CHAPTER I.

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BLACKWOOD'S

EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

No. CCCLXV. MARCH, 1846. VOL. LIX.

CONTENTS.

THE TWENTY-FOURTH BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. (IN ENGLISH HEXAMETERS,) 259

THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA. PART V., 273

MOSES AND SON. A DIDACTIC TALE, 294

VICHYANA, 306

IT'S ALL FOR THE BEST. CONCLUSION, 319

THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA, 337

MR BROOKE OF BORNEO, 356

THE SMUGGLER'S LEAP. A PASSAGE IN THE PYRENEES, 366

MINISTERIAL MEASURES, 373

EDINBURGH:

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;

AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

_To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._

SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.

BLACKWOOD'S

EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

NO. CCCLXV. MARCH, 1846. VOL. LIX.

THE TWENTY-FOURTH BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD,

ATTEMPTED IN ENGLISH HEXAMETERS.

[It may be thought idle or presumptuous to make a new attempt towards

the naturalization among us of any measure based on the ancient

hexameter. Even Mr Southey has not been in general successful in such

efforts; yet no one can deny that here and there--as, for instance, at

the opening of his _Vision of Judgment_, and in his Fragment on

_Mahomet_--he has produced English hexameters of very happy

construction, uniting vigour with harmony. His occasional success marks

a step of decided progress. Dr Whewell also, in some passages of his

_Hermann and Dorothea_, reached a musical effect sufficient to show,

that, if he had bestowed more leisure, he might have rendered the whole

of Goethe's masterpiece in its original measure, at least as agreeably

as the _Faust_ has been presented to us hitherto. Mr Coleridge's

felicity, both in the Elegiac metre and a slight variation of the

Hendecasyllabic, is universally acknowledged.

The present experiment was made before the writer had seen the German

Homer of Voss; but in revising his MS. he has had that skillful

performance by him, and he has now and then, as he hopes, derived

advantage from its study. Part of the first book of the _Iliad_ is said

to have been accomplished by Wolff in a still superior manner; but the

writer has never had the advantage of comparing it with Voss. Nor was he

acquainted, until he had finished his task, with a small specimen of the

first book in English hexameters, which occurs in the _History of

English Rhythms_, lately published by Mr E. Guest, of Caius College,

Cambridge.

Like Voss and Mr Guest, he has chosen to adhere to the Homeric names of

the deities, in place of adopting the Latin forms; and in this matter he

has little doubt that every scholar will approve his choice. Mr

Archdeacon Williams has commonly followed the same plan in those very

spirited prose translations that adorn his learned Essay, _Homerus_.

It is hardly necessary to interpret these names: as, perhaps, no one

will give much attention to the following pages, who does not already

know that ZEUS answers to Jupiter--and that KRONION is a usual Homeric

designation of Zeus, signifying the son of KRONOS = SATURN: that HERA is

Juno; POSEIDON, Neptune: ARES, Mars; ARTEMIS, Diana; APHRODITE, Venus;

HERMES, Mercury; and so forth.

Should this experiment be received with any favour, the writer has in

his portfolio a good deal of Homer, long since translated in the same

manner; and he would not be reluctant to attempt the completion of an

Iliad in English Hexameters, such as he can make them.

N.N.T.

LONDON, _Jan._ 31, 1846.]

* * * * *

Now the assembly dissolv'd; and the multitude rose and disperst them,

Each making speed to the ships, for the needful refreshment of nature,

Food and the sweetness of sleep; but alone in his tent was Achilles,

Weeping the friend that he lov'd; nor could Sleep, the subduer of all

things,

Master his grief; but he turn'd him continually hither and thither,

Thinking of all that was gracious and brave in departed Patroclus,

And of the manifold days they two had been toilfully comrades,

Both in the battles of men and the perilous tempests of ocean.

Now on his side, and anon on his back, or with countenance downward,

Prone in his anguish he sank: then suddenly starting, he wander'd,

Desolate, forth by the shore; till he noted the burst of the morning

As on the waters it gleam'd, and the surf-beaten length of the

sand-beach.

Instantly then did he harness his swift-footed horses, and corded

Hector in rear of the car, to be dragg'd at the wheels in dishonour.

Thrice at the speed he encircled the tomb of the son of Menoetius,

Ere he repos'd him again in his tent, and abandon'd the body,

Flung on its face in the dust; but not unobserv'd of Apollo.

He, though the hero was dead, with compassionate tenderness eyed him,

And with the aegis of gold all over protected from blemish,

Not to be mangled or marr'd in the turbulent trailing of anger.

Thus in the rage of his mood did he outrage illustrious Hector;

But from the mansions of bliss the Immortals beheld him with pity,

And to a stealthy removal incited the slayer of Argus.

This by the rest was approv'd; but neither of Hera, the white-arm'd,

Nor of the Blue-eyed Maid, nor of Earth-disturbing Poseidon.

Steadfast were they in their hatred of Troy, and her king, and her

people,

Even as of old when they swore to avenge the presumption of Paris,

Who at his shieling insulted majestical Hera and Pallas,

Yielding the glory to her that had bribed him with wanton allurements.

But when suspense had endured to the twelfth reappearance of morning,

Thus, in the midst of the Gods, outspake to them Phoebus Apollo:

"Cruel are ye and ungrateful, O Gods! was there sacrifice never

Either of goats or of beeves on your altars devoted by Hector,

Whom thus, dead as he lies, ye will neither admit to be ransom'd,

Nor to be seen of his wife, or his child, or the mother that bore him,

Nor of his father the king, or the people, with woful concernment

Eager to wrap him in fire and accomplish the rites of departure?

But with the sanction of Gods ye uphold the insensate Achilles,

Brutal, perverted in reason, to every remorseful emotion

Harden'd his heart, as the lion that roams in untameable wildness;

Who, giving sway to the pride of his strength and his truculent impulse,

Rushes on sheep in the fold, and engorges his banquet of murder;

So has the Myrmidon kill'd compassion, nor breathes in his bosom

Shame, which is potent for good among mortals, as well as for evil.

Dear was Patroclus to him, but the mourner that buries a brother,

Yea, and the father forlorn, that has stood by the grave of his

offspring,

These, even these, having wept and lamented, are sooth'd into calmness,

For in the spirit of man have the Destinies planted submission.

But because Hector in battle arrested the life of his comrade,

Therefore encircling the tomb, at the speed of his furious horses,

Drags he the corse of the fall'n: Neither seemly the action nor prudent;

He among Us peradventure may rouse a retributing vengeance,

Brave though he be, that insults the insensible clay in his frenzy."

Hera, the white-arm'd queen, thus answer'd Apollo in anger:

"Thou of the Silvern Bow! among them shall thy word have approval,

Who in equivalent honour have counted Achilles and Hector.

This from a man had his blood, and was nurs'd at the breast of a woman;

He that ye estimate with him, conceiv'd in the womb of a Goddess,

Rear'd by myself, and assign'd by myself for the consort of Peleus,

Whom above all of his kindred the love of Immortals exalted.

And ye were witnesses, Gods! Thou, too, at the feast of the Bridal,

Thou, with the lyre in thy hand, ever-treacherous, friend of the guilty!"

But the Compeller of Clouds thus answer'd her, interposing:

"Hera! with Gods the debate, nor beseems the upbraiding of anger.

Not in equivalent honour the twain; yet was generous Hector

Dearest at heart to the Gods among Ilion's blood of the death-doom'd:

Dearest to me; for his gifts from his youth were unfailingly tender'd;

Never to altar of mine was his dutiful sacrifice wanting,

Savour, or costly libation; for such is our homage appointed.

Dear was the generous Hector; yet never for that shall be sanction'd

Stealthy removal, or aught that receives not assent from Achilles.

Daily and nightly, be sure, in his sorrow his mother attends him;

Swiftly some messenger hence, and let Thetis be moved to approach me:

So may some temperate word find way to his heart, and Peleides

Bend to the gifts of the king, and surrender the body of Hector."

Zeus having spoken, up sprang, for his messenger, swift-footed Iris;

And between Samos anon and the rocks of precipitous Imber

Smote on the black sea-wave, and about her the channel resounded:

Then, as the horn-fixt lead drops sheer from the hand of the islesman,

Fatal to ravenous fish, plung'd she to the depth of the ocean:

Where in a cavern'd recess, the abode of the sisterly Sea-nymphs,

Thetis the goddess appear'd, in the midst of them sitting dejected;

For she was ruefully brooding the fate of her glorious offspring,

Doom'd to a Phrygian grave, far off from the land of his fathers.

Near to her standing anon, thus summon'd her wind-footed Iris:

"Thetis, arise! thou art called by Zeus whose decrees are eternal."

But she was instantly answer'd by Thetis the silvery-footed:--

"Why hath the Mightiest called for me? Overburthen'd with sorrow,

How shall I stand in the place where the Gods are assembled in splendour?

Yet will I go: never word that He speaketh in vain may be spoken."

So having spoken, the Goddess in majesty peerless, arising,

Veil'd her in mantle of black; never gloomier vesture was woven;

And she advanced, but, for guidance, the wind-footed Iris preceded.

Then the o'erhanging abyss of the ocean was parted before them,

And having touched on the shore, up darted the twain into AEther;

Where, in the mansion of Zeus Far-seeing, around him were gather'd

All the assembly of Gods, without sorrow, whose life is eternal:

And by the throne was she seated; for Blue-eyed Pallas Athena

Yielded the place; and, the goblet of gold being tender'd by Hera

Softly with comforting words, soon as Thetis had drank and restored it,

Then did the Father of gods and of men thus open his purpose:

"Thou to Olympus hast come, O Goddess! though press'd with affliction;

Bearing, I know it, within thee a sorrow that ever is wakeful.

Listen then, Thetis, and hear me discover the cause of the summons:

Nine days agone there arose a contention among the Immortals,

Touching the body of Hector and Town-destroying Achilles:

Some to a stealthy removal inciting the slayer of Argus,

But in my bosom prevailing concern for the fame of Peleides,

Love and respect, as of old, toward Thee, and regard of hereafter.

Hasten then, Thou, to the camp, and by Thee let thy son be admonished:

Tell that the Gods are in anger, and I above all the Immortals,

For that the corse is detain'd by the ships, and he spurns at a ransom;

If there be awe toward me, let it move the surrender of Hector.

Iris the while will I send to bid generous Priam adventure,

That he may rescue his son, straightway to the ships of Achaia,

Laden with gifts for Achilles, wherewith to appease and content him."

Nor was the white-footed Thetis unsway'd by the word of Kronion;

But she descended amain, at a leap, from the peaks of Olympus,

And to the tent of her son went straight; and she found him within it

Groaning in heavy unrest--but around him his loving companions

Eager in duty appear'd, as preparing the meal for the midday.

Bulky and woolly the sheep they within the pavilion had slaughter'd.

Then by the side of the chief sat Thetis the mother majestic,

And she caress'd with her hand on his cheek, and address'd him and named

him--

"How long wilt thou, my child, thus groan, in a pauseless affliction

Eating thy heart, neither mindful of food nor the pillow of slumber?

Well were it surely for thee to be mingled in love with a woman;

Few are, bethink thee, the days thou shalt live in the sight of thy

mother;

Near even now stands Death, and the violent Destiny shades thee.

Listen meantime to my word, for from Zeus is the message I bear thee;

Wrathful, he says, are the Gods, but himself above all the Immortals,

For that in rage thou detainest the dead, nor is ransom accepted.

Haste thee, deliver the corse, and be sooth'd with the gifts of

redemption."

Ceased then Thetis divine, and Peleides the swift-footed answer'd:

"So let it be: let a ransom be brought, and the body surrender'd,

Since the Olympian minds it in earnest, and sends the commandment."

Thus at the station of ships had the son and the mother communion.

Iris from Zeus meanwhile had descended to Ilion holy:

"Go," said he, "Iris the swift, and make speed from the seat of Olympus

Down into Ilion, bearing my message to generous Priam.

Forth to the ships let him fare with a ransom to soften Peleides--

Priam alone; not a man from the gates of the city attending:

Save that for driving the mules be some elderly herald appointed,

Who may have charge of the wain with the treasure, and back to the city

Carefully carry the dead that was slain by the godlike Achilles.

Nor be there death in the thought of the king, nor confusion of terror;

Such is the guard I assign for his guiding, the slayer of Argus,

Who shall conduct him in peace till he reaches the ships of Achaia.

Nor when, advancing alone, he has enter'd the tent of Peleides,

Need there be fear that he kill: he would shield him if menac'd by

others;

For neither reasonless he, nor yet reckless, nor wilfully wicked:

But when a suppliant bends at his knee he will kindly entreat him."

Swift at the bidding of Zeus arose wind-footed Iris, and nearing

Soon the abode of the king, found misery there and lamenting:

Low on the ground, in the hall, sat the sons of illustrious Priam,

Watering their raiment with tears, and in midst of his sons was the old

man,

Wrapt in his mantle, the visage unseen, but the head and the bosom

Cover'd in dust, wherewith, rolling in anguish, his hands had bestrewn

them;

But in their chambers remote were the daughters of Priam bewailing,

Mindful of them that, so many, so goodly, in youth had been slaughter'd

Under the Argive hands. But the messenger charged by Kronion

Stood by the king and in whispers address'd him, and hearing he trembled:

"Strengthen thy spirit within thee, Dardantan Priam, and fear not:

For with no message of evil have I to thy dwelling descended,

But with a kindly intent, and I come from the throne of Kronion,

Who, though afar be his seat, with concern and compassion beholds thee.

Thee the Olympian calls to go forth for the ransom of Hector,

Laden with gifts for Peleides, wherewith to appease and content him.

Go thou alone: not a man from the gates of the city attending;

Only for guiding the mules be some elderly herald appointed,

Who may have charge of the wain with its treasure, and back to the city

Carefully carry the dead that was slain by the godlike Achilles."

Thus having spoken to Priam, the wind-footed Iris departed;

And he commanded his sons straightway to make ready the mule-wain,

Strong-built; sturdy of wheel, and upon it to fasten the coffer.

But he himself from the hall to his odorous chamber descended,

Cedarn, lofty of roof, wherein much treasure was garner'd,

And unto Hecuba calling, outspake to her generous Priam:--

"Mourner! but now at my hand hath a messenger stood from Kronion;

Me he commands to go forth to the ships for redeeming of Hector,

Carrying gifts for Peleides, wherewith to appease and content him.

Answer me truly, my spouse, and declare what of this is thy judgment,

For of a surety my heart and my spirit with vehement urgence

Move me to go to the ships and the wide-spread host of Achaians."

Thus did he say; but the spouse of the old man shriekt, and made answer:

"Wo to me! whither are scatter'd the wits that were famous aforetime,

Not with the Trojans alone, but afar in the lands of the stranger?

Wo to me! thou to adventure, alone, to the ships of Achaia,

Into the sight of the man by whose fierceness thy sons have been

murder'd,

Many, and comely, and brave! Of a surety thy heart is of iron;

For if he holds thee but once, and his eyes have been fasten'd upon thee,

Bloody and faithless is he, hope thou neither pity nor worship.

Him that is taken away let us mourn for him here in our dwelling,

Since we can see him no more; the immoveable Destiny markt him,

And it was wove in his thread, even so, in the hour that I bare him,

To be the portion of dogs, who shall feast on him far from his parents,

Under the eyes of the foe: whose liver if I could but grapple

Fast by the midst to devour, he then should have just retribution

For what he did to my son; for in no misbehaving he slew him,

But for the men of his land and the well-girt women of Troia

Firm stood Hector in field; neither mindful of flight nor avoidance."

This was her answer from Priam, the old man godlike in presence:--

"Hold me not back when my will is to go; nor thyself in my dwelling

Be the ill-omening bird:--howbe, thou shalt not persuade me.

Had I been bidden to this by a mortal of earth's generation,

Prophet, or Augur, or Priest might he be, I had deem'd him deceitful;

Not to go forth, but to stay, had the more been the bent of my purpose:

But having heard her myself, looking face unto face on the Goddess,

Go I, nor shall the word be in vain; and, if Destiny will'd me,

Going, to meet with my death at the ships of the brass-coated Argives,

So let it be. I refuse not to die by the hand of Achilles,

Clasping my son in mine arms, the desire of my sorrow accomplish'd."

So having spoken, he open'd the coffers that shone in his chamber,

Whence he selected, anon, twelve shawls surpassingly splendid;

Delicate wool-cloaks twelve, and the like of embroidered carpets;

Twelve fair mantles of state, and of tunics as many to match them.

Next, having measur'd his gold, did he heap ten plentiful talents;

Twain were the tripods he chose, twice twain the magnificent platters;

Lastly, a goblet of price, which the chieftains of Thracia tender'd

When he on embassy journey'd: a great gift, yet did the old man

Grudge not to pluck from his store even this, for his spirit impell'd him

Eager to ransom his son: But the people who look'd on his treasure

Them did he chase from the gate, and with bitter reproaches pursued

them:--

"Graceless and worthless, begone! in your homes is there nothing to weep

for,

That ye in mine will harass me--or lacks it, to fill your contentment,

That the Olympian god has assign'd to me this tribulation--

Loss of a son without peer? But yourselves shall partake my affliction;

Easier far will it be for the pitiless sword of the Argives,

Now he is dead, to make havoc of you. For myself, ere I witness

Ilion storm'd in their wrath, and the fulness of her desolation,

Oh, may the Destiny yield me to enter the dwelling of Hades!"

Speaking, he smote with his staff, and they fled from the wrath of the

old man;

But, when they all had disperst, he upbraided his sons and rebuked them;

Deiphobus and Alexander, Hippothoeus, generous Dius,

Came at the call of the king, with Antiphonus, Helenus, Pammon,

Agathon, noble of port, and Polites, good at the war-shout:--

These were the nine that he urged and admonish'd with bitter

reproaches:--

"Hasten ye, profitless children and vile! if ye all had been slaughter'd,

Fair were the tidings to me, were but Hector in place of ye skaithless!

O, evil-destinied me! that had sons upon sons to sustain me,

None to compare in the land, and not one that had worth is remaining!

Mentor the gallant and goodly, and Troeilus prompt with the war-team;

Hector, a god among men--he, too, who in nothing resembled

Death-doom'd man's generation, but imaged the seed of Immortals--

Battle hath reft me of these:--but the shames of my house are in safety;

Jesters and singers enow, and enow that can dance on the feast-day;

Scourges and pests of the realm; bold spoilers of kids and of lambkins!

Will ye bestir ye at length, and make ready the wain and the coffer,

Piling in all that ye see, and delay me no more from my journey?"

So did he speak; but the sons, apprehending the wrath of their father,

Speedfully dragg'd to the portal the mule-wain easily-rolling,

New-built, fair to behold; and upon it the coffer was corded.

Next from the pin they unfasten'd the mule-yoke, carv'd of the box-tree,

Shaped with a prominent boss, and with strong rings skilfully fitted.

Then with the bar was unfolded the nine ells' length of the yoke-band;

But when the yoke had been placed on the smooth-wrought pole with

adroitness,

Back at the end of the shaft, and the ring had been turn'd on the holder,

Hither and thither the thongs on the boss made three overlappings,

Whence, drawn singly ahead, they were tight-knit under the collar.

Next they produced at the portal, and high on the vehicle seemly

Piled the uncountable worth of the king's Hectorean head-gifts.

Then did they harness the mules, strong-hoof'd, well-matcht in their

paces,

Sent of the Mysi to Priam, and splendid the gift of the stranger:

Last, to the yoke they conducted the horses which reverend Priam

Tended and cherish'd himself, of his own hand fed at the manger;

But in the high-built court these harness'd the king and the herald,

None putting hand to the yoke but the old men prudent in counsel.

Hecuba, anxious in soul, had observ'd, and anon she approach'd them,

Goblet of gold in her hand, with the generous juice of the vine-tree,

Careful they might not go forth without worshipful rite of libation.

"Take," said she; "pour unto Zeus, and beseech him in mercy to shield

thee

Home again safe from the host, since thy vehement spirit impels thee

Forth to the ships, and my warning avails not to stay thee from going:

Pour it, and call on the Lord of the Black Cloud, greatest Kronion,

Him who, on Ida enthron'd, surveys wide Troia's dominion.

Pray for his messenger fleet to be issued in air on the right hand,

Dearest of birds in his eyes, without peer in the might of the winged:

Trustful in whom thou may'st go to the ships of the Danaeid horsemen.

But if the Thunderer God vouchsafe not his messenger freely,

Ne'er can I will thee to go, howsoever intent on the ransom."

Thus to her answer'd the king, old Priam, the godlike of presence:

"Spouse, not in this shall mine ear be averse to the voice of thy

counsel;

Good is it, lifting our hands, to implore for the grace of the Godhead."

Priam demanded amain of the handmaiden, chief of the household,

Water to lave on his hands; and the handmaiden drew from the fountain

At the command of the king, and with basin and ewer attended:

Then having sprinkled his hands, and from Hecuba taken the wine-cup,

Standing in midst of the court did he worship, and pour it before them,

Fixing his eyes upon heaven, and thus audibly made supplication:

"Father, enthron'd upon Ida, in power and in glory supremest!

Grant me, approaching Peleides, to find with him mercy and favour.

Now, let thy messenger fleet issue forth in the sky on the right hand,

Dearest of birds in thine eyes, without peer in the might of the winged,

Seeing and trusting in whom I may go to the ships of Achaia."

So did he make supplication, and Zeus All-Provident heard him,

And on the instant an eagle, of skyborne auguries noblest,

Dark and majestic, the hunter of AEther, was sent from his footstool.

Wide as the doorway framed for the loftiest hall of a rich man

Shows, when the bolts are undrawn and the balancing valves are expanded,

Such unto either extreme was the stretch of his wings as he darted

Clear from the right, oversweeping the city: and gazing upon him,

Comforted inly were they, every bosom with confidence gladden'd.

Now to his sumptuous car with alacrity Priam ascending,

Forth from the vestibule drove, and the echoing depth of the portal.

First was the fourwheel'd wain with the strong-hoof'd Mysian mule-team,

Guided by careful Idaeus, the herald: behind him the horses,

Whom with the scourge overstanding, alone in his chariot the old man

Eagerly urged through the city. But many the friends that attended,

Trooping in sorrowful throng, as if surely to death he were driving.

These, when advancing apace he went down to the plain from the rampart,

Turn'd them to Ilion again, both the sons and the sorrowing kindred.

But as he enter'd the plain, he escap'd not the eye of Kronion.

He took cognisance then, and with merciful favour beholding,

Forthwith spake to his son, ever loving in ministry, Hermes:--

"Go!" said he, "Hermes! for ever I know it thy chiefest contentment

Friendly to succour mankind, and thy pity attends supplication;

Go, and be Priam thy charge, till he reaches the ships of Achaia,

Watching and covering so that no eye of an enemy sees him,

None of the Danaeids note, till he comes to the tent of Peleides."

So Zeus; nor disobey'd him the kindly ambassador Hermes.

Under his feet straightway did he fasten the beautiful sandals,

Winged, Ambrosian, golden, which carry him, now over ocean,

Now over measureless earth, with the speed of the wind in its blowing.

Also he lifted the wand which, touching the eyelid of mortals,

Soothes into slumber at will, or arouses the soul of the sleeper.

Grasping it, forth did he fly in his vigour, the slayer of Argus,

And to the Hellespont glided apace, and the shore of the Trojan;

Walking whereon he appear'd as a stripling of parentage royal,

Fresh with the beard first-seen, in the comeliest blossom of manhood.

But having reach'd in their journey the mighty memorial of Ilus,

Now were the elders at pause--while the horses and mules in the river

Under the sepulchre drank, and around them was creeping the twilight:

Then was the herald aware of the Argicide over against them,

Near on the shadowy plain, and he started and whisper'd to Priam:

"Think, Dardanides! think--for a prudent decision is urgent;

Yonder a man is in view, and I deem he is minded to slay us.

Come, let us flee on the horses; or instantly, bending before him,

Supplicate, grasping his knees, if perchance he may pity the aged."

So did he speak; but confusion and great fear fell upon Priam,

And every hair was erect on the tremulous limbs in his faintness.

Dumb and bewilder'd he stood; but beneficent Hermes, approaching,

Tenderly took by the hand, and accosted and questioned the old man:

"Whither, O father! and why art thou driving the mules and the horses

Through the ambrosial night, when the rest of mankind are in slumber?

Is there no terror for thee in the pitiless host of Achaia,

Breathing of fury and hate, and so near to thy path in their leaguer?

Say, if but one of them see thee, 'mid night's swift-vanishing blackness,

Urging so costly a freight, how then might thy courage avail thee?

Thou art not youthful in years, and thy only attendant is aged;

How, if a spearman arise in thy way, may his arm be resisted?

But fear nothing from me, old man; were another assailing,

Thee would I help, for the father I love is recall'd when I view thee."

Then to him answered Priam, the old man godlike in presence:

"These things are of a truth, dear child, as thy speech has exprest them;

Nevertheless, some God has extended the hand of protection;

He that vouchsafes me to meet in my need a benevolent comrade,

Helpful and gracious as thou, in the blossom of vigorous manhood;

Prudent withal in thy mind--fair offspring of fortunate parents."

Him again answer'd in turn heaven's kindly ambassador, Hermes:

"True of a surety and wise, old man, are the words thou hast spoken;

But now freely resolve me, and fully discover thy purpose:

Whether the treasures thou bearest, so many, so goodly, are destined

Forth to some distant ally, with whom these may at least be in safety?

Or is it so that ye all are abandoning Ilion the holy--

Stricken with dread since the bravest and best of thy sons is removed,

He that was ever in battle the peer of the prime of Achaia?"

Thus unto Hermes replied old Priam, the godlike of presence:

"Who, then, noblest! art thou, and from whom is thy worshipful lineage,

Who makest mention so fair of the death of unfortunate Hector?"

But to him spake yet again the ambassador mild of Kronion:

"Dost thou inquire, O king! as to mention of Hector the godlike?

Him have I seen full oft with mine eyes in the glorious battle,

Yea, and when urging the chase he advanced to the ramparted galleys,

Trampling the Argive bands, and with sharp brass strew'd them in

slaughter.

We, from the station observing, in wonderment gazed; for Achilles

Held us apart from the fight in his wrath at the wrong of Atreides.

For in his train am I named, and the same fair galley convey'd me;

Born of the Myrmidon blood, in the house of my father, Polyctor.

Noble and wealthy is he in the land, but like thee he is aged:

Six were the sons in his hall, but myself was the seventh and the

youngest,

Whom, when the lots had been cast, it behov'd to depart with Peleides.

Now from the ships to the plain have I come, for to-morrow at dawning

Close to the city again the Achaians will plant them in battle:

Ill do they bear within ramparts to sit, and the kings of Achaia

Now can restrain them no longer, so hot their desire for the onslaught."

Him thus eagerly answer'd old Priam, the godlike in presence:

"Be'st thou indeed of the train of the Peleiades Achilles?

Come then, discover the truth: be there nothing, I pray, of concealment.

Is my son still at the galleys, or has he already been flung forth,

Piecemeal torn, for a feast to the dogs, by the hand of Achilles?"

This was in turn the reply of the kindly ambassador Hermes:

"Fear it not; neither the dogs, old man, nor the birds have devour'd him:

Still to this hour 'mid the tents, by the black-hull'd ship of Peleides,

He forsakenly lies: but though morning has dawn'd on him twelve times

Since he was reft of his breath, yet the body is free from corruption;

Nor have the worms, for whom war-slain men are a banquet, approach'd him.

Truly Peleides, as oft as the east is revived with the day-beam,

Ruthlessly drags him around by the tomb of his brotherly comrade;

But yet he mars not the dead; and with wonder thine eyes would behold him

How he in freshness lies: from about him the blood has been cleansed,

Dust has not tarnisht the hue, and all clos'd are the lips of the gashes,

All that he had, and not few were the brass-beat lances that pierc'd him.

Guarded so well is thy son by the grace of the blessed Immortals,

Dead though he be; of a surety in life they had favour'd him dearly."

So did he speak: but the elder was gladden'd in spirit, and answer'd:--

"Verily, child, it is good to attend on the blessed Immortals

Duly with reverent gifts; for my son (while, alas! he was living)

Never forgot in his home the Supreme who inherit Olympus:

Wherefore they think of him now, though in death's dark destiny humbled.

But come, take from my hand this magnificent cup: it is giv'n thee

Freely to keep for thyself; and conduct me, the Gods being gracious,

Over the shadowy field, till I reach the abode of Peleides."

Him thus answer'd amain the beneficent messenger Hermes:--

"Cease, old man, from the tempting of youth--for thou shalt not persuade

me.

Gift will I none at thy hand without knowledge of noble Achilles.

Great is my terror of him; and in aught to defraud him of treasure,

Far from my breast be the thought, lest hereafter he visit with

vengeance.

But for conducting of thee I am ready with reverent service,

Whether on foot or by sea, were it far as to glorious Argos.

None shall assail thee, be sure, in contempt of thy faithful attendant."

So did the Merciful speak: and he sprang on the chariot of Priam,

Seizing with strenuous hand both the reins and the scourge as he mounted:

And into horses and mules vivid energy pass'd from his breathing.

But when at last they arrived at the fosse and the towers of the galleys,

They that had watch at the gates were preparing the meal of the evening;

And the Olympian guide survey'd, and upon them was slumber

Pour'd at his will; and the bars were undone and the gates were expanded,

And he conducted within both the king and the ransoming mule-wain.

Swiftly advancing, anon they were near to the tent of Peleides:

Lofty the shelter and large, for the King by the Myrmidons planted;

Hewn of the pines of the mountain; and rough was the thatch of the

roof-tree,

Bulrushes mown on the meadow; and spacious the girth of the bulwark

Spanning with close-set stakes; but the bar of the gate was a pine-beam.

Three of the sons of Achaia were needful to lift it and fasten:

Three to withdraw from its seat the securement huge of the closure:

Such was the toil for the rest--but Achilles lifted it singly.

This the beneficent guide made instantly open for Priam.

And for the treasure of ransom wherewith he would soothe the Peleides;

Then did the Argicide leap from the car to the ground and address'd

him:--

"Old man, I from Olympus descended, a god everlasting,

Hermes, appointed the guide of thy way by my father Kronion.

Now I return to my place, nor go in to the sight of Achilles,

Since it beseems not Immortal of lineage divine to reveal him

Waiting with manifest love on the frail generation of mankind.

Enter the dwelling alone, and, embracing the knees of Peleides,

Him by his father adjure, and adjure by the grace of his mother,

And by the child of his love, that his mind may be mov'd at thy

pleading."

Thus having spoken, evanish'd, to lofty Olympus ascending,

Hermes: but Priam delay'd not, and sprang from his car on the sea-beach;

And, while Idaeus remain'd to have care of the mules and the horses,

On did the old man pass, and he enter'd, and found the Peleides

Seated apart from his train: two only of Myrmidons trustful,

Hero Automedon only, and Alkimus, sapling of Ares,

Near to him minist'ring stood; he repos'd him but now from the meal-time,

Sated with food and with wine, nor remov'd from him yet was the table.

All unobserv'd of them enter'd the old man stately, and forthwith

Grasp'd with his fingers the knees and was kissing the hands of

Achilles--

Terrible, murderous hands, by which son upon son had been slaughter'd.

As when a man who has fled from his home with the curse of the

blood-guilt,

Kneels in a far-off land, at the hearth of some opulent stranger,

Begging to shelter his head, there is stupor on them that behold him;

So was Achilles dumb at the sight of majestical Priam--

He and his followers all, each gazing on other bewilder'd.

But he uplifted his voice in their silence, and made supplication:--

"Think of thy father at home," (he began,) "O godlike Achilles!

Him, my coeval, like me within age's calamitous threshold!

Haply this day there is trouble upon him, some insolent neighbours

Round him in arms, nor a champion at hand to avert the disaster:

Yet even so there is comfort for him, for he hears of thee living;

Day unto day there is hope for his heart amid worst tribulation,

That yet again he shall see his beloved from Troia returning.

Misery only is mine; for of all in the land of my fathers,

Bravest and best were the sons I begat, and not one is remaining.

Fifty were mine in the hour that the host of Achaia descended:

Nineteen granted to me out of one womb, royally mother'd,

Stood by my side; but the rest were of handmaids born in my dwelling.

Soon were the limbs of the many unstrung in the fury of Ar[=e]s:

But one peerless was left, sole prop of the realm and the people:

And now at last he too, the protector of Ilion, Hector,

Dies by thy hand. For his sake have I come to the ships of Achaia,

Eager to ransom the body with bountiful gifts of redemption.

Thou have respect for the Gods, and on me, O Peleides! have pity,

Calling thy father to mind; but more piteous is my desolation,

Mine, who alone of mankind have been humbled to this of endurance--

Pressing my mouth to the hand that is red with the blood of my children."

Hereon Achilles, awak'd to a yearning remembrance of Peleus,

Rose up, took by the hand, and remov'd from him gently the old man.

Sadness possessing the twain--one, mindful of valorous Hector,

Wept with o'erflowing tears, lowlaid at the feet of Achilles;

He, sometime for his father, anon at the thought of Patroclus,

Wept, and aloft in the dwelling their long lamentation ascended.

But when the bursting of grief had contented the godlike Peleides,

And from his heart and his limbs irresistible yearning departed,

Then from his seat rose he, and with tenderness lifted the old man,

Viewing the hoary head and the hoary beard with compassion:

And he address'd him, and these were the air-wing'd words that he

utter'd:--

"Ah unhappy! thy spirit in truth has been burden'd with evils.

How could the daring be thine to come forth to the ships of Achaia

Singly, to stand in the eyes of the man by whose weapon thy children,

Many and gallant, have died? full surely thy heart is of iron.

But now seat thee in peace, old man, and let mourning entirely

Pause for a space in our minds, although heavy on both be affliction;

For without profit and vain is the fulness of sad lamentation,

Since it was destined so of the Gods for unfortunate mortals

Ever in trouble to live, but they only partake not of sorrow;

For by the threshold of Zeus two urns have their station of old time,

Whereof the one holds dolings of good, but the other of evil;

And to whom mixt are the doles of the thunder-delighting Kronion,

He sometime is of blessing partaker, of misery sometime;

But if he gives of the ill, he has fixt him the mark of disaster,

And over bountiful earth the devouring Necessity drives him,

Wandering ever forlorn, unregarded of gods and of mortals.

Thus of a truth did the Gods grant glorious gifts unto Peleus,

Even from the hour of his birth, for above compare was he favour'd,

Whether in wealth or in power, in the land of the Myrmidons reigning;

And albeit a mortal, his spouse was a goddess appointed.

Yet even to him of the God was there evil apportion'd--that never

Lineage of sons should be born in his home, to inherit dominion.

One son alone he begat, to untimely calamity foredoom'd;

Nor do I cherish his age, since afar from the land of my fathers

Here in the Troad I sit, to the torment of thee and thy children.

And we have heard, old man, of thine ancient prosperity also,

Lord of whatever is held between Lesbos the seat of the Macar,

Up to the Phrygian bound and the measureless Hellespontos;

Ruling and blest above all, nor in wealth nor in progeny equall'd;

Yet from the hour that the Gods brought this visitation upon thee,

Day unto day is thy city surrounded with battles and bloodshed.

How so, bear what is sent, nor be griev'd in thy soul without ceasing.

Nothing avails it, O king! to lament for the son that has fallen;

Him thou canst raise up no more, but thyself may have new tribulation."

So having said, he was answer'd by Priam the aged and godlike:

"Seat not me on the chair, O belov'd of Olympus! while Hector

Lies in the tent uninterr'd; but I pray thee deliver him swiftly,

That I may see with mine eyes: and, accepting the gifts of redemption,

Therein have joy to thy heart; and return thou homeward in safety,

Since of thy mercy I live and shall look on the light of the morning."

Darkly regarding the King, thus answer'd the rapid Achilles:

"Stir me to anger no more, old man; of myself I am minded

To the release of the dead, for a messenger came from Kronion

Hither, the mother that bore me, the child of the Ancient of Ocean.

Thee, too, I know in my mind, nor has aught of thy passage escap'd me;

How that some God was the guide of thy steps to the ships of Achaia.

For never mortal had dared to advance, were he blooming in manhood,

Here to the host by himself; nor could sentinels all be avoided;

Nor by an imbecile push might the bar be dislodg'd at my bulwark.

Therefore excite me no more, old man, when my soul is in sorrow,

Lest to thyself peradventure forbearance continue not alway,

Suppliant all that thou art--but I break the behest of the Godhead."

So did he speak; but the old man fear'd, and obey'd his commandment.

Forth of the door of his dwelling then leapt like a lion Peleides;

But not alone: of his household were twain that attended his going,

Hero Automedon first, and young Alkimus, he that was honour'd

Chief of the comrades around since the death of beloved Patroclus.

These from the yoke straightway unharness'd the mules and the horses,

And they conducted within the coeval attendant of Priam,

Bidding him sit in the tent: then swiftly their hands from the mule-wain

Raise the uncountable wealth of the King's Hectorean head-gifts.

But two mantles they leave and a tunic of beautiful texture,

Seemly for wrapping the dead as the ransomer carries him homeward.

Then were the handmaidens call'd, and commanded to wash and anoint him,

Privately lifted aside, lest the son should be seen of the father,

Lest in the grief of his soul he restrain not his anger within him,

Seeing the corse of his son, but enkindle the heart of Achilles,

And he smite him to death, and transgress the command of Kronion.

But when the dead had been wash'd and anointed with oil by the maidens,

And in the tunic array'd and enwrapt in the beautiful mantle,

Then by Peleides himself was he rais'd and compos'd on the hand-bier;

Which when the comrades had lifted and borne to its place in the

mule-wain,

Then groan'd he; and he call'd on the name of his friend, the beloved:--

"Be not wroth with me now, O Patroclus, if haply thou hearest,

Though within Hades obscure, that I yield the illustrious Hector

Back to his father dear. Not unworthy the gifts of redemption;

And unto thee will I render thereof whatsoever is seemly."

So said the noble Peleides, and ent'ring again the pavilion,

Sat on the fair-carv'd chair from whence he had risen aforetime,

Hard by the opposite wall, and accosted the reverend Priam:--

"Now has thy son, old man, been restor'd to thee as thou requiredst.

He on his bier has been laid, and thyself shall behold and remove him

Soon as the dawning appears: but of food meanwhile be we mindful.

For not unmindful of food in her sorrow was Niobe, fair-hair'd,

Albeit she in her dwelling lamented for twelve of her offspring.

Six were the daughters, and six were the sons in the flower of their

manhood.

These unto death went down by the silvern bow of Apollo,

Wrathful to Niobe--those smote Artemis arrow-delighting;

For that she vaunted her equal in honour to Leto the rosy,

Saying her births were but twain, and herself was abundant in offspring:

Wherefore, twain as they were, they confounded them all in destruction.

Nine days, then, did they lie in their blood as they fell, and approach'd

them

None to inter, for mankind had been turn'd into stones of Kronion;

But they had sepulture due on the tenth from the gods everlasting;

And then, mindful of food, rose Niobe, weary of weeping.

Yet still, far among rocks, in some wilderness lone of the mountains--

Sipylus holds there, they say, where the nymphs in the desert repose

them.

They that in beauty divine lead dances beside Acheloeus;--

There still, stone though she be, doth she brood on her harm from the

god-heads.

But, O reverend king, let us also of needful refreshment

Think now. Time will hereafter be thine to bewail thy beloved;

Home into Ilion borne--many tears may of right be his portion!"

So did he speak; and upspringing anon, swift-footed Achilles

Slaughter'd a white-wool'd sheep, and his followers skinn'd it expertly.

Skilfully then they divided, and skewer'd, and carefully roasting,

Drew from the spits; and Automedon came, bringing bread to the table,

Piled upon baskets fair; but for all of them carv'd the Peleides;

And each, stretching his hand, partook of the food that was offer'd.

But when of meat and of wine from them all the desire was departed,

Then did Dardanian Priam in wonderment gaze on Achilles,

Stately and strong to behold, for in aspect the Gods he resembled;

While on Dardanian Priam gazed also with wonder Achilles,

Seeing the countenance goodly, and hearing the words of the old man.

Till, when contemplating either the other they both were contented,

Him thus first bespake old Priam, the godlike in presence:

"Speedfully now let the couch be prepar'd for me, lov'd of Kronion!

And let us taste once more of the sweetness of slumber, reclining:

For never yet have mine eyes been clos'd for me under my eyelids,

Never since under thy hands was out-breathed the spirit of Hector;

Groaning since then has been mine, and the brooding of sorrows

unnumber'd,

In the recess of my hall, low-rolling in dust and in ashes.

But now of bread and of meat have I tasted again, and the black wine

Pour'd in my throat once more--whereof, since he was slain, I partook

not."

So did he speak; and Achilles commanded the comrades and handmaids

Under the porch of the dwelling to place fair couches, and spread them

Duly with cushions on cushions of purple, and delicate carpets,

Also with mantles of wool, to be wrapt over all on the sleepers.

But they speedily past, bearing torches in hand, from the dwelling,

And two couches anon were with diligence order'd and garnish'd.

Then to the king, in a sport, thus spoke swift-footed Achilles:

"Rest thee without, old guest, lest some vigilant chief of Achaia

Chance to arrive, one of those who frequent me when counsel is needful;

Who, if he see thee belike amid night's fast-vanishing darkness,

Straightway warns in his tent Agamemnon, the Shepherd of peoples,

And the completion of ransom meets yet peradventure with hindrance.

But come, answer me this, and discover the whole of thy purpose,--

How many days thou design'st for entombing illustrious Hector;

That I may rest from the battle till then, and restrain the Achaians."

So he; and he was answer'd by Priam, the aged and godlike:

"If 'tis thy will that I bury illustrious Hector in honour,

Deal with me thus, O Peleides, and crown the desire of my spirit.

Well dost thou know how the town is begirt, and the wood at a distance,

Down from the hills to be brought, and the people are humbled in terror.

Nine days' space we would yield in our dwelling to due lamentation,

Bury the dead on the tenth, and thereafter the people be feasted;

On the eleventh let us toil till the funeral mound be completed,

But on the twelfth to the battle once more, if the battle be needful."

Instantly this was the answer of swift-footed noble Achilles:

"Reverend king, be it also in these things as thou requirest;

I for the space thou hast meted will hold the Achaians from warring."

Thus said the noble Peleides, and, grasping the wrist of the right hand,

Strengthen'd the mind of the king, that his fear might not linger within

him.

They then sank to repose forthwith in the porch of the dwelling,

Priam the king and the herald coeval and prudent in counsel;

But in the inmost recess of the well-built lordly pavilion

Slept the Peleides, and by him down laid her the rosy Briseis.

All then of Gods upon high, ever-living, and warrior horsemen,

Slept through the livelong night in the gentle dominion of slumber;

But never slumber approach'd to the eyes of beneficent Hermes,

As in his mind he revolv'd how best to retire from the galleys

Priam the king, unobserv'd of the sentinels sworn for the night-watch.

Over his head, as he slept, stood the Argicide now, and address'd him:

"Old man, bodings of evil disturb not thy spirit, who slumber'st

Here among numberless foes, because noble Peleides has spared thee.

True that thy son has been ransom'd, and costly the worth of the

head-gifts;

Yet would the sons that are left thee have three times more to surrender,

Wert thou but seen by the host, and the warning convey'd to Atreides."

Thus did he speak, but the king was in terror, and waken'd the herald.

Then, when beneficent Hermes had harness'd the mules and the horses,

Swiftly he drove through the camp, nor did any observe the departure.

So did they pass to the ford of the river of beautiful waters,

Xanthus the gulfy, begotten of thunder-delighting Kronion;

Then from the chariot he rose and ascended to lofty Olympus.

But now wide over earth spread morning mantled in saffron,

As amid groaning and weeping they drew to the city; the mule-wain

Bearing behind them the dead: Nor did any in Ilion see them,

Either of men, as they came, or the well-girt women of Troia:

Only Cassandra, that imaged in grace Aphrodite the golden,

Had to the Pergamus clomb, and from thence she discover'd her father

Standing afoot on the car, and beside him the summoning herald;

And in the waggon behind them the wrapt corse laid on the death-bier.

Then did she shriek, and her cry to the ends of the city resounded:

"Come forth, woman and man, and behold the returning of Hector!

Come, if ye e'er in his life, at his home-coming safe from the battle

joyfully troop'd; and with joy might it fill both the town and the

people."

So did she cry; nor anon was there one soul left in the city,

Woman or man, for at hand and afar was the yearning awaken'd.

Near to the gate was the king when they met him conducting the

death-wain.

First rush'd, rending their hair, to behold him the wife and the mother,

And as they handled the head, all weeping the multitude stood near:--

And they had all day long till the sun went down into darkness

There on the field by the rampart lamented with tears over Hector,

But that the father arose in the car and entreated the people:

"Yield me to pass, good friends, make way for the mules--and hereafter

All shall have weeping enow when the dead has been borne to the

dwelling."

So did he speak, and they, parting asunder, made way for the mule-wain.

But when they brought him at last to the famous abode of the princes,

He on a fair-carv'd bed was compos'd, and the singers around him

Rang'd, who begin the lament; and they, lifting their sorrowful voices,

Chanted the wail for the dead, and the women bemoan'd at its pausings.

But in the burst of her woe was the beauteous Andromache foremost,

Holding the head in her hands as she mourn'd for the slayer of heroes:--

"Husband! in youth hast thou parted from life, and a desolate widow

Here am I left in our home; and the child is a stammering infant

Whom thou and I unhappy begat, nor will he, to my thinking,

Reach to the blossom of youth; ere then, from the roof to the basement

Down shall the city be hurl'd--since her only protector has perish'd,

And without succour are now chaste mother and stammering infant.

Soon shall their destiny be to depart in the ships of the stranger,

I in the midst of them bound; and, my child, thou go with them also,

Doom'd for the far-off shore and the tarnishing toil of the bondman,

Slaving for lord unkind. Or perchance some remorseless Achaian

Hurl from the gripe of his hand, from the battlement down to perdition,

Raging revenge for some brother perchance that was slaughter'd of Hector,

Father, it may be, or son; for not few of the race of Achaia

Seiz'd broad earth with their teeth, when they sank from the handling of

Hector;

For not mild was thy father, O babe, in the blackness of battle--

Wherefore, now he is gone, through the city the people bewail him.

But the unspeakable anguish of misery bides with thy parents,

Hector! with me above all the distress that has no consolation:

For never, dying, to me didst thou stretch forth hand from the pillow,

Nor didst thou whisper, departing, one secret word to be hoarded

Ever by day and by night in the tears of eternal remembrance."

Weeping Andromache ceased, and the women bemoan'd at her pausing;

Then in her measureless grief spake Hecuba, next of the mourners:

"Hector! of all that I bore ever dearest by far to my heart-strings!

Dear above all wert thou also in life to the gods everlasting;

Wherefore they care for thee now, though in death's dark destiny humbled!

Others enow of my sons did the terrible runner Achilles

Sell, whomsoever he took, far over the waste of the waters,

Either to Samos or Imber, or rock-bound harbourless Lemnos;

But with the long-headed spear did he rifle the life from thy bosom,

And in the dust did he drag thee, oft times, by the tomb of his comrade,

Him thou hadst slain; though not so out of death could he rescue

Patroclus.

Yet now, ransom'd at last, and restored to the home of thy parents,

Dewy and fresh liest thou, like one that has easily parted,

Under a pangless shaft from the silvern bow of Apollo."

So did the mother lament, and a measureless moaning received her;

Till, at their pausing anew, spake Helena, third of the mourners:--

"Hector! dearest to me above all in the house of my husband!

Husband, alas! that I call him; oh! better that death had befallen!

Summer and winter have flown, and the twentieth year is accomplish'd

Since the calamity came, and I fled from the land of my fathers;

Yet never a word of complaint have I heard from thee, never of hardness;

But if another reproach'd, were it brother or sister of Paris,

Yea, or his mother, (for mild evermore as a father was Priam,)

Them didst thou check in their scorn, and the bitterness yielded before

thee,

Touch'd by thy kindness of soul and the words of thy gentle persuasion.

Therefore I weep, both for thee and myself to all misery destined,

For there remains to me now in the war-swept wideness of Troia,

None either courteous or kind--but in all that behold me is horror."

So did she cease amid tears, and the women bemoan'd at her pausing;

But King Priam arose, and he spake in the gate to the people:--

"Hasten ye, Trojans, arise, and bring speedily wood to the city:

Nor be there fear in your minds of some ambush of lurking Achaians,

For when I came from the galleys the promise was pledged of Peleides,

Not to disturb us with harm till the twelfth reappearance of morning."

So did he speak: and the men to their wains put the mules and the oxen,

And they assembled with speed on the field by the gates of the city.

Nine days' space did they labour, and great was the heap from the forest:

But on the tenth resurrection for mortals of luminous morning,

Forth did they carry, with weeping, the corse of the warrior Hector,

Laid him on high on the pyre, and enkindled the branches beneath him.

Now, with the rose-finger'd dawn once more in the orient shining,

All reassembled again at the pyre of illustrious Hector.

First was the black wine pour'd on the wide-spread heap of the embers,

Quenching wherever had linger'd the strength of the glow: and thereafter,

Brethren and comrades belov'd from the ashes collected the white bones,

Bending with reverent tears, every cheek in the company flowing.

But when they all had been found, and the casket of gold that receiv'd

them,

Carefully folded around amid fair soft veilings of purple,

Deep in the grave they were laid, and the huge stones piled to the

margin.

Swiftly the earth-mound rose: but on all sides watchers were planted,

Fearful of rush unawares from the well-greaved bands of Achaia.

Last, when the mound was complete, and the men had return'd to the city,

All in the halls of the King were with splendid solemnity feasted.

Thus was the sepulture order'd of Hector the Tamer of Horses.

THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA.

PART V.

Va vienon chapelchurris

Con corneta y clarin,

Para entrar en Bilbao

A beber chacolin.

Mal chacolin tuvieron

Y dia tan fatal,

Que con la borrachera

Se murio el general.

_Christino Song._

"Ten--fifteen--thirty--all plump full-weighted coins of Fernando Septimo

and Carlos Quarto. Truly, Jaime, the trade thou drivest is a pleasant

and profitable one. Little to do, and good pay for it."

It was a June day, a little past the middle of the month. Just within

the forest that extended nearly up to the western wall of the Dominican

convent, upon a plot of smooth turf, under the shadow of tall bushes and

venerable trees, Jaime, the gipsy, had seated himself, and was engaged

in an occupation which, to judge from the unusually well-pleased

expression of his countenance, was highly congenial to his tastes. The

resting-place he had chosen had the double advantage of coolness and

seclusion. Whilst in the court of the convent, and in the hollow square

in the interior of the building, where the nuns cultivated a few

flowers, and which was sprinkled by the waters of a fountain, the heat

was so great as to drive the sisters to their cells and shady cloisters,

in the forest a delicious freshness prevailed. A light air played

between the moss-clad tree-trunks, and the soft turf, protected by the

foliage from the scorching rays of the sun, felt cool to the foot that

pressed it. Nay, in some places, where the shade was thickest, and where

a current of air flowed up through the long vistas of trees, might still

be seen, although the sun was in the zenith, tiny drops of the morning

dew, spangling the grass-blades. Into those innermost recesses of the

greenwood, however, the esquilador had not thought it necessary to

penetrate: habituated to the African temperature of Southern Spain, he

was satisfied with the moderate degree of shelter obtained in the little

glade he occupied; into which, although the sunbeams did not enter, a

certain degree of heat was reflected from the convent walls, of whose

grey surface he obtained a glimpse through the branches. The sheep-skin

jacket which was his constant wear--its looseness rendering it a more

endurable summer garment than might have been inferred from its warm

material--lay upon the grass beside him, exposing to view a woollen

shirt, composed of broad alternate stripes of red and white; the latter

colour having assumed, from length of wear and lack of washing, a tint

bordering upon the orange. He had untwisted the long red sash which he

wore coiled round his waist, and withdrawn from its folds, at one of its

extremities, forming a sort of purse, a goodly handful of gold coin, the

result of the more or less honest enterprises in which he had recently

been engaged. This he was counting out, and arranging according to its

kind, in glittering piles of four, eight, and sixteen-dollar pieces. A

grim contortion of feature, his nearest approach to a smile, testified

the pleasure he experienced in thus handling and reckoning his treasure;

and, in unusual contradiction to his taciturn habits, he indulged, as he

gloated over his gold, in a muttered and disjointed soliloquy.

"Hurra for the war!" so ran his monologue; "may it last till Jaime bids

it cease. 'Tis meat and drink to him--ay, and better still." Here he

glanced complacently at his wealth. "Surely 'tis rare fun to see the

foolish Busne cutting each other's throats, and the poor Zincalo reaping

the benefit. I've had fine chances certainly, and have not thrown them

away. Zumalacarregui does not pay badly; then that affair of the

Christino officer was worth a good forty ounces, between him and the

fool Paco; and now Don Baltasar--but he is the worst pay of all.

Promises in plenty; he rattles them off his tongue as glib as the old

nuns do their _paters_; but if he opens his mouth he takes good care to

keep his purse shut. A pitiful two score dollars are all I have had from

him for a month's service--I should have made more by spying for

Zumalacarregui; with more risk, perhaps--though I am not sure of that.

Both the noble colonel and myself would stretch a rope if the general

heard of our doings. And hear of them he will, sooner or later unless

Don Baltasar marries the girl by force, and cuts Paco's throat. Curse

him! why doesn't he pay me the fifty ounces he promised me? If he did

that, I would get out of the way till I heard how the thing turned. I

must have the money next time I see him, or"----

What alternative the esquilador was about to propound must remain

unknown; for, at that moment, the sound of his name, uttered near at

hand, and in a cautious tone, caused him to start violently and

interrupt his soliloquy. Hastily sweeping up his money, and thrusting it

into the end of his sash, he seized his jacket, and was about to seek

concealment in the neighbouring bushes. Before doing so, however, he

cast a glance in the direction whence the sound had proceeded, and for

the first time became aware that the spot selected for the telling of

his ill-gotten gains was not so secure from observation as he had

imagined. In the outer wall of the western wing of the convent, and at

some distance from the ground, two windows broke the uniformity of the

stone surface. Hitherto, whenever the gipsy had noticed them, they had

appeared hermetically blocked up by closely-fitting shutters, painted to

match the colour of the wall, of which they almost seemed to form a

part. On taking up his position just within the skirt of the forest, the

possibility of these casements being opened, and his proceedings

observed, had not occurred to him; and it so happened that from one of

them, through an opening in the branches, the retreat he had chosen was

completely commanded. The shutter of this window had now been pushed

open, and the lovely, but pallid and emaciated countenance of Rita, was

seen gazing through the strong bars which traversed the aperture.

"Jaime!" she repeated; "Jaime, I would speak with you."

Upon seeing whom it was who thus addressed him, the gipsy's alarm

ceased. He deliberately put on and knotted his sash; and casting his

jacket over his shoulder, turned to leave the spot.

"Jaime!" cried Rita for the third time, "come hither, I implore you."

The gipsy shook his head, and was walking slowly away, his face,

however, still turned towards the fair prisoner, when she suddenly

exclaimed--

"Behold! For one minute's conversation it is yours."

And in the shadow cast by the embrasure of the casement, Jaime saw a

sparkle, the cause of which his covetous eye at once detected. Three

bounds, and he stood under the window. Rita passed her arm through the

bars, and a jewelled ring dropped into his extended palm.

"_Hermoso!_" exclaimed the esquilador, his eyes sparkling almost as

vividly as the stones that excited his admiration. "Beautiful! Diamonds

of the finest water!"

The shock of her father's death, coupled with previous fatigue and

excitement, had thrown Rita into a delirious fever, which for more than

three weeks confined her to her bed. Within a few hours of her arrival

at the convent, Don Baltasar had been compelled to leave it to resume

his military duties; and he had not again returned, although, twice

during her illness, he sent the gipsy to obtain intelligence of her

health. On learning her convalescence, he dispatched him thither for a

third time, with a letter to Rita, urging her acceptance of his

hand--their union having been, as he assured her, her father's latest

wish. As her nearest surviving relative, he had assumed the office of

her guardian, and allotted to her the convent as a residence; until such

time as other arrangements could be made, or until she should be

willing to give him a nearer right to protect her. Jaime had now been

two days at the convent awaiting a reply to this letter, without which

Don Baltasar had forbidden him to return. This reply, however, Rita,

indignant at the restraint imposed upon her, had as yet, in spite of the

arguments of the abbess, shown no disposition to pen.

With her forehead pressed against the bars of the window, Rita noted the

delight manifested by the gipsy at the present she had made him. She had

already observed him feasting his eyes with the sight of his money; and

although she knew him to be an agent of Don Baltasar, his evident

avarice gave her hopes, that by promise of large reward she might induce

him to betray his employer and serve her. Producing a second ring, of

greater value than the one she had already bestowed upon him, she showed

it to the wondering esquilador. He held up his hands instinctively to

catch it.

"You may earn it," said Rita; "and twenty such."

And whilst with one hand she continued to expose the ring to the greedy

gaze of the gipsy, with the other she held up a letter.

"For Don Baltasar?" asked the Gitano.

"No," said she. "For Zumalacarregui."

Jaime made a step backwards, and again shook his head. Rita feared that

he was about to leave her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I entreat, I beseech you, assist me in this

strait. Whatever sum your vile employer has promised you, I will give

tenfold. Take my letter, and name your reward."

"That's what the other said," muttered Jaime; "'name your reward,' but

he is in no hurry to pay it. If I thought her promises better than

his"----

And again he looked up at the window, and seemed to hesitate.

"Listen," cried Rita, who saw him waver; "I am rich--you are poor. I

have farms, estates, vineyards--you shall choose amongst them wherewith

to live happily for the rest of your days. Convey this letter safely,

and exchange your comfortless and disreputable wanderings for a settled

home and opulence."

Jaime made a gesture of refusal.

"Your lands and your vineyards, your fields and farms, are no temptation

to the Zincalo, senora. What would they avail him? Your countrymen would

say, 'Out upon the gipsy! See the thief!' and they would defraud him of

his lands, and spit on him if he complained. No, senorita, give me a

roving life, and the wealth that I can carry in my girdle, and defend

with my knife."

"It shall be as you will," cried Rita, eagerly. "Gold, jewels, whatever

you prefer. This letter will procure my freedom; and, once free, you

shall find me both able and disposed to reward you beyond your wildest

dreams."

"Yes, if the general does not hang me when he learns my share in the

business."

"I have not named you to him, nor will I. The letter is unsealed; you

can read before delivering it. Your name shall never be breathed by me,

save as that of my preserver."

There was an accent of sincerity in Rita's promises that rendered it

impossible to mistrust them. The gipsy, sorely tempted, was evidently

about to yield. He gazed wistfully at the ring, which Rita still held up

to his view; his eyes twinkled with covetousness, and he half extended

his hand. Rita slipped the ring into the fold of the letter, and threw

both down to him. Dexterously catching, and thrusting them into his

breast, he glanced furtively around, to see that he was unobserved. He

stood near the wall, just under the window, and the iron bars preventing

Rita from putting out her head, only the upper half of his figure was

visible to her. At that moment, to her infinite surprise and alarm, she

saw an extraordinary change come over his features. Their expression of

greedy cunning was replaced, with a suddenness that appeared almost

magical, by one of pain and terror; and scarcely had Rita had time to

observe the transformation, when he lay upon the ground, struggling

violently, but in vain, against some unseen power, that drew him

towards the wall. He caught at the grass and weeds, which grew in

profusion on the rarely-trodden path; he writhed, and endeavoured to

turn himself upon his face, but without success. With pale and terrified

visage, but in dogged silence, he strove against an agency invisible to

Rita, and which he was totally unable to resist. His body speedily

vanished from her sight, then his head, and finally his outstretched

arms; the rustling noise, occasioned by his passage through the herbage,

ceased; and Rita, aghast at this extraordinary and mysterious

occurrence, again found herself alone. We will leave her to her

astonishment and conjecture, whilst we follow the gipsy to the place

whither he had been so involuntarily and unceremoniously conveyed, a

description of which will furnish a key to his seemingly unaccountable

disappearance.

It was a vault of considerable extent, surrounded by casks of various

sizes, most of which would, on being touched, have given, by their

ringing sound, assurance of their emptiness. In bins, at one extremity

of the cellar, were a number of bottles, whose thick mantle of dust and

cobwebs spoke volumes for the ripe and racy nature of their contents. A

large chest of cedar-wood stood in the innermost nook of the cellar,

with raised lid, disclosing a quantity of cigars, worm-eaten and musty

from extreme age. In the massive wall, forming one end of the vault, and

which was in fact the foundation of the outer wall of the convent, was a

large doorway; but the door had been removed, and the aperture filled

with stones and plaster, forming a barrier more solid in appearance than

reality. This barrier had recently been knocked down; its materials lay

scattered on the ground, and through the opening thus made, came the

only light that was allowed to enter the vault. It proceeded from the

cell in which Paco, the muleteer, had for more than a month been

imprisoned.

Long, very long and wearisome, had that month of captivity appeared to

Paco. Accustomed to a life of constant activity and change, it would

have been difficult to devise for him a severer punishment than inaction

and confinement. The first day he passed in tolerable tranquillity of

mind, occupied by vain endeavours to conjecture the motives of the

violence offered to him, and momentarily anticipating his release; and

although evening came without its taking place, he went to sleep, fully

convinced that the next morning would be the term of his durance.

Conscious of no crime, ignorant of Count Villabuena's death, and of Don

Baltasar's designs, he was totally unable to assign a reason for his

imprisonment. The next morning came, the bolts of his dungeon-door were

withdrawn; he started from his pallet. The door opened, and a man

entered, bringing a supply of fresh water and a meagre gaspacho. This he

laid down; and was leaving the cell without replying to Paco's indignant

and loudly-uttered interrogatories; when the muleteer followed, and

attempted to force his way out. He was met by a stern "Back!" and the

muzzle of a cocked blunderbuss touched his breast. A sturdy convent

servitor barred the passage, and compelled him to retreat into his

prison.

Paco now gave free course to his impatience. During the whole of that

day he paced his cell with the wild restlessness of a newly-caged

panther; the gaspacho remained untasted, but the water-jug was quickly

drained, for his throat was dry with cursing. The next morning another

visit, another gaspacho and supply of water, and another attempt to

leave the prison, repulsed like the previous one. On the third day,

however, his hopes of a prompt liberation having melted away before the

dogged silence and methodical regularity of his jailers, Paco began to

cast about in his mind for means of liberating himself. First he shook

and examined the door, but he might as well have attempted to shake the

Pyrenees; its thick hard wood and solid fastenings mocked his efforts,

and moreover he had no instruments, not so much as a rusty nail, to aid

him in his attempt. The two side-walls next received his attention; but

they were of great blocks of stone, joined by a cement of nearly equal

hardness, and on which, although he worked till his nails were torn to

shreds, and his fingers ran blood, he could not make the slightest

impression. As to the wall opposite to the door, he did not even examine

it; for it was easy to judge, from the grass and bushes growing against

the window in its top, that it was the outer wall of the convent. On

this, since he could make nothing of the partition-walls, all labour

would of course be thrown away; and even if he could bore through it, he

must find the solid earth on the other side, and be discovered before he

could possibly burrow his way out. As to the window, or rather the

iron-barred opening through which came light and air, for any purposes

of escape it might as well not have been there, for its lower edge was

nearly fourteen feet from the ground; and although Paco, who was a

first-rate leaper, did, in his desperation, and in the early days of his

captivity, make several violent attempts to jump up and catch hold of

the grating, they were all, as may be supposed, entirely without result.

It was the thirty-fifth day of his imprisonment, an hour after daybreak.

His provisions for the next twenty-four hours had been brought to him,

and, as usual, he had made an unsuccessful effort to induce his sullen

jailer to inform him why he was confined, and when he should be

released. Gloomy and disconsolate, he seated himself on the ground, and

leaned his back against the end wall of his dreary dungeon. The light

from the window above his head fell upon the opposite door, and

illuminated the spot where he had scratched, with the shank of a button,

a line for each day of his imprisonment. The melancholy calendar already

reached one quarter across the door, and Paco was speculating and

wondering how far it might be prolonged, when he thought he felt a

stream of cold wind against his ear. He placed his hand where his ear

had been, and plainly distinguished a current of air issuing from a

small crevice in the wall, which otherwise was smooth and covered with

plaster. Without being much of a natural philosopher, it was evident to

Paco, that if wind came through, there must be a vault on the other side

of the wall, and not the solid earth, as he had hitherto believed; and

it also became probable that the wall was deficient either in thickness

or solidity. After some scratching at the plaster, he succeeded in

uncovering the side of a small stone of irregular shape. A vigorous push

entirely dislodged it, and it fell from him, leaving an opening through

which he could pass his arm. This he did, and found that although on one

side of the aperture the wall was upwards of two feet thick, on the

other it was not more than six or eight inches, and of loose

construction. By a very little labour he knocked out half-a-dozen

stones, and then, weary of thus making an opening piecemeal, he receded

as far as he could, took a short run, and threw himself against the wall

with all his force. After a few repetitions of this vigorous but not

very prudent proceeding, the frail bulwark gave way, and amidst a shower

of dust and mortar, Paco entered the vault into which he had conquered

his passage.

The vault had apparently served, during some former occupation of the

convent by monks, as the wine-cellar of the holy fathers; and had been

walled up, not improbably, to protect it from the depredations of the

French soldiery during Napoleon's occupation of Spain. As already

mentioned, it was well stocked with casks of all sorts and sizes, most

of them empty and with bottles, for the most part full. Several of the

latter Paco lost no time in decapitating; and a trial of their contents

satisfied him that the proprietors of the cellar, whatever else they

might have been, were decidedly good judges of wine. Cheered and

invigorated by the pleasant liquor of which he had now so long been

deprived, he commenced, as soon as his eyes had got a little accustomed

to the exceedingly dim twilight that reigned in the vault, a thorough

investigation of the place, in hopes of finding either an outlet, or the

means of making one. In the former part of his hopes he was

disappointed; but after a patient search, his pains were rewarded by the

discovery of several pieces of old rope, and of a wooden bar or lever,

which had probably served to raise and shift the wine-casks. The rope

did not seem likely to be of any use, but the lever was an invaluable

acquisition; and by its aid Paco entertained strong hopes of

accomplishing his escape. He at once set to work to knock down the

remainder of the stones blocking up the doorway, and when they were

cleared he began to roll and drag empty casks into his cell. Of a number

of these, and with some labour, he formed a scaffolding, by means of

which he was enabled to reach the window, taking his crowbar with him.

His hand trembled as it grasped the grating, on the possibility of whose

removal every thing depended. Viewed from the floor of his prison, the

bars appeared of a formidable thickness, and he dreaded lest the time

that would elapse till the next visit of his jailer, should be

insufficient for him to overcome the obstacle. To his unspeakable

delight, however, his first effort caused the grating to shake and

rattle. The stone into which the extremities of the bars were riveted

was of no very hard description; the iron was corroded by the rust of

centuries, and Paco at once saw, that what he had looked forward to as a

task of severe difficulty, would be accomplished with the utmost ease.

He set to work with good courage, and after a couple of hours' toil, the

grating was removed, and the passage free.

Paco's first impulse was to spring through the opening into the bright

sunshine without; but a moment's reflection checked him. He remembered

that he was unarmed and unacquainted with the neighbourhood; and his

appearance outside the convent in broad daylight, might lead to his

instant recapture by some of those, whoever they were, who found an

interest or a gratification in keeping him prisoner. He resolved,

therefore, unwillingly enough it is true, to curb his impatience, and

defer his departure till nightfall. Of a visit from his jailers he felt

no apprehension, for they had never yet shown themselves to him more

than once a-day, and that, invariably, at an early hour of the morning.

Partly, however, to be prepared for instant flight, should he hear his

dungeon door open, and still more for the sake of inhaling the warm and

aromatic breeze, which blew over to him from the neighbouring woods and

fields, he seated himself upon the top of his casks, his head just on a

level with the window, and, cautiously making a small opening in the

matted vegetable screen that grew before it, gazed out upon the face of

nature with a feeling of enjoyment, only to be appreciated by those who,

like him, have passed five weeks in a cold, gloomy, subterranean

dungeon. The little he was able to distinguish of the locality was

highly satisfactory. Within thirty paces of the convent wall was the

commencement of a thick wood, wherein he doubted not that he should find

shelter and security if observed in his flight. He would greatly have

preferred waiting the approach of night in the forest, instead of in his

cell; but with a prudence hardly to be expected from him, and which the

horror he had of a prolongation of his captivity, perhaps alone induced

him to exercise, he would not risk crossing the strip of open land

intervening between him and the wood; judging, not without reason, that

it might be overlooked by the convent windows.

For some time Paco remained seated upon his pile of casks, feasting his

eyes with the sunshine, to which they had so long been strangers; his

ear on the watch, his fingers mechanically plucking and twisting the

blades of grass that grew in through the window. He was arranging in his

mind what route he should take, and considering where he was most likely

to find Count Villabuena, when he was surprised by the sound of words,

proceeding apparently from a considerable distance above his head, but

some of which nevertheless reached his quick and practised ear. Of these

the one most distinctly spoken was the name of Jaime, and in the voice

that spoke it, Paco was convinced that he recognised that of Count

Villabuena's daughter. A few moments elapsed, something else was said,

what, he was unable to make out, and then, to his no small alarm, his

old acquaintance and recent betrayer, Jaime the esquilador, stood within

arm's length of his window. He instinctively drew back; the gipsy was so

near, that only the growth of weeds before mentioned interposed between

him and the muleteer. But Paco soon saw that his proximity was

unsuspected by Jaime, who had commenced the dialogue with Rita already

recorded. Paco at once comprehended the situation; and emboldened by the

knowledge that he, and even the aperture of the window, was concealed

from sight by the grass and bushes, he again put his head as far forward

as was prudent, and attentively listened. Not a word spoken by the

esquilador escaped him, but he could scarcely hear any thing of what

Rita said; for the distance between her and Jaime being diminished, she

spoke in a very low tone. He made out, however, that she was

endeavouring to bribe the gipsy to take a letter--to whom, he did not

hear--and a scheme occurred to him, the execution of which he only

deferred till he should see the missive in the possession of Jaime, on

whose every gesture and movement he kept a vigilant watch. At the same

instant that the letter was deposited in the gipsy's pocket, Paco thrust

both his hands through the grass, seized the naked ankles of the

esquilador in a vicelike grip, and by a sudden jerk throwing him upon

his back, proceeded to drag him through the aperture, behind which he

himself was stationed. His strength and adroitness, and the suddenness

of the attack, ensured its success; and in spite of the gipsy's

struggles, Paco speedily pulled him completely into the dungeon, upon

the ground of which he cast him down with a force that might well have

broken the bones, but, as it happened, merely took away the senses, of

the terrified esquilador.

The strange and mysterious manner of the assault, the stunning violence

of his fall, and his position on regaining the consciousness of which he

had for a brief space been deprived, combined to bewilder the gipsy, and

temporarily to quell the courage, or, as it should perhaps rather be

termed, the passive stoicism, usually exhibited by him in circumstances

of danger. He had been dragged into the wine-cellar, and seated with his

back against a cask; his wrists and ankles were bound with ropes, and

beside him knelt a man busily engaged in searching, his pockets. The

light was so faint that at first he could not distinguish the features

of this person; but when at last he recognized those of Paco, he

conjectured to a certain extent the nature of the snare into which he

had fallen, and, as he did so, his usual coolness and confidence in some

degree returned. His first words were an attempt to intimidate the

muleteer.

"Untie my hands," said he, "or I shout for help. I have only to call

out, to be released immediately."

"If that were true, you would have done it, and not told me of it,"

retorted Paco, with his usual acuteness. "The walls are thick; and the

vault deep, and I believe you might shout a long while before any one

heard you. But I advise you not to try. The first word you speak in a

louder tone than pleases me, I cut your throat like a pig; with your own

knife, too."

And, by way of confirming this agreeable assurance, he drew the cold

blade across Jaime's throat, with such a fierce determined movement,

that the startled gipsy involuntarily shrunk back. Paco marked the

effect of his menace.

"You see," said he, sticking the knife in the ground beside him, and

continuing his in investigation of the esquilador's pockets; "you had

better be quiet, and answer my questions civilly. For whom is this

letter?" continued he, holding up Rita's missive, which he had extracted

from the gipsy's jacket.

But although the esquilador (partly on account of Paco's threats, and

partly because he knew that his cries were unlikely to bring assistance)

made no attempt to call out, he did not, on the other hand, show any

disposition to communicativeness. Instead of replying to the questions

put to him, he maintained a surly, dogged silence. Paco repeated the

interrogatory without obtaining a better result, and then, as if weary

of questioning a man who would not answer, he continued his search

without further waste of words. The two rings and Rita's letter he had

already found; they were succeeded by a number of miscellaneous objects

which he threw carelessly aside; and having rummaged the esquilador's

various pockets, he proceeded to unfasten his sash. The first

demonstration of a design upon this receptacle of his wealth, produced,

on the part of the gipsy, a violent but fruitless effort to liberate his

wrists from the cords that confined them.

"Oho!" said Paco, "is that the sore place? Faith! there is reason for

your wincing," he added, as the gold contained in the girdle fell

jingling on the floor. "This was not all got by clipping mules."

"It was received from you, the greater part of it," exclaimed the gipsy,

forced out of his taciturnity by his agony at seeing Paco, after

replacing the money in the sash, deliberately bind it round his own

waist.

"I worked hard and ran risk for it, and you paid it me willingly. Surely

you will not rob me!"

Without attending to this expostulation, Paco secured the gold, and then

rising to his feet, again repeated the question he had already twice put

to his prisoner.

"To whom is this letter?" said he.

"You may read it yourself," returned Jaime, who, notwithstanding the

intelligible hint to be tractable which he had already received, found

it a hard matter to restrain his sulkiness. "It is addressed, and open."

Read it, was exactly what Paco would have done, had he been able; but it

so happened that the muleteer was a self-educated man, and that, whilst

teaching himself many things which he had on various occasions found of

much utility, he had given but a moderate share of his attention to the

acquirement of letters. When on the road with his mules, he could

distinguish the large printed capitals painted on the packages entrusted

to his care; he was also able, from long habit, fluently to read the

usual announcement of "_Vinos y licores finos_," inscribed above tavern

doors; and, when required, he could even perpetrate a hieroglyphic

intended for the signature of his name; but these were the extent of his

acquirements. As to deciphering the contents or superscription of the

letter now in his possession, he knew that it would be mere lost labour

to attempt it. He was far too wary, however, to display his ignorance to

the gipsy, and thus to strengthen him in his refusal to say for whom it

was intended.

"Of course I may read it," he replied "but here it is too dark, and I

have no mind to leave you alone. Answer me, or it will be worse for

you."

Either suspecting how the case really stood, or through mere sullenness

at the loss of his money, the gipsy remained, with lowering brow and

compressed lips, obstinately silent. For a few moments Paco awaited a

reply, and then walking to a short distance, he picked up something that

lay in a dark corner of the vault, returned to the gipsy, and placing

his hands upon the edge of the tall cask against which the latter was

seated, sprang actively upon the top of it. Soon he again descended,

and, upsetting the cask, gave it a shove with his foot that sent it

rolling into the middle of the cellar. The gipsy, although motionless,

and to all appearance inattentive to what passed, lost not one of the

muleteer's movements. His head stirred not but his sunken beadlike eyes

shifted their glances with extraordinary keenness and rapidity. At the

moment when, surprised by the sudden removal of the cask, he screwed his

head round to see what was going on behind him, a rope was passed

swiftly over his face, and the next instant he felt his neck encircled

by a halter. A number of strong hooks and wooden brackets, used to

support shelves and suspend wine-skins, were firmly fixed in the cellar

wall, at various distances from the ground. Over one of the highest of

these, Paco had cast a rope, one end of which he held, whilst the other,

as already mentioned, was fixed round the neck of the gipsy. Retiring a

couple of paces, the muleteer hauled on the rope; it tightened round the

neck of the unlucky Jaime, and even lifted him a little from the ground.

He strove to rise to his feet from the sitting posture in which he was,

but his bonds prevented him. Stumbling and helpless, he fell over on one

side, and would inevitably have been strangled, had not Paco given him

more line. The fear of death came over him. He trembled violently, and

his face, which was smeared with blood from the scratches he had

received in his passage through the bushes, became of an ash-like

paleness. He cast a piteous look at Paco, who surveyed him with

unrelenting aspect.

"Not the first time I've had you at a rope's end," said he; "although

the knot wasn't always in the same place. Come, I've no time to lose!

Will you answer, or hang?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I have already asked you three times," returned Paco, impatiently, "who

this letter is for, and what about."

"For Zumalacarregui," replied Jaime; "and now you know as much as I do."

"Why have I been kept in prison?" demanded Paco.

"Why did you come with the lady?" replied the esquilador. "Had you

stopped at Segura, no one would have meddled with you."

"I came because I was ordered. Where is Dona Rita?"

The gipsy hesitated, and then answered surlily. "I do not know."

Paco gave the rope a twitch which brought the esquilador's tongue out of

his mouth.

"Liar!" he exclaimed; "I heard you speaking to her just now. What does

she here?"

"A prisoner," muttered the half-strangled gipsy.

"Whose?"

"Colonel Villabuena's."

"And the Senor Conde. Where is he?"

"Dead."

"Dead!" repeated Paco, letting the rope go, grasping the esquilador by

the collar, and furiously shaking him. "The noble count dead! When did

he die? Or is it a lie of your invention?"

"He was dead before I fetched the young lady from Segura," said Jaime.

"The story of his being wounded, and wishing to see her, was merely a

stratagem to bring her here."

Relinquishing his hold, Paco took a step backwards, in grief and great

astonishment. The answers he had forced from Jaime, and his own natural

quickness of apprehension, were sufficient to enlighten him as to the

main outline of what he had hitherto found a mystery. He at once

conjectured Don Baltasar's designs, and the motives of Dona Rita's

imprisonment and his own. That the count was really dead he could not

doubt; for otherwise Baltasar would hardly have ventured upon his

daughter's abduction. Aware that the count's duties and usual

occupations did not lead him into actual collision with the enemy, and

that they could scarcely, except by a casualty, endanger his life, it

occurred to Paco, as highly probable, that he had met his death by

unfair means, at the hands of Don Baltasar and the gipsy. The colonel he

suspected, and Jaime he knew, to be capable of any iniquity. Such were

some of the reflections that passed rapidly through his mind during the

few moments that he stood beside Jaime, mute and motionless, meditating

on what had passed, and on what he should now do. Naturally prompt and

decided, and accustomed to perilous emergencies, he was not long in

making up his mind. Suddenly starting from his immobility, he seized the

end of the halter, and, to the horror of the gipsy, whose eyes were

fixed upon him, began pulling furiously at it, hand over hand, like a

sailor tugging at a hawser.

"_Misericordia!_" screamed the horror-stricken esquilador, as he found

himself lifted from the ground by the neck. "Mercy! mercy!"

But mercy there was none for him. His cries were stifled by the pressure

of the rope, and then he made a desperate effort to gain his feet. In

this he succeeded, and stood upright causing the noose for a moment to

slacken. He profited by the temporary relief to attempt another

ineffectual prayer for pity. A gasping, inarticulate noise in his throat

was the sole result; for the muleteer continued his vigorous pulls at

the cord, and in an instant the unhappy gipsy felt himself lifted

completely off the ground. He made one more violent strain to touch the

earth with the point of his foot; but no--all was in vain--higher and

higher he went, till the crown of his head struck against the long iron

hook through the loop of which the halter ran. When this was the case,

Paco caught his end of the rope round another hook at a less height from

the ground, twisted and knotted it securely; then stooping, he picked up

the esquilador's knife, re-entered the dungeon, and ascended the pile of

casks erected below the window. On the top of these he sat himself down

for a moment and listened. There proceeded from the wine-cellar a sort

of noise, as of a scraping and thumping against the wall. It was the

wretched gipsy kicking and struggling in his last agony.

"He dies hard," muttered Paco, a slight expression of compunction coming

over his features, "and I strung him up without priest or prayer. But,

what then! those gitanos are worse than Jews, they believe neither in

God nor devil. As for his death, he deserves it, the dog, ten times

over. And if he didn't, Dona Rita's fate depends on my escape, and I

could not leave him there to alarm the convent and have me pursued."

His scruples quieted by these arguments, the muleteer again listened.

All was silent in the vault. Paco cautiously put his head out at the

hole through which he had dragged the gipsy. The coast was clear, the

forest within thirty yards. Winding his body noiselessly through the

aperture, he sprang to his feet, and with the speed of a greyhound

sought the cover of the wood. Upon reaching the shelter of its foremost

trees he paused, and turning round, looked back at the convent, hoping

to see Rita at a window. But she had disappeared, and the shutters were

closed. It would have been folly, under the circumstances, to wait the

chance of her return; and once more turning his back upon the place of

his captivity, the muleteer, exulting in his newly recovered freedom,

plunged, with quick and elastic step, into the innermost recesses of the

forest.

Rightly conjecturing that Rita, informed of her father's death, and

having no influential friend to whom to address herself for aid, had

written to Zumalacarregui with a view to obtain her release, Paco

determined to convey the letter to its destination as speedily as

possible. To do this it was necessary, first, to ascertain the

whereabout of the Carlist general, and secondly, to avoid falling in

with Colonel Villabuena, a meeting with whom might not only prevent him

from delivering the letter, but also again endanger his liberty, perhaps

his life. Shaping his course through the forest in, as nearly as he

could judge, a westerly direction, he reached the mountains at sunset,

and continued his march along their base--avoiding the more frequented

path by which he had approached the convent--until he reached an outlet

of the valley. Through this he passed; and still keeping straight

forward, without any other immediate object than that of increasing the

distance between himself and his late prison, he found himself, some

time after midnight, clear of the lofty range of mountains, a limb of

the Spanish Pyrenees, in one of whose recesses the convent stood. The

country in front, and on both sides of him, was still mountainous, but

the elevations were less; and Paco, who had a good general knowledge of

the geography of his native province, through most parts of which his

avocations as muleteer had often caused him to travel, conjectured that

he was on the extreme verge of Navarre and about to enter the province

of Guipuzcoa. He had deemed it prudent to avoid all human habitations

whilst still in the vicinity of the convent; but having now left it half

a dozen leagues in his rear, the necessity for such caution no longer

existed, and he began to look about for a convenient place to take a few

hours' repose. At the distance of a mile he perceived the white walls of

houses shimmering in the moonlight, and he bent his steps in that

direction. It was two in the morning and the hamlet was buried in sleep;

the sharp, sudden bark of a watch-dog was the only sound that greeted

the muleteer as he passed under the irregular avenue of trees preceding

its solitary street. Entering a barn, whose door stood invitingly open,

he threw himself upon a pile of newly-made hay, and was instantly

plunged in a sleep far sounder and more refreshing than any he had

enjoyed during the whole period of his captivity.

It was still early morning when he was roused from his slumbers by the

entrance of the proprietor of the barn, a sturdy, good-humoured peasant,

more surprised, than pleased, to find upon his premises a stranger of

Paco's equivocal appearance. The muleteer's exterior was certainly not

calculated to give a high opinion of his respectability. His uniform

jacket of dark green cloth was soiled and torn; his boina, which had

served him for a nightcap during his imprisonment, was in equally bad

plight; he was uncombed and unwashed, and a beard of nearly six weeks'

growth adorned his face. It was in a tone of some suspicion that the

peasant enquired his business, but Paco had his answer ready. Taken

prisoner by the Christinos, he said, he had escaped from Pampeluna after

a confinement of some duration, and ignorant of the country, had

wandered about for two nights, lying concealed during the day, and

afraid to approach villages lest he should again fall into the hands of

the enemy. The haggard look he had acquired during his imprisonment, his

beard and general appearance, and the circumstance of his being unarmed,

although in uniform, seemed to confirm the truth of his tale; and the

peasant, who, like all of his class at that time and in that province,

was an enthusiastic Carlist, willingly supplied him with the razor and

refreshment of which he stood in pressing need. His appearance somewhat

improved, and his appetite satisfied, Paco in his turn became the

interrogator, and the first answers he received caused him extreme

surprise. The most triumphant success had waited on the Carlist arms

during the period of his captivity. The Christino generals had been on

all hands discomfited by the men at whose discipline and courage, even

more than at their poverty and imperfect resources, they affected to

sneer, and numerous towns and fortified places had fallen into the hands

of Zumalacarregui and his victorious lieutenants. The mere name of the

Carlist chief had become a tower of strength to his followers, and a

terror to his foes; and several ably managed surprises had greatly

increased the panic dread with which the news of his approach now

inspired the Christino troops. On the heights of Descarga a strong

column of the Queen's army had been attacked in the night, and routed

with prodigious loss, by the Carlist general Eraso; in the valley of the

Baztan General Oraa had been beaten by Sagastibelza, leaving ninety

officers and seven hundred men in the hands of the victors; Estella,

Vergara, Tolosa, Villafranca, and numerous other considerable towns,

were held by the soldiers of the Pretender; and, to crown all, Paco

learned, to his astonishment, that Zumalacarregui and his army were then

in front of Bilboa, vigorously besieging that rich and important city.

Towards Bilboa, then, did Paco bend his steps. The remote position of

the village where he had obtained the above information, caused it to be

but irregularly supplied with intelligence from the army; and it was not

till the evening of his first day's march, that the muleteer heard a

piece of news which redoubled his eagerness to reach the Carlist

headquarters. Zumalacarregui, he was informed, had received, whilst

directing the operations of the siege, a severe and dangerous wound.

Fearing he might die before he reached him, Paco endeavoured to hire or

purchase a horse, but all that could be spared had been taken for the

Carlist army; and he rightly judged that through so mountainous a

country he should make better progress on foot than on any Rosinante

offered to him. He pushed forward, therefore, with all possible haste;

but his feet had grown tender during his imprisonment, and he was but

indifferently satisfied with his rate of marching. On the following day,

however, his anxiety was considerably dissipated by learning that

Zumalacarregui's wound was slight, and that the surgeons had predicted a

rapid cure. He nevertheless continued his journey without abatement of

speed, and on the afternoon of the fourth day arrived on the summit of

the hills that overlook Bilboa. The suburbs were occupied by the

Carlists, whose slender battering train kept up a fire that was

vigorously replied to by the forty or fifty cannon bristling the

fortifications. Entering the faubourg known as the Barrio de Bolueta, he

approached a group of soldiers lounging in front of their quarters, and

enquired where the general was lodged. The men looked at him in some

surprise, and asked which general he meant.

"The general-in-chief, Zumalacarregui, to be sure," replied Paco

impatiently.

"Where come you from, amigo?" said one of the soldiers, "not to know

that Zumalacarregui left the lines the day after he was wounded, and is

now getting cured at Cegama?"

Great was Paco's vexation at finding that the person he had come so far

to seek, had been all the while at a village within a day's march of the

Dominican convent. His annoyance was so legibly written upon his

countenance, that one of the soldiers took upon himself to offer a word

of consolation.

"Never mind, comrade," said he, "if you want to see Tio Tomas, you can't

do better than remain here. You won't have long to wait. He has only got

a scratch on the leg, and we expect every day to see him ride into the

lines. He's not the man to be laid up long by such a trifle."

"Is Colonel Villabuena here?" said Paco, somewhat reassured by this last

information.

"What, Black Baltasar, as they call him? Ay, that he is, and be hanged

to him. It's only two days since he ordered me an extra turn of picket

for forgetting to salute him as he passed my beat. Curse him for a

soldier's plague!"

Paco left the soldiers and walked on till he came to a small house,

which the juniper bush suspended above the door proclaimed to be a

tavern. Entering the smoky low-roofed room upon the ground-floor, which

just then chanced to be unoccupied, he sat down by the open window and

called for a quartillo of wine. A measure of the vinegar-flavoured

liquid known by the name of chacolin, and drunk for wine in the province

of Biscay, was brought to him, and after washing the dust out of his

throat, he began to think what was best to do in his present dilemma. He

was desirous to get out of Don Baltasar's neighbourhood, and, moreover,

if he did not rejoin his regiment or report himself to the military

authorities, he was liable to be arrested as a deserter. In that case,

he could hardly hope that the strange story he would have to tell of his

imprisonment at the convent would find credit, and, even if it did,

delay would inevitably ensue. He finally made up his mind to remain

where he was for the night, and to start early next morning for Cegama.

A better and more speedy plan would perhaps have been to seek out one of

Zumalacarregui's aides-de-camp, relate to him his recent adventures,

produce Rita's letter in corroboration of his veracity, and request him

to forward it, or provide him with a horse to take it himself. But

although this plan occurred to him, the gain in time appeared

insufficient to compensate for the risk of meeting Don Baltasar whilst

searching for the aide-de-camp, and of being by him thrown into prison

and deprived of the letter.

The day had been most sultry, and Paco had walked, with but a ten

minutes' halt, from sunrise till afternoon. Overcome by fatigue and

drowsiness, he had no sooner decided on his future proceedings, and

emptied his quartillo, events which were about coincident, than his head

began to nod and droop, and after a few faint struggles against the

sleepy impulse, it fell forward upon the table, and he slept as men

sleep after a twelve hours' march under a Spanish sun in the month of

June. During his slumbers various persons, soldiers and others, passed

in and out of the room; but there was nothing unusual in seeing a

soldier dozing off his wine or fatigue on a tavern table, and no one

disturbed or took especial notice of him. Paco slept on.

It was evening when he awoke, and rose from his bench with a hearty

stretch of his stiffened limbs. As he did so, he heard the sound of

footsteps in the street. They ceased near the window, and a dialogue

commenced, a portion of which reached his ears.

"Have you heard the news?" said one of the speakers.

"No," was the reply, in a voice that made Paco start. "I am now going to

Eraso's quarters to get them. I am told that a courier arrived from

Durango half an hour since, covered with foam, and spurring as on a life

or death errand."

Whilst this was saying, Paco noiselessly approached the window, which

was large and square, about four feet above the street, and closed only

by a clumsy shutter, at that moment wide open. Crouching down, he

cautiously raised his head so as to obtain a view of the street, without

exposing more than the upper part of his face to the possible

observation of the persons outside. What he saw, confirmed the testimony

of his ears: two officers in staff uniforms stood within twenty paces of

the window, and in the one who had last spoken, Paco recognised Don

Baltasar. His face was towards the tavern, but his eyes were fixed upon

his interlocutor, who replied to his last observation--

"On an errand of death, indeed!" said he, in tones which, although

suppressed, were distinctly audible to the muleteer. "Zumalacarregui is

no more."

In his consternation at the intelligence thus unwittingly conveyed to

him, Paco forgot for a second the caution rendered imperative by his

position. A half-smothered exclamation escaped him, and by an

involuntary start he raised his head completely above the window-sill.

As he did so, he fancied he saw Don Baltasar glance at the window, and

in his turn slightly start; but the sun had already passed the horizon,

the light was waning fast, and Colonel Villabuena took no further

notice, but remained talking with his companion, Paco made sure that he

had either not seen him, or, what was still more probable, not

remembered his face. Nevertheless the muleteer retreated from the window

that no part of him might be seen, and strained his hearing to catch

what passed.

He missed a sentence or two, and then again heard Colonel Villabuena's

voice.

"Most disastrous intelligence, indeed!" he said, "and as unexpected as

disastrous. I will proceed to the general's quarters and get the

particulars."

The officers separated; Don Baltasar walking rapidly away, as Paco, who

now ventured to look out, was able to ascertain. Satisfied that he had

escaped the peril with which for a moment he had thought himself

menaced, he left the window and returned to his bench. But Don Baltasar

had sharper eyes and a better memory than the muleteer gave him credit

for. He had fully recognized Paco, whom he had several times seen in

attendance on the count, and, without troubling himself to reflect how

he could have made his escape, he at once decided what measures to take

to neutralize its evil consequences. Had Paco remained an instant longer

at his post of observation, he would have seen the Colonel stop at a

house near at hand, in which a number of soldiers were billeted, summon

a corporal and three men, and retrace his steps to the tavern. Leaving

two of the soldiers outside the house, with the others he burst into the

room occupied by the muleteer.

At the moment of their entrance, Paco, who, although he had heard their

footsteps in the passage, did not suspect the new-comers to be other

than some of the usual customers to the tavern, had taken up the heavy

earthen jug in which his wine had been brought, and was decanting from

it into his glass a last mouthful that still remained at the bottom. No

sooner did he behold Don Baltasar, closely followed by two soldiers with

fixed bayonets, than with his usual bold decision, and with his utmost

strength, he dashed the jug full at him. The missile struck the officer

on the chest with such force that he staggered back, and, for a moment,

impeded the advance of his followers. That moment saved Paco's

liberty--probably his life. Springing to the window, he leaped out, and

alighting upon one of the soldiers who had remained outside, knocked him

over. The other man, taken by surprise, made a feeble thrust at the

fugitive. Paco parried it with his arm, grappled the man, gave him a

kick on the shin that knocked his leg from under him, rolled him on the

ground by the side of his companion, and scudded down the street like a

hunted fox, just as Baltasar and his men jumped out of the window.

"Fire!" shouted the Colonel.

Two bullets, and then two more, struck the walls of the narrow sloping

street through which the muleteer ran, or buried themselves with a

_thud_ in the earth a short distance in front of him. Paco ran all the

faster, cleared the houses, and turning to his right, scampered down in

the direction of the town. The shouts and firing had spread an alarm in

the Carlist camp, the soldiers were turning out on all sides, and the

outposts on the alert. Paco approached the latter, and saw a sentinel in

a straight line between him and the town.

"_Quien vive?_" challenged the soldier, when the muleteer was still at a

considerable distance from him.

"_Carlos Quinto_," replied Paco.

"Halt!" thundered the sentry, bringing his musket to his shoulder with a

sharp quick rattle.

This command, although enforced by a menace, Paco was not disposed to

obey. For the one musket before him, there were hundreds behind him, and

he continued his onward course, merely inclining to his left, so as to

present a less easy mark than when bearing straight down upon the

sentry. Another "halt!" immediately followed by the report of the piece,

was echoed by a laugh of derision from Paco. "Stop him! bayonet him!"

shouted a score of voices in his rear. The sentinel rushed forward to

obey the command; but Paco, unarmed and unencumbered, was too quick for

him. Dashing past within a yard of the bayonet's point, he tore along to

the town, amidst a rain of bullets, encouraged by the cheers of the

Christinos, who had assembled in groups to watch the race; and, replying

to their shouts and applause by a yell of "_Viva la Reyna!_" he in

another minute stood safe and sheltered within the exterior

fortifications of Bilboa.

Three weeks had elapsed since the death of Zumalacarregui, and that

important event, which the partisans of the Spanish pretender had, as

long as possible, kept secret from their opponents, was now universally

known. Already did the operations of the Carlists begin to show symptoms

of the great loss they had sustained in the person of a man who, during

his brief but brilliant command, had nailed victory to his standard.

Even during his last illness, he kept up, from his couch of suffering, a

constant correspondence with General Eraso, his second in command, and

in some degree directed his proceedings; but when he died, the system of

warfare he had uniformly, and with such happy results, followed up, was

exchanged by those who came after him, for another and a less judicious

one. This, added to the immense moral weight of his loss, which filled

the Christinos with the most buoyant anticipations, whilst it was a

grievous discouragement to the Carlists, caused the tide of fortune to

turn against the latter. Dejected and disheartened, they were beaten

from before Bilboa, the town which, but for Zumalacarregui's

over-strained deference to the wishes of Don Carlos, they would never

have attacked. On the other hand, the Christinos were sanguine of

victory, and of a speedy termination to the war. The baton of command,

after passing through the hands of Rodil, Sarsfield, Mina, and other

veterans whose experience had struggled in vain against the skill and

prestige of the Carlist chief, had just been bestowed by the Queen's

government on a young general in whose zeal and abilities great reliance

was placed. On various occasions, since the death of Ferdinand, had this

officer, at the head of his brigade or division, given proof not only of

that intrepidity which, although the soldier's first virtue, should be

the general's least merit, but, as was generally believed, of military

talents of a high order.

Luis Fernandez de Cordova, the son of a poor but noble family of one of

the southern provinces of Spain, was educated at a military school,

whence he passed with an officer's commission into a regiment of the

royal guard. Endowed with considerable natural ability and tact, he

managed to win the favour of Ferdinand VII., and by that weak and fickle

monarch was speedily raised to the rank of colonel. His then bias,

however, was for diplomacy, for which, indeed, his subsequent life, and

his turn for intrigue, showed him to be well qualified; and at his

repeated instance he was sent to various courts in high diplomatic

capacities. "We are sorry to have to say," remarks a Spanish military

writer who fought in the opposite ranks, "that Cordova in part owed his

elevation to the goodness of the very prince against whom he

subsequently drew his sword." Be that as it may, at the death of

Ferdinand, Cordova, although little more than thirty years of age, was

already a general, and ambassador at Copenhagen. Ever keenly alive to

his own interest, he no sooner learned the outbreak of the civil war,

than he saw in it an opportunity of further advancement; and, without

losing a moment, he posted to Madrid, threw himself at the feet of

Christina, and implored her to give him a command, that he might have an

opportunity of proving with his sword his devotion to her and to the

daughter of his lamented sovereign. A command was given him; his talents

were by no means contemptible; his self-confidence unbounded; intrigue

and interest were not wanting to back such qualities, and at the period

now referred to, Cordova, to the infinite vexation of many a greyhaired

general who had earned his epaulets on the battle-fields of America and

the Peninsula, was appointed commander-in-chief of the army of the

north.

Upon assuming the supreme command, Cordova marched his army, which had

just compelled the Carlists to raise the siege of Bilboa, in the

direction of the Ebro. Meanwhile the Carlists, foiled in Biscay, were

concentrating their forces in central Navarre. As if to make up for

their recent disappointment, they had resolved upon the attack of a

town, less wealthy and important, it is true, than Bilboa, but which

would still have been a most advantageous acquisition, giving them, so

long as they could hold it, command of the communications between

Pampeluna and the Upper Ebro. Against Puente de la Reyna, a fortified

place upon the Arga, were their operations now directed, and there, upon

the 13th of July, the bulk of the Carlist army arrived. Don Carlos

himself accompanied it, but the command devolved upon Eraso, the

military capabilities of Charles the Fifth being limited to praying,

amidst a circle of friars and shavelings, for the success of those who

were shedding their heart's blood in his service. The neighbouring

peasants were set to work to cut trenches; and preparations were making

to carry on the siege in due form, when, on the 14th, the garrison, in a

vigorous sortie, killed the commandant of the Carlist artillery, and

captured a mortar that had been placed in position. The same day Cordova

and his army started from Lerin, which they had reached upon the 13th,

and arrived at nightfall at Larraga, a town also upon the Arga, and

within a few miles of Pueute de la Reyna.

The next day was passed by the two considerable armies, which, it was

easy to foresee, would soon come into hostile collision, in various

movements and manoeuvres, which diminished the distance between them,

already not great. The Carlists, already discouraged by the successful

sortie of the 14th, retired from before Puente de la Reyna, and, moving

southwards, occupied the town and bridge of Mendigorria. On the other

hand, two-thirds of the Christino forces crossed the Arga, and quartered

themselves in and near the town of Artajona. The plain on the left bank

of the river was evidently to be the scene of the approaching conflict.

On few occasions during the war, had actions taken place upon such level

ground as this, the superiority of the Christinos in cavalry and

artillery having induced Zumalacarregui rather to seek battle in the

mountains, where those arms were less available. But since the

commencement of 1835, the Carlist horse had improved in numbers and

discipline; several cavalry officers of rank and skill had joined it,

and assisted in its organization; and although deprived of its gallant

leader, Don Carlos O'Donnel, who had fallen victim to his own imprudent

daring in an insignificant skirmish beneath the walls of Pampeluna,

Eraso, and the other Carlist generals, had now sufficient confidence in

its efficiency to risk a battle in a comparatively level country.

Numerically, the Carlists were superior to their opponents, but in

artillery, and especially in cavalry, the Christinos had the advantage.

From various garrison towns, through which he had passed in his

circuitous route from Bilboa to Larraga, the Christino commander had

collected reinforcements, and an imposing number of squadrons, including

several of lancers and dragoons of the royal guard, formed part of the

force now assembled at Larraga and Artajona.

It was late on the evening of the 15th of July, and on a number of

gently sloping fields, interspersed with vineyards and dotted with

trees, a Christino brigade, including a regiment of cavalry, had

established its bivouac. In such weather as it then was, it became a

luxury to pass a night in the open air, with turf for a mattrass, a

cloak for a pillow, and the branches for bed-curtains, instead of being

cramped and crowded into smoky, vermin-haunted cottages; and the troops

assembled seemed to feel this, and to enjoy the light and balmy breeze

and refreshing coolness which had succeeded to the extreme heat of the

day. Few troops, if any, are so picturesque in a bivouac as Spaniards;

none, certainly, are greater adepts in rendering an out-door encampment

not only endurable but agreeable, and nothing had been neglected by the

Christinos that could contribute to the comfort of their _al-fresco_

lodging. Large fires had been lighted, composed in great part of

odoriferous shrubs and bushes abounding in the neighbourhood, which

scented the air as they burned; and around these the soldiers were

assembled cooking and eating their rations, smoking, jesting, discussing

some previous fight, or anticipating the result of the one expected for

the morrow, and which according to their sanguine calculations, could

only be favourable to them. Here was a seemingly interminable row of

muskets piled in sheaves, a perfect _chevaux-de-frise_, some hundred

yards of burnished barrels and bayonets glancing in the fire-light.

Further on, the horses of the cavalry were picketed, whilst their

riders, who had finished grooming and feeding them, looked to their arms

and saddlery, and saw that all was ready and as it should be if called

on for sudden service. On one side, at a short distance from the

bivouac, a party of men cut, with their sabres and foraging hatchet,

brushwood to renew the fires; in another direction, a train of carts

laden with straw, driven by unwilling peasants and escorted by a surly

commissary and a few dusty dragoons, made their appearance, the patient

oxen pushing and straining forwards in obedience to the goad that

tormented their flanks, the clumsy wheels, solid circles of wood,

creaking round their ungreased axles. In the distance were the enemy's

watch-fires; nearer were those of the advanced posts; and, at more than

one point of the surrounding country, a cottage or farmhouse, set on

fire by careless or mischievous marauders, fiercely flamed without any

attempt being made to extinguish the conflagration.

If the sights that met the eye were varied and numerous, the sounds

which fell upon the ear were scarcely less so. The neighing of the

picketed horses, the songs of the soldiery, the bugle-calls and signals

of the outposts, occasionally a few dropping shots exchanged between

patroles, and from time to time some favourite national melody, clanged

forth by a regimental band--all combined to render the scene one of the

most inspiriting and lively that could be imagined.

Beside a watch-fire whose smoke, curling and wavering upwards, seemed to

cling about the foliage of the large old tree near which it was lighted,

Luis Herrera had spread his cloak, and now reclined, his head supported

on his arm, gazing into the flaming pile. Several officers belonging to

the squadron he commanded were also grouped round the fire, and some of

them, less watchful or more fatigued than their leader, had rolled

themselves in their mantles, turned their feet to the flame, and with

their heads supported on saddles and valises, were already asleep. Two

or three subalterns came and went, as the exigencies of the service

required, inspecting the arrangements of the men, ascertaining that the

horses were properly cared for, giving orders to sergeants, or bringing

reports to the captains of their troops. Herrera as yet felt no

disposition to sleep. The stir and excitement of the scene around him

had not failed of their effect on his martial nature, and he felt

cheered and exhilarated by the prospect of action. It was only in

moments like these, during the fight itself, or the hours immediately

preceding it, that his character seemed to lose the gloomy tinge

imparted to it by the misfortunes which, so early in life, had darkened

his path, and to recover something of the buoyancy natural to his age.

Whilst busied with anticipations of the next day's battle, Herrera's

attention was suddenly attracted by hearing his name pronounced at a

neighbouring fire, round which a number of his troopers had established

themselves.

"Captain Herrera?" said a soldier, apparently replying to a question;

"he is not far off--what do you want?"

"To see him instantly," answered a voice not unfamiliar to the ear of

Luis. "I bring important intelligence."

"Come this way," was the reply; and then a non-commissioned officer

approached Herrera, and respectfully saluting, informed him that a

_paisano_, or civilian, wished to speak with him. Before Luis could

order the person in question to be conducted to him, a man mounted on a

rough but active mountain horse, rode out of the gloom into the

fire-light, threw himself from his saddle, and stood within three paces

of the Christino officer. By the blaze, Herrera recognized, with some

surprise, one whom he believed to be then in the Carlist ranks.

"Paco!" he exclaimed; "you here? Whence do you come, and what are your

tidings?"

The corporal, who had acted as master of the ceremonies to Paco, now

returned to his fire, and Herrera and the muleteer remained alone. The

latter had got rid of all vestiges of uniform, and appeared in the garb

which he had been accustomed to wear, before his devotion to Count

Villabuena, and the feeling of partisanship for Don Carlos, which he

shared with the majority of Navarrese, had led him to enter the ranks.

"I have much to tell you, Don Luis," said he; "and my news is bad. Count

Villabuena is dead."

Instead of manifesting astonishment or grief at this intelligence,

Herrera replied calmly, and almost with a smile, "Is that all?"

"All!" repeated Paco, aghast at such unfeeling indifference; "and

enough, too. I did not think, that because you had taken different

sides, all kindness was at an end between you and the Conde. His

senoria, heaven rest him!"--and here Paco crossed himself--"deserved

better of you, Don Luis. But for him your bones would long ago have been

picked by the crows. It was he who rescued you when you were a prisoner,

and ordered for execution."

"I know it, Paco," replied Herrera, "and I am grateful for my

deliverance both to you and him. But you are mistaken about his death. I

saw and spoke to the Count not three days ago."

"To the Count! to Count Villabuena?" exclaimed Paco. "Then that damned

gipsy lied. He told me he was killed, shot by some of your people. How

did you see him? Is he a prisoner?"

"The Count is alive and in safety, and that must satisfy you for the

moment. But you have doubtless more to tell me. What of Dona Rita? Why

and when did you leave the Carlists, and where was she when you left?"

"Since the Count is well," returned Paco, "the worst part of my news is

to come. Dona Rita's own handwriting will best answer your question."

Opening his knife, Paco ripped up a seam of his jacket, and extracted

from the lining a soiled and crumpled paper. It was the letter written

by Rita to Zumalacarregui. By the light of the fire Herrera devoured its

contents. From them he learned all that Rita herself knew of the place

and reasons of her captivity. She detailed the manner in which she had

been decoyed from Segura, described what she conjectured to be the

position of the convent, and implored Zumalacarregui to protect a

defenceless orphan, and rescue her from the prison in which she was

unjustifiably detained. After twice reading the letter, the handwriting

of which recalled a thousand tender recollections, although the

information it contained filled him with alarm and anxiety, Herrera

again addressed Paco.

"How did you get this letter?" he asked.

In few words, Paco, who saw, by the stern and hurried manner of his

interrogator, that it was no time to indulge in a lengthened narrative

of his adventures, gave a concise outline of what had occurred, from the

time of his leaving Segura with Rita, up to his desertion from the

Carlists in front of Bilboa. Upon finding himself in safety from Don

Baltasar, and released from the obligations of military service, he

deliberated on the best means to employ for the release of Dona Rita.

Amongst the Christinos the only person who occurred to him as proper to

consult, or likely to aid him, was Herrera, and him he resolved to seek.

After waiting a week at Bilboa, he procured a passage in a small vessel

sailing for Santander, and thence set out for the Ebro, in the

neighbourhood of which he had ascertained that he should find Herrera's

regiment. The money he had found in the gipsy's sash enabled him to

supply all his wants and purchase a horse, and without further delay he

started for the interior. But on reaching Miranda on the Ebro, he

learned that Herrera's squadron had marched into Biscay. Thither he

pursued it. Meanwhile the siege of Bilboa had been raised, and, whilst

he followed one road, Herrera returned towards Navarre by another. Paco

lost much time; but, though often disappointed, the faithful fellow was

never discouraged, nor did he for a moment think of desisting from the

pilgrimage he had voluntarily undertaken for the deliverance of his dead

master's daughter. He pressed onwards, sparing neither himself nor his

newly-acquired steed; but, in spite of his exertions, so rapid and

continuous were the movements of the army, it was not till the evening

now referred to that he at last caught it up.

Of all this, however, and of whatever merely concerned himself, Paco

made little mention, limiting himself to what it was absolutely

necessary that Herrera should know, clearly to understand Rita's

position. In spite of this brevity, more than one sign of impatience

escaped Luis during the muleteer's narrative. The tale told, he remained

for a minute buried in thought.

"It is three weeks since you left the convent?" he then inquired of

Paco.

"Nearly four," was the answer.

"Do you think Dona Rita is still there?"

"How can I tell?" replied Paco. "You know as much as I do of Don

Baltasar's intentions. He could hardly find a better corner to hide her

in; for it is in the very heart of the mountains, far from any town,

and, well as I know Navarre, I never saw the place till this time. So I

_should_ think it likely she is still there, unless he has taken her to

France, or forced her to marry him."

"Never!" cried Herrera, violently; "he would not dare; she would never

consent. Listen, Paco--could you guide me to that convent?"

"Certainly I could," answered the muleteer, greatly surprised, "as far

as knowing the road goes; but the country swarms with Carlist troops;

and even if we could sneak round Eraso's army, we should be sure to fall

in with some guerilla party."

"But there must be paths over the mountains," exclaimed Herrera, with

the painful eagerness of a man catching at a last faint hope; "paths

unfrequented, almost unknown, except to fellows like you, who have spent

their lives amongst then. Over those you could--you must, conduct me."

"I will try it, Don Luis, willingly," replied Paco, moved by Herrera's

evident agony of mind. "I will try it, if you choose; but I would not

give a _peseta_ for our lives. There are hundreds amongst the Carlists

who know every mountain pass and ravine as well as I do. The chances

will be all against us."

"We could lie concealed in the day," continued Herrera, pursuing the

train of his own thoughts, and scarcely hearing the muleteer's

observations. "A small party of infantry--twenty picked men will be

enough--the convent surprised at nightfall, and before morning, by a

forced march, we reach a Christino garrison. I will try it, by heaven!

at all risks. Paco, wait my return."

And before the muleteer had time to reply, the impetuous young man

snatched his horse's bridle from his hand, sprang into the saddle, and,

spurring the tired beast into a gallop, rode off in the direction of

Artajona.

The motive of Herrera's abrupt departure was to prepare for the

execution of a plan so wild and impracticable, that, in his cooler

moments, it would never have suggested itself to him, although, in his

present state of excitement, he fancied it perfectly feasible. He had

determined to proceed at once to the general-in-chief, one of whose

favourite officers he was, to acquaint him with what he had just

learned, and entreat his permission to set out that very night with a

few chosen men on an expedition into the heart of the Carlist country,

the object of it being to rescue Rita from her captivity. For reasons

which will hereafter appear, he had the worst possible opinion of Don

Baltasar, and so shocked and startled was he at hearing that the woman

to whom, in spite of their long separation, he was still devotedly and

passionately attached, was in his power, that for the time he lost all

coolness of judgment and overlooked the numerous obstacles to his

scheme. The rapid pace at which he rode, contributed perhaps to keep up

the whirl and confusion of his ideas, and he arrived at the door of

Cordova's quarters, without the impropriety and positive absurdity of

his application at such a moment having once occurred to him.

The Christino commander had taken up his quarters in the house of one of

the principal inhabitants of Artajona. At the time of Herrera's arrival,

although it was past ten o'clock, all was bustle and movement in and

about the extensive range of building; the stables crammed with horses,

the general's escort loitering in the vestibule, orderly officers and

aides-de-camp hurrying in all directions, bringing reports and conveying

orders to the different regiments and brigades; peasants, probably

spies, conversing in low earnest tones with officers of rank: here a

party of soldiers drinking, there another group gambling, in a third

place a row of sleepers stretched upon the hard ground, but soundly

slumbering in spite of its hardness and of the surrounding din. Pushing

his way through the crowd, Herrera ascended the stairs, and meeting an

orderly at the top, enquired for the general's apartments. Before the

soldier could reply, a door opened, a young officer came out, and,

perceiving Herrera, hurried towards him. The two officers shook hands.

The aide-de-camp was Mariano Torres, who had recently been appointed to

the general's staff, upon which Herrera would also have been placed had

he not preferred remaining in command of his squadron.

"What brings you here, Luis?" said Torres.

"To see the general. I have a favour to ask of him--one which he _must_

grant. Take me to him, Torres, immediately."

Struck by the wild and hurried manner of his friend, and by the

discomposure manifest in his features, Mariano took his arm, and walking

with him down the long corridor, which was dimly lighted by lanterns

suspended against the wall, led him into his own room. "The general is

particularly engaged," said he, "and I cannot venture to disturb him;

but in five minutes I will inform him of your arrival. Meanwhile, what

is the matter, Luis? What has happened thus to agitate you?"

Although chafing at the delay, Herrera could not refuse to reply to this

enquiry; and, in hurried and confused terms, he informed Torres of the

news brought by Paco, and of the plan he had devised for the rescue of

Rita. Thunderstruck at the temerity of the project, Torres undertook,

but at first with small success, to convince Herrera of its

impracticability, and induce him to abandon it, at least for the time.

"How can you possibly expect," he said, "ever to reach the convent you

have described to me? In front is the Carlist army; on all sides you

will meet bands of armed peasants, and you will throw away your own life

without a chance of accomplishing your object."

"Don't speak to me of life!" exclaimed Herrera, impetuously interrupting

him; "it is valueless. Spare yourself the trouble of argument; all that

you can urge will be in vain. Come what may, and at any risk, I will

make the attempt. Every hour is a year of torture to me whilst I know

Rita in the power of that villain."

"And much good it will do her," replied Torres, "to have you killed in

her service. As to accomplishing her rescue, it is out of the question

in the way you propose. You will inevitably be shot or taken prisoner.

If, on the contrary, you have a little patience, and wait a few days,

something may be done. This Don Baltasar, there can scarcely be a doubt,

is with the army in our front, and his prisoner must therefore be free

from his persecutions. Besides, admitting that your project had a shadow

of common sense, how can you suppose, that on the eve of a battle

against superior numbers, the general will spare even a score of men

from the ranks of his army?"

"He _will_ spare them, for me," cried Herrera. "He has known me since

the beginning of the war: I have fought by his side; and more than once

he has thanked me for my services, and expressed his willingness to

reward them. Let him grant me this request, and I will die for him

to-morrow."

"You would be likely enough to die if he did grant it," replied Torres;

"but luckily there is no chance of his doing so."

"We will see that," said Herrera, impatiently. "This is idle talk and

waste of time. You are not my friend, Mariano, thus to detain me. The

five minutes have twice elapsed. Take me at once to the general."

"I will take you to him, if you insist upon it," answered Torres. "Hear

me but one minute longer. What will be said to-morrow, when we move

forward to meet the enemy, and it is found that Luis Herrera is wanting

at his post; when it is known that he has left the camp in the

night-*time, on his own private business, only a few hours before a

battle, which all agree will be a bloody and perhaps a decisive one? His

advancement, although nobly deserved, has been rapid. There are many who

envy him, and such will not fail to attribute his absence to causes by

which his friends well know he is incapable of being influenced. It will

be pleasant for those friends to hear slanderous tongues busy with his

good name."

Mariano had at last touched the right chord, and this, his final

argument, strongly impressed Herrera. What no consideration of personal

danger could accomplish, the dread of an imputation upon his honour,

although it might be uttered but by one or two enemies, and disbelieved

by a thousand friends, went far to effect. Moreover, during the quarter

of an hour passed with Torres, his thoughts had become in some degree

collected, and the truth of the aide-de-camp's observations as to the

Quixotism and utter madness of his scheme began to dawn upon him. He

hesitated, and remained silent. Torres saw his advantage, and hastened

to follow it up.

"Hear me, Luis," said he. "You have ever found me willing to be guided

by your opinion, but at this moment you are not in a state of mind to

judge for yourself. For once then, be guided by me, and return to your

squadron. To-morrow's fight will make a mighty difference. If we gain

the day, and we are sure of it, we shall advance to Pampeluna, and you

will be at a comparatively short distance from the convent where your

mistress is detained. Then, indeed, when the Carlists are scattered and

dispirited after their defeat, the scheme you have in view may be

executed, and then, but only then, are you likely to get permission to

attempt it. I will accompany you if you wish it, and we will get some

guerilla leader, skilled in such hazardous expeditions, to join us with

his band."

By these and similar arguments, did Torres finally prevail with Herrera

to abandon his project until after the approaching action. Even then,

and even should the victory be complete and in favour of the Christinos,

Mariano was doubtful whether it would be possible to attempt the

dangerous excursion proposed by Herrera; but in the interim his friend

would have time to reflect, and Torres hoped that he might be induced

entirely to give up the plan. He, himself a light-hearted devil-may-care

fellow, taking life as it came, and with a gentle spice of egotism in

his character, was unsusceptible of such an attachment as that of

Herrera for Rita, and, being unsusceptible, he could not understand it.

The soldier's maxim of letting a new love drive out the old one,

whenever a change of garrison or other cause renders it advisable, was

what he practised, and would have wished his friend also to adopt. He

was unable to comprehend Herrera's deeply-rooted and unselfish love,

which had grown up with him from boyhood, had borne up against so many

crosses and discouragements, and which time, although it might prove its

hopelessness, could never entirely obliterate.

"Time," thought Torres, as he returned to his room, after seeing Herrera

mount his horse and ride away, "is a great healer of Cupid's wounds,

particularly a busy time, like this. A fight one day and a carouse the

next, have cured many an honest fellow of the heartache. Herrera is

pretty sure of one half of the remedy, although it might be difficult to

induce him to try the other. Well, _qui vivra verra_--I have brought him

to his senses for the present, and there'd be small use in bothering

about the future, when, by this time to-morrow, half of us may be food

for ravens."

And with this philosophical reflection, the insouciant aide-de-camp

threw himself upon his bed, to sleep as soundly as if the next day's sun

had to shine upon a feast instead of a fray.

Midnight was approaching when Herrera reached the bivouac, which had now

assumed a character of repose very different from the bustle reigning

there when he had left it. The fires were blazing far less brightly, and

some, neglected by the soldiers who lay sleeping around them, had

dwindled into heaps of ashes, over which a puff of the night breeze

would every now and then bring a red glow, driving at the same time a

long train of sparks into the faces of the neighbouring sleepers. There

was no more chattering or singing; the distant shots had ceased, the

musicians had laid aside their instruments, and were sharing the general

repose; the only sounds that broke the stillness were the distant

challenging from the outpost, the tramp of the sentry faintly audible

upon the turf, the rattling of the collar chain of some restless horse,

or the snore of the sleeping soldiery. Restoring his horse to Paco, whom

he found waiting beside the watch-fire, Herrera desired him to remain

there till morning, and then wrapping himself in his cloak, he lay down

upon the grass, to court a slumber, of which anxious and uneasy thoughts

long debarred his eyelids.

MOSES AND SON.

A DIDACTIC TALE.

CHAPTER I.

"It's no good your talking, Aby," said a diminutive gentleman, with a

Roman nose and generally antique visage; "you must do the best you can

for yourself, and get your living in a respectable sort of vay. I can't

do no more for you, so help my ----"

"You're a nice father, aint you?" interrogatively replied the gentleman

addressed--a youth of eighteen, very tall, very thin, very dressy, and

very dirty. "I should like to know why you brought me into the world at

all."

"To make a man of you, you ungrateful beast," answered the small father;

"and that's vot you'll never be, as true as my name's Moses. You aint

got it in you. You're as big a fool as any Christian in the parish."

"Thankee, old un," replied he of six feet. "'_Twas nature's fault that

made me like my father_," he added immediately, throwing himself into a

theatrical posture, and pointing irreverently to the individual referred

to.

"There he goes again!" exclaimed Moses senior, with a heavy sigh.

"That's another of his tricks that'll bring him to the gallows. Mark my

words, Aby--that acting of yours will do your business. I vish the

amytoors had been at the devil before you made their acquaintance!"

"In course you do, you illiterate old man. What do you know of

literature? Aint all them gentlemen as I plays with chice sperits and

writers? Isn't it a honour to jine 'em in the old English drammy, and to

eat of the wittles and drink of the old ancient poets?"

"Aby, my dear," proceeded the other sarcastically, "I've only two vurds

to say. You have skulked about this 'ere house for eighteen years of

your precious life, vithout doing a ha'porth of work. It's all very fine

while it lasts; but I am sorry to say it can't last much longer.

To-morrow is Sabbath, make much of it, for it's the last blessed day of

rest you'll see here. Sunday morning I'll trouble you to pack."

"Do you mean it?"

"Upon my soul--as true as I'm here."

"_Hear that, ye gods, and wonder how you made him!_" exclaimed Abraham,

turning up his nose at his parent, and then looking to the ceiling with

emotion--"You unnatural old Lear! you bloodless piece of earth!"

"Go 'long, go 'long!" said the prosaic Moses, senior; "don't talk

rubbish!"

"Father!" cried the youth, with an attitude, "when I'm gone, you'll

think of me, and want me back."

"Vait, my dear, till I send for you."

"When the woice is silent, you'll be glad to give a ten pun' note for an

echo."

"No, my boy; I don't like the security."

"When you have lost sight of these precious featers, you'll be glad to

give all you have got for a picter."

"Vot a lucky painter he'll be as draws you off!" said the stoic father.

Abraham Moses gazed upon the author of his being for one minute with

intensest disgust. Then taking a chair in his hand, he first raised it

in the air, and afterwards struck it with vehement indignation to the

ground. That done, he seated himself with a mingled expression of

injured innocence and lofty triumph.

"You old sinner," said he, "you've done for yourself."

"Sorry for it," replied the cool old gentleman.

"I've sounded you, have I? Oh! did I try to strike a chord in that

hollow buzzum, and did I think to make it answer? Now listen, you

disreputable father. I leave your house, not the day after to-morrow,

but this very hour. I shall go to that high sphere which you knows

nothing about, and is only fit for a gent of the present generation. I

don't ask you for nothing. I'm settled and provided for. If you were to

take out your cheque-book and say, 'Aby, fill it up,' I can't answer for

a impulse of nater; but I do think I should scorn the act, and feel as

though I had riz above it. You have told me, all my wretched life, that

I should take my last snooze outside o' Newgate. I always felt very much

obliged to you for the compliment; but you'll recollect that I've told

you as often that I'd live to make you take your hat off to me. The time

is come, sir! I've got an appointment! Such a one! I came to tell you of

it; but I considered it my religious duty to inwestigate your paternal

feelings concerning me aforehand. I have inwestigated 'em. I am sorry to

say it; I have put you into the weighing machine, and found you short."

"The fool's mad!"

"Is he? Wait a minute. If your shocking eddication permits, I'll trouble

you to read that there."

Mr Abraham Moses drew from his pocket a despatch, ornamented with a huge

seal, and some official red tape. The elder gentleman took it into his

hand, and gazed at his worthy son with unutterable surprise, as he read

on the outside--"_Private and confidential, House of Lords, to Abraham

Moses, Esq., &c. &c. &c._"

"Vy, vot does it all mean, my dear?" enquired the agitated parent.

"Spare your '_my dears_,' venerable apostate, and open it," said Aby.

"The seal's broke. It's private and confidential, but that means when

you are not one of the family."

Mr Methusaleh Moses did as he was bid, and read as follows:--

"SIR,--The Usher of the Blue Rod vacates his office on Wednesday

next, when you will be required to appear before the woolsack to

take the usual oaths. As soon as you have entered upon your duties,

the customary presentation to her Majesty will take place. Lord

Downy will be prepared to conclude the preliminaries at his hotel

at twelve o'clock to-morrow.--I am, sir, with respect, your

obedient humble servant,

"WARREN DE FITZALBERT.

"Abraham Moses, Esq.,

&c. &c. &c."

As little Mr Moses read the last words with a tremulous utterance, tall

Mr Moses rose to take his departure. "Vot's your hurry, Aby?" said the

former, coaxingly.

"Come, I like that. What's my hurry? Didn't you want to kick me out just

now?"

"My dear, give every dog his due. Stick to the truth, my boy, votever

you does. I axed you to stay over the Sabbath--I vish I may die if I

didn't."

Mr Abraham Moses directed towards his sire one of those decided and

deadly glances which are in so much request at the theatres, and which

undertake to express all the moral sentiments at one and the same

moment. Having paid this tribute to his wounded nature, he advanced to

the door, and said, determinedly--

"I shall go!"

"I'm blessed if you do, Aby!" exclaimed the father, with greater

resolution, and seizing his offspring by the skirts of his coat. "I'm

your father, and I knows my sitivation. You're sich a fellow! You can't

take a vurd in fun. Do you think I meant to turn you out ven I said it?

Can you stop nater, Aby? Isn't nater at vork vithin, and doesn't it tell

me if I knocks you on the nose, I hits myself in the eye? Come, sit down

my boy; tell me all about it, and let's have someting to eat."

Aby was proof against logical argument, but he could not stand up

against the "someting to eat." He sank into the chair again like an

infant. Mr Methusaleh took quick advantage of his success. Rushing

wildly to a corner cupboard, he produced from it a plate of cold crisp

fried fish, which he placed with all imaginable speed exactly under the

nose of the still vacillating Aby. He vacillated no longer. The spell

was complete. The old gentleman, with a perfect reliance upon the charm,

proceeded to prepare a cup of coffee at his leisure.

"And now, Aby," said the father, stirring the grounds of his muddy

beverage--"I'm dying to hear vot it all means. How did you manage to get

amongst dese people? You're more clever as your father." A hearty meal

of fish and coffee had considerably greased the external and internal

man of Aby Moses. His views concerning filial obligations became more

satisfactory and humane; his spirit was evidently chastened by

repletion.

"Father," said he, meaning to be very tender--"You have always been such

a fool about the company as I keep."

"Well, so I have, my dear; but don't rake up the past."

"It's owing to that very company, father, that you sees me in my proud

position."

"No!"

"It is, though. _Lend me your ears._"

"Don't be shtoopid, Aby--go on vith your story."

A slight curl might be seen playing around the dirty lip of Moses junior

at this parental ignorance of the immortal Will: a stern sacrifice of

filial reverence to poetry.

It passed away, and the youth proceeded.

"That Warren de Fitzalbert, father, as signed that dockyment, is a

buzzum friend. He see'd me one night when I played Catesby, and, after

the performance, requested the honour of an introduction, which I, in

course, could not refuse. You know how it is--men gets intimate--tells

one another their secrets--opens their hearts--and lives in one

another's societies. I never knew who he was, but I was satisfied he was

a superior gent, from the nateral course of his conversation. Everybody

said it as beautiful to see us, we was so united and unseparated. Well,

you may judge my surprise, when one day another gent, also a friend of

mine, says to me, 'Moses, old boy, do you know who Fitzalbert is?' 'No,'

says I, 'I don't.' 'Well, then,' says he, 'I'll tell you. He's a under

secretary of state.' There was a go! Only think of me being hand and

glove with a secretary of state! What does I do? Why, sir, the very next

time he and I meet, I says to him, 'Fitzalbert, it's very hard a man of

your rank can't do something for his friends.' I knew the right way was

to put the thing to him point-blank. 'So it would be,' says he, 'if it

was, but it isn't.' 'Oh, isn't it?' says I; 'then, if you are the man I

take you to be, you'll do the thing as is handsome by me.' He said

nothing then, but took hold of my hand, and shook it like a brother."

"Vell, go on, my boy; I tink they are making a fool of you."

"Are they? That's all you know. Well, a few days after this, Fitzalbert

writes me a letter to call on him directly. I goes, of course. 'Moses,'

says he, as soon as he sees me, 'you are provided for.' 'No!' says I.

'Yes,' says he. 'Lord Downy has overrun the constable; he can't stop in

England no longer; he's going to resign the blue rod; he's willing to

sell it for a song; you shall buy it, and make your fortune.'"

"But vere's your money, my dear?"

"Wait a minute. 'What's the salary?' said I. 'A thousand a-year,' says

he. 'You don't mean it?' says I again. 'Upon my soul,' says he. 'And

what will it cost?' says I. 'The first year's salary,' says he; 'and

I'll advance it, because I know you are a gentleman, and will not forget

to pay me back.' 'If I do,' says I, 'I wish I may die.' Now, father,

that there letter, as you sees, is official, and that's why he doesn't

say 'dear Moses;' but if you was to see us together, it would do your

heart good. Not that you ever will, because your unfortinate lowness of

character will compel me, as a gent, to cut your desirable acquaintance

the moment I steps into Lord Downy's Wellingtons. Now, if you have got

no more fish in that 'ere cupboard, I wish you good morning."

"Shtay, shtay, Aby, you're in such a devil of a hurry!" exclaimed

Methusaleh, holding him by the wrist. "Now, my dear boy, if you're dead

to natur, there's an end of the matter, and I've nothing more to say;

but if you've any real blood left in you, you von't break my heart. Vy

shouldn't your father have the pleasure of advancing the money? If it is

a true bill, Aby, you sha'n't be under no obligation to nobody!"

"True bill! I like that! Why, I have seen Lord Downy's own

hand-*writing; and, what's more, seen him in the House of Lords, talking

quite as familiarly, as I conwerse with you, with the Lord Chancellor,

and all the rest on 'em. I heard him make a speech--next morning I looks

into the paper--no deceit, sir--there was Lord Downy's name. Now,

to-morrow, when I'm introduced to him, don't you think I shall be able

to diskiver whether he's the same man or not?"

"Vere's the tousand pound?" inquired Mr Methusaleh.

"My friend goes with me to-morrow to hand it over. Three hundred is to

be given up at Lord Downy's hotel in Oxford Street, and the balance at

Mr Fitzalbert's chambers in Westminster, an hour afterwards, when I

receive the appointment."

"My dear Aby, I von't beat about the bush with you. I'm quite sure, my

child, ve should make it answer much better, if you'd let your father

advance the money. Doesn't it go agin the grain to vurk into the hands

of Christians against your own flesh and blood? If this Mr Fitzalbert

advances the money, depend upon it it's to make someting handsome by the

pargain. Let me go vith you to his lordship, and perhaps, if he's very

hard-up, he'll take seven hundred instead of the thousand. Ve'll divide

the three hundred between us. Don't you believe that your friend is

doing all this for love. Vot can he see, my darling, in your pretty

face, to take all this trouble for nothing? I shouldn't be at all

surprised if he's a blackguard, and means to take a cruel advantage of

his lordship's sitivation--give him perhaps only five hundred for his

tousand. Aby, let your ould father do an act of charity, and put two

hundred pounds into this poor gentleman's pockets."

Before Aby could reply to this benevolent appeal, a stop was put to the

interesting conversation, by a violent knocking at the door, on the part

of no less a gentleman than Warren de Fitzalbert himself.