And verily his habiliments were of a much more respectable appearance than any which he had sported on former occasions.  His coat and pantaloons, which were of light green, were nearly new.  On his head he still wore an Andalusian hat, but the present one was neither old nor shabby, but fresh and glossy, and of immense altitude of cone:  whilst in his hand, instead of the ragged staff which I had observed at Saint James and Oviedo, he now carried a huge bamboo rattan, surmounted by the grim head of either a bear or lion, curiously cut out of pewter.

“You have all the appearance of a treasure seeker returned from a successful expedition,” I exclaimed.

“Or rather,” interrupted Antonio, “of one who has ceased to trade on his own bottom, and now goes seeking treasures at the cost and expense of others.”

I questioned the Swiss minutely concerning his adventures since I last saw him, when I left him at Oviedo to pursue my route to Santander.  From his answers I gathered that he had followed me to the latter place; he was, however, a long time in performing the journey, being weak from hunger and privation.  At Santander he could hear no tidings of me, and by this time the trifle which he had received from me was completely exhausted.  He now thought of making his way into France, but was afraid to venture through the disturbed provinces, lest he should fall into the hands of the Carlists, who he conceived might shoot him as a spy.  No one relieving him at Santander, he departed and begged his way till he found himself in some part of Aragon, but where he scarcely knew.  “My misery was so great,” said Bennet, “that I nearly lost my senses.  Oh, the horror of wandering about the savage hills and wide plains of Spain, without money and without hope!  Sometimes I became desperate, when I found myself amongst rocks and barrancos, perhaps after having tasted no food from sunrise to sunset, and then I would raise my staff towards the sky and shake it, crying, lieber herr Gott, ach lieber herr Gott, you must help me now or never; if you tarry, I am lost; you must help me now, now!  And once when I was raving in this manner, methought I heard a voice, nay I am sure I heard it, sounding from the hollow of a rock, clear and strong; and it cried, ’Der schatz, der schatz, it is not yet dug up; to Madrid, to Madrid.  The way to the schatz is through Madrid.’  And then the thought of the schatz once more rushed into my mind, and I reflected how happy I might be, could I but dig up the schatz.  No more begging, then, no more wandering amidst horrid mountains and deserts; so I brandished my staff, and my body and my limbs became full of new and surprising strength, and I strode forward, and was not long before I reached the high road; and then I begged and bettled as I best could, until I reached Madrid.”

“And what has befallen you since you reached Madrid?” I inquired.  “Did you find the treasure in the streets?”