Yes,--I, I,--Concho! You know me, Diego, you know me,--
Concho, the major-domo of the Blessed Innocents. Ha! You know me
now. Yes, I have come to save you. I have come to make you
strong. So--I have come to help you strip the Judas that has
stepped into your place,--the sham prodigal that has had the fatted
calf and the ring,--ah! ah!
Sandy. You? You do not know me!
Concho. Ah! you think, you think, eh? Listen: Since you left I
have tracked HIM--THE IMPOSTOR, this Judas, this coyote--step by
step, until his tracks crossed yours; and then I sought you out. I
know all. I found a letter you had dropped; that brought me to
Poker Flat. Ah, you start! I have seen those who knew you as
Alexander Morton. You see! Ah, I am wise.
Sandy (aside). It is true. (Aloud.) But (suspiciously) why have
you done this? You, Concho?--you were not my friend.
Concho. No, but HE is my enemy. Ah, you start! Look at me,
Alexander Morton, Sandy, Diego! You knew a man, strong, active,
like yourself. Eh! Look at me now! Look at me, a cripple! Eh!
lame and crushed here (pointing to his leg), broken and crushed
here (pointing to his heart), by him,--the impostor! Listen,
Diego. The night I was sent to track you from the rancho, he--this
man--struck me from the wall, dashed me to the earth, and made MY
BODY, broken and bruised, a stepping-stone to leap the wall into
your place, Diego,--into your father's heart,--into my master's
home.
Pages:
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86