"Ay, a gentleman, a gentleman!" burst from the officers in the room.
"Your Excellency," continued the old man, turning to the Viceroy. "His blood is as noble as your own."
"His name?" said the old man, who had stood unmoved in the midst of the tumult.
"Captain Alvarado that was," cried the Dominican, with an inborn love of the dramatic in his tones, "stand forth. My lord and lady, and gentles all, I present to you Don Francisco de Guzman, the son of his excellency, the former Governor of Panama and of his wife, Isabella Zerega, a noble and virtuous lady, though of humbler walk of life and circumstance than her husband."
"De Guzman! De Guzman!" burst forth from the soldiers.
"It is a lie!" shouted Hornigold. "He is Morgan's son. He was given to me as such. I left him at Cuchillo. You found him, sir——"
He appealed to the Viceroy.
"My venerable father, with due respect to you, sir, we require something more than your unsupported statement to establish so great a fact," said the Viceroy deliberately, although the sparkle in his eyes belied his calm.
"Your grace speaks well," said Morgan, clutching at his hope still.
"I require nothing more. I see and believe," interrupted Mercedes.