he very high esteem in which
that gentleman was held by all who enjoyed the privilege of his
acquaintance; and mildly reproached the Englishmen for being so
credulous as to believe the unsupported story of such an unmitigated
ruffian as Panza had appeared to be. The fact that the character of a
Spanish officer and gentleman could be so easily smirched was dwelt upon
by him at some length, but more in sorrow than in anger; and he did not
omit to draw the especial attention of his visitors to the important
fact that, even according to their own showing, there was no sufficient
motive to induce Senor Alvaros to engage in such a very reprehensible
undertaking.

It was intensely amusing to Jack, and scarcely less so to Carlos, to
observe the sympathetic courtesy with which the English Consul listened
to all this rigmarole, which, from his manner, one might have believed
to have been absolutely convincing--until he remarked, in turn:

"Well, my dear General, after all has been said, one fact remains; which
is, that Senor Singleton's life has been attempted by a man whom he
never saw before, and who could therefore have had no personal animus
against him. The obvious inference therefore is that he was hired by
someone to make the attempt; and he asserts that the man who hired him
was Senor Alvaros. Therefore, notwithstanding all that you have said,
if anything further of an untoward nature should happen to Senor
Singleton, I warn you that very grave suspicion will attach to Senor
Alvaros, and I shall be compelled to insist upon the most stringent
enquiry being made into the matter. I would therefore suggest--if you
will pardon me for taking so great a liberty--that Senor Alvaros should
be made aware of all the circumstances of the case; and that a hint
should be given him of the extreme necessity for the utmost
circumspection on his part. And now, General, I must offer you my most
sincere apologies for having occupied so much of your valuable time, and
tender you my warmest thanks for the great patience and courtesy with
which you have listened to what I have had to say. Good-morning!"

CHAPTER NINE.

AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP.

The two young men reached the casa Montijo, that afternoon, in just nice
time to partake of "afternoon tea", which function had promptly been
adopted by Senora Montijo and her daughter upon the return of Don
Hermoso and Carlos from England, as the very latest and most up-to-date
institu