And after the fight
our colonel, Santa Coloma, who was killed the other day at San Paulo,
embraced the boy before all the troops. He is dead, senor, and with
Calixto died the house of Peralta."
"You knew Santa Coloma, then?" I said. "But you are mistaken, he was
not killed at San Paulo, he made his escape."
"So they say--the ignorant ones," he returned. "But he is dead, for
he loved his country, and all who are of that mind are slain. How
should he escape?"
"I tell you he is not dead," I repeated, vexed at his stubborn
persistence. "I also knew him, old man, and was with him at San Paulo."
He looked at me for a long time, and then took another swig from his
bottle.
"Senor, this is not a thing I love joking about," said he. "Let us
talk of other things. What I want to know is, what is Calixto's sister
doing here? Why has she left her country?"
Receiving no reply to this question, he went on: "Has she not got
property? Yes, a large _estancia_, impoverished, ruined, if you
like, but still a very large tract of land. When your enemies do not
fear you, then they cease to persecute. A broken old man, bereft of
reason--surely they would not trouble him! No, no, she is leaving her
country for other reasons. Yes, there is some private plot against
her; some design, perhaps, to carry her off, or even to destroy her
and get possession of her property.
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