Still I must speak.
'Why?--because I am drunk and wish to lie without till I grow sober. By
whose orders? By mine, I am an officer of the day, and if you disobey
I'll have you flogged till you never ask another question.'
'Shall I call the Teules within?' said the man sulkily to his companion.
'No,' he answered; 'the lord Sarceda is weary and gave orders that he
should not be awakened without good cause. Keep them in or let them
through as you will, but do not wake him.'
I trembled in every limb; de Garcia was in the guardhouse! What if he
awoke, what if he came out and saw me? More--now I guessed whose voice
it was that I knew again; it was that of one of those Tlascalans who had
aided in tormenting me. What if he should see my face? He could scarcely
fail to know that on which he had left his mark so recently. I was dumb
with fear and could say nothing, and had it not been for the wit of
Otomie, there my story would have ended. But now she played her part
and played it well, plying the man with the coarse raillery of the camp,
till at length she put him in a good humour, and he opened the gate,
bidding her begone and me with her. Already we had passed the gate when
a sudden faintness seized me, and I stumbled and fell, rolling over on
to my back as I touched the earth.
'Up, friend, up!' said Otomie, with a harsh laugh.
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