"Patriots." Exclaimed the other stranger, hastily.
"All I say;" observed the man drily, "is, that if you are friends of the Conde, he will treat you as you deserve. If enemies, the same. So, backward."
"Onward, you mean."
"Ay, for me; but not for you, señores, you have left the castle a mile to the left."
"I guessed right, you see," said Alphonse, "when I guessed left."
The muleteer passed on, and the horsemen followed.
"I say, hidalgo mio," called out Ernest, "what sort of a don is this same Conde?"
"As how?" inquired the muleteer.
"Is he rich?"
"Yes."