In our forward movement we had the bad fortune to run upon certain of the servants engaged in carrying various hot foods to the dining chamber where the guests were soon expected to assemble.
Here Robbins—confound his luck!—was right in the swim again, while I, being only a rear guard, as it were, had to jog along carrying that miserable bag, and cheated out of my due.
He seemed to have his hand in, and assailed those terrified peons hip and thigh with a lusty vigor that would have done credit to any knight-errant or swashbuckler.
They did some remarkable acrobatic feats under the influence he brought to bear, and it was a miracle that Robbins escaped the deluge of flying viands that strewed the passage after the encounter.
But our end was attained, we had a free and unobstructed way to the exit, and the gardens lay beyond.
The music had abruptly stopped; I could easily imagine how the demoralized alcalde had hurled the players over each other in his fierce desire to make himself heard.
His booming voice sounded like a broadside from the old frigate Constitution, and what he said brought out a tremendous ovation from the male part of his hearers.
We were not lingering just then to discover what his idea of the whole matter might be—in fact, we had not the slightest curiosity in that direction, and but one aim in life—to reach a harbor of refuge.
I was well pleased to see the rear door again—here we had gained entrance to the grand casa, and it was necessary that it serve us again as an exit.
Doubtless, already the numerous visitors of the noble hidalgo were scouring every room and corridor of the great pile of masonry, eager to discover the bold rascals who had dared set upon his excellency and use him as though he were an ox in the shambles.