"And now farewell—farewell, once again, time flies rapidly, and I ought to have been a long way from here before now."
The adventurer bent over his horse's neck, and darted with the speed of an arrow along a track in which he speedily disappeared.
The count looked after him as long as it was possible to see him; and when he was hidden by a turn in the road, the young man heaved a sigh.
"What a singular character," he muttered in a low voice. "Oh! I shall see him again, it must be."
The young man lightly gave his horse the spur, and entered the path, which would lead him in a few minutes to the top of the hill, and the principal gate of the hacienda.
The young man dismounted in the first courtyard, and handed his horse to a groom, who led it away.
At the moment when the count was walking towards a large door surmounted by a verandah, and which gave admission to the apartment, don Andrés went out, ran eagerly toward him, pressed him warmly to his heart, and embraced him several times, while saying—
"Heaven be praised! Here you are, at last! We were beginning to be in a mortal anxiety about you."
The count, thus suddenly taken by surprise, had allowed himself to be seized and embraced without exactly comprehending what was happening to him, or with whom he had to deal; but the old gentleman, perceiving the amazement he felt, and which, in spite of his efforts, he could not succeed in completely concealing, did not leave him long in embarrassment, but stated his name, adding—
"I am your near relative, my dear Count—your cousin; hence, stand on no ceremony—act here as if you were at home: this house, with all it contains, is at your disposal, and belongs to you."