prisoner, 'I sent for my _alforjas_ to serve as a pillow, and it was sent in them by chance.' 'Thou art a false malicious knave,' retorted the _Alcalde_, 'you intend to hang yourself, and by so doing ruin us all, as your death would be laid to our door. Give me the _soga_.' No greater insult can be offered to a Spaniard, than to tax him with an intention of committing suicide. Poor Vitoriano flew into a violent rage, and after calling the _Alcalde_ several uncivil names, he pulled the _soga_ from his bags, and flinging it at his head, told him to take it home and use it for his own neck. At length the people of the _posada_ took pity on the prisoner, perceiving that he was very harshly treated for no crime at all. They therefore determined to afford him an opportunity of informing his friends of his situation, and accordingly sent him a pen and inkhorn, concealed in a loaf of bread, and a piece of writing-paper, pretending that the latter was intended for cigars. So Vitoriano wrote the letter; but now ensued the difficulty of sending it to its destination, as no person in the village dare have carried it for any reward. The good people, however, persuaded a disbanded soldier from another village, who chanced to be at Fuente La Higuera in quest of work, to charge himself with it, promising that I would pay him well for his trouble. The man, watching his opportunity, received the letter from Vitoriano at the window; and it was he who, after travelling on foot all night, delivered it to me in safety at Madrid.