"No," pursued he; "it is good sometimes to pour off the fulness of one's heart into a pure and indulgent soul. I will only tell you a few words which will acquaint you with all." "Elevated summits fatally attract lightning; that is an axiom generally acknowledged. Notwithstanding the support I gave the Bourbons, my devotion would not convince them of my fidelity." "Under the rule of Louis XVIII., they regained the same spirit which had formerly voted the death of Louis XVI. Friends warned me, condemning myself to exile, to avoid the death suspended, without doubt, over my head." "I abandoned all--parents, friends, fortune, even a name without stain, and honoured up to that time--to go into another hemisphere, to conceal my proscribed head." "While you, young and careless, arrived by one side in America, I arrived by another side--old, with all my illusions dispelled, cursing the blow which struck me." "Believe me, whatever may be their name, dynasties are all ungrateful, because they feel themselves powerless. The people alone is just, because it knows that it is strong." "I pity you in a double sense," answered the young man, holding out his hand: "first, because your proscription is iniquitous, then because you arrive in a country in full revolution." "I know it," answered he, smiling; "it is on this revolution that I reckon: perhaps it will save me." "I hope so, for your sake, although your words are so obscure to me that I cannot understand them. It is true that up to the present time I have never thought of politics." "Who knows if they will not soon absorb all your thoughts?" "God forbid, Monsieur," cried he with a sort of indignation; "I am a painter." "Here are my people," said M. Dubois. "Where?" "Why here, before us!" "The devil! Then what are these horsemen who are coming towards us on this side?" said the painter, indicating with his finger, diametrically opposite to that at which appeared a group composed of some fifteen individuals. "Hum!" said his companion, with a shade of uneasiness; "Who can these people be?" "Bah!" said the young man; "We shall soon know." "Too soon, perhaps," answered the old man, pensively shaking his head. Two troops, in fact, were galloping down towards the river. They were at about an equal distance from the travellers. CHAPTER XVI. FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. Let us say, in a few words, what was the political situation of the ancient viceroyalty of Buenos Aires at the moment when our history commences. Notwithstanding the royal decree of Jan. 22, 1809, declaring the provinces of Spanish America an integral part of the monarchy, with equal rights to those of the other provinces of the metropolis, Don Baltazar de Cisneros, named viceroy, arrived with the title of Count of Buenos Aires, and with the authority to receive an annual payment of 100,000 reals. Indignation, for a long time subdued, at last burst out.