ne he could
reach. `Do you, Needham, just lift me up on your shoulders, and I am
sure I can reach that balcony, and it will be hard if I don't get a
window open, and once in the house I'll go round and knock at all the
doors till I rouse up some one.' No sooner said than done; the
midshipman disappeared over my head, and I was left standing below
wondering what next would happen. I knew from the sounds which reached
me that he was trying one window after another, at last I heard a loud
crash, which showed that he had got through some way or other. Again
all was silent. Presently there came cries, and squealing, and shouts,
through the lattice which there always is in Spanish doors, so that the
people from within may talk to any one outside without opening them;
then there came a man's gruff voice, and Mr Desmond's, talking away as
fast as his tongue could move, trying to explain what it all meant.
This went on for some time, till the gruff voice grew calmer, and Mr
Desmond began to talk slower, and I heard women's and girls' voices
uttering all sorts of exclamations. Says I to myself, `It's all right
now.'

"At last the door opened, and Mr Desmond told me to come in, that he
was thankful to say that the vice-consul would do all he could, and that
the consul himself had gone away to a place a mile or two along the
coast. `Then the best thing we can do is to go after him,' said Mr
Desmond. `Can you find us a boat and crew, sir?' he asked of the
vice-consul.

"`That will be a difficult thing, young sir,' he answered. `A boat may
be found, but no crew would go without the permission of the general.'

"`Well, then, if you will find us a boat we will go alone,' said Mr
Desmond; `and if the place is only a mile or two off, and you'll
instruct us how to find it, we can have no difficulty in doing so.'

"This idea seemed to please the vice-consul, who, though he spoke
English, was not an Englishman; he would have acted, I've a notion, very
differently if he had been. His wife and the young ladies, his
daughters, whose voices I had heard when Mr Desmond roused them out of
their sleep, seemed much interested at hearing about Miss O'Regan, and
they all urged the old gentleman to help us, and told him that he must
go in the morning and see what could be done for the young lady at
least. He called up a black servant somewhere from the bottom of the
house, and told him to lead us down to the harbour and show us a boat w