"I serve God.—S. A."
"What does S. A. mean?"
"They must be the initials of the man who owns the dagger. That is where they are usually put, in open work, near the hilt."
"I know that; but why do you say that this dagger belongs to the Spanish gentleman named Villareal?"
The child made no reply and seemed embarrassed. He was no longer under the Moorish woman's watchful and suspicious eye. He had said more than he ought, and he remembered her injunctions too late.
"Mon Dieu! monsieur," said Adamas, "children talk sometimes for the sake of talking without knowing what they say. Let us go back to the important subject. Your keeper, Père Andoche, brought in to-day a string of birds so fat that——"
"Yes, yes, you are right, my friend; let us arrange about the dinner. But, I don't know—I wonder how she had that Spanish dagger in the pocket of her skirt?"
"Who, monsieur?"
"Why, she, parbleu! Of whom else can I speak henceforth?"
"To be sure; I beg pardon, monsieur! Let us talk about the dagger. I supposed that it was a gift from Monsieur de Villareal, or that he had lent it to you. For it is the truth that it comes from him. Those letters S. A. are on his other weapons, which are very handsome, and which I noticed this morning while his servant was polishing them."