upon our return to walker's quarters, the lieutenant, who had been working hard all day, at once retired. i remained up long enough to load my pistols, and write, first, a farewell letter to my lady, and second, a note to my friend explaining that i was to start early on a coach ride with malgares. this i left with old cæsar, whom walker had already instructed to rouse us before dawn.
faithful to orders, the old black had us out a good hour before sunrise, and a biscuit and pot of chocolate ready for our refreshment. we dressed and ate and made off, leaving pike still fast asleep. walker fetched his horse from the stables in the rear of the courtyard, and conducted me as far as the street. the expected coach was just wheeling into sight, preceded by a pair of outriders with torches, for the night was as black as egypt.
at once walker sprang into the saddle and rode off through the gloom to join his principal, while i ran up to the coach and slipped in beside malgares. with that the gilded carriage swung about and rumbled off along the first street which led northward. having taken possession of my pistols and loading outfit, malgares asked if i had any word to be given to señorita vallois, in the event of any misfortune. i handed him the letter, with the request that it be returned to me if all went well.
"for her sake, you must see that it does go well!" he urged.
"it is for her i fight. in any event, i must have struck him for what he said. for whether or not it is true general wilkinson is or has been a traitor, in the pay of your government, lieutenant medina intended his remark as a deliberate insult. but we are alike fully aware that it is because of the señorita we now meet."
"god grant that for her sake you may win!—you will win, amigo!" exclaimed my friend; and with that, to divert my thoughts, he fell to chatting about various light subjects.
presently the coach turned eastward, and, after a time, southward. the gray dawn now broke the darkness, and the outriders, at an order from our coach-man, flung down their torches and rode back into the city. the ruddy gleams of the full dawn shot swiftly up the sky. our driver put the lash to his horses, and we spun along through a dense cloud of dust, in a race with the sun.
just as the upper rim of the blazing orb of day peered over the low mountains to the eastward, the coach drew up beneath one of the immense arches of the aqueduct. malgares caught up the two cutlasses, which had lain beside him in a wrapping of buckskin, and sprang out to meet walker, who was advancing from around the corner of the massive aqueduct pier. they bowed and exchanged a few words, and malgares, having handed the swords to walker, came back to the coach.
"permit me to assist you in removing your hat, cravat, coat, and waistcoat," he said.
i stripped to my shirt, delighted to be freed of the encumbering garments.
"we meet on the east side of the pier," he explained; and taking my arm, he led me beneath the colossal arch to the corner.
a step around brought us face to face with walker and medina. their horses, with the bridle reins thrown over head upon the ground after the custom of the country, stood at a little distance, cropping the dry grass. the ground for several paces alongside and out from the pier was smooth and of a firm, dry, gritty earth. medina, who had stripped in the same fashion as myself, was looking at the cutlasses, which walker was holding up to his view.
when we turned the corner, medina immediately stepped back half a dozen paces, with a readiness that showed his experience in the formalities of the code duello. malgares left me and stepped forward beside walker. they first measured and examined the cutlasses, then exchanged a few words in a low tone. medina cast an impatient glance at the sun, which was now clearing the horizon.
malgares raised his hand, and stated, first to medina, then to me: "the principals will take position, at sword's-length, facing as at present. at the word, 'on guard!' given by lieutenant walker, they will begin action. at the word 'arreste!' by either second, the principals will instantly cease action. señor, do you comprehend?"
"si, señor," replied medina.
"si, señor," i answered, in turn.
we were each handed a cutlass, and led up within striking distance. malgares and walker drew back three paces.
"on guard!" cried walker, in a thin, high voice.
instantly i dropped almost to the ground and made a long-armed sweep at my opponent's knee. he leaped back barely in time to save himself from being hamstrung.
"arreste!" shrilled walker, springing between us.
i rose and stood back, staring from him to malgares.
"what now?" i demanded.
"that is not fencing," protested walker.
"no. it is fighting," i retorted.
walker wheeled about and exchanged whispers with his principal. he turned again, to address malgares: "my principal demands that the duel shall be according to the rules of swordsmanship."
"enough!" i exclaimed. "if he wishes me to stand erect, i will stand erect. only do not again interrupt."
"very well," replied walker, and stepping aside, he for the second time gave the signal: "on guard!"
i whirled up my cutlass. medina stabbed at my heart. for all the quickness with which i bent to the right, his point gashed full through my left arm. but already my sword was descending in a sweeping stroke, and the fierce sting of my wound gave all the more force to the blow. medina tore free his blade and whirled it up between my descending cutlass and his head. but for his quickness, i believe i should have split his skull to the chin.
given a fraction of a second more time, he, being so skilled a swordsman, might even have glanced my stroke, despite its weight. as it was, the edge of my blade caught the flat of his at a square angle, and drove it down upon his head close above the temple. he fell like a steer beneath the poleaxe, while my sword blade broke clean off, a span beyond the hilt, and whirred down upon the dry soil.
"dios!" cried malgares.
"arreste!" shrilled walker, springing to stoop over the fallen man. "sacre! i thought him dead. he is only stunned."
in confirmation of this, medina stirred, opened his eyes, and, assisted by walker, staggered to his feet.
"señor walker," demanded malgares, "as your principal is the challenger, i now ask if he is satisfied."
medina muttered something in the ear of walker, who replied to the inquiry: "señor, we contend that, so far, the honors are even. my principal has been stunned, yours wounded. by the time señor robinson's injury is bound up, lieutenant medina will have recovered a clear head."
"the sword of my principal is broken," objected malgares, as he spoke producing the bandage i had provided. no artery having been severed, there was no need of a tourniquet, and he bound up the wound during the discussion.
walker consulted medina, and replied: "we hold that each principal was given a sword of equal quality, and that the duel must continue until the matter is settled."
"good!" i exclaimed to malgares, before he could remonstrate. "we continue to fight each with his weapon. i shall use my broken blade as a dart and the hilt as a tomahawk. i am far better armed than before."
at this medina drew away for a consultation with his second. walker came back alone.
"we protest against the use of our opponent's sword as a missile," he stated.
"we refuse to consider the protest," rejoined malgares.
"we then suggest that the fight be continued with rapiers. my principal has a pair at hand."
"the naming of the weapons lies with my principal," replied malgares. "if you insist upon a second choice, we name duelling pistols, with which we have come provided."
walker returned to medina, and after a brief consultation, brought us his assent to the use of pistols. malgares immediately conducted me around to the coach. as we turned the corner, we were astonished to see father rocus racing toward us on a large white mule. he waved his hand to us, and urged his mule to yet greater speed as malgares drew out the pistols and turned to go back.
"wait!" i said. "the padre wishes to speak to me. insist upon medina firing both pistols as a test. that will give me time. walker knows my manner of loading."
malgares nodded and disappeared as father rocus galloped up and drew rein beside the coach, purple-faced and gasping for breath. i gave him my right shoulder, else he would have fallen in his descent.
"virgen!" he panted. "it is over already! you have killed him!"
"no. we have tried swords without success. now it will be the pistols. i will shatter his right shoulder in the joint. he shall boast no more of his swordsmanship."
"nada, my son! that is not enough. carrajo! he must die! listen! this scoundrel has wormed himself into all the secrets of the revolution. he has demanded alisanda as his price—"
"my god!" i cried. "but salcedo—?"
"if she could put her heart into luring him, salcedo might be won over. but now this scoundrel calls checkmate. he pledges faith to the revolution in return for her hand. carrajo! i now know the utmost of his baseness. he pledges faith, yet, once he has her, thinks to betray all and gain the estate of her uncle as reward for his treachery."
"god!" i cried.
a shot rang out on the far side of the pier.
"what is that?" exclaimed the padre.
i explained, and my statement was punctuated with the report of the second pistol.
"so—he has tried them," said the padre. "now they will be reloaded. you will kill him, my son! it is god's will!... malgares is not yet of the revolution, but he is a true friend of don pedro. at dawn i went to appeal to him to challenge medina—his wife confessed that he had come here as your second. i have ridden at breakneck speed—god be praised, i am in time! you will kill the traitor!"
"you are in time," i said. "i will place my ball so exactly between his eyes that you cannot measure a hair's-breadth farther on the one side than on the other."
"god bless you, my son! you will save alisanda and the revolution with the same shot!"
"i did not suspect that you were one of the revolutionists," i muttered.
"for years,—like padre hidalgo in the south. but come. malgares signs to us."
we hastened forward to the corner of the pier, where malgares stood ready to hand me my pistol. medina already was in waiting, ten paces from the spot to which malgares led me. at sight of father rocus, the aide and walker started. but the padre at once reassured them: "it is well, gentlemen. i come only to act as witness."
walker bowed. "your reverence is welcome. señor robinson, the terms have been stated to my principal. i now repeat them. you will each stand in the present position, with pistol pointed upward. lieutenant malgares will say, 'one, two, three. fire! one, two, three.' at the word 'fire!' you can aim and fire, during the time of the second count of three. if either fires before the word, or after the count, you know the penalty. gentlemen, are you ready?"
medina and i bowed, and walker took his station with father rocus and malgares against the face of the pier, out of the line of fire.
"ready!" called malgares. we raised our pistols as directed. "one!" he counted. "two!—"
down came medina's pistol! i saw the black dot of the muzzle only to lose it instantly in a puff of smoke. the ball grazed the side of my head. so unexpected and sudden was the dastardly deed, i stood motionless, the report of the pistol ringing in my ears, but listening for malgares to continue the count. instead he uttered a sharp cry and rushed upon medina. before the aide could so much as turn, malgares's toledo lunged through his heart.
whipping his sword from the body as it fell prone, malgares faced walker, with his head high and his eyes flashing.
"witness!" he demanded.
walker bowed. "he fired before the word. you have done right to strike him dead."
"you have done right! satanas has claimed his own!" confirmed father rocus. suddenly he thought of me and hastened to my side. "we forget juan! my son, did the ball strike you?"
i put up my hand and reached out to him one of my locks, which had been clipped by the ball.
"so close as that!" exclaimed walker.
"you know the saying, 'a miss is as good as a mile,'" i replied, as malgares took my loaded pistol and carefully lowered the trigger. "the question now is to agree on an account for his excellency that will clear my noble friend and second, and place all the blame upon me, where it belongs."
"nada!" rejoined malgares. "he shall know the exact truth."
"leave the matter to me," said father rocus. "you know my standing with the governor-general. i engage to prevent any unpleasant consequences."
"but—the—body?" murmured walker, glancing askance at medina's huddled corpse.
"i will take it in my coach," said malgares, without hesitation. "you will ride his horse, and lend your own to señor robinson."
we each offered to take his place in the grewsome part he had chosen. but all that he would accept of us was our assistance in stanching the wound and carrying the body to the coach. walker then set off ahead to notify medina's servants, while father rocus and i returned to the city by a roundabout road.
the moment we were alone i asked my companion a dozen and one questions about alisanda.
he shook his head to them all. "there is nothing to tell, juan, other than she is holding out bravely against their persuasions and commands. the point now is to convince salcedo that the death of medina has rid him of one rival, and that he can free himself of another by sending you away with your indomitable friend."
"but if it is to leave her behind—!" i cried.
"we shall see about that in due course," he replied. "one thing at a time. rome was not built in a day. now ride on, and leave me, my son. we approach streets where we are both known. adios!"
there was nothing for me to do but to obey.
