his head, and for a moment spoke softly with his jangling bells. "And
some day," he continued quietly, "it will be Roderico's time, _no_?
And I will ring the bells for him, and the Captain and the Dancer and
Lolita, they will all put tears into men's eyes. But first, Santa
Maria! let it be that I ring the others for him when he marries himself
with the banker's daughter."

"A man dead?" the girl repeated, unwilling to grasp fully.

"You will see," returned Ignacio.




CHAPTER II

THE SHERIFF OF SAN JUAN

The girl in the old Mission garden stood staring at Ignacio Chavez a
long time, seeming compelled by a force greater than her own to watch
him tugging and jerking at his bells. Plainly enough she understood
that this was an alarm being sounded; a man dead through violence, and
the bell-ringer stirring the town with it. But when presently he let
two of the ropes slip out of his hands and began a slow, mournful
tolling of the Captain alone, she shuddered a little and withdrew.

That it might be merely a case of a man wounded, even badly, did not
once suggest itself to her. Ignacio had spoken as one who knew, in
full confidence and with finality. She should see! She returned to
the little bench which one day was to be a bright green, and sat down.