neath his uncertain tread.
He threw out an arm and sought to grasp the table. But as he did so,
his foot turned under him. There was a sharp, snapping sound. With a
groan the heavy man sank to the floor.

For a moment Carmen stood as if dazed. Diego lay very still. Then the
girl picked up her torn dress and approached him carefully. "It was
his bad thoughts," she whispered; "he slipped on them; they threw him!
I knew it--I just _knew_ it!"

Passing to one side, she gained the door, threw back the bolt, and
hurried out into the rotunda. Crouched on the floor, the stiletto
clasped in her hand, sat Ana, her face drenched with tears, and her
chest heaving. When she saw the girl she sprang to her feet.

"Carmen! Ah, _Dios_! your dress!--_Madre Maria_! I could not save you;
I could not break through the heavy door; but I can punish him!" She
burst into a flood of tears and started into the room.

"No, Anita!" cried the girl, throwing herself into the woman's arms.
"He is punished! He did not hurt me--God would not let him! Look!
Anita, look!" pointing to the body on the floor.

The woman stopped abruptly. "Carmen!" she whispered in awed tones,
"did God strike him dead?"

"I don't know, Anita--but come! No!" clinging to the woman's skirt;
"Anita dear, do not go in there! Leave him! Come away with me!"

The woman's eyes were wild, her hair loose and disheveled. "_Caramba_!"
she cried, "but we will make sure that the beast is dead before we
go! And if we leave this blade in his heart, it may be a warning to
others of his kind!"

"No, Anita--no! God will not let you kill him! You must not! Your
murder-thoughts will kill you if you do! Come! Listen--it is a
steamboat whistle! Oh, Anita--if it is going up the river--we can take
it--"

Ana hesitated. "But--leave him? He may--"

"Yes, Anita, yes; leave him with God!" pleaded the girl excitedly.
"Come away, Anita--"

"But where, child?" asked the bewildered woman.

"To Simiti!"

"Simiti! Never! Why--why, my father would kill me!"

"No, Anita dear; he loves you; he prays for you; he wants you! Oh,
Anita, come! It is right--it is just what God has planned, I know! Pin
my dress together, and then hurry!"

The woman moved as if in a cloud. Mechanically she descended the
stairs and left the house, her hand tightly clasped by Carmen. Dully
she suffered herself to be led hurriedly to the river. A boat,
up-bound, was just docking. The captain stood leaning over the rail
a