The trooper hesitated; the reasons urged by the stranger had half convinced him. Still, after a few minutes' reflection, he said with a toss of his head,--
"No, it is impossible; the captain is stern, and I do not care to lose my corporal's stripes. All I can do for you is to allow you to bivouac here with our men in the open air. Tomorrow it will be day; the captain will come out; you will speak to him, and arrange matters as you please, for it will not affect me."
"Hem!" the stranger said thoughtfully, "it is a long time to wait."
"Bah!" said the soldier gaily, "a night is soon passed. Besides, it is your own fault; you are so confoundedly mysterious. A man needn't be ashamed of his name."
"But I repeat that your captain never heard mine."
"What matter if he hasn't? A name is always a name."
"Ah!" the stranger suddenly said, "I believe I have found a way to settle everything."
"Let's hear it: if it is good I will avail myself of it."
"Go and tell the captain that the man who fired a pistol at him a month back at the Rancho of Guaymas is here, and wishes to speak to him."
"Between ourselves, the recommendation seems to me rather scurvy."
"Parbleu! He was all but assassinated by you. What, was it you?"
"I confess to a certain amount of hesitation."
"You are wrong. The Count de Lhorailles is a brave man; no one doubts his courage. He must have retained our chance meeting in pleasant memory."
"After all, that's possible; and, besides you are a stranger. I cannot bear the thought of refusing you so slight a service. I will go. Wait here, and do not be impatient, for I do not promise you success."
The old soldier dismounted with a shrug of his shoulders, and entered the house. The stranger did not appear to doubt the success of the corporal's embassy; for, as soon as he had disappeared, he walked up to the door. In a few moments the corporal returned.
"Well," the stranger asked, "what answer did the captain give you?"
"He began laughing and ordered me to bring you in."
"That's true; but, for all that, an attempted assassination is a droll recommendation."
"I don't know if you call it by that name here; but in France we call it waylaying. Come on."
The stranger made no reply; he merely shrugged his shoulders, and followed the worthy trooper.