"No," replied Lantejas, "I don't remember ever having seen him before." "He is the same," rejoined Costal, "whom we three formerly knew as a captain of the Queen's dragoons--Don Rafael Tres-Villas. He is now _Colonel_ Tres-Villas." "_Por Dios_!" interposed a soldier who was standing near, and who had come from the state of Oajaca. "Colonel Tres-Villas! That is he who nailed the head of Antonio Valdez to the gate of his hacienda!" "The same," assented Costal. "_Carrambo_!" cried another soldier, "that is the officer who, after capturing the town of Aguas Calientes, caused the hair to be cropped from the heads of three hundred women who were his prisoners!" "It is said that he had his reasons for doing so," muttered Costal, in reply. "Whether or no," said the soldier, "if he comes this way, he'll get punished for it." Just as the soldier spoke, the ship became enveloped in a mass of fog-- at that moment spreading over the water--and was lost to the view of the people on the isle. When she became visible again, it was seen that she was standing out to sea. By a favourable turn which the wind had taken, she was enabled to gain the offing, and was soon receding from view upon the distant horizon. Costal was correct in his identification. The officer thus accidentally seen, and who was a passenger on board the man-of-war, was indeed Don Rafael Tres-Villas, who from one of the northern ports was now on his return to Oajaca, bearing with him to the shores of Tehuantepec a profound and incurable melancholy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The capture of the isle of La Roqueta was an important step towards the taking of Acapulco. The town itself had fallen into the hands of the insurgents, almost at the same instant; for Morelos, according to agreement, on perceiving the signals of Hermenegildo, had directed his attack upon the town, and so brusquely that the place was carried by a _coup de main_. The possession of La Roqueta enabled the insurgent general to intercept the supplies of the citadel garrison; and shortly after the fortress itself was compelled to surrender. This conquest, with which the humble _cura_ had been derisively entrusted, rendered him master of the whole southern part of Mexico-- from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, almost to the gates of the capital of New Spain. Twenty-two battles had he gained from that day, when, accompanied by his two domestics, he rode forth from the village of Caracuaro to raise in Oajaca the banner of the insurrection. To that province, after the taking of Acapulco, it was necessary for him to proceed with his victorious army--in order to assist the insurgents then besieged in the town of Huajapam. Thither, but some days preceding him, shall we conduct the reader, in order that we may once more return to the hero of our predilection. CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. THE PLAIN OF HUAJAPAM.