that surely was coming
to the captain of _contrabandistas_ now as a fitting culmination of
his gallant career.

After her father, with a prodigious yawn, had ended his narration and
had betaken himself to sleep, for a long while Chona sat there in the
open space before the _jacal_ alone with her own thoughts. In the
darkness and stillness--for only the low, soft rippling of the water
broke in upon the peacefulness of night--the longing for revenge that
possessed her slowly took form in her mind. The hours passed swiftly
as she brooded upon her wrong and upon the means that she had chosen
to compass vengeance. When at last she arose and went into the
_jacal_, the morning star shone bright above the twin peaks of the
Silla, and the whole mountain stood out sharply, a huge black mass,
against the clear, pale light of the eastern sky.

Yet the morning still was young when Chona--her father meanwhile
having started with the _burro_ for the mountains--went down to the
barracks of the _contraresguardo_ and asked of the sentinel on duty
permission to see the _capitan_, Pedro. The sentinel smiled as he
dispatched a messenger with her request, and thought what a lucky
fellow the _capitan_ Pedro was, to be sure.

"Come to me quickly in the Alameda," said Chona, when Pedro had joined
her. "I can tell you of a great plan that the smugglers have on
foot--and also of a matter very near to your own heart." Without
waiting for an answer, she turned sharply and walked rapidly away.

Perceiving that she was much excited, Pedro did not doubt that Chona
had information of importance to give him; and his experience had
taught him that the treachery of a jealous woman was not a thing that
the customs preventive service could afford to despise. To the
personal part of her address he did not give a second thought. Without
returning to the barracks, he set off at once for the Alameda. The
sentinel, lazily watching the two retreating figures, smiled again,
and said to himself, "Aha! my little captain is a lucky man to-day!"

It is a good mile from the barracks to the Alameda. Chona covered the
distance rapidly. As she entered the ragged pleasure-ground, she
turned to make sure that Pedro was following her, and then crossed it
quickly and disappeared through a gap in a hedge beyond. When Pedro
passed through the gap he found her seated on the ground between the
bushy screen and the cane-field that it inclosed. They were remote
from all house