My country, too, has a government. An officer
of the State of Texas, under arms, has crossed the Rio Grande.
What does that mean?"
Captain Evans had a sense of humor; Longorio's ominous words
amused him. "Say, general, it ain't the first time," he chortled.
"And you're an officer, too, ain't you? You're in Texas at this
minute, and I'll bet if I frisked you I'd find that you was under
arms." The Mexican understood English sufficiently well to grasp
the significance of these words. After a moment's consideration,
therefore, he modified his threatening tone.
"But my mission was friendly. I had no criminal purpose," he said,
mildly. "However--perhaps one offense condones the other. At any
rate, we must have no international complications. There is a more
practical side to the matter: if Don Ricardo Guzman met his death
in Mexico there will be a rigid investigation, I assure you."
Evans agreed. "That's fair! And I'll make a bargain with you: you
keep still and so'll we. We never aimed for this affair to get
out, anyhow. I reckon these men"--he indicated Lewis and his
followers--"ain't liable to talk much."
The two Guzman boys, greatly moved, returned to announce that they
had indeed identified their father's body, and Longorio could not
well refuse to accept their evidence.
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