"I have followed you everywhere," said the girl.
"Everywhere?" said I, smiling.
"Everywhere," said she.
"I know of one place where you have not followed me," said I.
"I have followed you everywhere," said she.
"Did you follow me across the ocean?" said I.
"I know of the island," said she.
"It was as if she had struck me in the face. "You know nothing of the island," I retorted.
"I know of Bahia too. I know you were scouring Bahia for me."
'By these words she betrayed from whom she had her intelligence. Burning with anger against her and against you, I turned on my heel and slammed the door behind me. For an hour she waited at her post, then toward evening departed.
'Who is she and why do you send her to me? Is she sent as a sign you are alive? She is not my daughter. Do you think women drop children and forget them as snakes lay eggs? Only a man could entertain such a fancy. If you want me to quit the house, give the order and I will obey. Why send child in an old women's clothes, a child with a round face and a little O of a mouth and a story of a lost mother? She is more your daughter than she ever was mine.'