Rita answered.
"I am a poor woman," said she, "and this lady is a foreigner who does not understand Spanish."
"What are you doing here alone on this road?"
"We are fugitives."
"Fugitives from whom?"
"From the Carlists."
At this Lopez was visibly excited.
"The Carlists?" he asked. "Where are they? Where did you leave them? Tell the truth, woman, and you shall be rewarded. But if you are false, I shall regard you both as spies."
"Noble captain, I am anxious to tell the truth, and glad that we have fallen among friends. We have escaped from an old castle some distance away, and have been flying for hours—"
"A castle!" said Lopez, interrupting her; "where is it?"