Pesquiera threw up his neat little hands in despair.  “But of a certainty Mr. Gordon has read of Don Alvaro de Valdes y Castillo, lord of demesnes without number, conqueror of the Moors and of the fierce island English who then infested Spain in swarms.  His retinue was as that of a king.  At his many manors fed daily thirty thousand men at arms.  In all Europe no knight so brave, so chivalrous, so skillful with lance and sword.  To the nobles his word was law.  Young men worshiped him, the old admired, the poor blessed.  The queen, it is said, love’ him madly.  She was of exceeding beauty, but Don Alvaro remember his vows of knighthood and turn his back upon madness.  Then the king, jealous for that his great noble was better, braver and more popular than he, send for de Valdes to come to court.”

“I reckon Don Alvaro ought to have been sick a-bed that day and unable to make the journey,” suggested Dick.

“So say his wife and his men, but Don Alvaro scorn to believe his king a traitor.  He kiss his wife and babies good-bye, ride into the trap prepare’ for him, and die like a soldier.  God rest his valiant soul.”

“Some man.  I’d like to have met him,” Gordon commented.

“Senorita Valencia is of the same blood, of the same fine courage.  She, too, is the idol of her people.  Will Mr. Gordon, who is himself of the brave heart, make trouble for an unprotected child without father or mother?”

“Unprotected isn’t quite the word so long as Don Manuel Pesquiera is her friend,” the Coloradoan answered with a smile.

The dark young man flushed, but his eyes met those of Dick steadily.  “You are right, sir.  I stand between her and trouble if I can.”

“Good.  Glad you do.”

“So I make you an offer.  I ask you to relinquish your shadowy claim to the illegal Moreno grant.”

“Well, I can’t tell you offhand just what I’ll do, Don Manuel.  Make your proposition to me in writing, and one month from to-day I’ll let you know whether it’s yes or no.”

“But the senorita wants to make improvements—­to build, to fence.  Delay is a hardship.  Let us say a thousand dollars and make an end.”

“Not if the court knows itself.  You say she’s young.  A month’s wait won’t hurt her any.  I want to look into it.  Maybe you’re offering me too much.  A fifth of a cent an acre is a mighty high price for land.  I don’t want any fairest daughter of Spain to rob herself for me, you know,” he grinned.

“I exceed my instructions.  I offer two thousand, Mr. Gordon.”

“If you said two hundred thousand, I’d still say no till I had looked it up.  I’m not doing business to-day at any price, thank you.”

“You are perhaps of an impression that this land is valuable.  On the contrary, I offer an assurance.  And our need of your shadowy claim——­”

“I ain’t burdened with impressions, except one, that I don’t care to dispose of my ghost-title.  We’ll talk business a month from to-day, if you like.  No sooner.  Have a smoke, Don Manuel?”