"I must set out at once," he said; "I shall learn all yonder, and, perhaps," he added, in a voice so low that he could hardly hear it himself, "perhaps I shall find her again. If Doña Maria breaks her promise, and does not give her up to me, woe, woe be to her!"
He raised his head, and saw his mother standing before him. "What do you want, woman?" he asked, harshly; "this is not your place!"
"My place is near you when you are suffering, my son," she mildly replied.
"I suffering! You are mad, mother! age has turned your brain! Go back into the toldo, and, during my absence, keep a good watch over all that belongs to me."
"Are you, then, really going, my son?"
"This moment," he said, and sprang into his saddle.
"Where are you going?" she asked, and seized his horse's bridle.
"What is that to you?" he replied, with an ugly glance.
"Beware! my son; you are entering on a bad course. Guérubu, the spirit of evil, is master of your heart."
"I am the best and sole judge of my actions."