"'Get up,' said they, 'Señor Barradas—get up—you are wanted.'
"But old Barradas either slept like a top, or he was too wary to open; for he heeded them not.
"Then I heard Juan and Martin muttering curses as they deliberately forced open the door; next there came a terrible cry of—
"'Help! Pedrillo, help! Ayuda, por amor de neustra Señora Santissima!'
"This was followed by sounds like those made by a sheep when the knife of the carnicero is in its throat; and, in the meantime, Martin's two daughters were singing as loud as they could, and dancing a bolero in the passage, to conceal these terrible sounds, which froze the blood within me."
Here Pedrillo paused.
"Go on," said Jack Hall, impatiently; "and how did you escape?"
"If the noble señors would help me to refresh my memory——"
"Ah, I comprehend," said I, tossing a peseta to him; "now fire away, Pedrillo."
"You should not encourage this young picaro, Señor Caballero," said the Spaniard, whose face was now darkened by a terrible frown; "for it is my belief that he was the mere decoy, who led poor old Pedro Barradas to that villanous posada."