Mr Laffan was quite willing to accompany me as interpreter. "We may bamboozle the scoundrel, and succeed where others have failed," observed the dominie. "There is nothing like impudence,--or a bold bearing, as some would call it,--when one has to deal with a fellow of this sort." We set out, accordingly, for the viceroy's palace. On our arrival we found numerous officers hurriedly coming and going, but most of them merely glanced at us and passed on. In the ante-room there was a motley assemblage of persons of all ranks. Some had come with petitions, others had been summoned to undergo examinations; and several-- informers, I have no doubt--were hoping to obtain a reward for their treachery. I sent in my card by an aide-de-camp, requesting an interview with his Excellency. To my surprise, we were almost immediately admitted. The general was seated at a table covered with papers--two or three officers standing near him. His countenance did not belie his character. Although the expression of his mouth was concealed by his huge moustache, the dark eyes which gleamed forth from under his shaggy brows, and the frown which wrinkled his high forehead, betokened his savage disposition. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked abruptly in Spanish. I turned to Mr Laffan and begged him to interpret what the general said. "Tell him that I am English, and how, hearing that a countryman of mine has been imprisoned unjustly, I have come to demand his release, and permission for him to accompany me back to England." "Of what profession is he?" asked the general of Mr Laffan. "Is he a lawyer?" "No," I replied; "he is a British naval officer who has resided for some time in this country, but is still under the protection of the English Government, to whom it would be my duty to give information should any harm happen to him." "Had he been a lawyer, whether a British subject or not, he should be shot," answered Murillo. "As it is, I will consider the matter." He turned to one of the officers, who handed him a paper. "Ah! I see he is married to a lady belonging to a rebel family; and he himself was found inciting the peasantry to take up arms. I care not though he is under British protection. He shall die." "My countrymen will avenge him," I answered through Mr Laffan, who assumed an authoritative tone and manner, which I thought would produce some effect. "You know not whether the accusation is true or false."