I nearly trod on a rattlesnake that lay coiled ready to
strike, and I got away just in time."
The Spaniard regarded him with a penetrating look, but the chilly blue
eyes expressed nothing. Yet Francisco Alvarez thought that a bold woodsman
like Braxton Wyatt would not show so much fear after a harmless passage
with any kind of a snake.
"Do you think the five, the party that you said were so much to be
dreaded, are still following us?" he asked presently.
The pallor showed again for a moment through the tan in Braxton Wyatt's
face, but he answered again as carelessly as he could:
"It may be. I hate them, but I do not deny that they are bold and
resourceful. They have a good boat, and they may follow; but what harm
could they do?"
"As I told you, they might go before Bernardo Galvez, our Governor General
at New Orleans, and spoil the pretty plan that you and I have formed.
Galvez is--as he calls himself--a Liberal. He would help these rebels and
fight England. How can a Spaniard lend himself to the cause of Republican
rebels and injure monarchy? Cannot he foresee, cannot he look ahead a
little and tell what rebel success means? It would in the end be as great
a blow to Spain as to England. If Kaintock is permitted to grow she will
threaten Louisiana.
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