"Land of the nopal and maguey—home of Moctezuma and Malinché!—I cannot wring thy memories from my heart! Years may roll on, hand wax weak, and heart grow old, but never till both are cold can I forget thee! I would not; for thee would I remember. Not for all the world would I bathe my soul in the waters of Lethe. Blessed be memory for thy sake!" So begins this tale of the American Southwest, when our narrator, Captain Warfield of a Ranger detachment, shoots the horse of Isolina de Vargas. Our captain is smitten with Señorita de Vargas at first sight, and he finds that she is as illusive as she is beautiful.