A chair; "what have we here; are
these also papers of the Gypsies?" I instantly determined upon
submitting no longer to this behaviour, and taking the fellow by
the arm, led him out of the apartment, and then still holding him,
conducted him downstairs from the third floor in which I lived,
into the street, looking him steadfastly in the face the whole
while.
The fellow had left his sombrero on the table, which I dispatched
to him by the landlady, who delivered it into his hand as he stood
in the street staring with distended eyes at the balcony of my
apartment.
"A trampa has been laid for you, Don Jorge," said Maria Diaz, when
she had reascended from the street; "that corchete came here with
no other intention than to have a dispute with you; out of every
word you have said he will make a long history, as is the custom
with these people: indeed he said, as I handed him his hat, that
ere twenty-four hours were over, you should see the inside of the
prison of Madrid."
In effect, during the course of the morning, I was told that a
warrant had been issued for my apprehension. The prospect of
incarceration, however, did not fill me with much dismay; an
adventurous life and inveterate habits of wandering having long
familiarized me to situations of every kind, so much so as to feel
myself quite as comfortable in a prison as in the gilded chamber of
palaces; indeed more so, as in the former place I can always add to
my store of useful information, whereas in the latter, ennui
frequently assails me.
