hout having been either crushed or trodden
upon. Isolina de Vargas was a woman of sufficient spirit to resist
insult and cast off intrusion. I had just had proof of this. Under
ordinary circumstances, I had no fear that she would be unequal to the
emergency; but the circumstances in which she now stood were not of that
character; they were extraordinary, and that to an extreme degree. In
addition to the light thrown upon Ijurra's designs by his own menacing
confession, I knew other particulars of him. Holingsworth had helped me
to a knowledge of this bad man, and this knowledge it was that rendered
me apprehensive. From a nature so base and brutal, it was natural I
should dread the worst.

But what could I do? I might have thrown up my commission, and remained
upon the spot, but this would have been worse than idle. I could not
have protected myself, much less another. The rangers once gone from
the place, my life would not have been safe there for a single hour.

Only one plan suggested itself that had the semblance of feasibility: to
seek another interview with Isolina--her father as well--and adjure them
to remove at once from the scene of danger. They might proceed to San
Antonio de Bexar, where, far removed from hostile ground, they could
live in safety till the war should be ended.

It was only at the last moment that this happy idea came into my head,
and I reviled myself that I had not conceived it sooner. The chief
difficulty would lie in the opposition of Don Ramon. I knew that he was
aware of the _friendship_ that existed between his daughter and myself,
and, furthermore, that he had opposed no obstacle to it; but how could I
convince him of the necessity for so sudden an expatriation as the one I
was about to propose? how should I persuade him of the peril I myself
dreaded? and from such a source?

Another difficulty I might encounter: in the proud spirit of Isolina
herself. Much did I fear she would never consent to be thus driven from
her home, and by such a poltroon as she knew her cousin to be. She had
cowed and conquered him but the day before; she feared him not; she
would not be likely to partake of my painful apprehensions. My counsel
might be disregarded, my motives misconstrued.

The time, too, was unfavourable. We must be on the march by sunrise--so
ran our orders--and already the day was breaking. I cared not much for
this: I could easily have overtaken my troop; but it was a