ened out to us.

We had just arrived at a handsome pair of park gates which we
conjectured gave admittance to the castle grounds when we were overtaken
by the commandant, on horseback. He nodded to us; remarked, "I see you
have found your way all right;" shouted for the ancient custodian to
open the gates; and then, as the heavy iron barriers swung back,
dismounted, threw the bridle over his arm, and walked up the long avenue
with us.

We now had an opportunity to observe him a little more closely than at
our first interview; and we found him to be a tall and strikingly
handsome man, somewhere about fifty years of age, as we judged; with
piercing black eyes which seemed to read one's very thoughts, yet which
were by no means devoid of amiable expression, and black hair and
moustache thickly dashed with grey. Somewhat to our surprise, we found
that he could speak English very fairly. His demeanour to us was
characterised by that lofty stately courtesy peculiar to the old
nobility of Castile (of which province he was a native); and we
subsequently learned that he was as gallant a warrior as he was a
polished gentleman, having served with much distinction in various parts
of the world. His style and title, we afterwards ascertained, was El
Commandant Don Luis Aguirre Martinez de Guzman; and we speedily found
that he had a very strong predilection for the English, attributable to
the fact--which ultimately leaked out--that his first and deepest love
had been won by an English girl, whom, however,--the course of true love
not running smoothly--he never married.

As we walked up the noble avenue side by side he questioned us as to our
names, ages, and rank, how long we had been prisoners, and so on; and
expressed his astonishment at the harsh treatment which we had received
at the hands of the prison authorities. Upon this I thought it
advisable to mention to him our refusal to give our parole, stating as
our reason our total lack of funds.

"Oh, well," he said laughingly, "that need no longer influence you, you
know. You will have free quarters and rations at the castle, in
addition to the remuneration to which you will be entitled for your
services, so you can give your parole when next you report yourselves at
the citadel, and that will end the matter."

This, however, would not suit our views at all, though we did not choose
to say so; we therefore changed the subject by asking him what more
particularly were