"
Jose continued to glower. Then, turning away, he said, without
meeting his employer's eyes, "I would like to draw my money."
"Very well. I am sorry to have you leave Las Palmas, for I have
regarded you as one of my gente." Jose's face remained stony.
"What do you intend to do? Where are you going?"
The fellow shrugged. "Quien sabe! Perhaps I shall go to my General
Longorio. He is in Romero, just across the river; he knows a brave
man when he sees one, and he needs fellows like me to kill rebels.
Well, you shall hear of me. People will tell you about that demon
of a Jose whose cousin was murdered by the Rangers. Yes, I have
the heart of a bandit."
Alaire smiled faintly. "You will be shot," she told him. "Those
soldiers have little to eat and no money at all."
But Jose's bright eyes remained hostile and his expression
baffling. It was plain to Alaire that her explanation of his
cousin's death had carried not the slightest conviction, and she
even began to fear that her part in the affair had caused him to
look upon her as an accessory. Nevertheless, when she paid him his
wages she gave him a good horse, which Jose accepted with thanks
but without gratitude.
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