"Well, thank Heaven, cousin, you are in safety here. As for you, Don Rufino, I am happy that you escaped from the horrible massacre; you are not a soldier, you are—"
"An assassin!" a sepulchral voice suddenly exclaimed, and a hand was laid heavily on the senator's shoulder.
The company turned with horror. Stronghand's companion had let fall the hat and cloak that disguised him, and was standing, stern and menacing, behind the senator.
"Oh!" the latter exclaimed, as he recoiled with terror, "Rodolfo! Don Rodolfo!"
"Brother, do I see you again after so many years?" the Marquis said, joyfully, as he advanced towards the stranger.
"The great sachem," Doña Marianna murmured.
The sachem thrust back with a gesture of sovereign contempt the startled senator, and walked into the centre of the group.
"Yes, it is I, brother; I, the proscript, the disinherited, who enter the house of my father after an absence of twenty years, in order to save the last representative of my family."
"Oh, brother! Brother!" the Marquis exclaimed, sorrowfully.
"Recover yourself, Hernando! I entertain no feelings of hatred or rancour for you; on the contrary, I have always loved you, and though I was far away from you I have never lost you out of sight. Come to my arms, brother; let us forget the past, only to think of the joy of being reunited."