moved to new
cantonments near the capital. This change suited very well the state of
my domestic and amorous feelings.

"One night, rather late, I was called to my chief. I found General
Robles in his quarters, at ease, with his uniform off, drinking neat
brandy out of a tumbler--as a precaution, he used to say, against the
sleeplessness induced by the bites of mosquitoes. He was a good soldier,
and he taught me the art and practice of war. No doubt God has been
merciful to his soul; for his motives were never other than patriotic,
if his character was irascible. As to the use of mosquito nets, he
considered it effeminate, shameful--unworthy of a soldier. I noticed at
the first glance that his face, already very red, wore an expression of
high good-humour.

"'Aha! Senor teniente,' he cried, loudly, as I saluted at the door.
'Behold! Your strong man has turned up again.'

"He extended to me a folded letter, which I saw was superscribed 'To the
Commander-in-Chief of the Republican Armies.'

"'This,' General Robles went on in his loud voice, 'was thrust by a boy
into the hand of a sentry at the Quartel General, while the fellow stood
there thinking of his girl, no doubt--for before he could gather his
wits together the boy had disappeared amongst the market people, and he
protests he could not recognize him to save his life.'

"'My chief told me further that the soldier had given the letter to the
sergeant of the guard, and that ultimately it had reached the hands of
our generalissimo. His Excellency had deigned to take cognizance of it
with his own eyes. After that he had referred the matter in confidence
to General Robles.

"The letter, senores, I cannot now recollect textually. I saw the
signature of Gaspar Ruiz. He was an audacious fellow. He had snatched a
soul for himself out of a cataclysm, remember. And now it was that
soul which had dictated the terms of his letter. Its tone was very
independent. I remember it struck me at the time as noble--dignified. It
was, no doubt, her letter. Now I shudder at the depth of its duplicity.
Gaspar Ruiz was made to complain of the injustice of which he had been
a victim. He invoked his previous record of fidelity and courage. Having
been saved from death by the miraculous interposition of Providence, he
could think of nothing but of retrieving his character. This, he wrote,
he could not hope to do in the ranks as a discredited soldier still
under suspicion. He had the mean