"Didst thou observe, brother henchman," said Lazaro, as, after having
completed his meal, and taken good note of the tethers of the horses, he
threw himself on the ground by the side of Baltasar, as if to imitate
the other members of the party, who were making what preparations they
could for the indulgence of the siesta,--"Didst thou observe, I say, old
sinner, that, this moment, we were like to have made experience of the
virtue of cotton corslets? By my faith, this gentle master mine will not
suffer our hands to be idle, so long as there be savages to curse the
faith, or hidalgos to cross his humours. I am ever bound to the
magnanimous senor commander, that he thought fit to swallow his wrath,
and send me those black-browed vagabonds back to their dinner: for
otherwise, I assure thee, there was much fear of our supping in
purgatory."
"For my part," said Baltasar, raising his head from the saddle, which
served him for a pillow, and looking curiously round on the various
groups, "I am of opinion, there was more discretion than dignity about
that same captain, when he became so moderate of a sudden; for so sure
as he was very foolish to get into a quarrel with the boy Amador, who, I
am free to say, is no way unworthy to be a kinsman and esquire of my
master the knight, so surely would the boy have dinged the feathers off
his gilt casque with the first blow; and how much of his head might have
followed the feathers, is more than I will take upon me to determine."
"Thou art so hungry after war," said Lazaro, "thou canst not perceive
the valour of foregoing an opportunity of battle now and then. Hast thou
never seen a man turn pale from anger, as well as cowardice?"
"Of a truth, I have," said the veteran; "and, provided there be a steady
countenance along with it, this sickly hue is ever a sight to be dreaded
more than the woman's blush, which some men fall into in their anger.
But a coward's mouth is always playing him dog's tricks: I have
sometimes seen the nether lip shake in a brave man; but when the
trembling is all up in the corners, as I have learned to know, after
divers lessons, it is a sign the heart is in a flutter. There are
doubtless certain strings, whereby the heart is fastened to the mouth;
and it is when the corners are writhing about in this cowardly snaky
manner, that the heart is drawn up further than is comfortable; a thing,
as I have no doubt, may have sometimes happened to yourself."
"If it have, may I become a Turk's slave!" said Lazaro, with great
indignation; "and if it do, I hope it may be transformed, at that
moment, from my own mouth to a dog's, to be made a dinner of!"
"Thou art an ass to be in a passion, at any rate," said Baltasar,
coolly, "and a very improbable idiot, to deny, in thy vain-glory, what
has happened to braver men than thyself; and, which I am free to
confess, has sometimes chanced to myself, especially in my youth, when I
first went to fight the Moors; and, I very well remember, that besides
perceiving there was a sort of emptiness under my ribs, on such
occasions, I could feel my heart beating at the back of my throat as
plainly as I ever felt the arrow-heads tapping about my buckler. But it
always went to its place again, when we were come to close quarters."
"May I die of the bastinado, if I ever felt any such thing!" said
Lazaro, proudly. "I was born without any such gaingiving; and the only
uncomfortable feeling I have had, under such circumstances, was a sort
of cold creeping about the stomach, as if it were raining inside of me."
"Or as if there was a cold air brewing in your gizzard!" said Baltasar,
triumphantly. "That is the very same thing,--the emptiness, I was
talking about; and if you never felt the beating in your throat, it was
because your heart was in such a fit of fright as to have no power of
beating left."
"Ay! that may be," said Lazaro, with a grin: "that beating is a business
I keep for my arm, and when that is in service, my heart is ever wise
enough to be quiet. But concerning the captain,--Dost thou really esteem
him a coward?"
"Who knows?" said the veteran. "A man may be once in fear, and
strong-hearted ever after. Yet was there such a working about that
cavalier's mouth, as made me think he longed to strike Don Amador, if he
durst, and which still persuades he has some bitter thoughts about the
matter of the insult: for, as you may remember, Don Amador said he was
more of a hind than a hidalgo, with other such loving remarks as might
stir a man's choler. For this reason, I am of opinion it will be good
service of thee to thy master, to keep thine eyes open while he is
taking his siesta, lest, mayhap, some mischief might come to him
sleeping."
"I am ever bound to your good-natured discretion," said Lazaro, with a
laugh. "I have no doubt it would be more profitable to sit for an hour
or two, watching the sunbeams stealing through the wood, than, for the
same time, to slumber and snore, without any other amusement than an
occasional buffeting of one's nose, to keep the flies off. I will
therefore surrender this agreeable privilege to thyself, as being my
senior and better; while I nap a little, and that so lightly, that if an
emmet do but creep near my master, I shall hear the rustling of his
footsteps. But hark'ee, Baltasar: there is much wit about thee, for an
old man that has endured so many hard knocks; and ever, about once in an
hundred times, I have found thy conjectures to be very reasonable. What
is thy opinion concerning those infidel Moors under the bush yonder? and
by what sort of magic dost thou suppose they have so wrought upon our
commander, that he will neither suffer lance-shaft nor cane-twig to be
laid upon them?"
"Ay, there they are!" said Baltasar, looking towards the father and son.
"The boy lies with his head on Abdalla's knee, and Abdalla covers him
with his skin mantle; and the mantle shakes, as if the boy were sobbing
under it.--It is my opinion, the lad has been used to milder treatment
than he seems likely to meet in these parts, unless Don Amador should
see fit to take him into his own keeping; and it is also my opinion, if
he be so much affected at the sight of a green twig, he will go nigh to
die of terror at the flash of a savage's sword."
"That is an opinion I have, in part, formed for myself," said the junior
coolly: "and one that I think is shared in common with every other
person in this quilted company, that has looked in the manikin's face."
"It is as white," said Baltasar, "as that mountain top we saw from the
caravel; whereas the children of common Moriscos are much the hue of my
own weather-beaten boots."
"The boy was in a most pestilent fright," said Lazaro, "and therefore
somewhat more snowy than was natural; nevertheless, I have seen darker
skins among the damsels of La Mancha."
"And he is, in a manner, well figured and comely," said the veteran.
"If thou hadst said he was such a Ganymede as might hold the wine-cup
and trencher to a princess, I should have thought better of thine
eye-sight. By cross and spear! he has such eyes as I shall be glad to
find in any wench I may be predestined to marry."
"And his hand," said Baltasar, "is as small as a hidalgo's son's. He
hath an amiable countenance, and such gravity in it, when not disturbed,
as belongs to older years; and he ever keeps it bent to the earth, as if
to shun observation."
"Ay; I see what thou art driving at," said Lazaro, significantly. "Thou
thinkest Sidi Abdalla is some infidel prince of Granada--a Zegri or
Abencerrage--"
"I think no such thing," said Baltasar, gruffly. "I have fought, myself,
hand to hand, with a Zegri, while my young lord Gabriel was cleaving the
head of another; to which knightly and majestic infidels the wretch Sidi
bears such resemblance as, in comparison, doth the hedge-hog to a
leopard."
"Thou art of opinion then, doubtless," said Lazaro, "that the boy
Jacinto is some Christian nobleman's son, stolen in his infancy by Sidi,
to be made a sacrifice to the devil?"
"I am no such ass," said Baltasar, "to entertain any such notion."
"A bird's flight by his feather, a beast's rage by his claw, and a man's
thoughts by his tongue," said Lazaro; "but how I am to judge thee, is
more than I know. What a-God's name, dost thou think then of these
Christian heathens?"
"I think nothing at all," said Baltasar, dryly: "I only wonder by what
chance a Morisco boor came to have so tender and so handsome a boy."
"Well, heaven be with thee, old oracle," said Lazaro, laying his head on
his saddle: "If I should resolve thy wonder in my dreams, I will
enlighten thee when I wake."
The veteran gave a look to the horses,--to his master, who, by the
attentions of the captain Salvatierra, had been enabled to enjoy the
luxury of a hammock, slung between two trees,--to the Moor, who sat
watching over his child,--to the Tlameme, who slumbered by their
packs,--to the Spaniards, who slept, as they had eaten, in groups,--to
the few sentinels who stood nodding under the trees,--and then,
dismissing all care, as if satisfied with the security of the motley
encampment, he was not slow to follow the example of his companion.