ld; and even were we forced to end our days in it, he
continued, speaking quickly and urgently, a much worse fate might come
to us; for the valley was a bright and beautiful one, as we had seen,
and had in it an abundant supply of food. Would living there, he asked,
be any worse for us than living where we then were--where we were
equally shut in? And even supposing that the war ended in victory for
us, and that our allies gave us entire freedom of action, what more
could we do than end our days in the Valley of Aztlan, or else go back
to that other valley and search for an outlet thence whereby we could
get into an open way among the mountains, and so once more to our homes?
And then, still denying us opportunity to answer, he went on to speak of
the pain and misery and despairing sorrow that the threatened war would
bring; and then, more gently, of the duty that pressed upon us of
averting this calamity, that was also a crime, even though to do so we
must sacrifice hopes and wishes very dear to our hearts.

"What th' dickens is th' Padre drivin' at, anyway?" Young exclaimed; "I
don't ketch on at all."

"No more do I," said Rayburn. "It's a first-rate sermon that he's giving
us, but I don't see where he means the moral of it to fetch up."

For myself, so closely were Fray Antonio and I bound together by bonds
of sympathy, I saw but too plainly what he meant should be the outcome
of his discourse; and I was not surprised, therefore--though hearing
thus plainly expressed in words what I had been dreading, sent a dull,
cold pain into the very depths of my heart--when he unfolded to us the
whole of the plan that he had been forming within his mind. What he said
was said very simply, and with a loving sorrow for the pain that might
come to us through shaping our actions in accordance with his strong
desire; and this desire was: that, of our own free-will, we should
retire from the valley by the way that we came thither, and so leave the
Council free to accept unhesitatingly the Priest Captain's terms.

"And what of yourself?" I asked; for I felt within me a strong
conviction that for himself he had in view a very different fate.

He hesitated for a moment before answering me, and his color changed a
little; and then an unwonted ruddiness gave animation to his face, and a
light of glad and strong resolve shone in his eyes as he replied, in a
voice that was very low, and at the same time very clear and firm: "I
shall go t