"Heaven be praised, I have found you, general!"
"Where are my girls?" the old gentleman asked, anxiously.
"Saved."
The general opened his arms to the young man, who rushed into them.
"Oh, my friend, what do I not owe you! My poor children! for mercy's sake take me at once to them. Where have you left them?"
"At the convent of the Purísima Concepción, general, as I pledged myself to do."
"Thanks! Come then with me; while we are going we will talk together, and you will tell me how I can recompense the eminent service which you have done me."
"General, I beg you do not revert to this subject. When I started to seek the two young ladies who had been torn from you I accomplished a duty, and I cannot and will not accept any reward."
The general looked at Leon, seeking to read his thoughts in his face, but he could not divine anything.
"Ah!" he answered, "we shall see. Caramba! You are a man of heart, but I have a desire to be a man of my word. Let us hasten at once to the convent, for I am longing to embrace my poor girls."