“I thank you; but where did you get that title, which I will thank you never to apply to me again?” replied Raymond rather coldly.
“I beg your pardon; but I meant no offence,” said Lobo, rather startled by the coldness and dignity of Raymond.
“He is a good friend; and if it hadn’t been for him I never should have found you, Henry,” interposed Bark.
“I do not understand where he learned about that title, and I do not know who he is,” added Raymond. “If you say he is a friend, Bark, I am satisfied.”
“He is, and a good friend. But why did you leave Gibraltar so suddenly?” asked Bark, thinking it best to change the subject.
“I left because I saw you and your companion go into the Club-House Hotel; and I knew that you would come to the King’s Arms next,” replied Raymond.
“You left because you saw me!” exclaimed Bark, astonished at this statement. “Why, I was sent after you because the principal thought you would not dodge out of sight if you saw Scott or me.”
“I did not dodge out of sight because I saw you, but because I saw you had a companion I did not know: I came to the conclusion that your friend was the detective sent after me.”
Bark explained who and what Lobo was; and Raymond apologized to the interpreter for his coldness. Before the party reached the venta, the messenger of the principal had explained the situation as it was changed by the death of Don Alejandro. Raymond was happy in being justified for his past conduct, and glad that his uncle had died confessing his sins and at peace with the Church.
The fugitive and his friend were asleep when the soldiers arrived with the prisoners. In the morning Raymond read the letter of Don Francisco, and immediately wrote a reply to it, requesting him to take charge of his affairs in Barcelona; and to ask the advice of his uncle in New York. Bark wrote to the principal a full account of his adventures in search of Raymond. These letters were mailed at Ronda, where the prisoners were taken, and where Raymond had to go as a witness. The testimony was abundant to convict them all; but Spanish courts were so slow, that Bark and Raymond were detained in Ronda for two weeks, though Lobo was sent back to Malaga at once.