nd upon that.'

'I ask nothing more. You may not be aware of my exalted birth, but I am
so placed that I cannot name my father without treason, nor my mother
without a scandal. I cannot _claim_ Royal honours, but these things are
so much more graceful when they are conceded without a claim. The thongs
are cutting my skin. Might I beg you to loosen them?'

'You do not give me credit for much intelligence,' I remarked, repeating
his own words.

'_Touche_,' he cried, like a pinked fencer. 'But here come your men, so
it matters little whether you loosen them or not.'

I ordered the gown to be stripped from him and placed him under a strong
guard. Then, as morning was already breaking, I had to consider what my
next step was to be. The poor Bart and his Englishmen had fallen victims
to the deep scheme which might, had we adopted all the crafty
suggestions of our adviser, have ended in the capture of the whole
instead of the half of our force. I must extricate them if it were still
possible. Then there was the old lady, the Countess of La Ronda, to be
thought of. As to the Abbey, since its garrison was on the alert it was
hopeless to think of capturing that. All turned now upon the value which
they placed upon their leader. The game depended upon my playing that
one card. I will tell you how boldly and how skilfully I played it.

It was hardly light before my bugler blew the assembly, and out we
trotted on to the plain. My prisoner was placed on horseback in the very
centre of the troops. It chanced that there was a large tree just out of
musket-shot from the main gate of the Abbey, and under this we halted.
Had they opened the great doors in order to attack us, I should have
charged home upon them; but, as I had expected, they stood upon the
defensive, lining the long wall and pouring down a torrent of hootings
and taunts and derisive laughter upon us. A few fired their muskets, but
finding that we were out of reach they soon ceased to waste their
powder. It was the strangest sight to see that mixture of uniforms,
French, English, and Portuguese, cavalry, infantry, and artillery, all
wagging their heads and shaking their fists at us.

My word, their hubbub soon died away when we opened our ranks, and
showed whom we had got in the midst of us! There was silence for a few
seconds, and then such a howl of rage and grief! I could see some of
them dancing like mad-men upon the wall. He must have been a singular
person, this