immortal; that it was impossible to imagine
her other than young, that the years could work no change within her,
and although Felipe had not yet seen her, his soul must flame up at the
sight of her as of yore.

Felipe was silent, his eyes cast on the ground. His face wore a
malignant expression of pain and hatred, and he trembled in every limb.

The revelation of his anguish startled her. She stepped close up to him
and laying her hand gently on his shoulder, said in a voice full of
compassion, almost of pity: "I understand, Don Felipe! You still see her
as she was when you last knew her--it is but natural. Of course you
could not know, but she has changed since then. In the opinion of every
one, she has fallen, degraded herself."

"Degraded herself? What do you mean?" asked Felipe, turning his
searching gaze upon her.

"Only a fortnight ago," answered Senora, "on the great day of the
_Fiesta_, she danced publicly in Carlos Moreno's theater."

"Chiquita danced in Carlos Moreno's hall? Impossible!"

"Don Felipe," replied Senora with just the suggestion of a smile, "all
things are possible with a woman."

"But why did she dance?" he asked.

"I don't know; neither does any one else. They say she received three
thousand _pesos_ in gold."

"Three thousand _pesos_?" echoed Felipe. "What did she do with them?"

"Ah! that's the mystery! What did she do with them?" answered Senora.

"It was not so much her dancing that scandalized the community, for we
all know what a wonderful dancer she is. Nobody ever danced as she does,
and we are willing to give her credit for it, but what did she do with
the money? That's the scandal of it! I have noticed no change in her
dress," she continued, "nor is it known that she has spent a single
_peso_ as yet."

"Strange," he murmured. "I cannot understand it."

"No more can I nor any one else," answered Senora. "But I have been
forgetting my duty; I must prepare a room for you, Don Felipe. In the
meantime," she added, ascending the veranda and pausing for an instant,
"be assured of the hearty welcome of your friends when they learn of
your return."

"Chiquita danced in public? I can't understand it!" he said aloud after
Senora Fernandez had disappeared in the house. "And she interested in
this Captain Forest?" His face grew livid and then black with hatred as
a fresh wave of rage and jealousy swept over him.

"No, no; it cannot be!" he gasped, his left hand resting over his he