everal other choice miserables. So we shall no longer be troubled with
him or his. And as I was chiefly instrumental in laying bare his
villainy, I shall, when his estates are confiscated, put in a claim for
them as my reward.

"But it was not so much of him as of his daughter that I intended to
tell you. Dona Isolda Montijo is universally admitted to be, beyond all
question, the most lovely woman in Cuba; and for once the popular
estimate is correct, as no man knows so well as I do." ("Steady, old
man, steady!" said Jack to himself. "Hold tight, and clench your teeth!
The blackguard is talking now with the express intention of provoking
you into the commission of some overt act for which you would be sorry
afterwards, and you must not allow yourself to be provoked. The
infernal fool, in his anxiety to hurt you, has made you a present of
what may prove to be a most valuable bit of information; but you must
not allow yourself to be inveigled into a scrape of any sort, or you may
not be allowed the opportunity to avail yourself of it. So keep a tight
grip upon yourself, Jack Singleton, and bottle up your wrath for future
use!") "When the Montijos were arrested, about a month ago," continued
Don Sebastian, "I so arranged matters that they were confined in La
Jacoba; and, of course, as Governor of the prison, I possessed
considerable powers; thus it was not difficult--" And therewith the
fellow proceeded with great gusto to tell the story of cruelty the like
of which, it is to be hoped, for the credit of one's manhood, is not
often repeated. And while it was telling, Jack "sat tight" and
listened, storing up every vile word and every monstrous detail in his
mind that he might have something to whet his vengeance upon when the
time for vengeance should come. But his agitation was so evident, his
distress so poignant, that Alvaros thought it would be very good fun to
direct public attention to it; so, feigning to become suddenly aware of
it, he swung his chair round, and exclaimed loud enough for everybody in
the room to hear:

"Hillo, Senor Englishman, what is the matter with you? You appear to be
upset about something. Perhaps my little story jars upon your
puritanical English notions? Or perhaps it is--yes, of course you are
upset about the news that you have just heard of your friends, for, now
that I come to look at you, I see that you are the Englishman whom I met
at Don Hermoso's house, and whom I warned t