Part 1: Bautista, Chapter 3 Summary

When Sharpe and Harper enter the room where Bautista is, they see that he already has a large audience of over twenty military officers. Bautista makes the decisions of a military commander, periodically asking questions of the officers. Bautista asks a few questions of Sharpe regarding his experiences at Waterloo, and then Bautista uses Sharpe's answer to support his boasting that soon he will defeat the rebels. Then Bautista announces that they have caught the thieves that stole Sharpe's belongings and shot Harper.

After Sharpe and Harper examine all of the belongings that Bautista has his men display on a table, Sharpe notices that the portrait of Napoleon, the gift Sharpe was supposed to give to Colonel Charles, is missing. Sharpe decides not to mention the missing portrait. Bautista calls for the two thieves to be brought in shackles...