keep me waiting long. The following afternoon he found
his opportunity in a message to us from Salcedo. As an officer, he was
careful to attend first to his official business, which proved to be of
a character well suited to his temper. I happened to be in one of the
rear rooms when Walker ushered him in to where Pike was thumbing over
his beloved Pope's "Essay on Man."

Recognizing Medina's carefully modulated voice, I lingered to adjust my
cravat with an extra touch. When I entered, the Lieutenant was in the
midst of a reply to some remark by the aide: "--Therefore, Mr. Robinson
and I have considered ourselves at liberty to discuss what we pleased,
and as we pleased."

Medina met my half bow with a scowl.

"May I inquire the purpose of our distinguished guest's presence with
us?" I asked.

"He brings word from the Governor-General that it is high time we put on
muzzles," replied Pike, with one of his rare flashes of anger.

"_Por Dios!_" I mocked. "Can it be Don Nimesio Salcedo does not admire
our teeth?"

"Were I His Excellency," growled Medina, "certain teeth would be gnawing
crusts in the _calabozo_."

"But as it is, Lieutenant de Gonzales y Medina comes as an aide in the
service of His Excellency," suggested Walker.

The hint was sufficient to smooth Medina's ruffled front. He fixed his
gaze upon Pike, and addressed him with the most formal politeness: "Then
you admit, senor, that yourself and Senor Robinson have persistently and
deliberately inculcated and disseminated republican principles
throughout the period of your presence in New Spain?"

"It is true," replied Pike. "We came to Chihuahua at the insistence of
His Excellency, yet have been assured that we are not to regard
ourselves as prisoners. Why, then, should we not discuss topics of
world-wide interest with the same freedom we should enjoy in our own
country?"

"Lieutenant Pike overlooks the delicacy of his situation."

"My compliments to His Excellency," retorted Pike. "My country is yet
young and poor. It may as yet lack strength to resent the outrages of
Britain and France. But present to His Excellency the assurance of my
confidence that the Republic can exact reprisals for injuries to its
citizens and officers inflicted by a secondary power."

"_Satanas!_" swore the aide. "You dare name the great Kingdom of Spain
as not among the first of the powers?"

"The sun of Spain is fast setting. Your statesmen sneer at the mistakes
and seem