"Not at all, my dear child; on the contrary, it is excessively rich. But Ova's secret has been so well kept that the Spaniards remained in ignorance of its existence."
The two ladies were by this time alone, as the sachem and his son had left the tent.
"It is strange," the maiden murmured, answering her own thoughts rather than Doña Esperanza's remark.
The earnestness with which the lady insisted on referring to the legend astounded and interested her. A secret foreboding warned her that the story had a hidden object, whose importance still escaped her, though she was burning to discover it. Doña Esperanza attentively followed in her face the various feelings that agitated her, and were reflected in her expressive face as in a mirror. She continued—"This is why the mine was not discovered when the Spaniards seized the town where it was situated. It had been stopped up for a very long time. The old inhabitants were killed or expelled by the conquerors; and those who escaped were careful not to reveal this secret to their oppressors. The latter destroyed the town, and built an immense hacienda over its mines."
"But—pardon me for questioning you thus, señora—how have all these facts come to your knowledge?"
"For a very simple reason, my dear child. Ova was my ancestress, and the knowledge of this mine is consequently a family secret for us. I am, perhaps, the only person in the world who at the present day knows its exact position."
"Yes, I understand you," the young lady said, becoming very pensive.
"Still you are trying to discover, are you not, my dear child?" the old lady continued, kindly interrogating her, "Why, instead of letting you speak of the important matters that brought you here, my son urged you to ask this story of me; and why, without pity for your filial sorrow, I consented to do so; and why, now that it is ended, I am anxious for you to learn the minutest details."
The girl hid her face in the old lady's bosom, and burst into tears.
"Yes," she said, "you have understood me, madam, and pray pardon me."