"I trow, caballero, that you've not seen the inside of a prison quite so often as I have; you are new to this kind of lodging. Maybe you've been sent hither for some little duelling affair; you've run some rival through the body, and, to judge by your looks, he has returned the compliment by giving you a taste of his steel."
There was a general hush in the conversation which had been going on amongst the various groups of prisoners, all listening to hear Alcala's reply.
"No," answered De Aguilera, "I have injured no man."
"You're a Carlist?" suggested the brigand, who stood near, with his brawny arms folded across his broad chest.
"I have taken no part in politics," was the reply.
"What then have you done?" asked Diego; "gentlemen are not given free quarters for nothing."
"I have been placed under confinement," answered Alcala, "for the crime of reading a book aloud in my own private dwelling."
This reply excited a good deal of surprise amongst the assemblage of gipsies, foot-pads, smugglers, and thieves. They were acquainted with most kinds of crimes; the novelty of this one whetted their curiosity.
"What was the book, señor?" was asked by half-a-dozen voices at once.
"The Bible," replied Alcala.