"What are you doing here?" said the baron, seizing her by the arm.
"Pardon!" exclaimed Josefina, overwhelmed with terror. "For goodness' sake don't beat me, señor! I have already been beaten so much."
The gentleman immediately loosened his hold, and changing his voice and tone, said:
"No, my child, no; nobody shall beat you. How do you come to be here at this hour?"
"My godmother has beaten me a good deal, and I ran away from home."
"By Jove!" exclaimed Fray Diego, striking his forehead with his hand. "It is the adopted child of Don Pedro Quiñones."
"Is not Don Pedro the husband of your godmother?"
"Come, get up, my child. You can't stay there. Come with us."
"Oh, no, for God's sake! Don't take me to my godmother."
"No, we won't go there. You are wet, little creature," he added, touching her clothes. "Come, come."
The two heroes had meanwhile put their swords on the wall, and when they went off to Lancia with the child between them, they left them there regardless of the damp tarnishing and rusting the steel.
"And why did your godmother beat you?" asked Fray Diego as they walked slowly to accommodate their steps to those of the child.
"The sheep! But do Don Pedro's sheep come and sleep in the house?"
"Yes, señor, they sleep in the cardboard box."
"Look here, child, what are you saying?" said the cleric stopping.
When the inquiry led to the understanding that the sheep were of clay, Fray Diego resumed his walk, protecting the fragile form of the little creature with his long cloak. But his hand happening to touch her face, he noticed with surprise that the moisture on his fingers was warm. He communicated this fact to the baron, and as they had now reached the first houses of the town, they put the child in a doorway, lighted a match and had a look at her. Her whole face was bathed in blood and cut across with deep gashes, whilst her hands were covered with bruises. The heroes looked at each other in horror, and the same wave of indignation inflamed their cheeks. The baron then gave vent to a string of strong imprecations. These, and his fearfully ugly face, made such an impression on Josefina, that she fled crying to a corner. They managed with some trouble to tranquillise her, and after drying her face with a handkerchief, Fray Diego took her up in his arms (the baron had attempted it in vain), covered her with his cloak, and set off for the ancient house of the los Oscos.