I questioned the Swiss minutely concerning his adventures since I last saw him, when I left him at Oviedo to pursue my route to Santander. From his answers I gathered that he had followed me to the latter place; he was, however, a long time in performing the journey, being weak from hunger and privation. At Santander he could hear no tidings of me, and by this time the trifle which he had received from me was completely exhausted. He now thought of making his way into France, but was afraid to venture through the disturbed provinces, lest he should fall into the hands of the Carlists, who he conceived might shoot him as a spy. No one relieving him at Santander, he departed and begged his way till he found himself in some part of Aragon, but where he scarcely knew. “My misery was so great,” said Benedict, “that I nearly lost my senses. Oh, the horror of wandering about the savage hills and wide plains of Spain, without money and without hope! Sometimes I became desperate, when I found myself amongst rocks and _barrancos_, perhaps after having tasted no food from sunrise to sunset; and then I would raise my staff towards the sky and shake it, crying, _Lieber Herr Gott_, _ach lieber Herr Gott_, you must help me now or never; if you tarry I am lost; you must help me now, now! And once, when I was raving in this manner, methought I heard a voice—nay, I am sure I heard it—sounding from the hollow of a rock, clear and strong; and it cried, ‘_Der Schatz_, _der Schatz_, it is not yet dug up; to Madrid, to Madrid. The way to the _Schatz_ is through Madrid.’ And then the thought of the _Schatz_ once more rushed into my mind, and I reflected how happy I might be, could I but dig up the _Schatz_. No more begging then; no more wandering amidst horrid mountains and deserts; so I brandished my staff, and my body and my limbs became full of new and surprising strength, and I strode forward, and was not long before I reached the high road; and then I begged and bettled as I best could, until I reached Madrid.” “And what has befallen you since you reached Madrid?” I inquired. “Did you find the treasure in the streets?”