y house and succession. So this gold
cross----"

("My mother's!" breathed Ramon hotly in Rollo's ear.)

"This knife with the hilt top set with brilliants----"

("My father's--he had it from the great Lor' Wellington for a message he
brought to him at Vitoria.")

"These trifles--a pair of ear-rings, a ring of pearls, a comb for the
hair in gold--all these I reserve for myself."

As he spoke, he tossed them, one after the other, into a heavy
iron-bound box which, with chains and padlocks displayed, stood open
upon the floor.

As each article tinkled among the others, the Tia gave a little wince of
bodily pain, and her skinny talons scratched the wood of the table with
a sound distinctly audible at the door behind which the intruders stood.

Then a quick loud cackle of laughter came from Fernandez. He had found
something among the parchments.

"'Hereby I plight thee my troth,'" he read from a paper in his hand,
"'for ever and for ever, as a true heart and a true lover, signed,
Ramon.' This she has kept in a case in her bosom, I suppose, with the
picture of the oaf," he added, "and is as like him as it is like St.
Nicholas, the patron saint of all thieves. And, holy Michael in the
seventh heavens! here is their marriage certificate all complete--a very
treasure-house of connubial happiness. But these need not go into the
strong box. I, Luis Fernandez, have made an end of them. The woman is
mine, and so will I also make an end of these relics of folly."

He took the papers to tear them across, but the stout parchment resisted
a moment. His brow darkened, and he clutched them more securely to rend
them with an effort.

But a slight noise in the apartment and a cry from the Tia caused him to
look up.

A knife was at his throat, and a figure stood before him, one huge hand
pinning him to his seat.

"Ramon," he cried, his voice, which had been full of chuckling laughter,
rising suddenly to a thin shriek. "God in heaven, Ramon Garcia!"

And with a trembling hand he tried to cross himself.

"Give!" said Ramon, in a hollow voice, and mechanically the miller
placed the papers in his hands.

"'Fore God, Ramon, I thought you were dead!" gasped the man.

"No, friend, not dead," came the answer, "but Ramon Garcia come back in
the flesh to settle certain accounts with his well-beloved comrade and
brother of many years, Luis Fernandez, of the mill-house of Sarria."

CHAPTER XV

ROLLO INTERVENES

With eyes