The two political enemies, so cordially attached, shook hands and separated. The Colonel wrapped himself in his cloak, and immediately left the room and the house. The General, as he went away, had given the company posted round the mansion orders to follow him, and the street was completely deserted. The Jaguar was so intimately convinced of the fidelity with which General Rubio would fulfil his engagements, that he did not even take the trouble to assure himself of the fact. So soon as he was alone he closed the trapdoor, touched the spring of the secret door, and left the saloon in his turn, to enter the dark corridor through which, on the General's entrance, his friends had disappeared at the heels of John Davis. This passage, after several turnings, opened into a rather large room, in which all the conspirators were assembled, silent and gloomy, waiting, with their hands on their weapons, till the Chief claimed their assistance. Lanzi was standing sentry in the doorway, to prevent any surprise: the Jaguar resumed his mask, thrust his pistols in his girdle, and entered. On seeing him, the conspirators gave a start of joy, which was immediately suppressed, however, at a signal from the young man. "My comrades," he said, in a saddened voice, "I have evil tidings to communicate to you. Had not my measures been so well taken, we should all have been prisoners at this moment. A traitor has slipped in among us, and this man has given the Governor the most detailed and positive information about our projects. A miracle has alone saved us." A shudder of indignation ran through the ranks of the conspirators; by an instinctive movement they separated, giving each other sinister glances, and laying their hands on their weapons. The vast hall, only lighted by a smoky lamp, whose reddish light threw strange reflections at each breath of air on the energetic faces of the conspirators, had a mournful, and yet striking aspect. After a moment's silence the Chief went on, in a firm and marked voice-- "What matter, comrades, if a cowardly spy has stepped in among us; the hour of fear and hesitation has passed away, and we shall now go to work in the sight of all. No more secret meetings, no more masks," he added, violently tearing off his own and trampling it under foot; "our enemies must know us at length, and learn that we are really the apostles of that liberty which is about to gleam like a brilliant beacon over our country." "Long live the Jaguar!" the conspirators shouted as they rushed joyfully towards him.