t range so far north, _nina_," corrected her husband.
"Yet is it dangerous for a man to go alone among any of the wild tribes,
or even among the tame Indians, if they have reason to believe his
murder will not be discovered. That, however, was a small matter
compared to the courage required to brave condemnation as a spy."

"Spy?" exclaimed Senor Vallois.

I saw Alisanda shrink at the word, and Walker bend forward to catch the
answer.

"You must remember that Don Juan and his companions had been absent from
the nearest of their frontier settlements for seven or eight months,"
explained Malgares. "How was he to foresee whether or not war had been
declared?"

"War or not," interrupted Walker, "Senor Robinson not only invaded our
territories in company with a military force, but, as I understand the
event, he ventured into Santa Fe in disguise and without acknowledging
his relation to Lieutenant Pike."

"How about it, Don Faciendo?" I asked. "Is an incursion into the
territories of a neighboring Government necessarily an act of war?"

"_Por Dios!_" he laughed. "You have us there! I trust that His
Excellency will consider his own proceedings, and be moved to look with
a lenient eye upon the mistake of our _Americano_ friends."

"So exalted a personage must be a man of discretion," I said, looking
fixedly at Walker. "His Excellency will think twice before exacting
vengeance for so small an offence. The garrotting or imprisonment of one
or all the members of the expedition would be a bad bargain if it
resulted in the loss to His Catholic Majesty of the Floridas. Mr. Walker
can tell you that the riflemen who muster for our backwoods militia
could, unaided, sweep the Floridas from Louisiana to the Atlantic. What
is more, they will do it at the first excuse. They are already at full
cock over the manner in which the British agents are allowed by your
people to come up from the Gulf and foment trouble against us among the
Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws. Let General Salcedo go to extremes
with our peaceful expedition, and there will be a setting of triggers
from Georgia to Louisiana."

"_Madre de Dios!_ Be prudent, I pray you, Juan!" warned Don Pedro. "Such
words are best left unsaid."

"Are they?" I demanded. "If to-morrow every free-minded man in New Spain
spoke out his real thoughts, to-morrow this land would be free from Old
Spain."

"_Maria santisima!_" gasped Dona Marguerite, dropping her fan and
sitting erect.