nds free;
the alferez grants you that favor."

Crisostomo took his hat and followed the guards, leaving his servants
in consternation.

Elias, after leaving the house of Ibarra, ran like a madman, not
knowing whither. He crossed the fields and reached the wood. He was
fleeing from men and their habitations; he was fleeing from light;
the moon made him suffer. He buried himself in the mysterious silence
of the wood. The birds stirred, wakened from their sleep; owls flew
from branch to branch, screeching or looking at him with great, round
eyes. Elias did not see or hear them; he thought he was followed by
the irate shades of his ancestors. From every branch hung the bleeding
head of Balat. At the foot of every tree he stumbled against the cold
body of his grandmother; among the shadows swung the skeleton of his
infamous grandfather; and the skeleton, the body, and the bleeding
head cried out: "Coward! Coward!"

He ran on. He left the mountain and went down to the lake, moving
feverishly along the shore; his wandering eyes became fixed upon a
point on the tranquil surface, and there, surrounded by a silver
nimbus and rocked by the tide, stood a shade which he seemed to
recognize. Yes, that was her hair, so long and beautiful; yes, that
was her breast, gaping from the poniard stroke. And the wretched man,
kneeling in the sand, stretched out his arms to the cherished vision:

"Thou! Thou, too!" he cried.

His eyes fixed on the apparition, he rose, entered the water and
descended the gentle slope of the beach. Already he was far from the
bank; the waves lapped his waist; but he went on fascinated. The water
reached his breast. Did he know it? Suddenly a volley tore the air;
the night was so calm that the rifle shots sounded clear and sharp. He
stopped, listened, came to himself; the shade vanished; the dream
was gone. He perceived that he was in the lake, level with his eyes
across the tranquil water he saw the lights in the poor cabins of
fishermen. Everything came back to him. He made for the shore and
went rapidly toward the pueblo.

San Diego was deserted; the houses were closed; even the dogs had
hidden themselves. The glittering light that bathed everything detached
the shadows boldly, making the solitude still more dreary.

Fearing to encounter the guards, Elias scaled fences and hedges,
and so, making his way through the gardens, reached the home of
Ibarra. The servants were around the door lamenting the arr