"What can be the matter with me?" he asked himself, with amazement.
The nun opened her eyes again; a sudden flush suffused her cheek, and quickly liberating herself from the young man's arms with a gesture full of modesty, she gave him a glance of indefinable meaning.
"Thanks, Signor Caballero," she said, in a soft and tremulous voice; "I should have been dead without you."
Leon felt troubled by the melodious accents of this voice, and could not find any answer.
The maiden smiled sadly, and raising her hand to her bosom, she quickly pulled out a small bag, which she wore on a ribbon, and offering it to the young man, said—
"Farewell! farewell for ever!"
"Oh no!" Leon answered, looking around him, as if defying the other nuns, who, now that the danger was past, hurried up to resume their place in the procession; "not farewell, for we shall meet again."
And, kissing the maiden's hand, he took the scapulary.
The procession had already set out again, and the hymns were resounding once more in the air, as Leon perceived that the nun had returned to her place among her companions, and was going away singing the praises of the Lord.
A hand was heavily laid on the smuggler's shoulder, and he raised his head.