“Seems to me as if we’d struck the place,” the barber said.

A warm, resonant voice, that of a woman, vibrant, but with a deep, melodious softness, broke the silence.

“Hey, you in the boat there!...  Here, here!”

The voice betrayed no fear.  It showed not a trace of emotion.

“Didn’t I tell you so I ...” the barber exclaimed.  “The very place we were looking for.  Dona Leonora!...  It’s I!  It’s I!”

A rippling laugh came out into gloom.

“Why, it’s Cupido!  It’s Cupido!...  I can tell him by his voice.  Auntie, auntie!  Don’t cry any more.  Don’t be afraid; and stop your praying, please!  Here comes the God of Love in a pearl shallop to rescue us!”

Rafael shrank at the sound of that somewhat mocking voice, which seemed to people the darkness with brilliantly colored butterflies.

Now in the luminous square of a window he could make out the haughty profile of a woman among other black forms that were going to and fro past the light inside, in agreeable surprise at the unexpected visit.

The craft drew up to the balcony.  The men rose to their feet and were able to reach an iron railing.  The barber, from the prow, was looking for something strong where he could make the boat fast.

Leonora was leaning over the balustrade while the light from the torch lit up the golden helmet of her thick, luxuriant hair.  She was trying to identify that other man down there who had bashfully sat down again in the stern.

“You’re a real friend, Cupido!...  Thank you, thank you, ever and ever so much.  This is one of the favors we never forget....  But who has come along with you?...”

The barber was already fastening the boat to the iron railing.

“It’s don Rafael Brull,” he answered slowly.  “A gentleman you have met already, I believe.  You must thank him for this visit.  The boat is his, and it was he who got me out on this adventure.”

“Oh, thank you, Senor Brull,” said Leonora, greeting the man with the wave of a hand that flashed blue and red from the rings on its fingers.  “I must repeat what I said to our friend Cupido.  Come right in, and I hope you’ll excuse my introducing you through a second-story window.”

Rafael had jumped to his feet and was answering her greeting with an awkward bow, clasping the iron railing in order not to fall.  Cupido jumped into the house and was followed by the young man, who took pains to make the climb gracefully and sprightly.

He was not sure how well he succeeded.  That had been too much excitement for a single night:  first the wild trip through the gorges near the city; then those hours of desperate aimless rowing over the winding lanes of the flooded countryside; and now, all at once, a solid floor under his feet, a roof over his head, warmth, and the society of that madly beautiful woman, who seemed to intoxicate him with her perfume, and whose eyes he did not dare meet with his own for fear of fainting from embarrassment.