Never mind, I shall read it for you." As the colonel was speaking he had taken from the drawer of a cabinet that stood close by a sheet of paper folded in the form of a letter.

It was one, though it bore no postmark.

For all that, it looked as if it had travelled far--perchance carried by hand.

It had in truth come all the way across the prairies.

Its superscription was:-- "El Coronel Miranda, Commandante del Distrito Militario de Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico." Its contents, also in Spanish, translated read thus:-- "My dear Colonel Miranda,--I am about to carry out the promise made to you at our parting.