"Ah!" he said, on perceiving don Jaime, and making a movement toward him; "You are really going with me? I had hoped that you would change your mind."
"Ah, General," he replied gaily, "the remark is most kind."
"You are well aware that you ought not to take it in ill part."
"The proof is that I have brought two friends of mine, who absolutely insist in following you, General."
"I beg them to accept my thanks. Happy is the man who, in falling from such a height, has friends to render his fall less heavy."
"You have no reason to complain, General, for you do not want for friends," the count remarked, with a bow.
"It is true," he muttered, taking a sorrowful glance around him; "I am not alone yet."
The conversation continued in this tone for some time. An hour after, midnight struck at the sagrario. Miramón drew himself up.
"Let us go, gentlemen," he said in a firm voice; "the hour has arrived to abandon the city."
"Sound the boot and saddle!" an officer shouted.