venient place to take a few
hours' repose. At the distance of a mile he perceived the white walls of
houses shimmering in the moonlight, and he bent his steps in that
direction. It was two in the morning and the hamlet was buried in sleep;
the sharp, sudden bark of a watch-dog was the only sound that greeted
the muleteer as he passed under the irregular avenue of trees preceding
its solitary street. Entering a barn, whose door stood invitingly open,
he threw himself upon a pile of newly-made hay, and was instantly
plunged in a sleep far sounder and more refreshing than any he had
enjoyed during the whole period of his captivity.

It was still early morning when he was roused from his slumbers by the
entrance of the proprietor of the barn, a sturdy, good-humoured peasant,
more surprised, than pleased, to find upon his premises a stranger of
Paco's equivocal appearance. The muleteer's exterior was certainly not
calculated to give a high opinion of his respectability. His uniform
jacket of dark green cloth was soiled and torn; his boina, which had
served him for a nightcap during his imprisonment, was in equally bad
plight; he was uncombed and unwashed, and a beard of nearly six weeks'
growth adorned his face. It was in a tone of some suspicion that the
peasant enquired his business, but Paco had his answer ready. Taken
prisoner by the Christinos, he said, he had escaped from Pampeluna after
a confinement of some duration, and ignorant of the country, had
wandered about for two nights, lying concealed during the day, and
afraid to approach villages lest he should again fall into the hands of
the enemy. The haggard look he had acquired during his imprisonment, his
beard and general appearance, and the circumstance of his being unarmed,
although in uniform, seemed to confirm the truth of his tale; and the
peasant, who, like all of his class at that time and in that province,
was an enthusiastic Carlist, willingly supplied him with the razor and
refreshment of which he stood in pressing need. His appearance somewhat
improved, and his appetite satisfied, Paco in his turn became the
interrogator, and the first answers he received caused him extreme
surprise. The most triumphant success had waited on the Carlist arms
during the period of his captivity. The Christino generals had been on
all hands discomfited by the men at whose discipline and courage, even
more than at their poverty and imperfect resources, they affected to
snee