"A'n't you Cregan, I say?" cried the same English voice which spoke before; "a'n't you little Con, as we used to call you?" "Yes," said I, overjoyed by the recognition, without knowing by whom it was made, "I am the little Con you speak of." "Ah, I remembered your voice the moment I heard it," said he. "Don't you remember me?" "Caramba!" broke in a savage-looking Spaniard; "we 're not going to catch a leprosy for the sake of your reminiscences. Tell the fellow to move off, or I'll send a bullet through him." "And I 'll follow you." "And I; and I," cried two or three more, who, suiting the action to the speech, threw back the pan of the flint-muskets to examine the priming. "And shall I tell you what I 'll do?" said the Englishman. "I'll lay the first fellow's skull open with this hanger that fires a shot at him." "Will you so?" said a thin, athletic fellow, springing to his legs, and drawing a long, narrow-bladed knife from his girdle. "A truce there, Rivas," said another; "would you quarrel with the Capitan for a miserable lépero?" "He's not a Capitan of my making," said Rivas, sulkily. "I don't care of whose making," said the Englishman, in his broken Spanish; "I'm the leader of this expedition: if any one deny it, let him stand out and say so. If half a dozen of you deny it, come out one by one: I ask nothing better than to show you who's the best man here." A low muttering followed this speech, but whether it were of admiration or anger, I could not determine. Meanwhile my own resolve was formed, as, gathering my limbs together, I rolled upon one knee and said,-- "Hear me for one instant, Señhors. It would be unworthy of you to quarrel about an object so poor and worthless as I am. Although not a lépero, I have made my escape from the Lazaretto, and travelled hither on foot, with little clothing and less food: an hour or two more will finish what fatigue and starving have all but accomplished. If you will be kind enough to throw me a morsel of bread, and give me time to move away, I'll try and do it; or, if you prefer doing the humane thing, you 'll come a few paces nearer and send a volley into me." "I vote for the last," shouted one; but, strange to say, none seconded his motion. A change had come over them, possibly by the very recklessness of my own proposal. At last one called out, "Creep away some fifty yards or so, and burn those rags of yours: we 'll give you something to wear instead of them." "Ay, just so," said another; "the poor devil doesn't deserve death for what he's done." "That's spoken like honest fellows and good comrades," said the Englishman. "And now, my hearty, move down to leeward there, and put on your new toggery, and we 'll see if a hot supper won't put some life in you."