"Yes, and in ten minutes she will be here."
"Oh! oh!" he exclaimed; "and do you mean to keep her with you?"
"With me!" she cried; "No, I thank you, General. I hear that the Pehuenches are very fond of white women; I will make them a present of her."
"Oh!" Don Pancho muttered, "women will be always our masters! they alone know how to revenge themselves! But," he added aloud, "have you no fear lest the man to whom you have confided this mission should betray you?"
She smiled with terrible irony,
"No," she said; "that man hates Don Tadeo more than I do, if that be possible; he is working out his own vengeance."
At the same instant steps were heard in the chamber preceding the room.
"You will see, General—here is my emissary. Come in!" the Linda cried.
A man appeared; his face was pale and haggard; and his clothes, torn and disordered, were stained in various places with blood.
"Well!" she exclaimed, in a tone of intense anxiety.