; "you've been letting your prisoners bolt from you in whole
batches. I suppose by this time the Acordada will be empty."

"_Excellentissimo_! I am very sorry to say that four of them--"

"Yes; and of the four, two of them you had orders to guard most
strictly--rigorously."

"I admit it, Sire, but--"

"Sirrah! you needn't waste words excusing yourself. Your conduct shall
be inquired into by-and-by. What I want now is to know the
circumstances--the exact particulars of this strange affair. So answer
the questions I put to you without concealment or prevarication."

The gaol-governor, making humble obeisance, silently awaited the
examination, as a witness in the box who fears he may himself soon stand
in the dock.

"To begin: why did you send those four prisoners out with the
chain-gang?"

"By order of Colonel Santander, Sire. He said it was your Excellency's
wish."

"Humph! Well, that's comprehensible. And so far you're excusable. But
how came it you didn't see to their being better guarded?"

"Sire, I placed them in charge of the chief turnkey--a man named
Dominguez--whom I had found most trustworthy on other occasions. To-day
being exceptional, on account of the ceremonies, he was pressed to take
drink, and, I'm sorry to say, got well-nigh drunk. That will explain
his neglect of duty."

"It seems there were two ladies in the carriage. You know who they
were, I suppose?"

"By inquiry I have ascertained, your Excellency. One was the Countess
Almonte the other Don Luisa Valverde, as your Excellency will know, the
daughter of him to whom the equipage belonged."

"Yes, yes. I know all that. I have been told the carriage made stop
directly opposite to where these men were at work. Was that so?"

"It was, Sire."

"And have you heard how the stoppage came about?"

"Yes, _Excellentissimo_. The horses shied at something, and brought the
wheels into a bank of mud. Then the _cochero_, who appears to be a
stupid fellow, pulled them up, when he ought to have forced them on.
While they were at rest the four _forzados_ made a rush, two right into
the carriage, the other two up to the box; one of these last, the big
_Tejano_, getting hold of the reins and whip, and driving off at a
gallop. They had only one sentry to pass in the direction of San
Francisco. He, like Dominguez, was too far gone in drink, so there was
nothing to stop them--except the guards at the garitas. And, I am sorry
to say, t