The priest shook his head. "I do not know, sir."

"Well, I must ascertain that," Arthur said. "At eight o'clock, senor, I

will be here, and you shall give me your robe and hat, and the order.

Then I should advise you to leave at once. Do you know which way they

are going to march?"

"They are going east; they will take refuge again in the mountains."

"In that case, father, you will not have to walk more than eight or ten

miles, and can take shelter in the nearest village. Adieu! Surely you

will never regret the good action you are doing."

He went out into the village again, and, meeting Roper, said to him:

"You see that house next to the one where Cabrera is quartered? In that

house Donna Mercedes is confined. You see, there is a sentry at the

door. I want you to stroll round carelessly behind that side of the

village, and ascertain if a sentry is posted there also. If so, I shall

have to leave you to manage him. You won't be able to bring up the

horses so close as you would otherwise do. You must leave them a short

distance away, steal up to that fellow, and silence him. The safest way

will be to stab him to the heart. It is unpleasant to be compelled to

take such a course, but extreme measures are necessary; for if he had

time to shout we should have the whole camp on us in five minutes."

"I will do it, sir. I would rather not, but I see it has to be done."

"I have arranged everything else. The priest is going to get an order

to pass the night praying with Donna Mercedes. He will hand it to me,

and I shall enter the house disguised in his robe and hat. I don't know

how many men there will be inside, but I should certainly say not more

than two. Those two I have got to silence. I hear that the house has

bars to the lower windows, but the upper ones will not be so carefully

guarded, and I shall lower the lady down to you. Just before half-past

ten crawl up close to the sentry, and as the clock chimes, strike. Then

go back and bring the horses up as near as possible, and come yourself

underneath the window. I shall go in as the clock strikes, and shall be

ready for you when you come up. I think we ought to get away before an

alarm is given, and if we have anything like luck we shall have a long

start. It would be well if, when you are going round now, you would

observe closely where the men are bivouacked, so that we can, if

possible, get through without disturbing them in any way."

*CHAPTER IX*

*THE ESCAPE*

At five o'clock in the afternoon Roper rejoined Arthur in the hut.

"Well, what is your report?"

"The house looks all right, sir. There are no bars on the upper

windows. There is a sentry sitting down against the wall; as far as I

could see, he was asleep. I don't think it will be possible to get the

horses up close; but as each man seems to sleep just where it suits him,

I think it would be easier for us to make our way through them on foot

than to get the horses through. I don't think there will be any

difficulty in getting the third horse. Do you think the lady knows how

to ride, sir?"

"No; I think it is quite possible that she does not; but if we take

another horse I can ride double with her by turns. I would risk a great

deal rather than go with only two horses."

"We will get one somehow, sir. When shall I move the horses?"

"You had better take them down to the river just after dusk. Wait with

them there for a quarter of an hour, and then walk away with them to

some quiet spot--of course, as near as possible to the house. Then lie

down beside them; no one is likely to notice what horses they are.

Probably Cabrera's horses are behind his house."

"Yes, they are, sir."

"Well then, get them as close to those as you can. You might wait a

short distance off till it is time to make a move, then take them as

close to his horses as possible. Loosen the foot-ropes of one or two of

his horses, so that when the time comes we can easily take one, and

perhaps two, of them. We can each lead one; that will give us two

changes."

At eight o'clock they went out from the cottage, each leading a horse.

Already the number of men in the streets had begun to thin.

"Are you going?" more than one asked Arthur as they passed.

"Yes," he said; "I have tried in vain to induce your chief to spare the

life of the lady he took prisoner, and, finding my entreaties of no

avail, I am going."

"It is a pity," the man said; "but the general will have his way, and

who can blame him?"

They went down to the river, watered the horses, and then Roper took the

two bridles and started to walk some distance down the bank, so as to be

able to approach the back of the village as if he had been grazing the

horses in the fields. Arthur, on his part, went to the priest's.

"I have succeeded, my son. At first he would not do it, but it was

evident to him that those with him were shocked at the idea of refusing

to let the lady have the last ministrations of the Church. 'Here is the

paper', he said when he signed it. 'You may go in to her, father, but I

will have no goings in and out. You may enter, but you will remain with

her till she is brought out for execution at daybreak.' I said, 'So be

it'. Here, my son, are my hat and soutane. May God's blessing light

upon your brave effort to rescue her, and may you carry her off to

safety! It seems to me a desperate enterprise, but you are young and

vigorous, and doubtless accustomed to strife. You had best leave this

house when I have gone. The Carlists are for the most part faithful

friends of the Church. Several have been here to-day to confess their

sins, and more are to come this evening, and it were best that they

should not find you here. If they find the house empty, they will

suppose that I have gone to the church or on some other mission."

"I thank you for your suggestion, father, and I shall act on it. I fear

I shall not be able to restore your things to you; therefore, I pray

that you will accept these five pieces of gold in order that you may

replace them."

The old man hesitated. "I need no reward for doing my duty," he said.

"Nor should I think of offering it to you, but I know how very poor you

village cures are, and that it would be perhaps a serious trouble to you

to replace these things; and as I am well provided with money it is but

just and right that I should enable you to replace the goods you have

given me. For your aid I can only give you my heartfelt thanks; and I

doubt not that, when all this trouble is over, the Count de Balen will

make a handsome offering to you for the use of your poor."

"Here are the hat and soutane, my son. Take them and my blessing. May

God enable you to carry out your noble object!"

The priest then put on a biretta, and went out at the back of his house.

Arthur rolled up the dress and put the hat under his arm, and also went

out behind and sat down against the wall of the house. When he heard

the clock strike a quarter to ten, he put on the priest's robe and large

three-cornered hat. He took up a lantern which the priest had placed on

the table, went through the house, and out at the front door; then,

imitating the quiet walk of the priest, he went up the now deserted

street and paused before the sentry.

"Benedicite, my son!" he said. "I bear an order, signed by your

general, authorizing me to pass the night with this poor child. Here it

is;" and he held the paper up to the lantern. The man glanced at it. He

could neither read nor write, but he knew Cabrera's signature by sight,

having seen it on many proclamations. He knocked at the door.

"Open," he said; "here is one with a permit to enter, signed by the

general."

[Illustration: ARTHUR FLUNG HIM BACK ACROSS THE TABLE]

The bolts were drawn, and the door opened. A rough-looking man stood by

it, another was sitting at a table; he stood up as the apparent priest

entered. The first man shot the top bolt, and as he stooped to fasten

the bottom one Arthur drove his dagger to the hilt between his

shoulders; and then, turning, sprang upon the other man and seized him

by the throat. Taken wholly by surprise, the man could offer no

resistance. Arthur flung him back across the table, retaining his grip

upon his throat until the man became unconscious; then he thrust a piece

of wood he had brought with him between his teeth, and tied it there,

securely fastened his hands and legs, and tied these to the legs of the

table. He had thought this all out: one man must be killed, the other

he had hoped to overcome and silence by surprise. Then he took a candle

which was burning upon the table and went up-stairs.

A key was in the door. He turned it and went in. Mercedes was lying

upon a bed. She sprang to her feet as he entered. "Hush!" he said, as

he removed his hat. "I have come to save you, Donna Mercedes. Hush, I

implore you!" for he saw that the girl was on the point of uttering a

scream of joy; "your life depends upon your keeping silence."

She dropped back upon the bed and burst into a passion of tears, which

he permitted for a few minutes. Presently with a great effort she

checked herself. "This is the first tear I have shed since I saw Leon

killed."

"He is not killed, Donna Mercedes; he is grievously wounded, but will, I

hope, recover."

"Are you sure?" she exclaimed incredulously, rising to her feet and

laying her hand on his arm.

"Quite sure; sure, at least, that he was well and sensible when I left

him, and was to be carried this morning down to Albacete. He was only

anxious about you, and I told him that I would bring you safely back to

him. I have got my man with me; by this time he will have slain the

sentry beneath your window, and we must be going. Now I will let you

down. I will take hold of your hands and lower you as far as I can

reach; it will not be more than a foot or two to drop. First, I will

blow out this candle; possibly the opening of the window would be

noticed were it alight."

He spoke in a quiet, matter-of-fact way so as to steady the girl's

nerves, blew out the candle, and opened the window. "Now," he said, "I

will let you down." He lifted her through the window, and then, holding

her wrists, lowered her as far as he could reach and then let her go,

and, swinging himself out, dropped beside her. "We must wait now," he

said, "till my man comes to fetch us to the horses. It is as well that

your eyes should become accustomed to the darkness before we move."

In three minutes Roper came up.

"It is all right so far, Roper; here is the lady beside me. Now for the

horses."

"They are not fifty yards away, sir. You must be careful how you walk,

for there are many asleep in the garden. I have noted all their places,

and if you keep your hand upon my shoulder I can lead you through."

Placing the girl between himself and his follower, his hands on the

latter's shoulders, Arthur moved quietly along. He could vaguely make

out a dark figure lying down here and there. It was an intensely anxious

time, but all seemed perfectly quiet. They reached the end of the

garden, and, going through a hole in the fence, came presently upon four

horses. Arthur dropped his hat and soutane, and threw his cloak, which

he had brought with him, over his shoulder.

"Shall we mount here or walk?"

"I think we had better walk a bit, sir."

Arthur took the bridles of two of the horses, and, telling the girl to

keep close behind him, followed Roper, who led the other two horses.

They walked for four or five minutes, then Roper stopped.

"I think we are well beyond them now, sir," he said. "I have been over

all this ground five or six times this evening, and I am pretty sure

that none of them are beyond us."

Arthur put on his cocked hat, which he had previously carried, as, if

they had been noticed, its outline would at once have provoked

curiosity. Then he mounted one of the horses, and lifted Mercedes into

the saddle in front of him. They went at a walk for some little

distance, and then broke into a canter.

"We are safe now, are we not?" Mercedes asked.

"I hope so. The only question is the hour at which they change the

guard. My man killed a fellow who was under your window, and of course

this must be discovered when they do so; that was the only thing that I

could not calculate upon. However, when they discover that we have

escaped it will be some time before they mount; and as they won't know

which way we have gone, the betting is strongly against our being

overtaken. I think, upon the whole, we may consider ourselves pretty

safe."

They rode along by the side of the river, crossed it at a ford at

Banada, and just as day was breaking arrived at the ruins of the palace.

Arthur had twice changed horses, but few words had been spoken on the

journey.

"You must not think, Don Arthur," the girl had said once, "that I do not

feel grateful because I cannot tell you so; it is because I feel too

grateful to express it."

"Do not trouble yourself, senorita. I know perfectly well how you must

be feeling, and it is not at all necessary for you to tell me; you must

have gone through a terrible time indeed."

"I thought more of my brother's fate than my own," she said. "It did

not seem to me to be so hard to die. It was of Leon, my dear brother,

that I thought so much, and grieved for. I could hardly think that that

terrible man really meant to kill me, and yet he seemed altogether

without pity."

"He was. The good priest, whose dress I wore and whose place I took,

had endeavoured in vain to turn him from his determination. I myself

saw him, and denounced the crime as being contrary to the Conventions;

but he would not hear me, and declared that, come what might, you should

be shot the first thing in the morning. And it was only when I found

that the case was absolutely hopeless that I determined to set you free

at whatever risk. The priest aided me. He obtained from Cabrera an

order to spend the night with you, in order to prepare you for death.

He passed me the order, and went away himself so as to escape the

vengeance of that scoundrel, and I and my man between us managed to get

you out."

"But there were two men below, were there not? I heard them talking."

"Yes; I had to kill one of them, and the other I gagged and tied up. I

don't suppose he will be any the worse when they find him in the

morning. Now we will change horses, and then I hope you will try to

sleep. You cannot have closed an eye since you were captured, and we

shall have plenty of time to talk later on." The girl did as he told

her, and remained quiet in his arms, but he could see that her eyes

never closed.

"I wish I could ride," she said once, "so that I might relieve you of my

weight."

"Your weight is nothing," he said; "and each time we change horses I put

you on the other side, and so rest my arm."

As they drew up at the shed from which he had ridden thirty-six hours

before, the women ran out and cried with joy.

Arthur handed the girl down to them.

"Take her inside," he said, "and give her something to eat, and then let

her lie down for a bit; she must be desperately tired."

Then he himself got down and shook hands warmly with Roper.

"This has been as good a night's work, Roper, as you are ever likely to

do, if you live to be a hundred."

"It has been a good business, sir, and I enjoyed it all except the

stabbing of that sentry. It went badly against the grain, but I knew it

had to be done, for it was our lives against his."

"I had to do just the same thing; but, as you say, it was a matter of

necessity, though I wish heartily that it had been Cabrera himself.

However, the thought will not trouble me. If men choose to follow a

ruffian like that, they must take the consequences. Those are two good

horses you got hold of."

"Yes; that one is Cabrera's own. Fortunately he was standing at the end

of the line. I had noted his position before it got dark, and was

mightily pleased that I could get at him, for I thought it would rile

the scoundrel nicely to lose not only his prisoner but his horse. The

other is a good one too."

"Well, give them a good feed all round; and then you must see what we

can get to eat ourselves, for we only had a piece of bread all yesterday

and not much the day before. We can get some beans anyhow, and, I

expect, a chicken, and I will tell the women to boil one down for Donna

Mercedes. We may be sure that she has eaten next to nothing since she

was taken."

A woman presently came out from the hut and said that the lady had

dropped off to sleep, and that one of their number was sitting with her.

They set to work at once to carry out Arthur's instructions. Two

chickens were killed, dipped into boiling water to take the feathers

off, and then cut in two and put over a wood fire. Some beans were

baked on a griddle, and another chicken was put into a pot to simmer.

"Boil it down till there is only about a pint of liquor left," was his

order; "then strain it, and keep it hot for her till she wakes. Have

you heard how the count bore the journey?"

"Yes, sir; some of the men came back in the evening and said that he had

slept a good deal on the way."

Five hours later Donna Mercedes awoke, and, having drunk the broth

prepared for her, came out.

"Now, if you feel strong enough we will ride on to Albacete at once,"

Arthur said. "Your brother must be in a terrible state of anxiety about

you, and your appearance will do more for him than the doctors can do."

"I am ready," she said brightly. "The sleep and a wash have done

wonders for me."

Roper at once put the saddles on the horses.

"No," she said; "I will ride now. I never have ridden, but I am sure

that I can do it, and you can fasten a leading rein to my horse."

"It is not easy without a side-saddle, senora; but the pommel of this

saddle is high, and if we go gently you will be able to hold on."

"At any rate I will try," she said.

The stirrups were arranged the proper length and Donna Mercedes lifted

into the saddle.

"I shall manage very well," she said, as she settled herself on it. "I

will learn to ride after this. I won't be so helpless in future."

Before mounting, Arthur attached a leading rein to her horse's bit, and

they started at a gentle canter, Roper leading the other horse. Three

hours' riding brought them to Albacete. They put the horses up in the

stable, and then enquired where the count had been taken. It was to the

principal hotel, and there Arthur went at once with Donna Mercedes.

They went up to the room together, and Arthur opened the door, let the

girl pass in, and then closed it behind her and went down-stairs. A

quarter of an hour later a servant came down and said that the count

wished to see him.

"Ah, my dear Arthur," Leon exclaimed as he entered, "how can I thank you

enough, for my sister and myself, for all that you have done for us!

She seems restored to me by a miracle."

"It is not much of a miracle, Leon; it required only a little invention

and a little pluck, and the affair was managed. I felt that it was very

hard if I could not get your sister out of the hands of that scoundrel,

and our success can scarcely have afforded you more pleasure than it has

Roper and myself."

"It is all very well to say so, but the fact is not changed. You have

rescued her from certain death, have carried her off from the centre of

four thousand men. My sister tells me that you did it in the disguise

of a priest."

"Yes, and the good man gave me every assistance. I have not been

ill-paid," he said with a light laugh, "for I have got hold of two very

valuable horses. Now you will have to take care of each other. Your

sister has been splendidly brave, but she will need rest and quiet for a

while; she could not have a better thing to do than to look after you,

and it will do you good to be cared for by her. I shall wait here for a

couple of days, for the horses have had four long days' work. I suppose

you have not seen anyone here yet?"

"No; a good many gentlemen of my acquaintance have left their cards, but

the doctor said I was not to see anyone at present. He thinks it will

be nearly a month before I can move; and he said this morning that he

was afraid I should get into a high state of fever if I agitated myself.

However, I have no fear of that now. You have done me more good than

all the doctors in Spain could do. Now, Mercedes, you must lift your

head up from that pillow and stop crying."

"No one could have been calmer or cooler than your sister was, Leon; and

now that it is all over, and she has found that you are doing well, you

must not be surprised at her breaking down a little. I can assure you

that from the time I entered her room till we rode fairly away she was

as quiet and composed as possible; in fact, she did not speak a single

word from the moment I lowered her down from the window till we were

able to put our horses into a canter. To me it was just like a school

adventure. I was always getting into scrapes at school, and master

after master refused to keep me--it was for that reason that I enlisted

in our Legion--and it really seemed to me the same sort of thing, only

with a little spice of danger and the pleasure and satisfaction of doing

some good.

"And now, Donna Mercedes, if you will take my advice you will go

straight to bed. You will want all your strength to nurse your brother.

You have gone through frightful anxiety, and have made a long and very

fatiguing journey, and before you install yourself at your brother's

bedside you want a long rest. If you do not take it, you will be

breaking down badly. You see for yourself that he is doing well, and

now that he has got you back again there is no fear of his having a

relapse. He himself can have slept but little. Therefore, I trust that

you will at once lie down and have a good long rest, and that he will do

the same, then this evening you will be able to have a quiet chat for a

couple of hours. I shall be quite willing to take my own prescription

and lie down till this evening."

"Arthur is right," Leon said. "We have all gone through a painful time,

and we shall be more ourselves after a sleep. I don't think I have slept

five minutes at a time since we were attacked. At any rate, we must

both obey orders. It is one o'clock now, we will meet here again at

eight."

Arthur at once went down-stairs. He found Roper in the stables, he

having just fed the horses.

"Now, Roper, you had better turn in at once; I have arranged for a room

for you. I shall not want anything more to-day. You had better settle

with one of the stablemen here to feed and water the horses this

evening."

"I will come down again, sir, later."

"Well, you can do it if you wake, Roper; but I expect that when you once

shut your eyes you won't open them again till to-morrow morning. At any

rate, you can arrange that the horses shall be attended to if you should

not come down. I feel very uncertain myself about waking."

Arthur gave orders that he should be roused at eight o'clock, and in a

very few minutes was fast asleep. He could hardly believe that he had

been six hours asleep when there was a knock at his door. However, he

jumped out of bed, washed as well as he was able with the very scanty

supply of water deemed sufficient for his ablutions, and then went down

to Leon's room.

"You look better, Leon," he said as he entered.

"I feel better. Indeed, I have slept like a dormouse, and did not wake

till the servant came in a few minutes ago. The doctor said that I was

quite a different man from what I was this morning."

"I feel ever so much better too, and should feel better still if I could

have had a bath. I hope your sister won't wake; she would be all the

fresher for a complete night's rest."

"She told me she slept a good deal on the ride."

"Yes; I think she dozed. No wonder! She must have had a terrible time

of it, poor girl! It was a fearful position for her, and I quite

expected that when I got to her I should have found her completely

prostrated."

"I expect she will get up. I know she wants to hear how you have

managed it all. She has told me that she had not asked you anything.

You appeared suddenly, dressed as a priest, and after you had got away

she had felt so happy in being safe, and yet so bewildered at it all,

that she had scarcely spoken at all, and I can quite understand her

feelings."

"So can I, perfectly, and on our ride to this place I could see that she

was thinking of nothing but meeting you. I don't think she credited my

assurance that you were not mortally wounded, and was yearning for a

sight of you. Ah, here she is!"

"You are looking better, Leon," she said, as she came up to the bedside.

"I am feeling a hundred per cent better. The doctor says that I am

quite a different man, and that whereas when he saw me this morning he

did not feel at all sure that I should get over it, he has no fears

whatever about me now. So you see, Arthur, you have saved both our

lives."

"Well, don't let us say anything more about it, Leon. The affair has

turned out all right, and there is no more to be said on the matter."

Leon smiled. "That is all very well for you, but it is not quite so

satisfactory to us. Now, you must tell us all about it. For the present

I only know that you got a priest to help in some way, and I want the

full particulars."

"Well, I will tell you the whole story."

And he gave a full account of the events from the moment of his arrival

in the village. "I would have given a good deal," he said, after

describing the scene with Cabrera, "to have got the scoundrel in a quiet

place by myself, though I am bound to say I doubt whether I should have

been found the better man. The fellow, to do him justice, is uncommonly

vigorous and powerful, and I might have discovered that I had caught a

Tartar; but I was so furious with him that I would willingly have taken

my chance. Of course I can make every allowance for a man whose mother

has been murdered in this war, and I can understand his showing no mercy

to men of the other party who may fall into his hands; but to take

revenge upon women, who had nothing whatever to do with the wrong he has

suffered, is monstrous. He should know by his own feelings what their

friends would suffer. However, as he was not to be moved I felt that I

must depend upon myself, and I decided that the only way to get at the

senora would be by the assistance of the priest, or at any rate that

that was the first plan to attempt."

He then related his interview with the priest, and the manner in which

the latter had at once agreed to aid him, the various steps he had taken

to ascertain the position of the Carlists lying about the village, and

to secure a spare horse, and how he had carried out his plans.

"I was sorry," he said, "to have to kill one of the men in the hut, but

I could see no other way of disposing of both of them before an alarm

could be given. Of course if I had not been able to obtain the priest's

disguise I should have had to kill the sentry at the door too, but even

then the men inside might not have opened the door to my summons,

probably they would not have done so. Still, I own that it went

desperately against the grain to have to stab that man; that was really

the only unpleasant part of the business. All the rest was simple, and

Donna Mercedes was very brave and very quiet. Roper had obtained an

accurate idea of where the Carlists were all lying, so that there was

not a single hitch in the affair. If it hadn't been for your sister I

should have almost preferred a chase and some excitement, but as it was,

I was, of course, very thankful that everything went so perfectly."

"I will take care," Leon said, "that the priest is made comfortable for

life. I can, at any rate, show my gratitude in that quarter, though I

must always remain in debt to you. What are you going to do next?"

"I am going to stop here for a couple of days, and if I can get a good

price for two of the horses I shall sell them. I shall keep that one of

Cabrera's. It is a splendid animal; and I think, of the others, the

best is the one that belonged to Major Hawkins. The other two are both

good animals, and worth, I should say, from thirty to forty pounds

apiece."

"I will give you that for them gladly. Of course, Cabrera's people

carried off all mine, and I must have two for riding back to Madrid, so

I shall be really glad to take your two off your hands."

"Very well," Arthur said; "I certainly did not want to saddle you with

them, but as you say you really want them I would rather sell them to

you than to anyone else."

"Then that is settled. I shall get Mercedes to write to-morrow for two

of my servants to come here; the men who accompanied us were both

killed. Besides, I must get Donna Martha, her duenna, and her maid to

join us, to keep her company. It would not be seemly for her to be here

alone while I am laid up."

Arthur laughed.

"By the way, Mercedes, you will have to write to Don Silvio, telling him

what you have gone through."

The girl looked earnestly at her brother, but made no answer, and he

turned again to Arthur.

"But you did not say what you were going to do?"

"I hardly know. My instructions were to go to Mercia and see the

governor there, and to endeavour to impress upon him the importance of

observing the Conventions strictly. I was not altogether successful.

He repeated his desire to do so, but pointed out to me that Cabrera so

persistently refused to observe them in any way, and committed such

atrocities, that the people were roused beyond control. However much,

therefore, he might wish to carry on the war humanely, public opinion

was too strong for him, and the friends of the people murdered by

Cabrera naturally clamoured for reprisals. It was my intention, when I

arrived, to proceed to Cabrera's camp and endeavour to persuade him to

carry on the war less ruthlessly. Well, I have been to him, and see

that remonstrances are not of the slightest avail. I shall now go to

Madrid and request the minister of war to send a formal despatch to him

calling upon him to conduct the war more humanely, and saying that

unless he does so, all his followers who fall into the hands of the

royal troops must be put to the sword, however painful it would be to

him to give orders to that effect. I don't suppose such a communication

would influence him in any way, but it might influence his followers,

who can scarcely like to fight with, as it were, halters round their

necks. It is extraordinary to me that people of one nation should fight

so ferociously, and should refuse quarter to each other. Against a

foreign invader one can imagine such a spirit, as, for example, when you

were invaded by the French; but that people of one blood should, on a

mere difference of opinion as to who should be king, hate each other so

venomously beats me altogether."

"I cannot give any reason for it," Leon said. "I am in favour of

Christina, and should not mind doing a little fighting, though, as I am

not a soldier I don't feel called upon to take up arms. Still, it seems

to me that the matter might be as well settled by everyone giving a vote

one way or the other, and the minority then yielding gracefully."

They chatted for some time, the conversation being principally kept up

by Arthur. Mercedes scarcely opened her lips, but sat by her brother's

side holding his hand. At ten o'clock his nurse came in and said that

he must now be quiet for the night, and the others again went off to

their rooms. After breakfasting by himself, Arthur went down to the

stables.

"I have sold those two horses to Count Leon."

"Yes, so he has been telling me."

"Oh, you have seen him, have you?"

"Yes, sir; he sent down for me half an hour ago. He looks a deal better

than when we left him three days back."

"Yes; he will do now. He has lost a lot of blood, and it will be some

time before he gains strength again; but the doctor said yesterday that

he had no fears whatever as to his getting through."

"Well, he has quite taken away my breath this morning."

"Has he? In what way?"

"Well, sir, he has told me that when he gets to Madrid he will make me a

present of five hundred pounds."

"I am glad indeed to hear it, Roper. You have done him an enormous

service at a good deal of risk. I have always understood that he is a

wealthy young noble, and I have no doubt he can very well afford to do

it."

"I told him, sir, that really I had nothing to do with it, and that I

had simply done what you had ordered me, never having seen the young

lady myself. But he would not allow that that made any difference. I

had assisted in saving his sister's life, and he was very pleased to be

able to make such an acknowledgment of my services. I should not mind

how many ladies' lives I saved on such terms."

"Well, I am heartily glad, Roper. It always has been a source of

annoyance to me that I was not able to do more for you when we have been

such friends together."

"That is all right, sir. We were friends together for a time, but I was

in my right position and you were not. That, of course, was soon put

right, and we have stood ever since in the proper relation towards each

other. I am only too glad to work for you, and now you have put me in

for a very good thing. If I were to go home now, everyone would say

that I had done mightily well for myself, and I should go in for farming

again; I made a mistake in leaving it.

"Well, when we get home, Roper, I will see that you have the first farm

that is vacant on my estate."

"Why, I did not know that you had an estate!" Roper said in surprise.

"Yes, I have an estate, and, I believe, a pretty good one; but I am not

to come into it till I am five-and-twenty. I think my father saw that I

was a harum-scarum sort of chap, so he settled it in that way. But

though I am not to come in for it till I am twenty-five, I have an uncle

who manages it for me, and I can certainly persuade him to give you the

first farm that is vacant. I had intended to do so before, but I

thought there might be some difficulty about it, because you would

require capital to work it, but this five hundred pounds would give you

a fair start on a small farm."

"That would be splendid, sir! That will give me something to look

forward to. As long as you stay out here I shall stay with you, if it

were for another ten years; but it makes all the difference having

something to look forward to afterwards, for I have wondered sometimes

what on earth I should do when I went back again, I should feel so

strange. I have thought, too, sometimes, about you, and what you would

do when this affair had come to an end. Well, I am as glad to know that

you will be all right as I am about myself."

Arthur went upstairs. As he entered the room Mercedes got up from her

brother's bedside and went out.

"I am a little upset, Arthur," Leon said.

"Are you? What is the matter? you are not feeling worse, I hope?"

"No; it is nothing about myself, it is about Mercedes. You know that

three months ago she was betrothed--not formally, you know, but the

matter was arranged--to Count Silvio de Mora. It was a suitable match

in all respects. He was some fourteen years older than Mercedes, and a

worthy cavalier. Of course he asked her hand of me, and I gave my

consent, and she offered no more objection than a well-brought-up maiden

should do. Now she turns round and tells me that she has resolved not

to marry; that after being so near to death and saved as by a miracle,

she is resolved to live single. She does not wish to enter a convent or

anything of that sort, but at any rate to live single for some years--in

fact until I marry, and then she will probably go into a religious

house.

"Well, it all seems so unnatural, because she has always had very high

spirits and been fond of gaiety. I have asked her to think the matter

over, but she declares that nothing can influence her, and implores me

to let her have her own way. I can understand her feelings. Of course

she is greatly shaken by what she has gone through; I hope though in

time she will recover her spirits. But she has declared that nothing

will move her; and after such a terrible experience as she has had, I

feel that at present, at any rate, I must let her have her own way. I

cannot hold a pen yet, and I shall be greatly obliged if you will write

in my name to the count. The thought of this engagement evidently preys

upon her mind. She says she did not sleep all night, and I see that she

will have no peace until I carry out her wishes."

"Of course I will do as you wish, Leon, and will write from your

dictation. It seems to me natural, poor girl, that she should be

terribly shaken by what she has gone through."

*CHAPTER X*

*A GOOD SERVICE*

The letter took some time to write. It began with an account of the

attack upon the chateau, and the manner in which the count and his

servants were struck down and Donna Mercedes carried off. It then

described how Cabrera had sentenced her to be shot, and how, a few hours

before the sentence could be carried out, she was rescued by Captain

Hallett and brought safely to Albacete, where the count himself was

lying wounded.

"My sister is greatly prostrated by the terrible trials that she has

passed through. She considers that she has been preserved by a miracle,

and that she must dedicate her life to good works. She has expressed to

me, my dear count, her irresistible repugnance to the plans we had

formed, and has implored me to ask you to relieve her from her

engagement to you.

"I have argued with her in vain, and I beg of you not to take it amiss

that I should ask you to release her. She is profoundly shaken, and

will not, I am sure, for a long time be fit to be at the head of an

establishment like yours; and, indeed, as I have said, she talks of

entering a religious house. I trust, my dear count, that this

unfortunate circumstance will not cause any breach in our friendship, or

the long-established good feeling between our families. With assurances

of my deep regret at this severance of a tie to which we had both looked

forward, and of my regard and appreciation, I sign myself yours most

cordially."

Here Leon took the pen in his own hands and feebly added his signature.

"Between ourselves," he said, "I am not altogether sorry that the

engagement is broken off. I have a great esteem for Don Silvio, but I

am not sure that he and Mercedes are quite suited to each other. He is

somewhat grave and is in the thick of politics, and I fancy that

Mercedes has a little resented the small share of attention he has paid

her. However, undoubtedly the affair would have gone on in its usual

course had it not been for this matter."

Arthur took his departure on the following day. It seemed to him that

Donna Mercedes shunned her brother's room while he was there. He

thought it natural that she should be embarrassed by the feeling that

she owed so much to him, and that, as the letter he had written for Leon

showed, she should be profoundly affected by the events through which

she had passed. It was, too, natural that she should desire to be alone

with her brother, as at present she was without a maid or companion, and

would, of course, wish to act as his nurse. He therefore said good-bye

to them in the evening, as he intended to start early.

"I hope I shall see you in the course of a month or so, Leon," he said.

"Yes, I hope so."

"And I trust, Donna Mercedes, that you will be looking more yourself,

and will have shaken off the effects of the trial you have gone

through."

The girl put her hand in his, and looked as if she would have spoken,

but she was evidently too much moved for words. So he turned and left

them.

"I should hardly have thought that she would have felt it so much," he

said to himself as he went up to his room; "though, of course, it has

been a most terrible trial, what with the anxiety about her brother and

herself. However, I hope she will soon shake it off. I know she has

plenty of spirit, and nothing could have been more plucky than the way

in which she behaved until we were fairly away from her prison. No doubt

she feels it more now that it is all over and she has nothing to keep up

for. I wonder how the count will take her breaking off the engagement!

I am not sorry she has done it. He is extremely courteous and, I

suppose, attentive, but he was always formal, and did not seem to me to

really care for her. Not that I know anything of such matters; still, I

think myself that if I were engaged to an extremely nice girl, I should

not content myself with pressing the tips of her fingers. However, that

may be the Spanish custom. How my cousins would have laughed if I had

treated them in such a ceremonious sort of way!"

It was nearly a month before Arthur returned to Madrid, for he was with

the Christinos when they were defeated by Cabrera with great loss near

Tortosa. He had taken no actual part in the fight, though he had ridden

with the Christino general, and as soon as he saw that the battle was

lost he rode away.

"It is quite evident, Roper," he said, "that the Christinos do not fight

so well as the Carlists. They seem to be plucky, too, but the Carlists

fight with greater fury. They have much less discipline, but they hurl

themselves upon their foes with such a disregard for death that there is

no withstanding them. Now, our fellows beat the Carlists at their own

game; they were equally ready to go at the enemy, and had a good deal

more discipline. It is evidently useless for us to remain here. Cabrera

won't observe the conventions, and kills every officer who falls into

his hands. The Christinos would be quite willing to show mercy, but

they don't often get the chance of doing so. We will go up to Madrid

and report to Colonel Wylde, who will, I dare say, be back by the time

we get there."

"I sha'n't be sorry, sir, for it is not pleasant being with troops who

always get licked. It seems to me, sir, that the Carlists are likely to

win in the long run."

"I don't think so, Roper. You see, they will never remain long in the

field. Their villages are everywhere in the mountains, and they can't

be kept together any time, for there is the difficulty of provisions.

They rush down, defeat or avoid the Christinos, and collect a

considerable amount of spoil, and then go off to their homes again.

They are a sort of semi-organized guerrillas, and although guerrillas

can maintain warfare for a long time, they must in the long run be

defeated. They have been fortunate in having wonderfully active leaders.

They first of all had Zumalacarreguy, and now they have Cabrera, both of

whom have the faculty of inspiring their men with an intense enthusiasm

and a willingness to endure all hardship. But neither of these generals

has succeeded in introducing anything like discipline, and though

splendid guerrilla chiefs, they are not the men for moulding a whole

people into regular soldiers."

Two days after his return to Madrid, Arthur was delighted to see Leon

enter his room. He still looked pale and thin, but his expression was

bright and cheerful.

"Well, old Paladin," he exclaimed, "here I am, well and getting strong

again. We have travelled by easy stages, and taken ten days to come

from Albacete."

"That is right. I felt sure that when you had nothing to do but eat and

drink you would soon pick up again. And your sister, I hope she has

recovered also?"

"Partly, not altogether. I hope she has given up the idea of becoming a

religieuse. It would be a thousand pities if she were to shut herself

up in a convent, and I am sure she would bitterly regret it afterwards.

She has had a great shock, of course, but the effect will pass off in

time. I could see that it was a great relief to her when she received

an answer from Don Silvio releasing her from her engagement. It was

written in excellent language, and was really irreproachable in tone;

but between ourselves I don't think his feelings were very deeply

touched. She has certainly picked up faster since she received it. She

broke down a good deal when we arrived to-day, and she had her sisters

and Donna Martha to cry over and coddle her. I won't ask you to come to

us this evening. I think she had better be quiet. What have you been

doing since you left us?"

Arthur gave an account of his journeying.

"I am thinking," the count said, "of raising two companies from among

the tenants of my estate near Seville. I shall not be happy until I

have crossed swords with that fellow Cabrera."

"I can understand that. But, you see, Cabrera is not a fellow to be

found so easily; he is here to-day and gone to-morrow; strikes a blow in

one place, and then two days afterwards falls upon a column a hundred

miles away. I think, Leon, if I were you I would give up the idea. You

have everything that one can wish for; you are rich, and popular, and

happy in your family. It is all very well for people who want the pay

and position of generals to go into the army, but you have nothing to

gain by it. And at any rate, as long as your party hold their own

against the Carlists, I don't see that you have any business to put on a

uniform.

"Every word you say is as applicable to yourself as it is to me. This

is no affair of yours. It doesn't matter a snap of the finger to you

whether Don Carlos or Christina reigns in Spain."

"That is true enough, but I have got my living to get. I like the life

and excitement."

"That is well enough at present, but this war is not going to last for

ever."

"No; and if it were, I should not remain out here. I have some years to

kill. When that is over, I shall go home and live on my own land."

"Oh, I didn't know you had land! you never told me so."

"No, Leon, I am not given to talk about my own private affairs. I was

wild as a boy, and my father thought it was well that I should not come

into my fortune until I arrived at years of discretion, and he very

wisely tied it up so that I could not touch it until then. I don't mean

that I shall ever be a great magnate as you are, but I shall have a very

nice estate, which will be all the larger for having waited fifteen

years for me."

"I am very glad to hear it, very glad; though it does seem to me very

hard that you should be kept so long out of it. Still, I am the last who

ought to complain, for if you had not been obliged to become a sort of

knight-errant I should have lost my sister."

"Nor have I anything to grumble at, though I do wish I had remained at

school a couple of years longer and finished my education."

"Education!" Leon laughed; "you must have done with that long ago."

"I am not so old as I look," Arthur said.

"Well, you look as old as I do, anyhow."

"I am not so old by a good many years. I won't tell you how many, for I

don't want to be treated like a little boy."

"I don't think I should do that if you said that you were only ten."

"Well, I can tell you, as a great secret, that I am more than ten."

"Well," Leon said, getting up with a laugh, "now I must be off.

Mercedes, who has developed into a regular tyrant, only gave me leave to

come out on condition that I would not stop more than five minutes, and

if it had been anybody but yourself she would not have let me come at

all; not, I think, even if the Queen Regent had sent for me."

"She is quite right, Leon, though I should like to keep you here; but I

am sure that after riding in here this morning you ought not to have

moved out again. Well, I will walk with you back to your own door."

Arthur, on calling on the following morning, was received with great

enthusiasm by Mercedes' two younger sisters, with whom he had become a

great favourite, and also by the young count. Mercedes, however, seemed

painfully shy with him.

"I don't think I shall ever feel comfortable with you again, senor," she

said with a great effort. "I feel quite overpowered with the sense of

what I owe you."

"Then, senora, you will oblige me to regret that I ever interfered in

your behalf," Arthur said with a smile. "The sooner you get that idea

out of your head the sooner I shall feel comfortable again. It was a

great pleasure to me to be of service to you, but you will take the

pleasure out of it altogether if you are going to be unnatural with me."

"But I can't help it," she said.

"Then I sha'n't rescue you another time when you get into a scrape.

Once I picked a young cousin of mine out of the water. The ice was

thin, and I had no right to take her on; but as I scarcely ever did what

was right I took her, and she went through. Of course I went in after

her, and we were both nearly drowned. Well, I did not hear the last of

that for a long time; it was always being thrown up in my teeth, till I

declared that I would never take a girl out skating again. And now it

seems that you are going to make it just as disagreeable for me."

The girl laughed.

"Well, I will really try hard not to. I will tell myself that anyone

else would have done just the same as you did, and that there was no

danger in it, and that it was altogether a most commonplace affair."

"Good!" he said. "That will make us both much more comfortable."

"And how old was this cousin of yours?"

"Two years younger than I was. That was the last time we had a bit of

fun together. My aunt entertained the idea that I was making the girls

into regular tomboys, and I don't think they ever went out with me again

afterwards. I am afraid I was not so sorry as I ought to have been at

losing their society, for I was getting to the evil age when boys think

girls rather nuisances."

"And what age may that be, senor?" one of the younger girls asked with a

laugh.

"Well, in England I think it begins about fourteen and lasts till about

twenty."

"Oh, then we may flatter ourselves that you will not regard us as

nuisances."

"No; you are very well-behaved little girls, and you don't expect me to

play with you."

"Play with us, indeed!" the girl said scornfully; "I should think not.

Why, I am fifteen."

"A very grave and reverent age, senorina. I have not got my hat on, or

I would take it off to you in token of my respect, not to say

veneration."

"How different you are from Spaniards!" the girl said. "A young Spanish

gentleman would lift his hat courteously if he passed us in the street,

but, unless he were very, very intimate, would hardly think of speaking

to us even in the house, whereas you actually laugh at us and make fun

of us. I have to laugh sometimes when I think I ought to be very

indignant."

"You should practise looking indignant before a glass, senorina, else I

am afraid it would be a failure and I should not be properly impressed.

Now, Donna Mercedes," he said, turning to her, "I hope you have found

Leon a very good patient."

"He was very good the first fortnight, but after that he was by no means

so easy to manage. I had very often to appeal to Donna Martha, and

sometimes he absolutely set her at defiance."

"At any rate he has done credit to your nursing."

Then they settled down for a quiet talk, and Arthur heard how they had

at first travelled by very short stages, and had gradually increased the

length of the journeys.

"It was very tedious," Leon said, "and I could have come a good deal

faster if I had been allowed. And now about yourself: I suppose you

came back a fortnight ago?"

"No; I only came back the day before you. I changed my mind and went

down to Tortosa, as I heard that a battle was imminent there, and to my

disgust I saw the Christinos utterly routed by Cabrera. Fortunately the

Carlists were not strong in cavalry; if they had been, the Royalists

would have been entirely destroyed."

After chatting for some time longer he took his leave. In half an hour

he returned.

"I have just heard very bad news. I can assure you it is very serious.

You know that Don Carlos completely defeated General Buerens at Herrera,

killing ninety-two officers and inflicting a loss of two thousand six

hundred men killed, wounded, and prisoners. Espartero hurried up to

rejoin Oraa. The Carlists affected to retreat, but really joined

Cabrera, gave Espartero the slip, and are this morning within four

leagues of Madrid."

An exclamation of dismay broke from his hearers.

"And we have no troops here!"

"None but the Urban Guards, who have just been called out; but I should

say they could not stand an hour before a Carlist attack; and, moreover,

there are, as you know, a large number of Carlist sympathizers who will

be certain to rise as soon as they attack the walls."

"Then I had better send the ladies off at once," Leon said, rising to

his feet; "if they leave the other side of the city they may get away."

"I think it would be safer for them to stay here; the Carlist cavalry

may be round the town in a couple of hours. They might be cut off, so

that they would certainly be safer here. It is true that Cabrera is

with Don Carlos, but he will not be supreme, as the latter would, I am

convinced, restrain his cruelty. He would know well enough that nothing

could be worse for his cause than for his entry into his capital to be

marked by scenes of bloodshed. I think the greatest danger will be from

a rising of the mob before the Carlists enter, and I should strongly

advise you to arm all your men, to barricade all the windows not

protected by bars, and prepare to beat off any assault. The house is

very strong and solid, and the mob would hardly be able to capture it in

the face of a firm resistance, for we may calculate that Don Carlos will

enter the town within an hour at most after any disturbance breaks out

here."

"I will have it done at once."

"I would certainly set about it. It is scarcely likely that Don Carlos

will be before the town till to-morrow morning, which will give you

ample time to make your preparations. How many men have you?"

"With the stablemen and all, I have eighteen."

"That should be sufficient. I will help you to set them to work, and

will then go out into the town and bring you in the latest news."

The men were at once collected. Leon sent some of them out to buy some

crowbars, and set them to work to get up the paving-stones in the hall

and the yard, and with these to block up all the windows on the ground

floor. When they had fairly begun Arthur went out, and, finding Roper,

asked him to saddle the horses; and, having done that, rode out to see

the state of things prevailing. The streets were in an uproar. Some of

the people appeared almost out of their minds with fear, and the dreaded

name of Cabrera was on everyone's lips. A large mob had assembled

before the head-quarters of government, and with many gestures abused

the ministers for leaving the capital undefended. Others among the

crowd with difficulty concealed their exultation. Many of the public

offices were pelted with stones. A deputation of influential citizens

went to the palace and had an interview with Christina, who maintained a

firm countenance, and told them that Espartero with his army was

following hard on the track of Don Carlos, and that the city would at

most have to resist for a few hours.

Presently there was a rush to the walls, and the Carlist cavalry could

be seen galloping towards the town. Arthur mounted his horse and,

followed by Roper, rode to the gate towards which the horsemen were

approaching. A regiment of the Urban Guards was drawn up here. He rode

up to the colonel, who was personally known to him. "Colonel," he said,

"may I suggest to you that if you were to lead your men outside, they

could drive off the Carlist cavalry? They could not stand against

infantry, and would probably ride off after a short exchange of shots;

and the result would greatly raise the spirits of the townspeople, and

perhaps lead them to decide upon their making a resistance. Of course I

have not a shadow of authority, but as one of the British commissioners

I feel it my duty to point out to you the very great advantage of such a

step. I am ready myself to ride out with you and take my share in the

fighting."

"I will do it, sir," the colonel answered. "I see the truth of what you

say."

He addressed a few words to the men, and then, ordering the gates to be

thrown open, marched out leading the regiment, Arthur riding beside him.

The cavalry were but four hundred yards away, and as the infantry

marched out they formed up in companies and opened fire upon the

horsemen. The latter answered in a straggling and undetermined manner,

and then in two or three minutes turned and rode off.

"I congratulate you, senor," Arthur said. "I think it is quite probable

that you have saved the capital. The troopers will carry back word that

the garrison are determined to resist. This is sure to cause hesitation

in the councils of Don Carlos, and we may feel certain that at least for

to-day nothing will be done, and every hour that passes will bring

Espartero nearer to our assistance."

The regiment were enthusiastically cheered as they returned to the city,

and they received a great ovation as they entered the Puerto del Sol,

the great square of the town. The minister of war himself came down and

thanked the colonel, and bestowed upon him the rank of general. The

latter generously said that he had acted in accordance with the advice

given him by the British commissioner, that he would not have thought of

taking the step but for that advice, and that the British officer had

ridden out with him. Thereupon Arthur, who had, when they entered the

city, gone off to his lodging, was sent for, and received the formal

thanks of the minister. This incident seemed to greatly inspirit the

defenders; the noisy crowds now dispersed, and preparations for the

defence were carried on vigorously.

After leaving the Ministry Arthur went back to aid the count in his

preparations. Already a great deal had been done, and by evening the

house was placed in a position to make a stout defence against any

attack by an undisciplined force.

In the afternoon the count went out for a short time, and on his return

said to his sisters: "Young ladies, you will please salute the hidalgo,

Captain Arthur Hallett, as the saviour of this city. He told us he had

been out through the gate with a regiment that went and fired a few

shots at the Carlist cavalry; but it now appears that it was he who

advised the officer in command of the regiment to go out, and that he

gallantly rode with the colonel at their head, for which service he has

been publicly thanked by the minister of war."

"Yes, and I was ashamed of being thanked," Arthur said. "I went to have

a look at the Carlist cavalry. Seeing a regiment of infantry at the

gate, I suggested to the colonel that it would be a good thing to go out

and drive them off, as even a little thing like that would tend to

restore confidence; so we went out and fired half a dozen volleys. The

Carlists fired a few shots in return and made off. There is the

beginning and the end of it."

"At any rate, Arthur, everyone at the club agreed that it has had a

great effect in restoring confidence. The crowd demonstrating in front

of the various Ministries dispersed. Many of the men who had absented

themselves from the muster of their companies have now joined them, and

it seems probable that if Don Carlos attacks us to-morrow, which

everyone supposes he will do, a stout defence will be made."

"Well, I dare say it may have had that effect, Leon. That is just what

I expected when I suggested the move, but it is nonsense to make such a

fuss about it; and it was as much as I could do not to laugh in the

minister's face when he talked about it as a very valiant business."

"I think, seriously, Arthur, that the affair may have a good deal of

consequence. Probably the cavalry were sent on to ascertain the

disposition of the town, and see whether it was likely to surrender

without a blow; and the fact that this little sortie was made will give

the idea that we are prepared for a desperate resistance. Everyone

knows that Don Carlos is a man who can never quite make up his mind, and

several men at the club agree in thinking that it is quite possible he

may march away again without attempting anything."

"If he does, Leon, it will be a death-blow to his own cause. By throwing

Espartero off his track, effecting a junction with Cabrera, and marching

within striking distance of the capital, he has got an opportunity that

he will never have again. He ought to have attacked to-day. The news

that he had captured Madrid would have roused his partisans to great

enthusiasm, and brought all the doubters over to his side; whereas, if

he throws away this opportunity he will disgust the men who have come so

far from their homes, will certainly infuriate Cabrera, and will show

that he is utterly unfit to be the head of a well-nigh desperate cause."

All night the work of preparation went on. Cannon were got out of the

arsenal and mounted in commanding positions. The gates were blocked up

with stones, ammunition piled on the walls, and the whole population

toiled at making preparations for defence. In the morning every point

from which a view over the country could be obtained was thronged in

anticipation of seeing the enemy advancing, but to the general delight

the plain seemed to be absolutely deserted. Very speedily a party of

mounted gentlemen sallied out from one of the gates, and rode out to

reconnoitre the country. Arthur went with them. They rode to within

two miles of the Carlist camp, but no signs of movement were

discernible. They watched for three hours. At the end of that time

they saw the royal tent and those around it lowered, and an hour later

could make out the whole army drawing off. With exultant shouts they

mounted and rode back to the city, where their news excited a wild

enthusiasm. The fickle crowd shouted and applauded the ministers as

furiously as they had the morning before denounced them. Leon had, to

his great disgust, to abandon the idea of joining the party riding out,

and had awaited at home the return of Arthur with the news.

"They have gone!" Arthur exclaimed as he ran upstairs.

"Gone?"

"Yes! horse, foot, and baggage."

"Exit Don Carlos!" the count shouted. "Yesterday he literally had the

game in his hands, to-day he has thrown it away. There, girls, please

each make a curtsy to Don Arthur, he has saved Spain."

"What ridiculous nonsense, Leon!" Arthur said almost angrily.

"It is good sober sense, and not nonsense at all. Don Carlos had no

doubt been assured that he had only to elude the armies in the field and

show himself before Madrid, when the town would open its gates to him,

and the authorities come out to surrender the capital. The fact that

the troops sallied out and attacked his cavalry has completely

overthrown his hopes. I believe that the town would have surrendered

without resistance if he had marched straight on yesterday. To-day it

would have fought, but it could not have offered any strong resistance.

The walls are rotten, and the Carlist cannon would have made a breach in

them in no time. In fact, I don't suppose they would have troubled to

do that, but would have carried the place by storm. Now the chance has

gone, and for ever; for after this fiasco he will never be able to

persuade the mountaineers to make this long march again. They may go on

fighting for a long time before the thing is over, but we shall never

see the Carlist army before Madrid again. Call it a happy inspiration

if you like, my friend, but it was a happy inspiration that saved the

Christino cause."

An hour later a royal messenger came to the house, saying that on

calling at the English officer's lodging he was told that he should

probably find him at Count de Balen's, and that the queen regent desired

his attendance at the palace.

"I have led my first and last sortie," Arthur exclaimed in a tone of

despair. "As far as I am concerned, the Carlists may occupy Madrid

without my moving from my rooms to prevent them. Was there ever such a

fuss made over such a ridiculous affair? Still, I suppose I must go."

"Of course you must go," Leon said. "Don't be foolish, Arthur! You can

insist on getting off being thanked by Mercedes and me, but there is no

getting off being thanked by the queen."

With a shrug of the shoulders Arthur went down-stairs and, mounting his

horse, rode by the side of the mounted messenger to the palace. Here he

was at once escorted to the apartment of the queen regent. A number of

her ministers were gathered there. By her side was the little Queen

Isabella, a child of between five and six years old. Her minister of

war stepped forward, and, taking Arthur's hand, led him up to the two

queens.

"Your Majesty," he said, "I beg to present to you Captain Arthur

Hallett, one of Her Britannic Majesty's commissioners. I have already

had the honour to inform you that to him it is due that Colonel, now

General de Layer, conceived the idea of leading out on his own

responsibility his regiment, which was on guard, against the Carlist

cavalry. He accompanied the colonel at the head of his regiment, and

they drove off the Carlist cavalry with loss. It is doubtless largely

due to that proof of the courage and resolution of Her Majesty's troops

that the Pretender abandoned his idea of attacking the town, and has

marched away with his force--a confession of defeat which will

undoubtedly have a very desirable effect in establishing your daughter

on the throne, by animating your faithful followers throughout the

country, and by dispiriting those of Don Carlos."

[Illustration: "QUEEN CHRISTINA HELD OUT HER HAND"]

Queen Christina held out her hand to Arthur, who, not being sure of what

was the right thing to do, knelt on one knee and kissed it. "Give this

gentleman your hand," the queen said to the child; "he has done you a

very, very great service."

The child did as she was told, and said: "Thank you; I think I shall

like you very much."

"I am told also, Captain Hallett," Christina said, "that you performed

an act of extreme valour which is at present the talk of our court,

namely, that you went alone into the camp of Cabrera and effected the

rescue, from that ruthless leader, of the sister of Count Leon de Balen,

who had been condemned to death by him--an act which in itself stamps

you as an officer of the most distinguished bravery. Taking into

consideration that act, performed on behalf of a sister of a nobleman of

our court, and the service you have now performed for us, I have

pleasure in handing you the Cross of the First Class of San Fernando and

Knight of Isabella the Catholic."

"I thank your majesty most deeply for the honour you have been pleased

to bestow upon me, and which I feel I have done little indeed to

deserve."

"That is for my counsellors and for myself to judge, Captain Hallett,"

she said graciously. "I trust that we shall see you sometimes at our

court."

Arthur then retired, the court chamberlain having placed round his neck

the sash and insignia of the Order. "I suppose I must wear this thing,"

he said as he went back, "but it is really too ridiculous. I don't say

that the action had not an effect, no doubt it had; but there was

nothing in the doing of it."

He had promised Leon to return and tell him what the queen said to him,

and he went up to the drawing-room with quite a rueful expression on his

face. The girls were still there with their brother, and as he entered

with the decoration all clapped their hands.

"It is all very well for you to applaud," he said, "but it makes me feel

downright ridiculous. If I had done anything worth doing, I don't say

that I should not feel gratified at such an honour, but for merely

saying 'Let's come out and fire a few shots' it is absurd."

"It is you that are absurd, Arthur," Leon said, laughing. "Now please

tell us exactly what her majesty said. Exactly."

"Well, she said that I had done her great service, and then that she had

heard also about my rescue of Donna Mercedes, and that for that service,

performed for the sister of a nobleman of her court, and for the service

done to herself, she bestowed this honour upon me."

"I am glad," Mercedes said in a tone of delight. "You would not let us

thank you, but you have been thanked by Queen Christina. I am pleased

more than I can say."

"So am I," Leon said, shaking hands heartily with him.

"It is very good of you to say so, Leon," Arthur said in a depressed

tone; "and I don't say that I shouldn't value the honour immensely if I

had really done any exceptionally brave thing. Thank goodness! I shall

only have to wear this ribbon and star on very special occasions."

"Yes; but you will always have to wear the rosette, you must remember

that. In this country you are now the Cavalier Arthur Hallett, with a

right of entry to the royal court at all times, and many other

privileges, concerning which I will make enquiry and inform you."

Arthur laughed uneasily. "It is all very well for you to joke about it,

Leon, but I can assure you that I find it rather a heavy infliction."

"You should not," Leon said earnestly. "It is a real honour, and, let

me tell you, a high one; and to us it is a special and very great

pleasure that the service you did us has been considered in the bestowal

of it upon you."

"Well, I won't grumble any more, and will specially regard it as a

souvenir of the service I was enabled to render to your sister, which it

will be one of my greatest pleasures to remember all my life."

"That is well spoken," Leon said; "and, like yourself, I can assure you

that it is an immense pleasure to us that, although we are powerless to

show the gratitude we owe you, the action has been recognized by our

queen."

"And now, Leon," Arthur said, to turn the conversation, "you have all

the work of putting down your pavements again."

"Yes. As I don't think we shall hear Don Carlos knocking at our doors

again, I have already set the men to work, and we shall soon have things

tidy once more."

"Well now, I will be going, Leon."

"Well, don't forget that you are engaged to dine here to-day. We shall

have quite a gathering to celebrate our return."

*CHAPTER XI*

*A THWARTED PLOT*

Espartero marched in on the following day, and after spending three days

in resting and refitting his army, started on the 17th of September in

pursuit of Don Carlos, and, pressing upon his rear, obtained the welcome

news that Cabrera, utterly disgusted with his irresolution, had left him

with his command and gone back to the mountains. Colonel Wylde had

returned on the day after Espartero arrived.

"I hear you have been doing good service, Captain Hallett," he said,

when Arthur called upon him.

"The service was really nothing, sir: it was not worth talking about.

Some Carlist cavalry came galloping up against one of the gates, and as

there was a regiment of the Urban Guards drawn up there, I advised their

colonel to go out and drive them off. He took my advice, and went out

and fired two volleys, and the Carlists bolted."

"Yes, I quite admit that the affair was unimportant in itself; but there

can be equally no doubt that it had very wide consequences. No doubt

Don Carlos sent on his cavalry in hopes that the town would open its

gates to him, as we may be sure his partisans had promised to do. When

they were so roughly received, he imagined that he had been altogether

misinformed, and that he would meet with a desperate resistance.

Knowing how close Espartero was behind him, he concluded that he would

not be able to capture the place before that general arrived, and so

drew off. There can be no doubt that his hesitation at this critical

moment has sealed his fate. He will never get the Basques to come down

from their mountains again. I am told, also, that you did a very

gallant action down in the south, and it was that as well as the affair

here that induced Christina to give you the Order of San Fernando and

knighthood. I shall have pleasure in recommending to the government at

home that you be permitted to accept and wear the decorations, which you

could not do at home without such permission."

"I certainly should not want to wear them at home. They may be very

useful to me in this country, though indeed I should hardly like to wear

them even here, for I have certainly done nothing to deserve such

honour. I shall really be glad, sir, if you will send me off again as

speedily as possible, for I shall be glad to escape from the

congratulations which I shall have to receive if I remain in Madrid."

"Things are likely to be quiet for a time," the colonel said. "Espartero

has applied for another army to be raised, but the ministry are so

jealous of him that there is little chance that the request will be

granted, and he will have to set off in pursuit of Don Carlos with but a

small force. At present the real point of interest in Spain is the

struggle between Espartero and the government, a body of men utterly

incapable and wholly corrupt. Their weakness and unpopularity

constitute the greatest danger that threatens the country, now that Don

Carlos has retired. I have the honour to be in the confidence of

Christina, and she feels deeply the situation in which she is placed by

the intrigues and jealousies of these men. Unfortunately she is

powerless in their hands, and can only endeavour to keep matters going,

and to prevent an open outbreak between the various parties. However,

as you want to get away, you may as well go with Espartero; I will

introduce you to him to-morrow."

"Thank you very much! I would far rather be moving about than staying

here, for I feel that I am drawing my pay and doing very little for it."

The colonel smiled. "It is evident, Hallett, that patience is not one

of your virtues. You have just been away for two months, and only

returned three days ago. However, I can understand that Madrid has no

great attractions for you, and that you prefer being actively employed.

I have seen Espartero this morning, and he intends to start again in two

days' time, so you will not have long to wait."

Espartero received Arthur warmly when Colonel Wylde presented him on the

following day, and spoke strongly of the service he had rendered in

getting the regiment to go out and meet the Carlist horse. "I wish," he

said, "that I had a few young officers ready to take the initiative.

There is no lack of bravery among my troops; they obey orders and fight

well, but I have to see to everything myself. Doubtless things will

improve in time; and I think that this action of yours may have some

influence in showing the officers of the army that opportunities present

themselves sometimes, when even the youngest can make their mark. I

shall be very glad indeed to have you with me, and I trust that you will

consider yourself on my staff."

"Captain Hallett could very well do so," Colonel Wylde said; "the

alliance is becoming closer between the two nations. British marines and

sailors have been fighting in the north, and it is more than probable

that a force of regular troops will be sent from England, only Captain

Hallett must recollect that if he takes any active part in an engagement

he forfeits his privileges as a British commissioner, and will

certainly, if captured, be treated as a prisoner of war."

"I am quite ready to risk that, sir," Arthur said.

"Yes; but you must bear in mind that I must at any moment be able to

recall you if I need your services elsewhere."

"Certainly, sir; I shall always hold myself at your orders."

Loud regrets were expressed by Leon and his sisters when they heard that

their friend was leaving them so soon.

"You can do us good service here, Leon, if you choose."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, it is clear enough that the ministry, divided as they are on all

other points, are united in their jealousy of Espartero, who seems to me

the one honest and capable man in Spain. Now, if you would endeavour to

get up a party to support him, and to move public opinion so strongly in

his favour that they will compel the ministry either to give him

adequate support or expose themselves to be kicked out, you will be

doing a great service to the country. You saw yourself the condition of

his force when they marched in yesterday, utterly worn out and fatigued,

almost in rags--deficient in everything that makes up an army. If you

speak of this on all occasions, stir up feeling among men of your own

class, denounce the government for refusing to supply him with the men

and means to carry on the war on a proper scale, you will be doing an

immense amount of good."

"I will do so; I will become a conspirator. I thoroughly agree with you

as to Espartero, and will really devote myself to supporting him.

Henceforth I will become a public man, and make government tremble;" and

he struck his breast theatrically. His sisters and Arthur all broke

into a laugh. "Seriously, I will devote myself to the business, Arthur.

I have felt for some time that I ought to be doing something for my

country. I know nothing of soldiering, and cannot very well ask for a

musket and go out and fight; but I do think I could be doing some good

in working for the downfall of this government, for which no one but its

hangers-on and followers have a good word to say. I will begin by

speaking indignantly of the state of Espartero's army, and directly he

openly breaks with government I will work heart and soul to second his

efforts."

"Don't be in too much of a hurry, Leon; you know that men who have

spoken out too loudly have been either sent to their estates or

imprisoned. Begin at first by declaring that the state of the army is

disgraceful; do not attack the government until Espartero himself takes

the field against them. When he once does so, I am convinced that the

dissatisfaction that exists will find a voice, and that the government

will not dare to set themselves against it."

Two days afterwards Arthur and his follower started with Espartero.

Four days later they found that Don Carlos was only three leagues in

advance; and believing that his force were resting for the day,

Espartero at once moved forward. But he was ignorant of the nature of

the country; had he been aware of it, he could have caught them in a

trap, and Don Carlos himself would have fallen into his hands.

Unfortunately, as he had to feel his way down a deep defile, the

Carlists discovered his approach and retired precipitately. On the 28th

it was found that Don Carlos had been joined by another division, but

Espartero had also been strengthened. He therefore divided his army into

two corps, one commanded by General Lorenzo with fourteen battalions,

while he retained the command of the other and larger division. A few

days later the former force was attacked suddenly by a superior Carlist

army. It defended itself with great obstinacy.

Espartero started instantly when he heard the sound of the firing, and

arrived in time to save Lorenzo, and, attacking the left and centre of

the Carlist force, sent them flying in disorder. He was, however, unable

to follow up his victory, being forced to await the arrival of some

convoys of clothing and provisions. These arrived two days later, and,

pressing forward, he picked up many deserters from the Carlist ranks.

These all declared that discord and confusion raged in the Carlist army,

and that the Basques and Navarrese had declared their determination to

return to their provinces whether Don Carlos was willing or not. In the

course of two or three days their army broke up altogether, crossing the

Ebro at various points under their respective chiefs, and making their

way off to the mountains. Espartero devoted the remainder of the year to

organizing transport and supply, and punishing acts of indiscipline and

insubordination that had broken out at various places.

As soon as the operations ceased Colonel Wylde wrote to Arthur

requesting him to go down to join General Flinter, an English officer in

the service of Spain, who was about to be sent down to Toledo at the

request of the deputies of Estremadura. He at once left Espartero and

rode to Toledo, where he arrived on the same day as General Flinter.

"Colonel Wylde told me that he had sent you to join me, Captain Hallett,

and spoke very highly of your energy and courage. I shall be very glad

to have your assistance. This place is a nest of Carlism. Their

central Junta is here, and although at the present moment I cannot take

any steps against them while they remain quiet, it will not be very long

before I shall be able to do so."

Arthur took up his quarters at the same hotel as the general, and for

the next fortnight aided him in restoring discipline and order among the

troops, who had been in garrison there for some time, and had fallen

into a slack state. At the end of that time news was brought that a

Carlist force under Basilio Garcia was approaching on a raiding

expedition, and Flinter persuaded the authorities of the town to join

him in declaring it in a state of siege.

"Now," he said, "I may be able to lay hands on some of these Carlist

fellows, if I can but obtain evidence against them. There is no doubt

that among them are some of the leading men of the province, and I am

afraid that, even if I catch them, they will slip through my fingers.

The government at Madrid are, as you know, very hostile to the English.

Sir George Villiers, our minister, is constantly urging them to support

Espartero, and is in close communication with that general, therefore

they are opposed to us all. It was only because they did not see how

they could refuse the request of the deputies of Estremadura that I was

allowed to come here. You may be sure that, what with the personal

objections of ministers to me, and the fact that these men are all

wealthy enough to bribe right and left, they will take no action against

them, however clear the evidence I may be able to bring forward. Still,

that makes no difference in my duty, and I shall certainly lay hands on

them if I can obtain anything like certain evidence."

"Who is considered the principal?"

"The Duke de Ladra."

"It is at his house they are likely to meet, I suppose?"

"Yes, I should say so."

"I will set my man to work; he is a sharp fellow, and he may be able to

find out something about these meetings."

Roper had had his time entirely on his hands since their arrival at

Toledo, and, being of a chatty disposition, had already made a great

many acquaintances. He was a good-looking young fellow, and his scarlet

uniform opened the doors of a good many houses to him.

"Roper," Arthur said to him that evening, "I know that you are

constantly getting up flirtations wherever you go."

"Well, sir," Roper said, "I must do something, and sometimes it has been

hard work to kill time. Did you say that for any particular reason?"

"Yes. Do you happen to know anyone in the household of the Duke de

Ladra?"

"Well, yes, sir; I do know a young woman there. She went with me to a

festa yesterday evening."

"Well, I wish you could find out in some way when any meetings of

leading men of the place are held there, and whether they meet on any

particular day."

"I know that there was a meeting last night, sir, because she said it

was what she called a men's evening, and therefore she could get out."

"Well, when you see her again, Roper, you might perhaps find out when

the next meeting will take place, by asking her when she can come out

next."

"I can manage that easily enough, sir;" and he looked enquiringly at his

master.

"I want to be present at it, Roper."

"You do, sir?"

"Yes. These men are Carlist conspirators. We cannot seize them without

some evidence against them, and if I could only overhear their talk we

should be able to lay hands upon them."

"That would not be easy, sir."

"No; I quite see that. But don't you think that if you were to say that

you know a cavalero who is very anxious to be present at one of these

meetings, and would willingly pay ten golden pieces to anyone who would

smuggle him up a back stair to a point where he could see what goes on,

she would be likely to accept the money?"

"I can't tell you, sir. Ten pounds is a large sum to one of these

servants, who don't get more than two or three pounds a year. I should

tell her, of course, that it would never be known who had admitted you,

and you would take an oath not to betray her if anything happened.

Possibly she might consent; at any rate I could sound her carefully. It

would be quite a marriage dot to her; but it would be a dangerous

business for you, sir, if you were caught."

"Yes; but when everything was arranged I should get General Flinter to

send down a body of troops under an officer to surround the house, with

a warrant for the arrest of all persons found within it. If I were

discovered I should at once fire a pistol, and that would be the signal

for the officer to rush in with the soldiers, and run upstairs to the

room. As soon as they heard the noise, they would cease attacking me.

You might possibly be up there with me. If so, I think we could

certainly rely upon holding our own against a dozen conspirators for

three or four minutes."

"Yes, I should say so, sir. Half of them are likely to be oldish men,

and would be so surprised and confounded at seeing us that they would

lose some time before making the attack."

Two days later Roper brought news that he had met the young woman again;

she was not unwilling to help, but that she held out for twenty pounds;

that the meetings were held once a week, and that there was likely to be

another in four days. "She is to meet me again to-morrow evening. I am

to tell her whether you are willing to pay twenty pounds, and to hand it

to her when she lets us in."

"Yes, I will pay that. It is worth it; for if these fellows organize a

rising in the town at the same time as the Carlists attack it, we shall

be in a very bad way. When you see her to-morrow, I will tell the

general."

On the next evening Roper brought news that everything was arranged, and

that they were to be at a certain back-door of the duke's mansion at

nine o'clock on the following Thursday.

Arthur then went in and told the general.

"It is a capital plan, Captain Hallett, and I am deeply indebted to you;

at the same time, it is a dangerous one as far as you are concerned."

"I don't think there is much danger in it, sir. In the first place, we

are not likely to be discovered, and if we are, my man and I can defend

ourselves till the troops come up."

"Well, if you are ready to take the risk there is no question that the

scheme is an advantageous one, and will remove a very serious danger. I

will, on the morning of Thursday, draw up an order for the arrest of all

persons found at the duke's, and will, soon after nine, myself bring

down a hundred picked men. You may be sure that if I hear a pistol-shot

I shall instantly demand admittance, and rush up to your assistance.

You had better get me information as to the precise position of the

room, so that we may be able to make straight for it, and not waste time

in entering other rooms."

The preparations all worked smoothly. At six o'clock in the evening

there was a meeting of deputies and the warrants for arrest were signed,

and a few minutes before nine Arthur and Roper, both wrapped up in

cloaks, and carrying pistols as well as swords, went round to a door

that the woman had shown to the latter. Roper knocked three times, and

the door was opened. They entered, and Arthur handed to the woman the

money he had promised her.

"You follow me very quietly," she said. "There is no fear of our

meeting anyone, these stairs are never used after dark. I will take you

to the room, but you must arrange about your own hiding-place. Mind

your promise that, whatever happens, you will not betray me."

"Do not be afraid," Arthur said, "we will keep good faith with you."

Going up very cautiously in the dark, they came presently to a small

landing. "This is the door," she said. "I believe they have all

arrived, and will come here in a few minutes."

She opened the door carefully and looked in. "Those curtains are the

best hiding-place," she said, pointing to some drawn across the window.

"I don't think there is any chance that they will move them."

She closed the door behind them, and they walked across to the window

and took their places behind the curtains. It was a room of

considerable size. A table stood in the middle, and at this twelve

chairs were placed, with writing materials before each. They talked

together in a low whisper.

"If a row takes place we will both run to the corner to the left. In

that way only two persons can attack us at once, and as they will

probably have nothing but knives about them, we ought to be able to keep

them off easily enough."

Presently the door opened, and twelve gentlemen entered. The last to

come in turned the key in the door, and one of them went to the door by

which Arthur had entered and locked that also; then they sat down and

began to talk. They were, as the general had thought probable, arranging

a plan by which parties of men should seize the various gates. They

were to wait till the major part of the troops had issued out to meet

the Carlists, and then the bands were to fall upon those that remained.

Each of those present gave in a list of the number of followers and

friends he could answer for. The total amounted to about six hundred,

but they agreed that this number would probably be multiplied by four,

as it was certain that a large number of the lower class of the town

would join them, though it would not be prudent to take them into the

plot till the moment for action arrived.

Arthur had heard enough, and he was sure that by this time the house

would be surrounded and the general ready to enter. He whispered to

Roper to be ready, and then, turning round, thrust his pistol through

the window and pulled the trigger. Then, as the people at the table

sprang to their feet, he and Roper leapt out and took their places in

the corner, Arthur saying: "You had better surrender, gentlemen! The

house is surrounded, and there are no means of escape."

Several of the younger men drew their knives, but shrank back as Arthur

and his follower dropped their cloaks, drew their swords, and levelled

their pistols. "You will only be throwing away your lives," Arthur said

sternly. "Armed as we are, we are a match for the whole of you.

Listen! you can hear blows on the door below."

There was indeed a sound of loud knocking, which suddenly ceased. The

conspirators spoke hastily together. One man ran to the table and

caught up some of the papers, but Arthur fired at his hand. Almost

immediately afterwards there was a loud knocking at the door. Shrugging

his shoulders, the duke walked to it and turned the key. The general,

followed by a dozen soldiers, entered. "Duke de Ladra," he said, "you

are my prisoner, together with all in this room. I hold a warrant of

arrest against the whole of you, on a charge of treason against the

queen and government."

"I have no power to resist you, sir," the duke said, "but you will

repent this outrage."

"I think not, duke. The town being in a state of siege, I have full

authority to act as I have done. But the warrant is also signed by ten

of the deputies of Estremadura. Now, gentlemen, I do not wish to use

violence. I will allow you all to take your hats and cloaks, and must

then march you to a place of detention. The matter will then be looked

into, and you will be tried by court-martial."

The duke bowed coldly. "Gentlemen," he said to his friends, "for the

present we must yield to force. We shall doubtless have a reckoning

with this gentleman later on."

Quietly they walked down-stairs. The general directed four soldiers to

remain with Arthur until he returned. He marched the prisoners to the

jail and placed a strong guard over them, and then returned to the

house.

"Your plan has worked splendidly," he said to Arthur, "and it has been

managed without bloodshed."

"Altogether, except that I had to put a bullet through the hand of one

of them, who was about to destroy those papers--they are lists of the

number of men that each bound himself to produce when the rising took

place."

"And you heard all that was said?"

"Yes;" and he related the conversation which he had overheard. The room

was then searched carefully, and a number of papers and letters to

friends throughout the country were discovered, showing that

preparations had been made for a very formidable rising throughout the

province directly Toledo fell into the hands of the Carlists.

"It is well that we nipped the thing in the bud," General Flinter said

when he examined the papers, which were carried for that purpose to his

rooms. "Now, I dare say you think that these men will all be executed;

you were never more mistaken. We shall try them by court-martial and

condemn them to death: the government will smother the whole thing up

and release them."

"Impossible!"

"It is not only possible, but certain. These men are all playing a

double game. In the first place, they wish to keep well with both

sides; in the second place, they hate me, first as an Englishman, and

secondly as a strong adherent of Espartero; in the third place, these

men will bribe the government largely, and money will do anything in

Spain. However, one good thing will come of the discovery of the plot:

it will excite immense alarm among all connected with it. Many, when

they hear of the seizure of these compromising letters, will move away

from their homes at once until they think that the storm has passed

over, or keep quiet, and instead of having the whole country in a flame

we shall only have Basilio's force to deal with."

Two days later the court-martial was held, the general and his officers

sitting upon it. Arthur and Roper both repeated what they had heard;

the lists of men that would be supplied, and the work for which they

were to be told off, were brought forward, together with some

arrangements that had been made between the duke and Basilio; and the

prisoners were found guilty and condemned to death. The proceedings of

the court-martial and the sentences were sent off to Madrid for

confirmation by the government.

"Now, that is off our hands," the general said to Arthur when the

tribunal broke up, "and we can turn our attention to Basilio without any

fear of leaving the city unguarded."

Two days later, however, a messenger arrived post-haste from Madrid

saying that the proceedings had been most high-handed, and that the

prisoners were merely to be kept in confinement for the present. At the

same time half of General Flinter's little force was at once to march

for the capital.

"What did I tell you?" the general said, as he threw the order across

the table to Arthur. "What do you think of that for a government?"

"If I had my way, I should like to march to Madrid, seize the whole of

those scoundrels, and hang them from their own balconies."

"Well, I have nothing to do but obey orders; but if they think they have

prepared the way for the Carlists to enter Toledo they are greatly

mistaken. I shall obey the order and send off the troops. I shall

refrain from executing these traitors; but I shall not let that part of

the order be known, and so shall keep their friends throughout the

country on thorns."

The conspirators, indeed, had taken advantage of the laxity of the

prison arrangements to send off large sums of money to members of the

government to endeavour to procure the removal of General Flinter. The

government journals prepared the way by violent abuse of the general,

who had maltreated harmless men, and was a brutal Englishman; and in a

few days orders were issued for his removal. The Carlists, who were

kept well informed of what was going on, approached Toledo and actually

obtained possession of the bridge, but Flinter was still there, although

he had received the notice of his removal. He had but three hundred men

under his command, but with these he sallied out and, after hard

fighting, drove the enemy off. He started in pursuit, and received some

reinforcements as he went, and being perfectly well acquainted with the

country he was enabled to continue his march all night. In the morning

he came upon a large body of Carlists, and, taking them completely by

surprise, fell upon them and utterly routed them.

No more brilliant act had been performed during the war. The government

in vain endeavoured to belittle it, but the people were not to be

deceived, and by them Flinter's victory was regarded at its true value.

They pronounced so strongly in favour of him that the government was

reluctantly obliged to yield, made him a Marshal de Campo, and placed

him in charge of the provinces of La Mancha and Toledo. The action had

a great effect upon the course of the war in Estremadura. It completely

disorganized the Carlists among the mountains of Toledo, set free an

important province, and robbed the enemy of a base for the operations

which they had arranged should take place there during the approaching

season.

Arthur had ridden out with the general to the attack of the party who

had occupied the bridge, and took part in the night march and in the

concluding victory, and the general in his report spoke very highly of

his courage and services, and, moreover, gave him full credit for the

discovery of the plot and capture of the plotters. The government

complained both to Sir George Villiers and Colonel Wylde of the share he

had taken in the operations, but both replied that British officers were

perfectly at liberty to take part in operations that would strengthen

the Royal cause, and that the government were only too glad of the

assistance of British seamen and marines in the operations in the north.

The government then endeavoured to sow dissension between Espartero and

Cordova. The latter had now left the army and returned to Madrid, where

he had entered the Cortes. But Cordova remained firm, and refused to be

brought into these intrigues. They further endeavoured to annoy

Espartero by displacing the chief of his staff, in whom he had implicit

trust, without consulting him.

Arthur had, after the defeat of the Carlists by General Flinter,

returned to Madrid and gone to join Espartero, who on the 28th of

January arrived at Villa Nueva de Mena and found the enemy strongly

posted and entrenched on the right bank of the river Cadagua. On the

morning of the 30th he attacked them in three columns under a heavy

fire, and after hard fighting succeeded in driving them from four

villages they had occupied.