se."

But Longorio insisted. "Wait! It is impossible for you to leave here."

Alaire stared at him incredulously.

"It is true. Mexico is a seething caldron of hate; the country is
convulsed. It would be unsafe for you."

"Do you mean to say that war has been declared?"

"Practically."

"What--? You are telling me the truth?" A moment, then Alaire
continued, more calmly, "If that is so, there is all the more reason
why I should lose no time."

"Listen!" The general was deeply in earnest. "You have no conception of
the chaos out there." He waved a comprehensive gesture. "If the
explosion has not come, it will come within a few hours. That is why I
flew to your side. Battleships are hurrying toward our coast, troops
are massing against our border, and Mexico has risen like one man. The
people are in a frenzy; they are out of bounds; there is sack and
pillage in the cities. Americans are objects of violence everywhere and
the peons are frantic." He paused impressively. "We face the greatest
upheaval of history."

"Then why are you here?" Alaire demanded. "This is no place for you at
such a moment."

Longorio came closer to her, and his voice trembled as he said: "Angel
of my soul, my place is at your side." Again she recoiled, but with a
fervor he had never dared display he rushed on heedlessly. "I have told
you I harken only to my heart; that for one smile from you I would
behead myself; that for your favor I would betray my fatherland; that
for your kiss I would face damnation. Well, I am here at your side. The
deluge comes, but you shall be unharmed." He would not permit her to
check him, crying: "Wait! You must hear me through, senora, so that you
may comprehend fully why I am forced to speak at this time. Out of this
coming struggle I shall emerge a heroic figure. Now that Mexico unites,
she will triumph, and of all her victorious sons the name of Luis
Longorio will be sung the loudest, for upon him more than upon any
other depends the Republic's salvation. I do not boast. I merely state
facts, for I have made all my plans, and tomorrow I put them into
effect. That is why I cannot wait to speak. The struggle will be long,
but you shall be my guiding star in the hour of darkness."

Under other circumstances the man's magnificent egotism might have
provoked a smile. And yet, for all its grandiloquence, there was
something in his speech that rang hard and true. Unquestionably
Longorio was dangerous--a real p