“At this question my blood ran cold.  I had had enough of speaking Spanish.  I was trying to get away from Spain and everything that belonged to that country; but I thought it safest to speak the truth, and I answered that I understood the language.  The emperor now beckoned to one of his officers, and ordered him to talk with me in Spanish.  I had been in Spain in the early part of the preceding century, and I had there learned to speak the pure Castilian tongue, so that when the officer talked with me I could see that he was surprised, and presently he told the emperor that he had never heard any one who spoke such excellent Spanish.  The emperor fixed his eyes upon me.  ‘You must have traveled a great deal,’ he said.  ‘You should not be wasting your time with stones and mortar.’  Then, turning to the officer who had spoken to me, he said, ’He understands Spanish so well that we may make him useful.’  He was about to address me again, but was interrupted by the arrival of an orderly with a despatch.  This he read hastily, and walked toward the officers who were waiting for him; but before he left me he ordered me to report myself at his tent, which was not far off in the field.  He then walked away, evidently discussing the despatch, which he still held open in his hand.

“Now I was again plunged into the deepest apprehension and fear.  I did not want to go back to Spain, not knowing what might happen to me there.  Every evil thing was possible.  I might be recognized, and the emperor might not care to shield any one claimed by the law as an escaped thief.  In an instant I saw all sorts of dreadful possibilities.  I determined to take no chances.  The moment the emperor’s back was turned upon me I got over the broken part of the wall and, interfered with by no one, passed quietly along the road to the house of the man who had employed me to do his mason-work, and seeing no one there,—­for every window and door was tightly closed,—­I walked into the yard and went to the well, which was concealed from the road by some shrubbery.  I looked quickly about, and perceiving that I was not in sight of any one, I got into the well and went down to the bottom, assisting my descent by the well-rope.  The water was about five feet deep, and when I first entered it, it chilled me; but nothing could chill me so much as the thought that I might be taken back into Spain, no matter by whom or for what.  I must admit that I was doing then, and often had done, that which seemed very much like cowardice; but people who can die cannot understand the fear which may come upon a person who has not that refuge from misfortune.

“For the rest of the day I remained in the well, and when people came to draw water—­and this happened many times in the course of the afternoon —­I crouched down as much as I could; but at such times I would have been concealed by the descending bucket, even if any one had chosen to look down the well.  This bucket was a heavy one with iron hoops, and I had a great deal of trouble sometimes to shield my head from it.”