he sparks of the sacred
fire are not yet extinct here." He struck his broad chest. "Still alive,
still alive," he said, with serio-comic emphasis. "But I shall not marry
now. She is General Santierra's adopted daughter and heiress."

One of our fellow-guests, a young naval officer, described her
afterwards as a "short, stout, old girl of forty or thereabouts." We had
all noticed that her hair was turning grey, and that she had very fine
black eyes.

"And," General Santierra continued, "neither would she ever hear of
marrying any one. A real calamity! Good, patient, devoted to the old
man. A simple soul. But I would not advise any of you to ask for her
hand, for if she took yours into hers it would be only to crush your
bones. Ah! she does not jest on that subject. And she is the own
daughter of her father, the strong man who perished through his own
strength: the strength of his body, of his simplicity--of his love!"

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