"I certainly have, and of a very important nature."
"Ah! Ah!" said the other, rubbing his hands eagerly; "pray let me have it, my dear señor."
"Listen, then. Miramón is at the last gasp. He wants money, and cannot possibly obtain any. The troops, nearly all recruits, badly armed, and worse clothed, have not been paid for two months, and are murmuring."
"Very good! Poor dear Miramón! He is in a very bad way, then?"
"The worse for him is, that the clergy, who promised at the outset to come to his assistance, have now refused their help."
"But," the guerillero remarked, ironically, "how is it that you are so well informed, my dear sir?"
"Do you not know that I am attaché to the Spanish Embassy?"
"That is true—I forgot it; pray excuse me. What more do you know?"
"The ranks of the partisans of the president are daily growing thinner: his old friends are abandoning him. Hence, in order to raise him slightly in public opinion, he has resolved to attempt a sortie, and attack General Berriozábal's division."
"Come, come! That is worth knowing!"