his gun. "And now,
if the fun's ovah, I must bid yo' _buenas tardes_. Adios!"

And doffing his big hat, the Texan took his departure with a sweeping
bow, leaving the captain glaring furiously after him.

CHAPTER III

THE GOVERNOR'S ANSWER

Judging that it was almost time for his interview with the governor,
Kid Wolf saddled Blizzard in the public _establo_, or stable, and rode
at once to the governor's palace.

Although it did not occur to him that Quiroz would reject his plea for
aid, he was filled with foreboding. He had a premonition that made him
uneasy, although there seemed nothing at which to be alarmed.

Dismounting, he walked up the stone flags toward the presidio
entrance--a huge, grated door guarded by two flashily dressed but
barefooted soldiers. They nodded for him to pass, and the Texan found
himself in a long, half-lighted passage. Another guard directed him
into the office of Governor Quiroz, and Kid Wolf stepped through
another carved door, hat in hand.

He found that he had entered a large, cool room, lighted softly by
windows of brightly colored glass and barred with wrought iron. The
tiles of the floor were in black-and-white design, and the place was
bare of furniture, except at one end, where a large desk stood.

Behind it, in a chair of rich mahogany, sat an impressive figure. It
was the governor.

While bowing politely, the Texan searched the pale face of the man of
whom he had heard so much. By looking at him, he thought he discovered
why Quiroz was so feared by the oppressed people of the district. Iron
strength showed itself in the official's aristocratic features.

There was something there besides power. Quiroz had eyes that were
mysterious and deep. Not even the Texan could read the secrets they
masked. Cruelty might lurk there, perhaps, or friendliness--who could
say? At the governor's soft-spoken invitation, Kid Wolf took a chair
near the huge desk.

"Your business with me, senor?" asked the official in smoothly spoken
English.

Kid Wolf spoke respectfully, although he did not fawn over the
dignitary or lose his own quiet self-assertion. He was an American.
He told of finding the tortured prospector and of the plight of the
approaching wagon train.

"If they continue on the course they are followin', guv'nor," he
concluded, "they'll nevah reach Santa Fe. And I have every reason to
believe that The Terror plans to raid them."

"And what," asked the g