oor of the chamber, bolted inside,
leaves no room to doubt that she went that way. Some woman's caprice,
perhaps, which justice has no business to meddle with."

"Perhaps it was to escape from giving the alcalde his receipt,"
suggested one of the bystanders to another, in an undertone of voice.

"But how, Don Juan," continued the magistrate, addressing himself to the
old steward, "how did you know of the Countess's disappearance, since
you could not get into the room?"

"That is simple enough," replied the old man. "At the hour in which the
chamber-maid is accustomed to present herself before the senora, she
knocked as usual at the door. No answer was given. She knocked louder,
and still received no answer. Growing anxious, she came to me to tell
me. I went to the door myself, first knocked and then called; and
receiving no reply, I ran round to the garden and got the ladder. This
I placed against the balcony, and mounted up in order to see through the
window. On reaching the window I found it open, and the chamber in the
condition you now see it."

When the steward had finished this declaration, Cagatinta whispered some
words in the ear of the alcalde; but the latter only replied by a shake
of the shoulders, and an expression of disdainful incredulity.

"Who knows?" answered the scribe in reply to this dumb show.

"It might be," muttered Don Ramon, "we shall see presently."

"I persist, gentlemen," continued the alcalde, "in my belief that the
Countess has gone out by the window; and however singular it may appear,
I believe the lady is free to her fancy to go out as she pleases--even
though it be by a window."

Cagatinta, and some others, complimented, with a laugh, this little bit
of magisterial facetiousness.

"But, senor alcalde," spoke out Don Juan, disgusted with this ill-timed
pleasantry, "a proof that there has been a forced entry into the chamber
is this broken glass of the window, of which you see some pieces still
lying on the balcony."

"This old fool," muttered the alcalde to himself, "is not going to let
me have any breakfast. By this time everything will be cold, and
Nicolasa--What do these bits of glass prove?" he continued, raising his
voice; "don't you think that the breeze which was blowing roughly last
night might have caused this? The window was hanging open, and the wind
clashing it violently against the frame, would readily cause the
breaking of a pane?"

"But why is it," a