“Do they pay for me dead only?” “They offer two thousand for you alive, señor.” “Just to have the pleasure of potting me as per schedule.... Any fear that you have been followed to-night, old friend?” “None, señor. The soldiers at the estancia believe you are many miles away. Moreover, I have put good wine on the table.” [Pg 48] [Pg 48] “Who is in charge there? Captain Gomez?” “No, señor, a stranger. El capitan went back to Cartagena. He nearly wept when he saw his boots. You had split them.” “You gave the consul my letter?” “I dropped it in his box, señor. I thought that was wiser.” “So it was. I should have remembered that. What of the lady?” “The lady you married, señor?” “Of course. You wouldn’t have me interested in some other lady on my wedding day, you old reprobate?” The half-breed laughed softly. “Even that wouldn’t be so strange a thing as what has really happened, señor. No one knows who the lady is. One man, a distant cousin of mine, told me he heard she landed from a ship only late last night.” “Great Scott!” muttered Maseden in English, “what a Sphinx-like person! She must be descended from the Man in the Iron Mask.” Then he went on: “Didn’t your cousin know where she was staying in Cartagena? Surely there must have been a good deal of public curiosity about her. Twenty people were present at the marriage. It was no secret.” “I understand that she had gone to Señor Steinbaum’s house. She fainted after the ceremony, [Pg 49]my cousin said, and had to be carried into an automobile, but he knew nothing more.” [Pg 49]
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