"Oh, my child," he said, with much emotion, as he looked around him in delight, "there are here fifty fortunes equal to the one I have lost."
The girl clapped her hands in delight.
"Ah, how happy I am! I felt certain that she would not deceive me."
This remark, which escaped from the fullness of Doña Marianna's heart, struck Don Hernando.
"To whom are you alluding, daughter? And who is this person who inspires you with such confidence?"
"The one who revealed the existence of this treasure to me, father," she answered.
The Marquis did not press her.
"Mariano," he said to the tigrero, "you will pass the night here; allow no one to approach this excavation, for it would be imprudent to let strangers know of the existence of such a treasure before we have time to take certain precautions indispensable for its safety."
"You can go without fear, mi amo," the brave lad answered; "no one shall approach the mine while I am alive."
"Besides," Don Hernando continued, "your watch will cease at sunrise."