"What does my sister mean?"
"I mean, that if I had known, I should not have inflicted so severe a chastisement."
"Poor girl!" he sighed.
The Linda smiled ironically to herself. "But my brother does not know what palefaced women are," she continued; "they are vipers, which you endeavour in vain to crush, and which always rise up again to sting the heel of him who places his foot upon them. It is of no use to argue with passion, were it not so I would say to my brother, 'Be thankful to me, for in killing this woman I preserve you from atrocious sorrow.'"
Antinahuel moved uneasily.
"But," she continued, "my brother loves, and I will restore this woman to him; within an hour I will give her up to him."
"Oh! if my sister does that," Antinahuel exclaimed, intoxicated with joy, "I will be her slave!"
Doña Maria smiled with an undefinable expression.
"I will do it," she said, "but time presses, we cannot stay here any longer—my brother doubtless forgets."
Antinahuel darted a suspicious glance at her.