"Well, and me; what have I to do with all this?"
"You, my dear sir, we arrest you as a presumed accomplice of these caballeros, in company of whom you have introduced yourself to the cabildo, and with whom you have been talking a long time."
"Ah! That is madness!" exclaimed the painter, at the height of astonishment; "But I am not at all a friend of these caballeros."
"Enough!" coldly answered the captain; "Now, gentlemen, give up the arms that you probably conceal in your clothing if you do not wish to be searched."
The two Spaniards exchanged a look; then, by a movement rapid as thought, they rushed with an invincible force upon the sentinels who were barring their passage, overthrew them, and bounded into the court.
But here they found themselves in the presence of some twenty soldiers, hidden beforehand, who precipitated themselves upon them, and in the twinkling of an eye they were searched and disarmed.
"Well, we give ourselves up," said the count; "you need not lay hands on us anymore, and treat us like bandits."
The soldiers immediately moved a little on one side, and allowed the prisoners, ruffled by their fall, to put their clothing a little in order.
This struggle, short as it was, had, nevertheless, attracted a great number of people.
"Come," said Captain Quiroga, rudely seizing the arm of the painter, to make him descend the steps.