ouncil was concerned, its
members having no especial regard for our welfare now that we had served
their purpose, the slaying of Fray Antonio, and the expulsion from the
valley of the rest of us, were trifling matters which well enough might
be conceded if thereby peace might be secured. The matter of importance
that this body had to consider was how far the Priest Captain could be
trusted to fulfil promises made to rebels in arms, when these same
rebels voluntarily had submitted to disarmament and were at his mercy;
and on this essential point the whole debate that followed turned. The
faction that favored disarmament insisted that such yielding was not
surrender, inasmuch as the Priest Captain had conceded all that the
rebels had asked; while those of the faction that favored war rested
their case on the ground that the promises of concession were made only
to be broken, and that this sudden willingness on the part of the Priest
Captain to grant what he had heretofore so persistently refused was
proof that he recognized the hopelessness of his position, and so was
seeking to retain by craft the power that he no longer could hold by
force. These latter, therefore, urged that his false promises should not
be heeded; and that the matter at issue should be settled surely and
finally by carrying to a triumphant conclusion the war, for the waging
of which all needful preparations had been made.

The debate upon this matter continued throughout the whole day without
any conclusion being arrived at, and we listened to it--Fray Antonio and
I translating to the others--with a very earnest interest, inasmuch as
the outcome of it all might be the instant slaying of one of us, and for
the rest of us an imprisonment in wild fastnesses among bleak mountains
for what was like to be the whole remainder of our lives. When night
came, and the Council, being still unresolved, broke off its session
until the day following, we came back to our quarters and there talked
over the situation, and not cheerfully, among ourselves.

"Even if these fellows understood algebra," said Rayburn, "I don't see
how they could get an answer to the problem that they're trying to work.
All the _x_'s that ever were made are not enough to represent an unknown
quantity like the Priest Captain; and it simply is not in the conditions
of the case that they possibly can know what allowance to make for the
factor of error. For the last three hours, as far as I can m