The ranchero did not require a repetition of this injunction. He bowed, and retired. Don Jaime remained alone, but at the end of a minute the door opened, and the two ladies came in again. Their faces were anxious, and they timidly approached the adventurer.
"You have received bad news, don Jaime?" doña María asked.
"Alas! Yes, sister," he answered, "very bad indeed." "May we hear it?"
"I have no reason for concealing it from you; and, besides, it concerns people whom you love."
"Heavens!" said doña Carmen, clasping her hands, "Can it be Dolores?"
"Dolores—yes, my child," don Jaime answered; "Dolores, your friend; the Hacienda del Arenal has been surprised and burnt by the Juarists."
"Oh, Heavens!" the two ladies exclaimed sorrowfully; "Poor Dolores! And don Andrés?"
"He is dangerously wounded,"
"Thank God, he is not dead."
"He is not much better."