Braxton turned on his heel, his anger but half concealed, and the Spaniard smiled to himself, Francisco Alvarez was a wily man, a reader of the minds of others, and he did not object to the present displeasure of Wyatt.

But he said nothing until the renegade was gone.  Henry, meanwhile, had quietly taken his seat in a cane chair.  He was not of any mind to stand in the presence of this man who bore himself as if he were master of everything by right divine.

Francisco Alvarez observed the act and understood its meaning.  He smiled again to himself.  He had not misjudged the youth, and it confirmed him in the plan that had come suddenly into his cunning mind.

“Senor Ware,” he said, veiling his voice and speaking with a velvety courtesy that was unusual in him, “I have brought you here to tell you first that I repent my act to-day, by which I placed your comrade’s life in seeming danger.  I was hasty, but I had been goaded greatly, and it may be, too, that I was influenced by the sinister advice of one who hates you and your friends in a manner almost beyond belief.  Besides, the swordsman had orders not to slay.”

Henry Ware looked at him in great surprise.  Five minutes ago he would not have dreamed it possible that he could hear such a speech in such a tone from Francisco Alvarez.  He waited to see what it meant.  Alvarez regarded him in a sort of kindly contemplation, as a man would look upon a youth for whom he had benevolent plans.

“We have been enemies so far,” he resumed in his winning tone, “you and your comrades against myself and my people.  But I have learned one thing, and I am confirmed in it by the opinion of others; boy as you are, you are the strongest and most dangerous of the five who oppose me; you are the leader.”

The words, although true, were those of compliment and flattery, and Henry felt the touch of poison in the silky tone.  He stiffened himself slightly as if he would resist a danger, unknown as yet, but all the more to be dreaded on that account.  He still remained silent.

“Yes, you are the strongest and the one most to be feared,” continued Alvarez musingly, “I am not saying it to flatter you, but because it is a matter that I have weighed well for reasons pertaining to statecraft.  There sentiment or personal liking cannot count.  I have plans, large plans, in regard to this country.  I suppose that every ambitious man who comes here has them.  How can he help it when he sees so vast and fertile a land inhabited only by savages?  My plan, I believe, is right, in accordance with probability and justice.  You, Senor Ware, are a representative of a race that has crossed the mountains into a new region.  You have there, in Kaintock, thin and feeble settlements that must soon be crushed.”

Henry spoke for the first time, but he showed no excitement, although his heart had begun to beat faster.

“I think you are wrong, Captain Alvarez,” he said.  “The settlements in Kentucky have already driven back some formidable forays, and they grow stronger every day.”