"Oh, thou rogue, thou merry thing of vinegar, thou hast belied me!" cried Guzman; "thou knowest, I would sooner eat my arms,--lance, buckler, and all,--than lift my hand against the General: I would, by my troth, for I love him. But come, now,--thou saidst all this, upon good authority? You jest, you rogue,--we are all jealous and envious. We have good words from none but Cortes.--What authority?" "Marry, upon that of thine own lips," replied the hunchback; "for I know not who else could have invented so liberally." "Out!" cried the cavalier, somewhat intemperately; "you presume--" "Ha! ha! a truce, a truce, Don Francisco!" exclaimed Villafana; "a fair hit--no quarrelling; for captain though thou be, thou knowest I am sworn Alguazil, as well as head-turnkey, chief executioner, and the Lord knows what beside. No wrath among friends--A very justifiable, fair hit! Najara must have his ways. Thou wilt see, by and by, how he will lay _me_ by the ears. Come, Corcobado, begin.--He who plays with colts, must look to be kicked.--Come now, be sharp, fear not; I am a dog, and love thee all the better for cudgelling." "I know thou art, and I know thou dost," said Najara; "for I remember, that ever since Don Hernan had thee scourged, for abusing the Tlascalan woman, thou hast been a more loving hound than any other of the Velasquez faction." "Fuego de dios! Pho,--Good! Ha! ha! very good!" exclaimed Villafana, laughing, though somewhat disconcerted. "I confess the beating; but then I have a back to endure it--Hah! A Roland for an Oliver, a kick for a buffet! Thou liest, though, as to the cause: 'twas for taking the old senator they call Maxiscatzin by the beard, when he had given me the first sop of the Maguey-liquor. I was drunk, sirrah, broke rules, disobeyed orders, and so deserved my guerdon. Wilt thou be satisfied? By this hand, I grumble not. I should trounce thee for the like misdemeanour,--that is, if I could find whereon to lay my scourge. Aha! wilt thou pull noses with me? Come, what saidst thou of me to Bernal? I bear thee no malice, man;--no, no more than the general.--Drunk indeed? He should have struck my head off!" "I told him," said Najara, "that thou wert, in some sense, worthy to be chronicled." "Many thanks for that," said Villafana, "were it only on account of the beating." "For though thou wert as naturally given to grovelling as a football, yet wouldst thou as certainly mount, at every kick, as that same bag of wind." "Bravo! bravo!" cried the Alguazil, with a roar of delight, in which he was joined by Guzman; "thou art as witty and unsavoury as ever, and thou dingest me about the ears as with a pine-tree. What else, cielo mio? what else saidst thou to Bernal?"