"Will the senor oblige me by carrying him to the house ?" Derrick picked up Pepito and followed the tall and stately figure up the drive.

Presently they came in sight of the _casa_.

Donna Elvira ascended slowly the broad steps of the verandah and seated herself in a satin-cushioned rocking-chair.

She was silent and immovable for so long a space that Derrick was inclined to think that she had really forgotten his presence; then, slowly, she turned her head and looked at him, with a kind of masked scrutiny.
"What is your name, and whence do you come, senor ?" she asked, in a voice which was low and grave.
Derrick told her that his name was Sydney Green, and that he came from London.
"To seek your fortune here, as so many English do ?" she inquired.
"For that--and other reasons, my lady--I mean, senora," replied Derrick.
"And you have not found it ?" she said, with a glance at his worn clothes and haggard face.
Derrick shrugged his shoulders; there was no need for words.
"It is often so," remarked Donna Elvira.

"There are many English here in this country.