The morning was superb, and the arrieros were engaged in loading the mules and saddling of horses; Leon, seated apart on a fallen tree, seemed plunged in deep and bitter thoughts. The old gentleman approached, and he did not seem to notice his presence.
"Good morning, Señor Captain," he said to him, lightly touching his shoulder.
The young man started at the sound of this voice; then rising, he slightly raised his hat off his head, and bowed to the old general, while replying, mechanically—
"May heaven grant it be good to you, caballero."
"What is the matter, my friend?" the speaker asked him, kindly; "has anything unpleasant occurred during your sleep?"
"Nothing, sir," Leon said, hastily; "I trust that the ladies have slept well."
"Yes, yes; at least, I suppose so, for I have not seen them yet."
"Here are the señoras," Don Pedro, who had remained a little behind, said to the general: "and what is more, all ready to mount."
The two gentlemen advanced to meet them. "Ah! ah!" said Diego, good humouredly, "everybody is up; all the better, for the sooner we start, the sooner we shall reach our journey's end."
"Gentlemen, one word with you, if you please," General Don Juan said to the two smuggler chiefs, after inquiring the health of his wife and daughters.