care and skill, saw that it was not so deadly as he had at first supposed.  In the midst of the dressing, Luis came to his senses, and was glad to see his relations, who asked him how he felt.  “Pretty well,” he said, only his head and his body pained him a good deal.  The surgeon desired them not to talk to him, but leave him to repose.  They did so, and the grandfather then addressed himself to the master of the house, thanking him for the kindness he had shown to his nephew.  The gentleman replied that there was nothing to thank him for; the fact being, that when he saw the boy knocked down, his first thought was that he saw under the horses’ heels the face of a son of his own, whom he tenderly loved.  It was this that impelled him to take the boy up, and carry him to his own house, where he should remain all the time he was in the surgeon’s hands, and be treated with all possible care.  The lady of the house spoke to the same effect, and with no less kindness and cordiality.

The grandfather and grandmother were surprised at meeting with so much sympathy on the part of strangers; but far greater was the surprise of their daughter, who, on looking round her, after the surgeon’s report had somewhat allayed her agitation, plainly perceived that she was in the very room to which she had been carried by her ravisher.  The damask hangings were no longer there; but she recognised it by other tokens.  She saw the grated window that opened on the garden:  it was then closed on account of the little patient; but she asked if there was a garden on the outside, and was answered in the affirmative.  The bed she too well remembered was there; and, above all, the cabinet, on which had stood the image she had taken away, was still on the same spot.  Finally, to corroborate all the other indications, and confirm the truth of her discovery beyond all question, she counted the steps of the staircase leading from the room to the street, and found the number exactly what she had expected; for she had had the presence of mind to count them on the former occasion, when she descended them blindfold.  On her return home, she imparted her discovery to her mother, who immediately made inquiries as to whether the gentleman in whose house her grandson lay ever had a son.  She found he had one son, Rodolfo—­as we call him—­who was then in Italy; and on comparing the time he was said to have been abroad with that which had elapsed since her daughter’s ravishment, she found them to agree very closely.  She made all this known to her husband; and it was finally settled between the three that they should not move in the matter for the present, but wait till the will of Heaven had declared itself respecting the little patient.