man; and Pancha,
who read aright the story told by his bold yet tender brown eyes,
suffered herself to love this gallant captain of _contrabandistas_
with all her heart.

Yet while this was the first time that Pancha had loved, it was not
the first time that love had been given her. A dozen young fellows, as
everybody knew, and as even she, though quite to herself, demurely
acknowledged, were in love with her to their very ears. One or two of
them had gone so far, indeed, as to open communications, through
proper representatives, for the rare favor of her hand. The most
earnest, though the least demonstrative of these, was a certain
captain in the _contraresguardo_, by name Pedro; a good fellow in
his way, but quite shut out beyond the pale of reputable society, of
course, by his unfortunate calling.

Naturally Pancha never was likely to think very seriously of loving
Pedro; yet pity for him, acting on her gentle heart, had made her in
some sort his friend. It was not altogether his fault that he was an
officer of the _contraresguardo_, and other people besides Pancha
believed that but for this blight upon him a good career might have
been his. But luck had been against Pedro from the very day of his
birth; for when he was born his mother died, and a little later his
father died also. Being thus left lonely in the world, he fell into
the keeping of his uncle, Padre Juan, a grim priest who, having lost
all happiness in life himself, saw little reason why he should seek to
make the lives of others glad. Dismally the boy grew up in this
narrow, cheerless home. The Padre fain would have made of him a priest
als