tis rare fun to see the
foolish Busne cutting each other's throats, and the poor Zincalo reaping
the benefit. I've had fine chances certainly, and have not thrown them
away. Zumalacarregui does not pay badly; then that affair of the
Christino officer was worth a good forty ounces, between him and the
fool Paco; and now Don Baltasar--but he is the worst pay of all.
Promises in plenty; he rattles them off his tongue as glib as the old
nuns do their _paters_; but if he opens his mouth he takes good care to
keep his purse shut. A pitiful two score dollars are all I have had from
him for a month's service--I should have made more by spying for
Zumalacarregui; with more risk, perhaps--though I am not sure of that.
Both the noble colonel and myself would stretch a rope if the general
heard of our doings. And hear of them he will, sooner or later unless
Don Baltasar marries the girl by force, and cuts Paco's throat. Curse
him! why doesn't he pay me the fifty ounces he promised me? If he did
that, I would get out of the way till I heard how the thing turned. I
must have the money next time I see him, or"----

What alternative the esquilador was about to propound must remain
unknown; for, at that moment, the sound of his name, uttered near at
hand, and in a cautious tone, caused him to start violently and
interrupt his soliloquy. Hastily sweeping up his money, and thrusting it
into the end of his sash, he seized his jacket, and was about to seek
concealment in the neighbouring bushes. Before doing so, however, he
cast a glance in the direction whence the sound had proceeded, and for
the first time became aware that the spot selected for the telling of
his ill-gotten gains was not so secure from observation as he had
imagined. In the outer wall of the western wing of the convent, and at
some distance from the ground, two windows broke the uniformity of the
stone surface. Hitherto, whenever the gipsy had noticed them, they had
appeared hermetically blocked up by closely-fitting shutters, painted to
match the colour of the wall, of which they almost seemed to form a
part. On taking up his position just within the skirt of the forest, the
possibility of these casements being opened, and his proceedings
observed, had not occurred to him; and it so happened that from one of
them, through an opening in the branches, the retreat he had chosen was
completely commanded. The shutter of this window had now been pushed
open, and the lovely, b