When she would not listen, he found
himself in the most unpleasant position of his life; for although
he could not but sympathize with her desire to be free from Ed
Austin, it distressed him beyond measure to see her riding blindly
to a fall. More than once after their strained parting he was
tempted to go to Las Palmas and set himself right in her eyes; but
he managed to hold to his determination and to school himself to
await Dave's return.
Before long, however, Ellsworth found other worries engaging him,
for it seemed at last that war with Mexico was imminent. After
months of uncertainty the question had come to issue, and that
lowering cloud which had hung above the horizon took ominous shape
and size. Ellsworth awoke one morning to learn that an ultimatum
had gone forth to President Potosi; that the Atlantic fleet had
been ordered south; and that marines were being rushed aboard
transports pending a general army mobilization. It looked as if
the United States had finally risen in wrath, and as if nothing
less than a miracle could now avert the long-expected conflict.
Naturally Brownsville, like other border towns, was plunged into a
panic, and Ellsworth, as a leading citizen of his community, had
his hands full.
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