"Come, Paredes, answer," the latter said. "I really do not at all understand your obstinacy."
"Since you order me to speak, mi amo," the majordomo continued, "you must know that the person who told me of the insurrection of the pagans is a white hunter, called Stronghand."
"Stronghand?" brother and sister exclaimed simultaneously.
"Is not that," the Marquis asked, "the hunter to whom we already are so greatly indebted?"
"Yes, mi amo," the majordomo replied, musingly; "and it is probable that he has not yet finished."
Although it was the first time the senator heard the hunter's name mentioned, by a kind of intuition he felt a species of emotion for which he could not account.
"Oh," Doña Marianna cried, eagerly, "we must place entire confidence in Stronghand's statements."
"Certainly we must," Don Ruiz added. "It is plain that he wished to warn us, and put us on our guard."
"But who is this man who inspires you with such profound sympathy?" the senator asked.
"A friend," Doña Marianna replied, warmly, "for whom I shall feel an eternal gratitude."