three bayonets were in his body.

"Forward!" cried the Mochuelo, who saw that further caution was useless;
and, closely followed by his men, ran at the top of his speed towards
the convent. But the soldier's exclamation had given the alarm to a
second Carlist, who had been waiting his comrade's return from the
orchard. He saw the guerillas rush forward, sprang within the gate, shut
and barred it. The Mochuela came up in time to hear the last bolt drawn.

A great bustle and confusion were now audible in the court; the men
hurrying to their horses, and questioning each other as to the nature of
the alarm. The Mochuelo lost not an instant. Two of his men carried
axes; he took one, Herrera the other, and they dealt furious blows upon
the gate, which shook and splintered under their efforts. The voice of
Baltasar was heard loud in oath, and abusing his men for their cowardly
panic. Not conceiving it possible that a party of Christinos should have
advanced in broad daylight to so great a distance from their lines, he
at first attributed the attack to some roving banditti, who had expected
a rich, or, at any rate, an easy prey in the defenceless convent of
nuns. He advanced to the gate.

"Scoundrels!" he exclaimed,--"What means this violence? Desist, or I
fire upon you!"

A low laugh from the guerillas replied to his menace. With incredible
hardihood, he opened the wicket and looked out. The Mochuelo had
forbidden his men to fire, but nevertheless, at the sight of Baltasar, a
dozen muskets were raised.

"For your lives not a shot!" cried the Mochuelo.

With his axe, Herrera made a furious blow at Baltasar, but the wicket
was too small to admit the weapon, and the Carlist retreated into the
interior of the court. The gate began to yield, fairly hewn in pieces by
the axes; a few more blows and an opening was effected. The guerillas
rushed with fixed bayonets into the court. It was deserted save by the
horses. The doors and windows of the convent were closely shut, and not
a single Carlist was to be seen. Just then several shots, fired in rear
of the building, explained the solitude in its front. The besieged had
endeavoured to escape by the outer windows, but had been prevented by
Torres and his detachment. Foiled in this attempt, Baltasar now showed
himself, raging like a wolf at bay, at a window above the gate of the
convent. Some of his men accompanied him, and fired their carabines at
the assailants. By the Mochuelo's