we could pass them, they are not likely to have
set another ambush."

They slept that night at Almarez, made a short journey to Oropesa,
and a long one on the following day to Toledo, where Desmond
dismissed his escort, with a handsome reward for their services,
and upon the next afternoon rode with Mike into Madrid. The Duke
of Orleans looked astonished when he entered the room.

"What! Back already, Major Kennedy? Surely you cannot have carried
out all the work that I entrusted to you?"

"By no means, Your Royal Highness; but what I did carry out was so
important that I deemed it my duty to ride back at once, to
acquaint you with what I have discovered. There is the report,
sir."

The duke took it.

"It is a bulky one," he said. "Tell me its purport in as few words
as possible."

"I have discovered, sir, that the report sent by the governor of
the supply of provisions and stores in Badajos is altogether
inaccurate, that frauds to an enormous extent have been
perpetrated, that the supply of powder and cartridges is less by
two-thirds than was represented, and that similar deficiencies
exist in every department."

"This is indeed serious," the duke said. "The possession of
Badajos is essential to us. It blocks the way to an enemy's
advance, and indeed, they can scarce move forward until it is
captured. Now, tell me more about it; or no, I will read your
report, and then question you concerning it."

A heavy frown settled on the duke's brow, as he perused the
document.

"Infamous!" he exclaimed, when he had finished. "And you say that
two attempts were made to murder you that night, and that the
Spanish colonel who gave you so much assistance was assassinated,
and the commissaries shot the next morning? It shows how anxious
the governor was to remove from his path all those who could
inculpate him.

"And how did you manage to get out of the toils? For it was
clearly of no use killing the minor witnesses, and allowing you to
ride here to report the facts."

"I saw that, sir; and as I learned that eight or ten troopers had
been sent off, late the night before, I concluded that the road
would be sure to be beset, for doubtless some of the contractors
would feel it as essential as the governor did, that my mouth
should be silenced and my report suppressed. I therefore started
early. Keeping by byroads, we were not molested until we had
nearly reached the summit of the sierra, when we found a party of
some