"Ah, ah!" the Colonel said, with a smile; "Then you understand me, Don Felix?"
"Of course."
"And you approve?"
"Perfectly."
"It is one in the morning," the Colonel went on, as he looked at a clock standing on a console; "at this moment sleep is the deepest. Well, we will attempt a sortie; have the officers of the garrison aroused."
The Major-domo went out: five minutes later the officers, still half-asleep, obeyed their Chief's orders.
"Caballeros," the latter said to them, so soon as he saw them all collected round him, "I have resolved to make a sortie against the rebels, surprise them, and fire their camp, if it be possible. Select from your soldiers one hundred and fifty men, in whom you can trust; supply them with inflammable matters, and in five minutes let them be drawn up in the Patio. Go; and before all, I recommend you the deepest silence."
The officers bowed, and at once left the room. The Colonel then turned to Tranquil.
"Are you tired?" he asked him.
"I am never so."