“Forays of savages only.  What could they do if a force of white men, a powerful force, armed with cannon came?”

“But will they come?” asked Henry pointedly.

“Ah, I see you are clever,” said Alvarez, still smiling.  “You and the other youth, Cotter, are educated, and you must realize the truth of what I say.  Yes, that force will come.  Your Eastern colonies are about to be defeated by the King of England.  You are rebels, and there is no place for defeated rebels but the depths of the wilderness.  Spain has been coquetting with these colonies, but she will come back to the side of the English monarchy where she belongs.  The monarchies must stand together against all rebels.”

“How do you know that Spain will help England to fight us?” asked Henry.

Alvarez smiled once more, but the smile now, instead of being merely winning, was superior.

“It is a long distance from here to Europe,” he replied, “but news may come even into the depths of the woods.  I have many friends in Spain, friends near the court, who inform me whenever the wind changes.”

Henry did not like that superior smile.  It was a mistake of Francisco Alvarez, a mistake that many strong men make, to assume a patronizing manner even for a moment in the presence of another who was also strong.  Henry’s intuition at once put him on guard at all points.

“I have heard,” he said, “that Bernardo Galvez, the Spanish Governor General at New Orleans, is no friend of the British power.  But why do you discuss these things with me or tell me of them?”

“It is because I have considered you and recognize your worth,” replied Alvarez slowly.  “Why rush on to destruction with the foolish rebels?  No, do not speak!  Pay good heed to what I say.  There is more passing on this continent than you think.  Great events are about to occur.  I do not speak merely of the war between the rebels—­or, if you prefer it, the Americans—­and the English, but of another change.

“Spain is seated at New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi, which flows through a larger area of fertile and temperate country than any other river in the world.  The waters of hundreds of navigable streams converge there, and it must become the rival of London and Paris.  What can Quebec, Boston, New York, or Charleston be to New Orleans?  Can Spain give up such a site and such a vast and fertile territory as Louisiana?  Never!  And here is the greatest opportunity in the world for strong men!  Come with me!  Bring your friends with you!  We need such as you!  I offer you a career that could not even enter your dreams in the woods of Kaintock!”

A deep, red flush overspread Henry’s face.

“Do you think that we could fight against our own people,” he exclaimed.  “Do you think that we are made of such stuff as that miserable renegade, Braxton Wyatt?”

Alvarez did not flinch.  His words had been delivered with extraordinary emphasis, and they carried the ring of his own conviction.  His great plan possessed him, and he saw before him an instrument of which he could make good use.