Paint, then?"

"I'll tell you, Tenderfoot, I'm fed up with her. But I'm like that: I
just can't tell her so. I'm not brave enough to tell her to go plumb to
hell. That's the way I am, see? When I like a woman, I get plain silly;
and if she doesn't start something, I've not got the courage to do
anything myself." He sighed. "There's Camilla at the ranch for
instance.... Now, she's not much on looks, I know, but there's a woman
I'd like to have......."

"Well, General, we'll go and get her any day you like."

Demetrio winked maliciously.

"I promise you I'll do it."

"Are you sure? Do you really mean it? Look here, if you pull that off
for me, I'll give you the watch and chain you're hankering after."

Luis Cervantes' eyes shone. He took the phosphate box, heavy with its
contents, and stood up smiling.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "Good night, General! Sleep well."

VII

"I don't know any more about it than you do. The General told me,
'Quail, saddle your horse and my black mare and follow Cervantes; he's
going on an errand for me.' Well, that's what happened. We left here at
noon, and reached the ranch early that evening. One-eyed Maria Antonia
took us in.... She asked after you, Pancracio. Next morning Luis
Cervantes wakes me up. 'Quail, Quail, saddle the horses. Leave me mine
but take the General's mare back to Moyahua. I'll catch up after a
bit.' The sun was high when he arrived with Camilla. She got off and we
stuck her on the General's mare."

"Well, and her? What sort of a face did she make coming back?" one of
the men inquired.

"Hum! She was so damned happy she was gabbing all the way."

"And the tenderfoot?"

"Just as quiet as he always is, you know him."

"I think," Venancio expressed his opinion with great seriousness, "that
if Camilla woke up in the General's bed, it was just a mistake. We
drank a lot, remember! That alcohol went to our heads; we must have
lost our senses."

"What the hell do you mean: alcohol! It was all cooked up between
Cervantes and the General."

"Certainly! That city dude's nothing but a ..."

"I don't like to talk about friends behind their backs," said Blondie,
"but I can tell you this: one of the two sweethearts he had, one was
mine, and the other was for the General."

They burst into guffaws of laughter.

When War Paint realized what had happened, she sought out Camilla and
spoke with great affection:

"Poor little child! Tell me how all this ha