ing a word of what was said the little manikin of a
_militario_ was so frightened by the big fellow's gestures as to spring
back several feet, with a look of alarm so intense, yet so comical, as
to set the Texan off into a roar of laughter. And still laughing, he
faced towards the sewer, plunged in his implement, and set to work with
the others.

At first the task was comparatively clean and easy--a sort of skimming
affair--the scavengers keeping upon the pavement. The necessity had not
yet arisen for them going down into the drain.

After a time, however, as the liquid got lower and the sediment at the
bottom too stiff to be _conveniently_ scooped up, a number of them were
ordered to "step in." It was a cruel, brutal order, and Bill Sykes
would have declined sending his "bull-dawg" into that sewer after rats.
But Dominguez, a sort of Mexican Bill Sykes, had no scruples about this
with the unfortunates he had charge of, and with a "_carajo_," and a
threatening flourish of his whip, he repeated the order. One or two of
the _forzados_ took the plunge good-humouredly, even to laughing, as
they dropped into the stuff, waist deep, sending the mud in splashes all
round. The dainty ones went in more leisurely, some of them needing a
little persuasion at the point of the bayonet.

Cris Rock was already down, having gone voluntarily. Only one of each
couple had been ordered below; and, much as he disliked the dwarf, he
had no wish to see him drowned or suffocated, which the diminutive
creature would well-nigh have been in the horrible cesspool. Tall as
the Texan was, the stuff reached up to his thighs, the surface of the
street itself being on a level with his arm-pits, while only the heads
of the others could be seen above the stones.

Neither Kearney nor Rivas had yet taken the plunge. They still stood on
the brink, discussing the question of precedence. Not that either
wished the other to do the disagreeable; instead, the reverse. Strange
as it may appear, knowing or believing him to be a bandit, the young
Irishman had taken a liking to the Mexican, and the feeling was
reciprocated, so that each was now trying to restrain the other from
entering the ugly gulf.

But their friendly contest was cut short by the brutal gaoler; who,
advancing, grasped Rivas by the shoulder, and with his other hand
pointing downward shouted "_Abajo_!"

There was no help for it but obey; the alternative sure of being
something worse