Here I am both the civil and military chief and
this is my own place. I can put you to death as brigands or guerillas,
caught red-handed upon Spanish soil."
"Both charges, you know, are false," said Paul, "you know, too, that we
have come to defeat, if we can, a conspiracy between you and Braxton
Wyatt, a renegade whose life is doubly forfeit to his people. He carries
plans, maps, and full information of our settlements in Kentucky, and he
expects that you will go with many soldiers and cannon to help him and the
tribes destroy us. What plans you and he have beyond this I do not know,
but these, my friends and I hope to defeat, and we feel we could not be
engaged in a greater or holier task."
Paul spoke with great fire and eloquence. His soul was revealed in his
eyes, and Alvarez felt that he was in touch with a mind of no common
order.
"Imagination!" said the Spaniard trying to laugh the impression away. "I
find in Senor Wyatt a pleasant and intelligent assistant. He understands
the rights of the King of Spain in these vast regions, and has a due
regard for them. You and your comrades are outlaws, subject to the penalty
of death and I hold you in my hand. Yet I am disposed to be generous.
Give me your oath that you and your comrade here and the three in the
woods will go back to Kaintock at once and remain there, and I will
release you.
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