As he did not reply, Dulce checked his progress by putting his sword to his breast; but the young man stepped aside, and cried with a loud voice: “Lads, fire!” But here General Concha interceded by exclaiming: “Stop, Manolito, stop the firing! For God’s sake remember we are in Her Majesty’s palace!” So the firing was stopped, and the little girls, alarmed at the noise, fell into each other’s arms, and cried with fright, whilst the Countess of Mina strove to still their fears. The noise of firing was heard down the corridors and the staircases known by the names of those of the Lions and the Ladies. General Dulce was not content with quelling the invasion of the palace by firing down the chief staircase to prevent the ascent of any interloper, but, leaving Barrientos in command of half the Guard at that spot, he went with the other half into the Salon of the Ambassadors, and there fired on the insurgents from the windows, until the whole Plaza de la Armeria was swept free from any more possible invaders of the royal abode. In the meanwhile Boria, Don Diego Leon, and others, were caught in the Campo del Moro, the gardens of the palace. No mercy was shown to the would-be perpetrators of such a deed as the kidnapping of the royal children, and Diego de Leon, who had been covered with laurels for his brilliant services in the civil war, was shot with his accomplices without demur. In the meanwhile General Espartero, in his Palace of la Buena Vista, was ignorant of the tragic scenes enacted at the palace until they were over. Brought thither by the sound of firearms, he arrived just as the insurrectionary force had been driven from the palace, and hastening up the staircase stained with blood, he found the royal children in their room weeping bitterly and much terrified, albeit at the time of the alarming scene they had shown more courage than could have been expected at such an early age. The Regent led the little girls to a window of the palace to still the fears of the people, who had hastened from all quarters at the noise of the firing, and the halberdiers who had defended their young Queen and her sister so bravely were all publicly applauded, promoted, and subsequently given the Cross of San Fernando. The fact of gunshot penetrating the royal apartment was unprecedented in history, and although the halberdiers pressed into the room to protect the royal children, they abstained from firing there on the invaders without, for fear of hurting those in their charge. When the Cortes opened, Espartero escorted the Princesses to the ceremony, and they were received with enthusiastic demonstrations of loyalty. A short time afterwards Argüelles had to insist on the Order of the Palace, by which the French Ambassador was not allowed entry to the palace without official permission from the Regent.