se gibbets set up, hopes that you will change that mode of
execution. He asks you to behead his family, as befits nobility."

"So be it," replied the general.

"They also ask for religious assistance, and to be released from their
bonds; they promise in return to make no attempt to escape."

"I consent," said the general; "but I make you responsible for them."

"The marquis offers you his whole fortune, if you will consent to pardon
one of his sons."

"Really!" exclaimed the general. "His property belongs already to King
Joseph."

He stopped. A thought, a contemptuous thought, wrinkled his brow, and he
said presently,--

"I will surpass his wishes. I comprehend the importance of his last
request. Well, he shall buy the continuance of his name and lineage, but
Spain shall forever connect with it the memory of his treachery and his
punishment. I will give life and his whole fortune to whichever of his
sons will perform the office of executioner on the rest. Go; not another
word to me on the subject."

Dinner was served. The officers satisfied an appetite sharpened by
exertion. A single one of them, Victor Marchand, was not at the feast.
After hesitating long, he returned to the hall where the proud family
of Leganes were prisoners, casting a mournful look on the scene now
presented in that apartment where, only two nights before, he had seen
the heads of the two young girls and the three young men turning giddily
in the waltz. He shuddered as he thought how soon they would fall,
struck off by the sabre of the executioner.

Bound in their gilded chairs, the father and mother, the three sons, and
the two daughters, sat rigid in a state of complete immobility. Eight
servants stood near them, their arms bound behind their backs. These
fifteen persons looked at one another gravely, their eyes scarcely
betraying the sentiments that filled their souls. The sentinels, also
motionless, watched them, but respected the sorrow of those cruel
enemies.

An expression of inquiry came upon the faces of all when Victor
appeared. He gave the order to unbind the prisoners, and went himself to
unfasten the cords that held Clara in her chair. She smiled sadly. The
officer could not help touching softly the arms of the young girl as he
looked with sad admiration at her beautiful hair and her supple figure.
She was a true Spaniard, having the Spanish complexion, the Spanish eyes
with their curved lashes, and their large pupils black