"Nothing," was the evasive answer, "only to see and talk to you a little."
"How glad I am!" said the girl, passionately clasping her hands together; "It is so long since I have seen you, niña" (a term of endearment).
"Did my absence distress you much, Clarita?"
"What a question to ask, señorita! Do I not love you like a sister? Do they not say you have been in great danger?"
"Who says that?" asked Hermosa carelessly.
"Everyone; they talk of nothing but your adventures in the prairie. All the peones have left their work to hear the news; the hacienda is in an uproar."
"Indeed!"
"For the two whole days of your absence, we did not know what saint to commend you to; I vowed a gold ring to my good patroness Santa Clara."
"Thank you," said she, with a smile.
"But you should only have seen Don Estevan! He would not be comforted; the poor fellow was like a madman, accusing himself as the cause of all that had happened: he tore his hair, asserting that he ought to have disobeyed your father, and to have remained with you in defiance of his orders."