Talbot and Gonzalez, representing themselves as having escaped from a wreck, were kindly received at the little settlement where they landed, but instead of accepting the hospitalities which were freely tendered, they merely asked for a guide to conduct them into the interior, so fearful were they of being pursued. With much toil and privation, and at one time exposed to imminent peril, they reached the Reglos, a settlement opposite to the city of Havana, the very day on which the frigate arrived. Afraid to venture out before night-fall, one of them feigned to be sick, and the other remained as if to keep him company, in the small room of an obscure fonda, which they occupied. They had remained for a very long time without seeing or hearing any one, when, about an hour after the ship had anchored, they heard footsteps on the creaking staircase, and one called out, “Is there any one above, Marguerita?” “There were two sailor-looking men there this morning,” replied a female voice, “but they must have gone out, for I have heard nothing of them since dinner.” “We will see,” said the first voice. But Gonzalez was too quick for him. He had started at the first word, and rising from the bed, which was at the side of the room, placed himself by the door, and quietly turning the bolt of the lock, withdrew the key. He then bent his head and listened attentively, taking care not to place it in a line with the key-hole. The party, consisting of three, came up in the meantime, and two of them proceeded to an adjoining room, while one stopped and tried the door. In a few moments he rejoined his companions, saying, “All safe, they are out.” When Gonzalez started up and hurried to the door, Talbot was struck as much by the expression of his countenance as by the movement itself, and he had continued to watch him in silent amazement. But he was soon convinced that his friend was not insane. When the person who tried the door had retired, Gonzalez, stepping lightly to the bed, whispered, “Don’t speak or make the slightest noise, it is the rascally steward, with some of the cut-throats who resort to this side of the harbor. The count has some design afoot, and Providence has sent us just in time to save that unfortunate young lady.” Talbot needed no more, and with their faculties on the full stretch, they listened intently, and gathered almost every word of the conversation in the next room.