Leon started at the sound of this faint voice, and held his tongue, not daring to tell an unhappy man who was on the brink of the grave of the new misfortune which had fallen on him without his knowledge. The general noticed the young man's agitation, and felt that he had guessed aright.
"It concerns my daughters, does it not?"
"Yes, general," Leon replied, hanging his head sadly.
"Are they dead?" the old man asked, with a tremor in his voice.
The surgeon read in his face the nature of the feelings he was undergoing, and seemed to fear the captain's answer, but the latter hastened to speak.
"No, general, they are alive, and one of them accompanies me."
"But the other?"
"Is no longer in Valparaíso."
"What has happened, then, at the Convent of the Conception?—speak."
"It has been attacked, general."