"Ay," said the girl, quickly, and with a shrill cadence of voice, "a
double heart should be dealt doubly with. It was I who led these people
hither, and I hoped the fate of so many of your ship's company might
have been yours!--but you are a prisoner now, and there's hope yet!"

"Maud, Maud! have I ever wronged you or your father?" asked Captain
Ratlin, reproachfully.

"Do you not love that white-faced girl you brought hither?"

"And if I did, Maud, what wrong is that to thee? Did I promise thee
love?"

"Nay; I asked it not of you," said the angry girl.

"But you have done me a great wrong, Maud; one that you do not yourself
understand. I forgive you though, poor girl; you are hardly to blame."

These kindly-intended words only aggravated the object to whom they were
addressed, and she turned away hastily to the shade of the thick
vegetable growth, where he lost sight of her figure among the branches
and leaves, while he walked on with the English officer and his people
over the ground they had just passed, towards Don Leonardo's. There
being now no further cause for secrecy, they marched openly, and
enlivened the way with many a rude jest, which grated harshly upon the
ears of the wounded, who were borne upon litters made from branches of
the hard, dry leaves of the palm.

As they came upon the open spot where stand the barracoons and Don
Leonardo's dwelling, they found the entire family aroused and on the