"What do you mean?"
"Only, General, that you may possibly be ignorant of certain events that have happened."
"I think I have heard grave events rumoured, though I do not exactly know what has happened."
"Listen, then! The Libertad corvette is in the hands of the insurgents."
"Impossible!" the General exclaimed, bounding in his chair.
"General," the young officer said, in a mournful voice, "I have to inform you of something more serious still."
"Pardon me, my friend, perhaps I am mistaken, but it seems to me highly improbable that you could have obtained such positive news during the pleasure trip you have been making."
"Not only, General, have the insurgents seized the Libertad, but they have also made themselves masters of the Fort of the Point."
"Oh!" the General shouted, as he rose passionately, "this time, Colonel, you are badly informed; the Fort of the Point is impregnable."
"It was taken in an hour by thirty Freebooters, commanded by the Jaguar."