physical
condition at that time and felt myself to be quite the equal in a good old
Anglo-Saxon fist fight of any dozen ordinary Castilians, so I plunged into
the fray, heart and soul, not for an instant dreaming, however, what was the
quality of the person to whose assistance I had come. My first step was to
bowl over the garroter. Expecting no interference in his nefarious pursuit
and unwarned by his companions, who were to busily engaged in their
adventure of loot to observe my approach, he was easy prey, and the good,
hard whack that I gave him just under his right ear sent him flying, an
unconscious mass of villanous clay, into the gutter. The surprise of the
onslaught was such that the other three jumped backward, thereby releasing
the King's arms so that we were now two to three, which in a moment became
two to two, for I lost no time in knocking out my second man with as pretty
a solar plexus as you ever saw. There is nothing in the world more
demoralizing than a good, solid blow straight from the shoulder to chaps
whose idea of fighting is to sneak up behind you and choke you to death, or
to stick a knife into the small of your back, and had I been far less expert
with my fists, I should still have had an incalculable moral advantage over
such riffraff. Once the odds in the matter of numbers were even, the King
and I had no further difficulty in handling the others. His Majesty's quarry
got away by the simple act of taking to his heels, and mine, turning to do
likewise, received a salute from my right toe which, if I am any judge, must
have driven the upper end of his spine up through the top of his head. Left
alone, his Majesty held out his hand and thanked me profusely from my timely
aid, and asked my name. We thereupon bade each other good-night, and I went
on to my lodging, little dreaming of the service I had rendered to the
nation.

"The following day I was astonished to receive at the Legation a
communication bearing the royal seal, commanding me to appear at the palace
at once. The summons was obeyed, and, upon entering the palace, I was
immediately ushered into the presence of the King. He received me most
graciously, dismissing, however, all his attendants.

"'Colonel Cox,' he said, after the first formal greetings were over, 'you
rendered me a great service last night.'

"'I, your majesty?' said I. 'In what way?'

"'By putting those ruffians to flight,' said he.

"'Ah!' said I. 'Then the gentlem