"Oh! I swear it, excellency," he said, turning out all his pockets.
"Well," El Garrucholo continued philosophically, "no man is bound to do impossibilities, and as you have only that—"
"I am sure of it," the other said, fancying himself saved.
"Well, then," the lieutenant continued, "let him be only attached by one ear: we must be honest."
An immense burst of laughter from the whole band greeted this proposition. The landlord was carried off to a tree, and before he understood what they meant to do to him, he uttered a frightful yell of pain. A bandit had fastened him to the tree by the right ear, by simply driving his knife through it.
"There, that's settled," the lieutenant said. "Now, I warn you that, if you continue to howl, I will have you gagged."
"Traitors, dogs, assassins, kill me!"
"No. But listen; that wound is nothing. It is easy for you to deliver yourself by a slight tug. Your ear will be torn, I allow, but you can't have everything. As soon as you are free, return home; one of our friends will accompany you, and you will pay him the rest of the sum."
"Never!" the landlord howled, "Never! I would sooner die!"
"Very good; then you shall die, and after that we will carry off the contents of the hiding place you have so cleverly made in the wall of your cuarto, by placing before it a picture of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Eh! What do you think of that?"