Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-10-29
$500 PER ANNUM.

y
rather the nearest road-for there is nothing
very direct in that country-from Burgos tC
Astorga. For my part preferred roundabout
ways at that time to straight ones found then
safer Pedro had nice garden, too, beautifully
cultivated, and tho prettiest little black-eyet
Andalusian wife-Pedro was also native o.
the south of Spain-a mans eyes over lighted
upon. Pedro in his youth had takon service
with a Spanish grandee, who, being compelled
to fly his country-a common, everyday thing
abroad-took up his abode in Paris and there
Pedro got rid of his fne old constitutional
prejudices against foreigners, and obtained in
exchange some modern universal philanthropy
about the most dangerous thing to go to mar
ket with in Spain it is possible to imagine
And sure am that if Pedro had known what
a dreadful mess his turning philosopher would
get M, into, to say nothing of his wife, he was
far too good fellow to have done anything Of
the sort"
"But what on earth, Captain Smith," inter-
rupted Tape, "could philosophy, Pedro's, OIL
any ones else, have to do with you?"
You will hear, Tape: it was his liberal-mind-
edness and my tender-heartednos joined to-
gether that played the mischief with us both
An excellent fellow, notwithstanding" contin-
ned tho captain, after brief pause, twas Ped
ro Davila; too good for spaniard, much; one
could hardly believe it of him. was going to
say he was equal to an Englishman, but that
perhaps would be pushing it too far. Many a
skin of wine have we cmptied together mono
of the sloe stuff you get here, but the genuine
juice of tho grape itself" The captain smacked
his lips at the pleasing reminiscence, and then,
to reward them for the exercise, imbibed por-
tion of another den,i-tasse, craftly qualified to
his taste
AT the time speak Of it was highly danger
Gus to harbor, succor, or conceal any French
man, woman, or child. Death, or worse pun
ishmcnt, was pretty sure to be the doom of any
one offending against that law Of vengeance
and it happened that one of the most ferocous
| of minor guerilla leaders, relentless hunter
and slayer of miserable fugitives, was Ramez,
a native Of the village or town near which Ped
ro lived. He was seldom long absent from
homo; and was, in fact the real governor OF
the place.
"Well, it CHANGED one unfortunate day that q
wounded French officer, who had been chased
| for several days by Ramez and his men, crawled
into Pedro's cottage, and implored shelter and
succor. His request was, as you may antici-
pate after what have told you of Pedro's no.
tions of philosophy granted; and the hunted
man was successfully concealed, carefully tend
ed, and restored to health. The day of his de-
parture had arrived; be was carefully disguised
mounted on Pedro's mule, and was just bidding
| his benefactor goodbye at the garden gate,
(Nlarietta fortunately, as il turned out, was moi
at homc,) when who should poke his diabolical
snout from the other side of the hedge but
Ramcz The ugliest rascal, gentlemen" con-
tinued Captain Smith, with violent emphasis,
the most ill-favored scoundrel ever saw in
my life was Ramez; and that from a man who
has been twenty years in tho army, and who
has lived upwards of twenty in London, is say
ing great deal"
This was quite cheerfully assented to. The
ugliness that after such a heightened and frs
rate experience bore off the palm, was pro-
nounced necessarily incompatible by the entir,
auditory.
ale gave poor Pedro" continued the cap.
tain, "one most diabolical look, I'm be bound
the streaks from his eyes-he always squintee
both sides nwards when he WAS in passion
crossed each other within an inch of his nose,
then rushed forward and bawled Justify fol
help. The Frenchman spurred furiously into
the adjoining forest, and escaped Pedro was
seized, and the alpha and the omego of it, as
the chaplain of the old half-hundredth used to
say, was, that ho was lugged to prison, tried
few hours afterwards, and condemned to death
as traitor II was a wild time them most pla-
ces managed their own affairs their own way,
and this was Master Ramez and the alcade's
way. Pedro was to have been strangled, ga
roted they call it, but there was no apparatus
handy, and nobody that particularly liked the
job SO, as particular heavenly grace to him,
the alcade said, it was determined he should be
shot on the third day after his arrest"
"1t happened" resumed the captain, after
again refreshing himself " that was, on the
very day after Pedro's arrestand condemnation.
returning from Burgos to General Picton',
headquarters, good way beyond Astorga
md being near, and in no particular hurry,
turned ont of my road to visit Pedro. When
arrived at the cottage, I found things, as yot
may suppose, in very different state from whai
had been imagining for the last hour or SO
Instead of wine there was Mysteries and fora.
,melette and salad, shrieks and Paintings. Ms
'ietta clung round my neck with tremendou
nergy-I should not have thought, if l had no
experienced it, that pretty woman's embrac,
could have been so very unpleasant-fra
ally beseeching me to send for the British army
liberate her Pedro. EItricating myself from,
Ter grasp as speedily as possible, began t.
,ast about in my mind as to what could b
lone; but could not at all clear up my ideas
Remembering that never had been able to d,
20 on lean stomach, suggested that we shoult
irst dine, and then perhaps l might hit upor
,omething for poor Pedro's benefit Marietta
lgreed with me; and we had, considering thai
ner husband and my dearest friend was to be
shot the day after the next, very nice com
ortablo dinner indeed-very-and some capt.
tal wine afterwards; aud then, gentlemen, the
ather of mischief, or the wine, or Mariettas
jlack eyes, don't know which, perhaps alto
either, induced me to make as spoonya propo-
al as ever fell from the lips Of green cock
ley."
There are clever, sensible men In the city.r