How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
They began fighting in the dark, and though the thief was a young man and armed, the old priest stabbed him to death and then, covered with blood, ran out to arouse the town. (5.2.10)
Old Father Lucero doesn't want anyone finding his hidden stash of money. And even though he's a weak old man, he'll totally murder anyone who comes near his fortune. Now that's what you call a (butt-kicking) miser.
Quote #8
Before the next New Year's Day came round he was killed in Indian warfare on the plains of Arizona. (6.1.10)
At Doña Isabella's party, we briefly meet two young military officers who will be seeing one another for the last time. This is because one of them will soon be killed in a war with the Native Americans. This passage serves to remind us that the occupation of America by white colonizers wasn't a peaceful thing. It was a bloody affair that lasted on and off for hundreds of years.
Quote #9
At the first rumour of an Indian outbreak, near or far, he rode off to add a few more scalps to his record. (6.1.21)
A dude named Chavez doesn't trust Father Latour because he's too nice to the Native American peoples of New Mexico. This Chavez guy tends to enjoy wartime more than peace, because the second he hears about a Native American attack, he jumps on his horse and goes out to hunt down some Native Americans. Many people don't know this, but the practice of "scalping" was actually just as common among the white colonizers of North America as it was among the Native Americans.