By and by they overtook me, and politely intimated their
intention of making me their prisoner. I smiled, and, drawing forth
my protection from the War Office, handed it to them. They looked
surprised, and gave it back, with an apology for having molested me,
then left me to pursue my way in peace.
I had, of course, been very lucky throughout all this adventure; still,
I did not wish to attribute my easy escape entirely to luck, for I
had, I thought, contributed a good deal towards it by my promptness
in acting and in inventing a plausible story on the spur of the moment.
Feeling very much elated, I strolled along the sunny streets, gaily
swinging my cane, when, turning a corner near Dona Isidora's house,
I suddenly came face to face with Don Hilario. This unexpected encounter
threw us both off our guard, he recoiling two or three paces backwardand
turning as pale as the nature of his complexion would allow. I
recovered first from the shock. So far I had been able to baffle him,
and knew, moreover, many things of which he was ignorant; still, he
was there in the town with me and had to be reckoned with, and I quickly
resolved to meet him as a friend, affecting entire ignorance of his
object in coming to Montevideo.
"Don Hilario--you here! Happy the eyes that behold you," I exclaimed,
seizing and shaking his hand, pretending to be overjoyed at the meeting.
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