, to his plea that the Tia Elvira had defrauded him of
his fair share of the water-jug.

"Nay, not so," said the Tia, soothingly; "every drop of the water you
have drunk, Don Tomas. But it is your head, your poor head. I turned the
poultice, and with the water he speaks of moistened the leaves afresh.
And how, worthy Senors, is the dear lady? I trust, well. Ah! had she
been left in my care, all had gone right with her!"

"In _your_ care! In _your_ care, hell-hag!" cried El Sarria, fiercely,
taking a step threateningly towards her, "aye, the kind of safety my
child would have experienced had that gentleman, your brother there,
been allowed to finish his grave-digging business. Let me not hear
another word out of your mouth, lest I do the world a service by cutting
short a long life so ill-spent!"

The Tia took the hint and said nothing. But her eyes, cast up to the
roof, and her hands spread abroad palm outwards, expressed her
conviction that ever thus do the truly good and charitable suffer for
their good deeds, their best acts being mistaken and misinterpreted, and
their very lives brought into danger by the benevolence of their
intentions.

Had Rollo but followed the direction of her gaze he might have had his
doubts of La Giralda's theory of sunstroke to explain the signalling
from the roof. For there, clearly to be seen out of the half-open
trap-door, was a little scarlet strip of cloth stirred by the wind, and
doubtless conspicuous from all the neighbouring hills about the village
of Sarria.

But Rollo, eager to get to his task of arranging the transport for the
evening, so that Dolores might be taken in safety and comfort to the
Convent of the Holy Innocents, was already turning to be gone, while
Ramon Garcia, afraid to trust himself long in the same apartment with
the traitor, stood outside fingering the key.

"Bring wine and water!" cried Rollo to La Giralda, "and, Don Luis, in an
hour I will trouble you to take a little tour of the premises with me,
just to show your men that all is right."

Luis Fernandez bowed slightly but said nothing, while the invalid from
his couch whined feebly that all the water was for him. The others might
have the wine or at least some of it, but he must have all the water.

So Rollo Blair and his companion withdrew into the cool guest-chamber of
the mill-house without having seen the little waving strip of red upon
the roof. As soon as they were gone, however, Don Luis leap