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282 be looked upon as of consequence here, when they arrive in their own country they are not treated with a like consideration."

This stopped his mouth, and he again lapsed into his former taciturnity. We continued our journey, but he still hung obstinately on my heels. All at once he uttered a cry of joy.

"What is the matter?" I asked.

"I have hit upon a capital way of settling the business."

"Ah! let me hear it."

"I propose to your lordship," he replied, gravely, "to stake your horse Storm against the wages which are due me. As it is impossible for you to pay me here, and you see that I am unalterably resolved to go no farther, your lordship can not refuse to assent to my proposition. If your lordship win, we shall be quits, and I shall then have only the honor of having served you for nothing. If your lordship lose, I shall have the chestnut horse and the favor of God."

At first I was on the point of rejecting with indignation a proposition so extraordinary, but the very idea seemed so extravagant that I laughingly accepted it. We alighted. According to a habit common enough in Mexico, Cecilio never stirred abroad with out being provided with a pack of cards; and master and valet sat down, face to face, beneath a clump of trees on the off side of the road. Love stretched her self panting on the sand, while Storm, impatient of delay, pawed the ground with his hoof. At sight of the noble animal, that perhaps, in a short time, would cease to belong to me, I could not help regretting my rashness for an instant, but I had gone too far to recede, Cecilio passed me the cards.