pon his
return; and some of his fellow townsmen now manifested a disposition to
lay the blame for the affair upon his shoulders; the majority, however,
were of the contrary opinion, and it was this opinion upon which they
grounded the hope which ultimately arose that some of them at least
might be spared. For, they argued, if he were not guilty, he would take
immediate steps to discover who was, and having found the guilty party,
would cause his prompt arrest, after which they might hope for his
return to the ship to surrender the guilty one. But everything was most
horribly uncertain; and the more they debated the matter the worse
complexion did it assume; so that by the time that the ship was back at
the anchorage and the anchor let go, they were all in a most pitiable
state of distress and fright. And this state was in nowise relieved
when, as day was on the point of breaking, George entered the cabin, and
they noted the stern, set expression of his features.

He gazed slowly round at the quaking company for some moments in
silence, and then said:

"Well, senores, you were yesterday convinced of the ability of your
countrymen to keep faith with an honourable enemy, or I suppose you
would not have consented to guarantee their fidelity with your lives.
What think you of them now?"

"Ah, noble senor," exclaimed one of them--a certain Don Martin de
Sylva--"be merciful, I pray you, and do not hastily wreak upon us, who
are innocent, the vengeance so justly provoked by the act of another.
This is not the treachery of a whole community, senor, believe me, but
is the deed of some mad zealot--and, by all the Saints! I believe I can
name him, too," he suddenly broke out, wheeling eagerly round upon his
fellow hostages and excitedly addressing them. "What say you, senores;
does not the whole complexion of this unforgivable outrage point your
suspicions almost irresistibly toward one particular man? Are we to
believe that our worthy alcalde is capable of imperilling the lives of
his fellow townsmen, as ours have been imperilled this night, by an act
of such base, wanton betrayal as all this amounts to? I say no, most
emphatically; for, apart from every other consideration, what would he
gain by it? No; this is the deed of a man anxious to curry favour at
any cost with the Viceroy--who, we know, hates the English, and justly
fears them, too, after his atrocious act of last year; and what man so
anxious to win favour in