"
The man demurred sullenly, and began a refusal; but his wife,
after a wondering scrutiny, interrupted him with a cry. Rushing
forward, she took the edge of Alaire's skirt in her hands and
kissed it.
"God be praised! A miracle!" she exclaimed. "Juan, don't you see?
It is the beautiful senora for whom we pray every night of our
lives. On your knees, shameless one! It is she who delivered you
from the prison."
Juan stared unbelievingly, then his face changed; his teeth
flashed in a smile, and, sweeping his hat from his head, he, too,
approached Alaire.
"It is! senora, I am Juan Garcia, whom you saved, and this is
Inez," he declared. "Heaven bless you and forgive me."
"Now I know you," Alaire laughed, and slipped down from her
saddle. "This is a happy meeting. So! You live here, and that was
little Juan who ran away as if we were going to eat him. Well, we
are hungry, but not hungry enough to devour Juanito."
Turning to her companions, she explained the circumstances of her
first meeting with these good people, and as she talked the
Garcias broke in joyfully, adding their own account of her
goodness.
"We've fallen among friends," Alaire told Dave and Father
O'Malley.
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