"Oh, you must be mad, my friend!"
"Remember that the fort has been in my hands for the past twelve hours," the Jaguar coldly interrupted him. "I surprised it last night."
"Ah!" the Colonel exclaimed, in stupor.
"Did I not tell you that I had serious news to impart to you?" the young man continued; "Would you like, now, to learn the second item?"
"The second!" the Colonel repeated, utterly astounded; "And what can the second item be? After what I have just heard, I can expect anything."
"The second item is this: the Libertad corvette has been boarded by the privateer brig, with which it and chored at sunset beneath the guns of the fort."
At this unexpected revelation the Colonel staggered like a drunken man; he turned pale as a corpse, and his limbs were agitated by a convulsive movement.
"Woe, woe!" he exclaimed in a choking voice.
The Jaguar felt moved with pity at the sight of this true and poignant grief.
"Alas! my friend," he said gently, "it is the fortune of war."