Page:Madrid shaver's adventures in the Spanish Inquisition (4).pdf/22

22 my sworn protector, the patron of my fortune, he my enemy! impossible. Well, Sir, replied the captain, if my advice do not meet belief, I must so far exert my authority for your sake, as to make this ship your prison, till I have waited on our minister at Lisbon, and made the enquiries necessary for your safety; suspend your judgment upon the seeming harshness of this measure till I return to you again; and, at the same time, rising from his seat, he gave orders for the barge; after leaving strict injunctions with the first lieutentant not to allow of the governor's quitting the frigate, he put off for the shore.

The emissaries of the inqisition having at last traced Pedrosa, our captain had no sooner turned into the porch of the hotel of Buenos Ayres, than he was accosted by a messenger of state, with a requisition for the surrender of Pedrosa. As soon as this requisition was explained to our worthy captain, he dispatched the midshipman, to make the best of his way back to the frigate, and deliver a letter to the lieutenant; then turning to the messenger, he said, That Spaniard is now borne on my books, and before you shall take him out of the service of my king you must sink his ship. He instantly proceeded to the house of the British Minister: here he found Pedrosa’s intelligence, with regard to the Governor, expressly verified.

The generous captain lost no time in returning to his frigate, where he immediately imparted to Don Manuel the intelligence he had obtained at the British Minister’s. The proposal was now suggested, of sending letters into Spain, and the