in?"

"I have never been inside--the saints be praised--so cannot tell you
very much about it," answered Pacheco. "So far as the building itself
is concerned, it is a strong place, being built entirely of stone, with
high walls, which are said to be nowhere less than three feet thick.
But the main entrance is guarded only by a pair of oaken doors--massive,
no doubt, but probably fastened only with bolts of ordinary strength;
for who would ever dream of attempting to break into the Inquisition?
Heaven forgive me for affording information to these heretical English,"
he muttered under his breath in his native tongue; "but, indeed, if in
their fury they should tear the place down, I for one should not be
sorry!"

"Are there many troops in the town?" demanded Bascomb.

"About a hundred, illustrious senor," answered Pacheco. "Five hundred
are on their way down from the interior, it having been intended to send
them home in the galleon, but I have not heard that they have yet
arrived."

"If they had arrived, do you think you would have heard of it?" demanded
Bascomb.

"I might, senor; but, on the other hand, I might not," answered Pacheco.
"If they had arrived and marched into the town openly, doubtless I and
every other inhabitant of Cartagena would have been aware of the fact.
But, senor, your question has given rise to a doubt in my mind, and I am
now wondering whether, in view of your presence in the harbour and your
threat to bombard the town, his Excellency the Governor may not have
taken steps to have the expected troops intercepted and introduced into
the town secretly during the dead of night. If you were to ask my
advice, senor, I should recommend you not to trust overmuch to the fact
that I have heard nothing of the arrival of those soldiers."

"See here, sirrah!" ejaculated Bascomb, suddenly rounding upon the man,
"you are extraordinarily free and glib with your information. Now, are
you a traitor to your own people, or is your information false and
intended to mislead us?"

"Neither, senor, on my honour as a Spaniard," answered Pacheco. "The
fact is," he continued in explanation, "that I have seen much of the
English during my business as a seafarer, and have learned to like them,
in spite of their overbearing ways and the fact that they are heretics.
Moreover, senor, you are about to attack the Inquisition, and good
Catholic though I am, it would not grieve me were you to take it and
give it to th