Back at the corral, Dade saw Jack waiting upon Surry in the shade of the adobe wall until the moment came for entering the arena.  Near to him, Jose calmed his big, black horse and waited also, cold hauteur the keynote of his whole attitude.  Dade waved his hand to them, and they followed him into the empty rectangle.  From the crowd came a rustle as of a gust of wind through tree-tops; then they were still again, watching and waiting and listening.

Those for whom they had watched all day at last stood side by side before them; and the picture they made must have pleased the most exacting eye that looked down upon them.

For Jose was all black and silver, from the tasseled, silver cord upon his embroidered sombrero to the great silver rowels of his spurs.  Black velvet jacket, black velvet breeches with silver braid glistening in heavy, intricate pattern; black hair, black eyes—­and a black frown, withal, and for good reason, perhaps.  For, thinking to win a smile from her who had sent the glove and the message, Jose looked towards the nearest and most comfortable seat, where Teresita sat, smiling and resplendent, between her mother and Rosa.  He had looked, had Jose, and had seen her smile; but he saw that it was not at him she smiled, but at Jack.  It is true, the smile may have been merely scornful; but Jose was in no mood for nice analysis, and the hurt was keen enough because she smiled at all, and it made his mood a savage one.

Jack was all white and red save for the saddle, which was black with silver trimmings; and Surry, milk white from ears to heel, served to complete the picture satisfyingly.  Diego must have put an extra crimp in mane and tail, for the waves were beautiful to behold; he had surely polished the hoofs so that they shone; and nature had done the rest, when she made Surry the proud, gentle, high-stepping animal he was.  Jack wore breeches and jacket of soft, white leather—­and none but Bill Wilson knew what they had cost in time, trouble, and money.  A red, silk sash was knotted about his middle; the flaming, crimson tie fluttered under his chin; and he was bareheaded, so that his coppery hair lifted from his untanned forehead in the breeze, and made many a senorita’s pulse quicken admiringly.  For Jack, think what you will of him otherwise, was extremely good to look upon.

“Heads for Don Jose!” A Mexican dollar, spun high in air from Dade’s fingers, glittered and fell straight.  Three heads bent to see which side came uppermost, and thousands of necks craned futilely.

“Don Jose will choose his starting-point,” Dade called out.  “But first the two will lead their horses over the ground, so that they may make sure that there are no holes or stones to trip them.”

Even in that preliminary, they showed how differently two persons will go about doing the same thing.  Jose, trailing immense, silver spur-rowels, walked with the bridle reins looped over his arm, his eyes examining critically every foot of the ground as he passed.