"Has he not written to Don Sylvio that, if he does not leave the colony in three days, he will have him hung?"
"Before hanging people," said Doña Concha, "it is necessary to catch them."
"All that is very fine, Blas, but you will return to the estancia. Above all, do not forget my instructions."
"Trust to me for that, Excellency; but I am anxious about Pedrito," he added, in a low voice, not to be overheard by Mercedes; "he has disappeared for the last six days, and we have heard nothing about him."
"Don Pedro," Concha remarked, "is not the man to be lost without leaving traces. Reassure yourself, we shall see him again."
"Nocobotha!" Mercedes exclaimed, turning round.
"Blas, my friend, decamp," Don Valentine said.
"Come again soon," Mercedes added.
Nocobotha walked in. The great chief of the Aucas, dressed in his magnificent Indian costume, had a thoughtful brow and anxious look. After the first compliment, Doña Concha, alarmed by the chiefs gloomy appearance, bent forward gracefully to him, and said, with an affectionate air, which was admirably assumed—
"What is the matter with you, Torribio; you seem troubled? Have you received any unpleasant news?"