cted a disguise, and, when opportunity afforded, spoke to her,
offered my services. She replied to my poor efforts at Spanish in
fluent English. She had fled in terror from her home, some place down
in Sinaloa. Rebels are active there. Her father was captured and held
for ransom. When the ransom was paid the rebels killed him. The leader
of these rebels was a bandit named Rojas. Long before the revolution
began he had been feared by people of class--loved by the peons.
Bandits are worshiped by the peons. All of the famous bandits have
robbed the rich and given to the poor. Rojas saw the daughter, made off
with her. But she contrived to bribe her guards, and escaped almost
immediately before any harm befell her. She hid among friends. Rojas
nearly tore down the town in his efforts to find her. Then she
disguised herself, and traveled by horseback, stage, and train to
Casita.

"Her story fascinated me, and that one fleeting glimpse I had of her
face I couldn't forget. She had no friends here, no money. She knew
Rojas was trailing her. This talk I had with her was at the railroad
station, where all was bustle and confusion. No one noticed us, so I
thought. I advised her to remove the disguise of a nun before she left
the waiting-room. And I got a boy to guide her. But he fetched her to
his house. I had promised to come in the evening to talk over the
situation with her.

"I found her, Dick, and when I saw her--I went stark, staring, raving
mad over her. She is the most beautiful, wonderful girl I ever saw.
Her name is Mercedes Castaneda, and she belongs to one of the old
wealthy Spanish families. She has lived abroad and in Havana. She
speaks French as well as English. She is--but I must be brief.

"Dick, think, think! With Mercedes also it was love at first sight. My
plan is to marry her and get her farther to the interior, away from the
border. It may not be easy. She's watched. So am I. It was
impossible to see her without the women of this house knowing. At
first, perhaps, they had only curiosity--an itch to gossip. But the
last two days there has been a change. Since last night there's some
powerful influence at work. Oh, these Mexicans are subtle, mysterious!
After all, they are Spaniards. They work in secret, in the dark. They
are dominated first by religion, then by gold, then by passion for a
woman. Rojas must have got word to his friends here; yesterday his
gang of cutthroat rebe