at the
word, he seized the Mexican by the corner of his manga, as if to drag
him from his seat.

Before I had time to reply to this rude speech and gesture, the stranger
leaped to his feet, and with a well-planted blow felled the bully upon
the floor.

This seemed to act as a signal for bringing several other quarrels to a
climax. There was a rush through all parts of the sala, drunken shouts
mingled with yells of vengeance, knives glanced from their sheaths,
women screamed, pistols flashed and cracked, filling the rooms with
smoke and dust. The lights went out, fierce struggles could be heard in
the darkness, the fall of heavy bodies amidst groans and curses, and for
five minutes these were the only sounds.

Having no cause to be particularly _angry_ with anybody, I stood where I
had risen, without using either knife or pistol, my frightened _maja_
all the while holding me by the hand. A painful sensation near my left
shoulder caused me suddenly to drop my partner; and with that
unaccountable weakness consequent upon the reception of a wound, I felt
myself staggering towards the banquette. Here I dropped into a sitting
posture, and remained till the struggle was over, conscious all the
while that a stream of blood was oozing down my back, and saturating my
undergarments.

I sat thus till the struggle had ended. A light was brought, and I
could distinguish a number of men in hunting-shirts moving to-and-fro
with violent gesticulations. Some of them were advocating the justice
of the "spree," as they termed it; while others, the more respectable of
the traders, were denouncing it. The leperos with the women, had all
disappeared, and I could perceive that the Americanos had carried the
day. Several dark objects lay along the floor: they were bodies of men
dead or dying! One was an American, the Missourian who had been the
immediate cause of the fracas; the others were pelodos. I could see
nothing of my late acquaintance. My fandanguera, too--_con su marido_--
had disappeared; and on glancing at my left hand, I came to the
conclusion that so also had my diamond ring!

"Saint Vrain! Saint Vrain!" I called, seeing the figure of my friend
enter at the door.

"Where are you, H., old boy. How is it with you? all right, eh?"

"Not quite, I tear."

"Good heavens! what's this? why, you're stabbed in the hump ribs! Not
bad, I hope. Off with your shirt and let's see."

"First, let us to my room."

"Com