"The leaders of the commotion were two brothers whose father died from a beating given him by the Civil Guard.

One day I had the good fortune to save them from the same hands into which their father had fallen, and both are accordingly grateful to me.

I appealed to them last night and they undertook to dissuade the rest." "And those two brothers whose father died from the beating--" "Will end as their father did," replied Elias in a low voice.

"When misfortune has once singled out a family all its members must perish,--when the lightning strikes a tree the whole is reduced to ashes." Ibarra fell silent on hearing this, so Elias took his leave.

When the youth found himself alone he lost the serene self-possession he had maintained in the pilot's presence.