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He had observed, too, that but one sentry was posted at the gate, and that the stone banquette, inside the saguan, used as a lounging-place by the guard, was at the moment unoccupied. The guard were either inside the house, or had strayed away to their quarters. In fact, the discipline of the place was of the loosest kind. Vizcarra, though a dandy himself, was no martinet with his men.
I could see the Mexican, from where I lay, as he crossed the quadrangular patio. He had shrugged himself closely in his manga, and was moving off in an attitude that betokened the deepest dejection. In a moment he was out of sight, having passed through the saguan, and into the street. "There is something truly mysterious about that man. Tell me, Saint Vrain "
During the short conversation between the Comandante and Roblado he had not been idle, though apparently so. He had made a full reconnaissance of the walls. He saw that out of the saguan, or gateway, an escalera of stone steps led up to the azotea.
"Hush-sh! look yonder!" interrupted my friend, pointing through the open door. I looked out into the moonlight. Three human forms were moving along the wall, towards the entrance of the patio. Their height, their peculiar attitudes, and the stealthy silence of their steps, convinced me they were Indians. The next moment they were lost under the dark shadows of the saguan. "Who are they?"
A small guard in the saguan, or covered entrance below, with a sentinel stationed outside the gate in front, indicated this. There was no family inside, wife, woman, or child; for the colonel, still a young man, was a bachelor.
He neither halted nor spoke, but, casting on the latter a malignant glance, kept on. He did not slacken his pace until he drew bridle in the saguan of the Presidio. His panting horse had to pay for the bitter reflections that tortured the soul of his master. The first thing which Rosita did, after the noise without had ceased, was to glide forth and peep through the cactus-fence.
"Go under that shadow and wait. I shall be better alone." This was said in a whisper. My companion did as directed. I approached the great door and knocked boldly. "Quien?" cried the porter within the saguan. "Yo," I responded. The door was opened slowly and with caution. "Is the Senorito Narcisso within?" I inquired. The man answered in the affirmative.
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