"We part friends, tocayo," she said to him. "Are you coming my way?"
"I ought to do so."
"Then why not accompany me?"
"Because you would suppose, Niña, that I wished to escort you."
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" the young lady said, merrily; "I had forgotten your proposal of this morning. Well, I hope you will be successful in your bunt; and so, good-bye till tomorrow. Come, Negro."
After uttering these words, she gave a parting wave of the hand to her nurse, and started at a gallop. The young man, after watching her for a while, to be certain of the road she followed, then re-entered the rancho, took his gun, and loaded it with all the care which hunters display in this operation, when they believe that life depends on the accuracy of their aim.
"Are you really about to start at once?" his mother asked him, anxiously.
"At once, mother."
"Where are you going?"
"To follow my foster sister to the hacienda, without her seeing me."