cries as of some one in pain.

His conductor unceremoniously opened the door, and pushed Don Cornelio
into a large room, the atmosphere of which almost suffocated him.

Several torches of resin, set in candelabras, were burning round the
walls, but the reddish light which these produced was almost eclipsed
under the glare that proceeded from a keg of brandy that stood near the
middle of the floor, and which, having been set on fire, was completely
enveloped in violet-coloured flames.

The heat, the smell of blood, and the effluvia of the burning alcohol,
constituted an atmosphere horrid to endure; but even this was less
painful to Don Cornelio than the sight which met his eyes as he entered
the room. On one side was a group of guerilleros--clustered around some
object which they were regarding with the most vivid interest--all
seemingly pleased with the spectacle.

It was that of an unfortunate man, stripped almost naked, and tied with
his face to the wall, while another man stood over him, grasping a
strong cow-hide whip, with which, at intervals, he struck the wretched
victim, apparently with all the strength that lay in his arms.

He who handled the whip was a man of the most sinister aspect; and the
blue flames of the alcohol flashing over his countenance added to its
demoniac expression. Gouts of blood, that had spurted from the back of
the sufferer, spotted the wall on both sides of him; and the number of
those spots showed that the punishment had been continued for some
length of time.

By the side of the man who was inflicting the stripes--and whom Lantejas
supposed to be some common executioner--stood a woman of a still more
hideous aspect; who, by her gestures and words, kept exciting the wretch
to still greater cruelty--as though he stood in need of such
encouragement.

Gaspacho, perceiving that no one heeded his entrance, cried out, so as
to be heard above the tumult--

"Senor Captain! we have captured the comrade of the negro and the
Indian. Here he is."

To the astonishment of Don Cornelio, the person thus addressed as the
captain was no other than the hideous individual who was handling the
whip.

"Very well," responded the latter, without turning round. "I shall
attend to him presently, as soon as I have made this _coyote_ confess
where he has hidden his wife and his money."

The whip again whistled through the air, and came down upon the back of
the wretched sufferer, without producing