"It is not with money, then, that your silence is to be bought ?" "No! No matter how much you offered me!" "What do you want, then ?" "Joam Garral," replied Torres, "here is my proposal.

Do not be in a hurry to reply by a formal refusal.

Remember that you are in my power." "What is this proposal ?" asked Joam.
Torres hesitated for a moment.
The attitude of this guilty man, whose life he held in his hands, was enough to astonish him.

He had expected a stormy discussion and prayers and tears.

He had before him a man convicted of the most heinous of crimes, and the man never flinched.
At length, crossing his arms, he said: "You have a daughter!--I like her--and I want to marry her!" Apparently Joam Garral expected anything from such a man, and was as quiet as before.
"And so," he said, "the worthy Torres is anxious to enter the family of a murderer and a thief ?" "I am the sole judge of what it suits me to do," said Torres.