"You must pass the Lonja, our famous Exchange, a triumph of the genius of Juan de Herrera--the architect of the Escurial; well, you must pass it, and cross the Plaza de Toros; but allow me to have the pleasure of escorting you." "Many thanks." "None are necessary, señores--hut this dispatch for the captain general--Maldito! I am bursting with irrepressible curiosity to know what it is about. Are we going to war with Russia too?" "Then, señor," said I, "we may as well inform you that it concerns the killing of a man on board of a Spanish government guarda costa, by a chance shot from the Mole Fort at Gibraltar." "He was in pursuit of a contrabandista, I presume?" "Exactly so." "Ah, those rascally contrabandistas! It is too bad of your Government to protect them--quite as bad as making war on the Chinese because they would not poison themselves with opium. I heard that some of your people had shot at a guarda costa, and killed some one on hoard. It has excited considerable animosity, and been much spoken of." He led us through several dark and narrow streets, so narrow, indeed, that people could easily have shaken hands from the windows on each side of these quaint old Moorish thoroughfares. Issuing suddenly into the full Haze of the scorching Spanish sunshine, we found ourselves before a handsome palace decorated by Corinthian pilasters, and having its lofty windows covered by external shades of brilliant red and white striped stuff. Two sentinels of the line stood at the portal under sunshades, with their muskets "ordered;" and they stared at our uniform with black and lacklustre eyes. "The palace of the captain general," said Don Joaquim, bowing; "he has just returned from Jaen, having gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Face." "We must have the pleasure of meeting you again," said I. "Our hotel is the Queen's--de la Reyna--near the Exchange," added Slingsby. "Oh, I know the place very well," replied the Don, producing his card, a token of civilisation little known in Spain; "my mother gives a tertulia to-night, and we shall be delighted to see you--her reception hour is eight--Donna Dominga de Lucena--Calle del Alcazar." "You are the son of Donna Dominga, whom we had the pleasure of knowing in Gibraltar?" "The same, señores. Are you the gentlemen who were so kind and attentive to her? It is quite a little romance this meeting. How odd, to think that we sat a whole night in the venta of Castellar and knew nothing about this! Then, doubtless, one of you must be that accomplished cavalier, Don Leja Mag Leja, concerning whom she wrote me so many letters when I was at Lagos." With some laughter, we professed that neither of us was the portly Leechy Mac Leechy, to whose name the Donna had given somewhat of a Castilian character in her epistles to the major. "But about the tertulia? we have no full uniform," urged Jack.