"These men are devoted to Louis and me, and they will serve us as guides."
Don Gregorio looked at him for an instant in deep emotion, and tears glistened in his eyes; he took the young man's hand pressed it warmly, and said, in a voice tremulous with tenderness—
"Don Valentine, pardon me I did not know you; I have not appreciated your heart at its just value. Don Valentine, will you permit me to embrace you?"
"With all my heart, my brave friend," the young man replied.
"Then you are going?" Don Gregorio resumed.
"Immediately."
"Come on," said Valentine to his foster brother, as he whistled to Cæsar and clapped spurs to his horse.
"I am with you," Louis replied, promptly.
And they set off.