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Feeling very much elated, I strolled along the sunny streets, gaily swinging my cane, when, turning a corner near Dona Isidora's house, I suddenly came face to face with Don Hilario. This unexpected encounter threw us both off our guard, he recoiling two or three paces backwardand turning as pale as the nature of his complexion would allow. I recovered first from the shock.
Blurred forms took shape, phantom figures moved along the embankment, stumps stirred. O'Reilly felt a pair of reins thrust into his hand and found Hilario examining a large pair of tinner's shears. "Do you wish me to go with you?" he inquired of the guide. The latter shook his head. "Antonio will go; he will keep watch while I clear a path. If you hear or see anything "
If you have any compassion for me you will leave me now." "What, leave you, Demetria, my sister, to that man how can you imagine such a thing? Tell me, where is Don Hilario is he coming back to-night?" "I know nothing. He may come back at any moment. Leave me, Richard; every minute you remain here increases your danger." Then she attempted to draw away from me, but I would not release her.
I found Paquita lying down in her room having a siesta; and while she arrayed herself at my express desire in her best dress a black velvet which set off her matchless beauty better than anything else, I told her how I wished her to treat Don Hilario.
Don Hilario politely offered me a cigarette and lit one for himself. For some minutes we smoked in silence, until the old man gradually dropped to sleep in his chair, after which we rose and went back to the kitchen. Even that sombre retreat now seemed cheerful after the silence and gloom of the dining-room.
Other reports rang out as the sentry emptied his rifle in their direction. "So! They are shooting-bats," Hilario grunted. Antonio swung about and cocked his Remington, but the other spoke sharply. "Fool! If you shoot they will see the fire and riddle us. A curse on the spider that spun this web!"
'What do you say to this, Uncle Doc? said Geoffrey. 'Suppose you go up to the storehouse and office, it's about a mile, and see if the goods are there all right, and whether the men saw Pancho on his way up to the canyon. Meanwhile, Phil and I will ride over here somewhere to get a team, or look up Senor Don Manuel Felipe Hilario Noriega.
My only desire just then was to get away into some place of safety where I would be able to think over the position quietly, and if possible devise some plan to defeat Don Hilario, who had been a little too quick for me.
Don Hilario, with a faint smile on his lips, drew a key from his pocket and passed it silently to Ramona. She rose, muttering, from the table and proceeded to unlock a cupboard, from which she took a bottle of wine. Then, going round the table, she poured out half a tumblerful for each person, excepting herself and Santos, who, to judge from his stolid countenance, did not expect any.
"Do you know these men?" O'Reilly asked him. "No. God deliver me from such unpleasant fellows." "I hope they're honest." "Humph! I trust nobody." There was a pause. "Never mind," Jacket assured his companion. "I will make short work of them if they prove to be traitors." A half-hour passed, then the two ghostly figures materialized once more. "Dios!" grumbled Hilario.
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