She looked at him amazedly.
His eyes were oddly dancing, his lips were curved in a boyish smile, infinitely merry, infinitely tender; the wind was blowing back the curly locks of hair from his face, giving it the look of a victorious runner, arrived at some swift goal.
Back of him, through the open door of the cabin, the green and gold of the forest shone in translucent brightness.
"But yes—that is true——" she stammered, not daring to trust that rush of happiness, that sweet and secret singing of her blood.
"Then, Maria Angelina," said he gayly yet adoringly, "Maria Angelina, you little darling of the gods, come here instantly and kiss me. . . . For I am never going to let you go again."
THE END
[Transcriber's Note: A missing period was added on page 150, after the words "then shrank back", and a missing quotation mark was added on page 195, at the paragraph beginning "And Francisco". No other corrections were made to the original text.]