e agreeable way still," observed the governor, with a
bland smile.--"Major Mariano, I am not unaware either of your name or
your services. I know you for a dashing and brilliant officer, far and
away superior to those nominally above you. I am not without the power
to make you an offer. The Spanish cause is lost; in a few months your
armies will be crushed; Peru will be independent. Until that time you
will languish miserably in prison. Afterwards I cannot pretend to
prophesy your fate; but I offer you an opportunity to escape from the
wreck. Join the Patriot army, and I pledge my word that San Martin
shall give you the rank of colonel at once. In a year it will be your
own fault if you are not a general. Come, what do you say?"

Only a few hours previously I had seen an outburst of temper on
Santiago's part; now I beheld another, which by comparison made the
first appear mild. His eyes literally blazed with anger; his face was
red; he actually quivered with passion. Twice he endeavoured to speak,
and the words choked in his throat. Jose laid a hand restrainingly on
his shoulder; he flung it off passionately.

"Dog of a traitor!" cried he at last, "do you think the blood of
Santiago Mariano is as base as yours? Do you imagine I am a rat like
you to leave a sinking ship? What! lend my sword to a parcel of
beggarly cutthroats and vagabonds? I would rather eat out my heart in
the blackest dungeon of Peru!"

Once a flush of shame overspread the governor's face, but he recovered
himself promptly, and listened with a bitter smile till the end.

"You shall eat your words if not your heart," he exclaimed brutally;
and turning to an officer, he added, "Rincona, bring in your men and
the heaviest irons that can be found in the prison."

Santiago smiled scornfully; but Jose, pushing forward, said quietly,
"You cannot do that, senor. This man is my prisoner, for whom I am
responsible to Colonel Miller alone. Until the return of the colonel,
therefore, I cannot let him go from my keeping."

For a moment Rincona hesitated, but at the governor's second command he
left the room, while the other officers clustered round their chief.

Jose produced a pistol and cocked it, saying coolly, "The man who lays
hands on my prisoner dies."

Santiago turned to him with a pleasant smile. "Thanks, my friend," he
said, "but I cannot let you suffer on my behalf. Besides, there is
Crawford to be considered. The consequences