"Then be so good, I beg you, as to explain yourself freely. The duke knows all our secrets; moreover, it is not fair to our friends that we should make what interests us a mystery to them."
"Here is the affair in a few words," answered Don Zeno Cabral, with a bow. "The two prisoners, who were to have been tried tomorrow as spies by the council of war—Don Louis Ortego and the Count de Mendoza—that I myself arrested at the Cabildo on the night of the fête—"
"Well?" interrupted General Moratin.
"Well, they have escaped."
"Escaped!" cried the governor, with surprise.
"This very day, at sunrise, disguised as Franciscan monks. Accomplices held their horses, all prepared, at the gates of the town."
"Oh! Oh! That seems to me decided treason!" cried the general, knitting his eyebrows "I will—"
"Do nothing," interrupted Don Zeno; "any step would now be useless; they have fourteen hours in advance, and people travel quickly when it is to save their lives."
"When did you hear of this escape, of which no one has informed me?"
"You were hunting, general."