"There you see, Señor Frayle," the prisoner continued, "our position is growing delicate; come, behave like a man."
"Oh!" the monk exclaimed furiously, "I have fallen into a horrible trap."
"Enough," the Captain said in a thundering voice; "this farce has lasted only too long, Padre Antonio. It is not you who have fallen into a trap, but you tried to draw me into one. I have known you for a long time, and possess the most circumstantial details about the plans you were devising. It is a dangerous game you have been playing for a long time; a man cannot serve GOD and the devil simultaneously, without all being discovered at last; still, I wished to confront you with these worthy men, in order to confound you, and make the mask fall from your hypocritical face."
At this rude apostrophe the Monk was for a moment stunned, crushed as he was beneath the weight of the charges brought against him; at length he raised his head and turned to the Captain.
"Of what am I accused?" he asked haughtily.
Don Juan smiled contemptuously.
"You are accused," he replied, "of having wished to lead the conducta I command into an ambush formed by you, and where at this moment your worthy acolytes are waiting to massacre and rob us. What will you reply to that?"
"Nothing," he answered, drily.
"You are right, for your denials would not be accepted. Still, now that you are convicted by your own confession, you will not escape without an eternal recollection of our meeting."
"Take care of what you are about to do, Señor Captain: I belong to the church, and this gown renders me inviolable."