THE CATALAN CAPUCHIN. 669 



" Silence ! How many leagues is it from here to San-Luis ?" 



" Four leagues and better ; but, really Major " 



" Silence ! Then the people ought to be back here by the middle 

 of the day to-morrow. Now, look ye here, Senor Alcalde; I'm a 

 man of few words : if they are not back by the evening bell, I shall 

 look to you for a fine of three hundred dollars, and shall seize your 

 cattle as security. Now see that you get a safe guide/ 



" Valgami Dios !" shrieked the poor little functionary ; " but f 

 Major, you surely " 



" What, dog of a Goth !" shouted the major, with a furious eleva- 

 tion of voice " unmannerly vagabond ! do you dare to interrupt 

 me? Very well, Sir! we'll cut this matter you shall be the guide 

 yourself, and if, before twelve to-morrow, you don't bring me the 

 monk, I'll hang you on yonder palm-tree to feed the gallinacio ! 

 Now, then, to horse ! to horse ! and strap me this will-o'-the-wisp to 

 the saddle, lest the wind should carry him off." 



The major had been accustomed to rather a rough will of his own, 

 and it was sometimes dangerous to tamper with him. Nobody, there- 

 fore, thought it prudent to hazard a remark ; so that, in less than a 

 quarter of an hour, the poor alcalde, well strapped and escorted, was 

 on his route to San-Luis. 



That night, thanks to the nature of his potation, the major slept 

 well ; but early in the morning, on rising, the contents of the dispatch 

 he had received over-night flashed across his mind. He looked at it, 

 and read it over and over again something staggered him it was 

 not as to the actual purport of the order that he was at fault of that 

 he was quite certain ; but there was a little sneaking weakness at his 

 heart touching the sacred office of the minister of the church. The 

 early impressions of his youth arose to his memory his native village 

 and the church, and the kind old padre who first taught him to read 

 and to pray ! but that was many years ago. Had it been the disposal 

 of prisoners hanging a few contumacious civilians, or any thing 

 else, indeed, in the plain way of business but the church ! that 

 was a different affair it did not come within his practice. 



" A thousand curses on the fiend that put this into the head of 

 Bolivar !" he muttered, as he strode upan d down his chamber, filling 

 it with smoke, which he puffed vehemently from his cigar. " I wish 

 to God the infernal thing was done, and it was off my mind ! They 

 can't be long before they are here." Here he gazed earnestly out 

 upon the plain. " I would give fifty of the best horses of the savan- 

 nah, if an earthquake would stumble on the whole lot, and rid me of 

 the job." In vain he tried to persuade himself that the Capuchin was 

 a Spaniard, and, consequently, amenable to military law. It would 

 not do his conscientious scruples set all his sophistry at defiance. 

 He lighted his cigar and re-lighted it swallowed brandy, glass after 

 glass swore at his men in a manner even to astonish them, and 

 stamped about the room like a madman working himself into a 

 fearful state of excitement. 



Before the middle of the day, however, the tri-colored flag of his 

 own lancers was seen at a distance in the plain, and, before the time 

 appointed, the party halted at the major's quarters, bringing with 



