e beneath the open window.
The general stood, cap in hand, holding up to Alaire a solitary wild
flower which he had plucked beside the track.

"See!" he cried. "It is the color of your adorable eyes--blue like a
sapphire gem. I saw it peeping at me, and it was lonely. But now,
behold how it smiles--like a star that sees Paradise, eh? And I, too,
have seen Paradise." He placed the delicate bloom in Alaire's fingers
and was gone.

"Cuidado!" breathed Dolores. "There is blood on it; the blood of
innocents. He will burn for a million years in hell, that man."

Longorio made good his promise; soon a grizzled old teniente, with six
soldiers, was transferred as a bodyguard to the American lady, and
then, after some further delay, the military train departed. Upon the
rear platform stood a tall, slim, khaki-clad figure, and until the car
had dwindled away down the track, foreshortening to a mere rectangular
dot, Luis Longorio remained motionless, staring with eager eyes through
the capering dust and the billowing heat waves.

Jose Sanchez came plowing into Alaire's car, tremendously excited.
"Look, senora!" he cried. "Look what the general gave me," and he
proudly displayed Longorio's service revolver. Around Jose's waist was
the cartridge-belt and holster that went with the weapon. "With his own
hands he buckled it about me, and he said, 'Jose, something tells me
you are a devil for bravery. Guard your mistress with your life, for if
any mishap befalls her I shall cut out your heart with my own hands.'
Those were his very words, senora. Caramba! There is a man to die for."

Nor was this the last of Longorio's dramatic surprises. Shortly after
the train had got under way the lieutenant in command of Alaire's guard
brought her a small package, saying:

"The general commanded me to hand you this, with his deepest regard."

Alaire accepted the object curiously. It was small and heavy and
wrapped in several leaves torn from a notebook, and it proved to be
nothing less than the splendid diamond-and-ruby ring she had admired.

"God protect us, now!" murmured Dolores, crossing herself devoutly.

VIII

BLAZE JONES'S NEMESIS

Blaze Jones rode up to his front gate and dismounted in the shade of
the big ebony-tree. He stepped back and ran an approving eye over
another animal tethered there. It was a thoroughbred bay mare he had
never seen, and as he scanned her good points he reflected that the
time had come when he w