"I will be with you again directly."
And he left the room.
The colonel was still in the same position as when we left him. He had lighted a considerable number of husk cigarettes, and the nicotine was beginning to act gently on his brain; his eyelids were drooping; in short, he was just on the point of going to sleep. The sudden entrance of the captain aroused him from this state of torpor, and he raised his head.
"Pray pardon my having left you alone so long," the young man said; "but an unforeseen event——"
"You are quite excused," the colonel answered politely. "Still I should have been charmed had you thought of advising the Count de Lhorailles of my arrival, for the affair that brought me here admits of no delay."
The captain regarded the Mexican with surprise.
"How!" he said, "the Count de Lhorailles?"
"Certainly: it is to him alone that I must communicate the dispatches of which I am bearer."
"But the Count de Lhorailles has been dead for nearly a year. Were you not aware of the fact?"
"My word, no, sir, I confess."