"Yes, senor, he will come. It is in a respectable house like this that
the poor fellow is most secure."

"Well, I am not altogether easy in my mind, in spite of the
respectability of the house," answered the Penitentiary. "How the brave
Ramos exposes himself! And I am told that in Villahorrenda and the
surrounding country there are a great many men. I don't know how many
men----What have you heard?"

"That the soldiers are committing atrocities."

"It is a miracle that those Hottentots have not searched the house! I
declare that if I see one of the red-trousered gentry enter the house, I
shall fall down speechless."

"This is a nice condition of things!" said Remedios, exhaling half her
soul in a sigh. "I cannot get out of my head the idea of the tribulation
in which Senora Dona Perfecta finds herself. Uncle, you ought to go
there."

"Go there to-night? The military are parading the streets! Imagine that
some insolent soldier should take it into his head to----The senora is
well protected. The other day they searched the house and they carried
off the six armed men she had there; but afterward they sent them back
to her. We have no one to protect us in case of an attack."

"I sent Jacinto to the senora's, to keep her company for a while. If
Caballuco comes, we will tell him to stop in there, too. No one can
put it out of my head but that those rascals are plotting some piece of