"Have you finished?" he asked, as seeing that he was no longer eating.
"Yes," he answered.
"Now, do you feel capable of narrating to me how this catastrophe occurred?"
"I am at your orders, señor."
"Speak, then."
The ranchero, after emptying a last glass of pulque in order to clear his throat, commenced his narrative.
[CHAPTER XV.]
DON MELCHIOR.
We will substitute our narrative for that of the ranchero, who, indeed, was ignorant of many of the details, only knowing the facts which had been related to himself. We will go back to the precise moment when Oliver—for the reader has of course recognized him in don Jaime—parted from doña Dolores and the count, at a distance of about two leagues from the hacienda del Arenal. Doña Dolores and the persons who accompanied her, did not reach the hacienda till a few minutes before sunset. Don Andrés, alarmed by this lengthened ride, received them with marks of the most lively joy: but he had noticed them a long way off, and on seeing Leo Carral with them, he had been reassured.