"All right?" said the other, with a laugh. "That's good too!"
At this all the crowd around laughed jeeringly.
"I belong to the good cause," said Brooke. "I'm a loyal subject of His Majesty. Viva el Rey!"
He expected some response to this loyal sentiment, but the actual result was simply appalling. The captain looked at him, and then at Talbot, with a cruel stare.
"Ah!" said he. "I thought so. Boys," he continued, turning to his men, "we're in luck. We'll get something out of these devils. They're part of the band. They can put us on the track."
This remark was greeted with a shout of applause.
"Allow me to inform you, señor," said the captain to the unfortunate Brooke, "that you have made a slight mistake. You are not our friends, but our enemies. We are not Carlists, but Republicans. I am Captain Lopez, of the Fourteenth Regiment, and have been detailed with these brave fellows on a special mission. You are able to give us useful information; but if you refuse to give it you shall both be shot."
In spite of the terrible mistake which he had made, Brooke kept his coolness and his presence of mind admirably.
"I'm very glad to hear it," said he to Lopez. "The fact is, I thought
you were Carlists, and so I said that I was one too—as any one would
do. But I'm not a Carlist; I'm a Republican."
Lopez, at this, gave utterance to a derisive laugh.