o find themselves in so perilous a situation,
and give a lesson besides to those cavaliers."

The peasant endeavored to convince the young man of the rashness of his
purpose, as well as of the profitlessness of his generous design, since
those who had been robbed were robbed and perhaps dead also, and not in
a condition to need the assistance of any one.

The gentleman insisted, in spite of these sage counsels; the peasant
reiterated his objections more strongly than before; when the appearance
of two or three carters, coming quietly down the road driving a wagon,
put an end to the controversy. The danger could not be very great when
these men were coming along so unconcernedly, singing merry songs; and
such was in fact the case, for the shots, according to what the carters
said, had not been fired by the robbers, but by the Civil Guards, who
desired in this way to prevent the escape of half a dozen thieves whom
they were taking, bound together, to the town jail.

"Yes, I know now what it was," said Licurgo, pointing to a light cloud
of smoke which was to be seen some distance off, to the right of the
road. "They have peppered them there. That happens every other day."

The young man did not understand.

"I assure you, Senor Don Jose," added the Lacedaemonian legislator, with
energy, "that it was very well done; for it is of no use to try those
rascals. The judge cross-questions them a little and then lets them go.
If at the end of a trial dragged out for half a dozen years one of them
is sent to jail, at the moment least expected he escapes, and returns to
the Retreat of the Cavaliers. That is the best thing to do--shoot them!
Take them to prison, and when you are passing a suitable place--Ah, dog,
so you want to escape, do you? pum! pum! The indictment is drawn up, the
witnesses summoned, the trial ended, the sentence pronounced--all in
a minute. It is a true saying that the fox is very cunning, but he who
catches him is more cunning still."

"Forward, then, and let us ride faster, for this road, besides being a
long one, is not at all a pleasant one," said Rey.

As they passed The Pleasaunce, they saw, a little in from the road, the
guards who a few minutes before had executed the strange sentence
with which the reader has been made acquainted. The country boy was
inconsolable because they rode on and he was not allowed to get a
nearer view of the palpitating bodies of the robbers, which could be
distinguished