A day or two before the awful invader arrives, a coyote suddenly appears in broad daylight, mysteriously, near the casa.

This midnight marauder, now banished to the thickest canyon, comes again to prowl around the home of his ancestors.

Caramba! Senor Captain, what are you staring at?
You frighten me! Stop it, I say!" She had turned upon him, stamping her little foot in quite a frightened, childlike way.
"Nothing," laughed Carroll, the quick blood returning to his cheek.
"But you must not be angry with one for being quite carried away with your dramatic intensity.

By Jove! I thought I could see the WHOLE thing while you were speaking--the old Indian, the priest, and the coyote!" His eyes sparkled.

The wild thought had occurred to him that perhaps, in spite of himself, he was the young woman's predestined fate; and in the very selfishness of his passion he smiled at the mere material loss of lands and prestige that would follow it.