In the meantime Lorenzo Bezan was remanded to his dismal prison and cell, and was told to prepare for the death that would soon await him.  One week only was allowed him to arrange such matters as he desired, and then he was informed that he would be shot by his comrades in the execution field, at the rear of the city barracks.  It was a sad and melancholy fate for so young and brave an officer; but the law was imperative, and there was no reprieve for him.

The cold and distant reception that General Harero had received at Don Gonzales’s house since the sentence had been publicly pronounced against Captain Lorenzo Bezan, had afforded unmistakable evidence to him that if his victim perished on account of the charge he had brought against him, his welcome with Isabella and her father was at an end.  But what was to be done?  As we have said, he had gone too far to retrace his steps in the matter.  Now if it were but possible to get out of the affair in some way, he said to himself, he would give half his fortune.  Puzzling over this matter, the disappointed general paced back and forth in his room until past midnight, and at last having tired himself completely, both mentally and physically, he carelessly threw off his clothes, and summoning his orderly, gave some unimportant order, and prepared to retire for the night.

But scarcely had he locked his door and drawn the curtains of his windows, when a gentle knock at the door caused him once more to open it, when an orderly led in a person who was closely wrapped up in a cloak, and after saluting respectfully left the new comer alone with his superior.

“Well, sir, did you obtain me those keys?” asked General Harero.

“I did, and have them here, general,” was the reply.

“You say there is no need of my entering at the main postern.”

“None.  This first key opens the concealed gate in the rear of the guard house, and this the door that leads to the under range of the prison.  You will require no guide after what I have already shown you.  But you have promised me the fifty ounces.”

“I have.”

“And will hold me harmless?”

“At all hazards.”

“Then here are the keys.”

“Stay; it would be as well for you to be about at the time specified, to avert any suspicions or immediate trouble.”

“I will be on the alert, general.  You may rely upon me in this business, since you pay for my services so liberally.”

“Good night, sir.”

“Good night, general.”

And gathering his cloak about him, the stranger vanished stealthily through the door, which General Harero closed and locked after him.  Having consummated the preliminaries to some piece of rascality or secret business that he did not care to make public.