''Absolution, padre! absolution!' cried Pepito, to whom the sight of the friar brought back new life.
''Patience, my son, patience! I am very late—very late—and I must not be detained. Wait a little—and after the sports of the day are over, I will return.'
''But, padre, I shall be dead!'
''Well, then, be quick!'
''I have only two sins on my conscience: I have not attended mass for three weeks.'
''That is sad! very sad! Well, what next?'
''Three days ago I stabbed an Inglez—a heretic.'
''Well, my dear son, your sins are venial sins; I absolve you.'
''Pepito, how did that dagger come into your hands?' I exclaimed, for I was astonished to see in his belt the dagger I had lost on the night when Adéle took refuge in my room.
''From my dear—Adéle.'