Last night, when Senor Cortlan' made his accusation,
there was a frightful quarrel, and Ant'ony swore to kill him. At
dawn the poor husband is found shot on the sea wall. Is not that
enough?"
"It is indeed!" gasped the father. "You see, then, my child, from
what you were saved. This should be a day of thanksgiving to you
as it is to me. For this deliverance I shall erect a cross of
stone on the hill by our house, so that all our lives we may offer
a prayer when our eyes rest upon it. Come, now, it is Ramon who
has unmasked this person. Have you no thanks to give him?"
"But it is not true," maintained the girl, simply, and her eyes
were as steady as altar flames.
"Eh? Well! He is in the barracks at this moment," snarled Ramon,
"and there he shall remain, I promise you, until he goes to
Chiriqui or--"
Gertrudis turned to her father.
"Take me to him, please. I must go at once to the Carcel."
But he only answered her with a stare of amazement. "Go!" he
murmured, after an instant. "Have I lost my senses?" He began to
summon his indignation for a terrific outburst.
"Yes, I must go, for he is my husband. We were wed last night."
There was a moment of absolute silence, during which the clatter
of a passing coach sounded loudly in the room.
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