But the loving girl put her thought aside almost at once ... she did not wish to believe the suspicion to be true and she did not intend to believe it--until she had to, if such a sad time could ever come to her; just at present all the strength of her being was concentrated upon the desire to aid Manuello in whatever manner she could. To further this desire, she arranged a signal whereby he might know that she was coming up the hill and concealed, as well as she could the approach to the hiding-place as well as the hut itself, by throwing, in apparent disorder, as if blown by a strong wind, such branches and twigs as she could find by a hurried search. She did not stay any longer than she thought was necessary for the comfort of her patient for she was determined to continue her care of him if possible and realized that a prolonged absence from her own home might bring suspicion upon them both; as she was leaving, she looked pitifully weak and small to cope with such a complicated situation alone; even Manuello realized, for a moment, the devotion of the girl, and called her over to his side to say a word or two at parting. "Dear little Tessa," he began, "this is going to be a hard task that you have undertaken. I wonder if I am worth all this trouble. Perhaps you would just better turn me over to the soldiers and let them work their will on me; it may be that I will never be able to reward you for all your care; of course, it may, on the other hand, be possible for me to offer you help and comfort when you, yourself, may be in need of it. Now that you have freed me from those shackles, I begin to feel my old strength and courage coming back, and if I ever am again as I was before this last mishap, I will surely reward you somehow for all this sacrifice that you are making for me." This speech, coming from a man in the condition of Manuello, appealed to the little woman so forcibly that she knelt beside his rude couch and laid both her small, dark hands on his brow as she looked deeply into his eyes; this position, being very favorable to the impulse that came over the man as he lay there, made it easy for him to draw her head, with its great mass of black hair, down upon his shoulder; as her cheek was laid against his own, Manuello held her small face closely with both his hands while he kissed first her trembling lips, then each of her eye-lids, for she had closed her eyes in a sort of blind ecstasy, then her low forehead, then the top of her small head and, finally, her quivering chin.