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 governor went to the pueblo to send troops to take her away, and that Don Abrahan went after him to stop them."

"I think that was the state of the affair, Don Gabriel."

Gabriel turned to Felipe, brows drawn in a frown of annoyance. Felipe looked at him with startled eyes, for to him, even hero of the late revolution that he was, this sailor who had grown so great on the bitter nourishment of his vengeance that he had filled and burst Don Abrahan's prison in a day, was no less romantic, magnificent, invincible, than he had appeared to poor Liseta when she stood panting out her warning in the patio.

"Felipe, let's drop all this don formality when we speak to each other," Gabriel said. "Call me Gabriel, or Gabe, or anything you like, but leave off the don."

"Very well, Gabriel," Felipe agreed, but with reluctance that seemed a protest against giving up a dignity for his new friend that it was men's duty to respect.

"You noticed that the old man wasn't with the soldiers?"

"No, I only looked to see how near they were as I rode out of the gate. So, Don Abrahan was not there?"

"He must have failed to influence that Verdugo scoundrel. Maybe the governor offered him a bigger share."

"The highest bidder would get him, for he is a