conversed in
French, and were not understood by those present) that his greatest
torment was impatience to escape from his confinement, in order to see
or write to the other fair one.

At the end of a week he was sufficiently recovered to be removed to the
house of his family. From certain hints, dropped during a conversation
which took place more than a month after the event, it is to be feared
that the knife of the assassin, in approaching so near to the heart of
his intended victim, succeeded, by some mysterious electric
transmission, in inflicting a positive wound on that of the lady of the
balcony.

I afterwards learned that it was usual for those who inhabited or
frequented this part of Seville, and indeed all other parts, excepting
the few principal thoroughfares and streets containing the shops and
cafes, to carry arms after nightfall; and in shaking hands with an
acquaintance, I have sometimes perceived a naked sword-blade half
visible among the folds of his cloak. These perils only exist in the
winter, and not in all winters; only in those during which provisions
increase in price beyond the average, and the season is more than
usually rigorous: the poor being thus exposed to more than the
accustomed privations.

There are towns in which assassination and robbery are marked by more
audacity than is their habitual character in this part of Andalucia. Of
these, Malaga is said to be one of the worst, although perhaps the most
favoured spot in Europe, with respect to natural advantages. An instance
of daring ruffianism occurred there this winter. A person of
consideration in the town had been found in the street stabbed and
robbed. His friends, being possessed of much influence, and disposing,
no doubt, of other weighty inducements to action, the police was aroused
to unusual activity; the murderer was arrested, and brought before the
Alcalde primero. A summary mode of jurisprudence was put in practice,
and the culprit was ordered for execution on the following day. On being
led from the presence of the court, he turned to the Alcalde, and
addressing him with vehemence, threatened him with certain death, in the
event of the sentence being put in execution. The Alcalde, although
doubtless not entirely free from anxiety, was, by the threat itself, the
more forcibly bound to carry into effect the judgment he had pronounced.
The execution, therefore, took place at the appointed hour. The
following morning, the dea