"Well," the half-breed asked him, "what are you doing here?"
"Oh!" Leon answered; "I love that woman, brother. I love her!"
"Come," Diego said; "the procession has passed, and we can move now. To horse, and let us be off!"
A few minutes later the two men were galloping along the road to Rio Claro.
[1] A part of Valparaíso situated at the end of the bay, and so called from the great number of almond trees that grew there.
[CHAPTER II.]
THE COUNTRY HOUSE.
Between Valparaíso and Rio Claro, halfway to Santiago, stood a delicious country house, belonging to Don Juan de Dios-Souza y Soto-Mayor, a descendant of one of the noblest and richest families in Chili: several of its members have played an important part in the Spanish monarchy.