he
could see into the adjacent country. He was about to return to the
house, when a blow on the back of the head stretched him stunned upon
the ground. In an instant a slip-knot was drawn tight round his wrists,
and his person securely pinioned by a strong cord to the tree under
which he had been standing. A cloth was crammed into his mouth to
prevent his calling out, and the three men who had thus rapidly and
dexterously effected his capture, darted off in the direction of the
house.

Desperate were the efforts made by Don Ignacio to free himself from his
bonds, and his struggles became almost frantic, when the sound of a
scuffle in the house, followed by the piercing shrieks of women, reached
his ears. He succeeded in getting rid of the handkerchief that gagged
him, but the rope with which his arms were bound, and that had
afterwards been twined round his body and the tree, withstood his utmost
efforts. In vain did he throw himself forward with all his strength,
striking his feet furiously against the trunk of the tree, and writhing
his arms till the sharp cord cut into the very sinew. The rope appeared
rather tightened than slackened by his violence. The screams and noise
in the house continued; he was sufficiently near to hear the hoarse
voices and obscene oaths of the banditti--the prayers for mercy of their
victims. At length the shrieks became less frequent and fainter, and at
last they died away entirely.

Two hours had elapsed since Ignacio had been made prisoner, hours that
to him appeared centuries. Exhausted by the violence of his exertions,
and still more by the mental agony he had endured, his head fell forward
on his breast, a cold sweat stood upon his forehead, and had it not been
for the cords that held him up, he would have fallen to the ground. He
was roused from this state of exhaustion and despair by the noise of
approaching footsteps, and by the arrival of a dozen men, three or four
of whom carried torches. They were dressed in the sort of half uniform
worn by the Carlist _volantes_, or irregular troops; round their waists
were leathern belts filled with cartridges, and supporting bayonets and
long knives, in many instances without sheaths. Ignacio observed with a
shudder that several of the ruffians had their hands and weapons stained
with blood.

"Whom have we here?" exclaimed a sallow, evil-visaged fellow, who wore a
pair of tarnished epaulets. "Is this the _negro_ you secured at the
beginni