nglishman who would most likely turn obstinate under bad treatment, and
become quite unmanageable. At all events, the colonel smoothed the scowl
on his brow.

"What! The excellent Senor Mitchell!" he cried, in affected dismay.
The pretended anger of his swift advance and of his shout, "Release
the caballero at once," was so effective that the astounded soldiers
positively sprang away from their prisoner. Thus suddenly deprived
of forcible support, Captain Mitchell reeled as though about to fall.
Sotillo took him familiarly under the arm, led him to a chair, waved his
hand at the room. "Go out, all of you," he commanded.

When they had been left alone he stood looking down, irresolute and
silent, watching till Captain Mitchell had recovered his power of
speech.

Here in his very grasp was one of the men concerned in the removal of
the silver. Sotillo's temperament was of that sort that he experienced
an ardent desire to beat him; just as formerly when negotiating with
difficulty a loan from the cautious Anzani, his fingers always itched
to take the shopkeeper by the throat. As to Captain Mitchell, the
suddenness, unexpectedness, and general inconceivableness of this
experience had confused his thoughts. Moreover, he was physically out of
breath.

"I've been knocked down three times between this and the wharf," he
gasped out at last. "Somebody shall be made to pay for this." He had
certainly stumbled more than once, and had been dragged along for some
distance before he could regain his stride. With his recovered breath
his indignation seemed to madden him. He jumped up, crimson, all his
white hair bristling, his eyes glaring vengefully, and shook violently
the flaps of his ruined waistcoat before the disconcerted Sotillo.
"Look! Those uniformed thieves of yours downstairs have robbed me of my
watch."

The old sailor's aspect was very threatening. Sotillo saw himself cut
off from the table on which his sabre and revolver were lying.

"I demand restitution and apologies," Mitchell thundered at him, quite
beside himself. "From you! Yes, from you!"

For the space of a second or so the colonel stood with a perfectly stony
expression of face; then, as Captain Mitchell flung out an arm towards
the table as if to snatch up the revolver, Sotillo, with a yell of
alarm, bounded to the door and was gone in a flash, slamming it after
him. Surprise calmed Captain Mitchell's fury. Behind the closed door
Sotillo shouted on the