ity of justifying his conduct--which
he knew must appear inexplicable--to the inhabitants of the hacienda Las
Palmas. Had he done so at that moment all would have been well; but
unfortunately a certain spirit of pride interfered to hinder him. A son
who had punished the murderer of his father, ought he to excuse himself
for what he felt to be a holy duty? Moreover, could he expect pardon
for becoming the enemy of a cause he could no longer call his own?

This haughty silence on the part of Don Rafael could not do otherwise
than complete the ruin of his hopes, and render still more impassable
the gulf that had been so suddenly and unexpectedly opened up between
his love and his duty.

The news of Valdez' death--brought to the hacienda of Las Palmas by a
passing messenger--together with the tenour of the inscription that
revealed the author of it, had fallen like a bomb-shell into the family
circle of Don Mariano de Silva. Unfortunately the same messenger had
failed to report the assassination of Don Luis Tres-Villas--for the
simple reason that he had not heard of it. His hosts, therefore,
remained ignorant of the cause of this terrible reprisal.

From that moment, therefore, the family of Las Palmas could not do
otherwise than regard the dragoon captain as a traitor, who, under the
pretence of the purest patriotism, had concealed the most ardent
sympathies for the oppressors of his country. Nevertheless the love of
Gertrudis essayed that justification, which the pride of Don Rafael had
restrained him from making.

"O my father!" exclaimed she, overwhelmed with grief, "do not judge him
too hastily. It is impossible he can be a traitor to his country's
cause. One day--I am sure of it--one day, he will send a message to
explain what has occurred."

"And when he does explain," responded Don Mariano, with bitterness,
"will he be less a traitor to his country? No--we need not hope. He
will not even attempt to justify his unworthy conduct."

In fine, the message came not; and Gertrudis was compelled to devour her
grief in silence.

Nevertheless the audacious defiance to the insurrection implied in the
act of Don Rafael, and the inscription that announced it, had something
in it of a chivalric character, which was not displeasing to the spirit
of Gertrudis. It did not fail to plead the cause of the absent lover;
and at one time her affection was even reconquered--that is, when it
came to be known that the head