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exertions, I determined at all events to make the attempt. After 

 deliberating for some days, and consulting with two men who had 

 frequently mentioned the subject to me, I decided on my plan of 

 escape, and gave them six ounces of gold to provide horses and 

 every thing necessary. On the appointed night, all was in readi- 

 ness, the horses were saddled, and the men waiting to escort me. 

 This moment was one of the most melancholy in my life ; I reflected 

 with compunction that, while striving to regain my freedom, I was 

 apparently abusing the confidence of a man of honour who had 

 done all in his power to merit my friendship. Agitated by these 

 emotions, and oppressed by a sadness which the thick gloom of 

 the night rendered more heavy, I was walking to and fro in the 

 neighbourhood, on the spot appointed for my guides to meet me, 

 when a voice, to which I was familiar, accosted me. The person 

 was very near me, but owing to the extreme darkness I could not 

 see him. He asked me what I was doing there. I replied, " only 

 walking about." " Don Juan," said he, " you are going to escape 

 to night." I answered, " indeed I am not." He replied, " you are; 

 and the men whom you have chosen for your guides are to murder 

 you V to seize your money, and to bury you in a ravine about a 

 league distant. The man in whom you have most confided has a 

 knife concealed in his saddle, with which he is to give you the fatal 

 blow." This so staggered me that I was unable, at the moment, to 

 make any answer. I felt confident that no one knew of my intended 

 departure, except the two men and myself. On asking, " how do 

 you know this .^" he replied, " I overheard them talking of it." He 

 added, " you know they are both gamblers, and one of them killed 

 two men last year." Ere I had recovered my surprise, so as to 

 speak again, the man went away. While meditating on the choice 

 of evils, namely, whether to run the risk of being murdered and 

 thrown into a ravine, or to abandon my design and remain a pri- 

 soner, one of my hired Peons came to inform me that the horses 

 were waiting. I told him I had a violent pressure at my stomach 



