The cavalier pondered, in perplexity, over the words of Abdalla; and,
the longer he reflected, the more he began to lament his captivity, and
doubt the wisdom of his gage.
"It is apparent to me," he soliloquized, "that my countrymen are in
greater jeopardy than I before apprehended, and that it has been the
plot of this subtle Moor, (whom I confess, however, to have something
elevated and noble in his way of thinking, and much gratitude of heart,
though of a mistaken character,) to keep me out of harm's way, while the
Mexicans are murdering my companions. Heaven forgive me my rash parole,
if this be true; for such safety becomes dishonour and ignominy. I will
talk with him further on the subject; and if I find he hath thus schemed
to preserve me, at such a price of degradation, I will straightway
revoke my engagement, as being wrung from me by deceit, and quite
impossible to be fulfilled.--I marvel where loiters the boy, Jacinto?
Methinks I could eat something now, for I know not how long it is since
I have tasted food:--an orange, or a bunch of grapes, were not
amiss.--But, heaven save me! I have heard oranges do not grow in this
land; and, perhaps these poor Moriscos are no better off than my friends
at the palace. God help them! for the Mexicans fight like Turks; and,
once or twice, that evening of the conflagration, I thought I had got me
again into the trenches of Rhodes; and as for those knaves that wounded
me, never did I see more valiant devils. I am glad I left my knight so
possessed of his wits.--That Botello doth seem very clearly to have
apprehended my fate, though the mishap be not so miserable as death.
Truly, there did, a third time, war come out of peace; and yet, I assure
myself, that, this time, it was brought about by Don Hernan rushing
against that supernatural creature, that looks on me in the street, and
eyes me even by my bed-side."
The cavalier was startled from his revery by a light step, and as the
curtain was drawn aside from the door, he almost thought, for an
instant, that he beheld the visage of the priestess, peering through its
folds. A second glance, however, showed him the features of the Moorish
page, who came in, bearing a little basket of fruits and Indian
confections, as if anticipating his wants. These Jacinto placed before
him, and then sat down at his feet.
For a few moments, Don Amador, in the satisfaction of the boy's presence
forgot many of his perplexities; but observing, at last, that Jacinto's
smiles were ever alternating with looks of distress and alarm, and that,
sometimes, he surveyed his imprisoned master with eyes of great
wildness, the cavalier began again to recur to his condition, to the
mysteries which surrounded him, and especially to the suspicions, which
so often attributed to the page the possession of magical arts.
"Thou saidst, Jacinto," he abruptly exclaimed, after thrusting aside the
almost untasted food, and regarding the boy with a penetrating look,
"that thou wert for the two last nights at my bed-side?--God be good to
me! for 'tis an evil thing to be benighted so long!"
"Senor, I was."
"And, during all that time, I was entirely dispossessed of my wits?"
"Senor mio, yes. But, now, heaven be thanked your honour will recover!"
"And, thou art sure, I did not labour more under enchantment than
fever?"
The page smiled, but very faintly, and without replying.
"To me, it seems no longer possible to doubt," said the cavalier, "that
I have been, divers times, of late, entirely bewitched; and that thou
hast had some agency in my delusions."
Jacinto smiled more pleasantly, and seemed to forget the secret thoughts
which had agitated him.
"Dost thou," demanded the cavalier, "know aught of a certain
supernatural priestess, that goes about the streets of this town, in
pagan processions, followed by countless herds of nobles and warriors?"
The page hesitated, while replying--
"I have indeed heard of such a creature, and--I may say,--I have seen
her."
"Thou hast seen her!--Is she mortal?"
"Surely, I think so, noble senor," replied Jacinto, with increasing
embarrassment.
"For my part," said the novice, with a deep sigh and a troubled aspect,
"I am almost quite convinced, that she is a spectre, and an inhabitant
of hell, sent forth upon the earth to punish me with much affliction,
and, perhaps, with madness. For I think she is the spirit of Leila; and
her appearance in the guise of a pagan goddess, or pagan priestess,--the
one or the other,--shows me, that she whom I loved, dwells not with
angels, but with devils. This is a thought," continued the cavalier,
mournfully, "that burns my heart as with a coal; and if God spare my
life, and return me to mine own land, I will devote my estates to buy
masses for her soul; for surely she cannot have fallen from sin into
irreparable wo, but only into a punishment for some heresy, the fault of
bad instruction, which may be expiated."
Jacinto regarded the distressed visage of his patron with concern, and
with indecision, as if impelled, and yet afraid, to speak what might
remove his anguish. Then, at last, moved by affection, and looking up
with arch confidence to Don Amador, he said,--
"Senor, I can relieve you of this unhappiness. This is no spirit, but a
woman, as I know full well, for I am in the secret.--I am not sure that
it will not offend my father, to divulge such a secret to any Spaniard:
yet can its revealment prejudice none. Know, senor, and use not this
confession to my father's injury, that all this interlude of the
prophetess, devised by the Mexican nobles and priests, with my father's
counsel and aid, is a scheme to inflame the people with fresh devotion
and fury against the Spaniards, your countrymen. For, being very
superstitious and credulous, the common people are easily persuaded that
their gods have sent them a messenger, to encourage and observe their
valour; as, it is fabled, they have done in former days. The prophetess
is but a puppet in their hands."
The cavalier eyed the young speaker steadfastly, until Jacinto cast his
looks to the earth.
"Set this woman before me; let me look upon her," he said, gravely, and
yet with earnestness.
The page returned his gaze with one of confusion, and even affright.
"Thou wilt not think to deceive me," continued his patron, "after
confiding to me so much? Know thou, that it will rejoice me, relieving
my mind of many pangs, to find that thy words are true, and to look upon
this most beauteous, and, to my eyes, this most supernatural, barbarian.
If she be a living creature, thou hast it in thy power to produce her,
for she dwells in this house. I say this, Jacinto, on strong persuasion
of the fact, for last night I beheld her, and did almost touch her!"
"Senor," said the boy, briskly, "that was one of the fancies of thy
delirium. It was my poor self thou wert looking on. Twenty times, or
more, didst thou call to me, as being the prophetess; and as often
didst thou see in me some other strange creature. Now, I was my lord Don
Gabriel, your worship's kinsman; now, some lady that your honour loved;
now, an angel, bringing you succour in battle; now, my lord's little
brother; now, his enemy;--and, twice or thrice, I was my own poor self,
only that I was killing my lord with a dagger,--as if I could do any
wrong to my master!"
"Is this the truth, indeed?" said the cavalier, dolorously. "I could
have sworn, that I saw that woman, and that I was very sane, when I saw
her. As for the after-visions, I can well believe, that they were the
phantasms of fever, being very extravagant, and but vaguely
remembered.--Thou deniest, then, that thou hast the power of casting
spells?"
The page smiled merrily, for he perceived his patron was relieved of one
irrational distress, and, banteringly, replied,--
"I will not say _that_;--I can do many things my lord would not think,
and I know many he would not dream."
The cavalier was too sad and too simple-minded to jest.
"I believe thee," he said, seriously; "for, in every thing, thou art a
miracle and mystery. Why is it, that thou hast obtained such a command
over my affections? Why is it, that I have come to regard thee, not as a
boy, young and foolish, but as one ripe in years and wisdom? It must
needs be, because thou derivest thy power and thy knowledge from those
astral and magical arts, which I once esteemed so vain; for I remember
me, that, at thy years, I was, myself, not half so much advanced in
intelligence and art, but was, on the contrary, quite a dull and foolish
boy."
"It all comes of my music," said the page: "for that is a talent which
matures faster than any other, and drags others along with it; besides
giving one great skill in touching hearts. Your worship remembers how
soon young David gained the love of the Jewish king, and how he would
have cured him of his melancholy, but that Saul had a bad heart. Now, my
lord seems, to me, to have, like this king, an evil spirit troubling
him; and perhaps, if he will let me, I can sing it away, with the ballad
of the Knight and the Page; for my lord's heart is good."
"The Knight and the Page? I have never heard thee sing that," said Don
Amador, somewhat indifferently. "What is it about?"
"It is about a brave cavalier, that loved a noble lady, who loved him;
but being made to believe her false to her vows, he went to the wars to
die, followed by a little page, whom he thought the only true friend he
had left in the world."
"By my faith," said Don Amador, regarding the boy kindly, "in this
respect, methinks, I am, at present, somewhat like that knight; for
thou, that art, likewise, a little page, seemest to be the only friend I
have left in the world--that is, in this city,--that is to say, in this
part of it; for I have much confidence in the love of several at the
palace, notwithstanding that I think some others were a little backward
in supporting me, when beset, that evil day, by the barbarians.--Was he
a Spanish knight? and of what parts?"
"Of the Sierra Morena, at some place where the Jucar washes its foot."
"In good truth!" cried the cavalier, "that is the very river that rolls
by Cuenza; and herein, again, is there another parallel.--But I should
inform thee, that, when the mountain reaches so far as the Jucar, and
runs up along its course, it is then called the Sierra of Cuenza, and
not Morena. But this is a small matter. I shall be as glad to hear of
the knight of Jucar, as of one of my ancestors."
"He resembled my lord still more," said the page, "for he had fallen,
fighting the infidel, very grievously wounded; and his little page
remained at his side, to share his fate."
"That _I_ have, in a manner, fallen, and, as I may say, fighting the
infidel, is true; but by no means can it be said, that I am grievously
wounded. These cuts, that I have on my body, are but such scratches as
one might make with a thorn; and, were it not for my head, which doth
ever and anon ring much like to a bell, and ache somewhat immoderately,
I should think myself well able to go out fighting again; not at all
regarding my feebleness, which is not much, and my stiff joints, which a
little exercise would greatly reduce into suppleness."
"It was the resemblance of my lord's situation to the knight of Jucar's,
that reminded me of the roundelay," said Jacinto, taking up his lute,
and stringing it into accord; "and now your worship shall represent the
wounded knight, and I the young page that followed him.--But your
worship should suppose me, instead of being a boy, to be a woman in
disguise."
"A woman in disguise!" said the cavalier: "Is the page, then, the false
mistress? There should be very good cause to put a woman in disguise;
for, besides that it robs her, to appearance, if not absolutely, of the
natural delicacy of her sex, it forces her to be a hypocrite. A
deceitful woman is still more odious than a double-faced man."
"But this lady had great cause," said Jacinto, "seeing that love and
sorrow, together, forced her into the henchman's habit, as my lord will
presently see."
So saying, with a pleasant smile, the minstrel struck the lute, and sang
the following little
ROMANCE OF THE KNIGHT AND THE PAGE.
1.
A Christian knight, in the Paynim land,
Lay bleeding on the plain;
The fight was done, and the field was won,
But not by the Christian train:
The cross had vail'd to the crescent,
The Moorish shouts rose high,--
'_Lelilee! Lelilee!_'--but the Christian knight
Sent up a sadder cry.
"My castle lies on Morena's top,
Jucar is far away:----
My lady will rue for her vows untrue
But God be good for aye!----
Young page! thou followest well;
These dog-howls heed not thou."--
'_Lelilee! Lelilee!_'----
"Get thee hence to my lady now.
Tell her this blood, that pours a flood,
My heart's true faith doth prove--
My corse to earth, my sighs to thee,--
My heart to my lady love!"
2.
The page, he knelt at the Christian's side,
And sorely sobb'd he then:
"The faithless love can truer prove
Than hosts of faithful men.
The cross has vail'd to the crescent,
The Moorish shouts are high,"----
'_Lelilee! Lelilee!_'--"but the love untrue
Hath yet another cry.
Thy castle lies on Morena's top,
Jucar is far away;
But dies the bride at her true lord's side,--
Now God be good for aye!
The page that followeth well,
Repeats the unbroken vow"--
'_Lelilee! Lelilee!_'--
"Oh, look on thy lady now!
For now this blood, that pours a flood,
Doth show her true love's plight.----
My soul to God, my blood to thine----
My life for my dying knight."
"Is that _all_?" said the cavalier, when Jacinto had warbled out the
last line. "There should have been another stanza, to explain what was
the cause of separation, as well as how it happened that the lady came
to follow the knight, as a servant; neither of which circumstances is
very manifest."
"Senor," said Jacinto, "if all the story had been told, it would have
made a book. It is clear, that an evil destiny separated the pair, and
that love sent the lady after her lord."
"Be thou a conjuror or not," said Don Amador, musingly, "thou hast the
knack ever to hit upon subjects, as well in thy songs as in thy stories,
which both provoke my curiosity, and revive my melancholy. _My_ castle,
as I may say, doth 'lie on Morena's top,'--that is to say, on the ridge
of Cuenza;--and Jucar is, indeed, 'far away;' but heaven hath left me no
lady-love, either to die with me among the infidels, by whom I am made
to bleed, or to lament me at home. An evil destiny (_how_ evil I know
not, and yet do I dread, more dark than that which prevails with a
jealous heart,) hath separated me from one whom I loved,--and,
doubtless, hath separated me for ever." The cavalier sighed deeply, bent
his eyes for a moment on the ground, and then raising them, with a
solemn look, to the page, said abruptly, "I have come to be persuaded,
altogether beyond the contradiction of my reason, that thou hast,
somehow, and, perhaps, by magical arts, obtained a knowledge of the
history of my past life. If thou knowest aught of the fate of Leila, the
lamented maid of Almeria, I adjure thee to reveal thy knowledge, and
without delay! Thou shakest thy head.--Wherefore didst thou refuse to
finish the story of her who bore her name, and who dwelt in the same
city?"
"My lord will be angry with me," said the page, rising in some
perturbation,--"I have deceived him!"
"I am sorry to know thou couldst be, in any way, guilty of deceit,
though I do readily forgive thee; charging thee, however, at all times,
to remember, that any deceitfulness is but a form of mendacity, and
therefore as mean and degrading as it is sinful.--In what hast thou
deceived me?"
"When I told my lord the story of Leila, and perceived how it disturbed
him," said Jacinto, with a faltering voice, "I repented me, and told him
a thing that was not true, to appease him. The Leila of whom I spoke,
had dwelt in Almeria within a year past; and, perhaps, she was the maid
that my lord remembered."
As the page made this confession, Don Amador sprang eagerly to his feet,
and, as he seized the speaker's arm, cried, with much agitation,--
"Dost thou tell me the truth? and does she live? God be praised for
ever! doth the maiden live?"
"She lived, when my father brought me from Barbary--"
"Heaven be thanked! I will ransom her from the infidels, though I give
myself up to captivity as the price!"
"Senor," said the page, sorrowfully, "you forget that you are now a
prisoner in another world."
The cavalier smote his breast, crying, "It is true! and the revealment
comes too late!--Silly boy!" he continued, reproachfully, "why didst
thou delay telling me this, until this time, when it can only add to my
griefs? Why didst thou not speak it, at Tlascala, that I might have
departed forthwith from the land, to her rescue?"
"My lord would not have deserted his kinsman, Don Gabriel?"
"True again!" exclaimed Don Amador, with a pang. "I could not have left
my knight, even at the call of Leila. But now will I go to Don Gabriel,
and confessing to him my sorrow, will prevail upon him straightway to
depart with me; for here, it must be plain to him, as it is to me, that
God is not with us.
"Alas! senor," said the page, "it is not possible that you should go to
Don Gabriel, nor that you should ever more leave this heathen land."
"Dost thou confess, then," demanded the novice, "that Abdalla has
deceived me, and that I am held to perpetual captivity?"
"Senor," said the boy, clasping his hands, and weeping bitterly, "we
shall never more see Spain, nor any land but this. The fate of Don
Hernan, and of all his men, is written; they are in a net from which
they cannot escape; and we, who are spared, obtain our lives only at the
price of expatriation. My father remembered his protector,--my lord is
saved; but he shares our exile!"
At this confirmation of his worst suspicions, the countenance of Don
Amador darkened with despair and horror.
"And Abdalla, thy father, has plotted this foul, traitorous, and most
bloody catastrophe? And he thinks, that, for my life's sake, I will
divide with him the dishonour and guilt of my preservation?"
"My lord knows not the wrongs of my father," said Jacinto, mournfully,
"or he would not speak of him so harshly."
"Thy father is a most traitor-like and backsliding villain," said Don
Amador, "and this baseness in him should entirely cancel in thee the
bonds of affection and duty; for thou art not of his nature. Hark thee,
then, boy: it is my purpose straightway to depart from this house, and
this durance. I desire to save thee from the fate of a pagan's slave.
Better will it be for thee, if thou shouldst die with me, in the attempt
to reach the palace, (and I swear to thee, I will protect thee to the
last moment of my life,) than remain in Tenochtitlan, after thy
Christian friends have left it, or after they are slain. It is my hope,
and, indeed, my belief, that, when the valiant general, Don Hernan,
comes to be persuaded of his true condition, he will, immediately, and
at any cost, cut his way out of this most accursed city. In this manner
will we escape, and thou shall find, in me, a father who will love thee
not less truly, and more in fashion of a Christian, than the apostate
Zegri."
"If my lord could but protect my father from the anger of Don Hernan,
and prevail upon him to return with my lord!" said Jacinto, eagerly.
"I have already proposed this to him, and, in his fury, he denies me."
"Heaven help us then!" cried Jacinto, "for there is no other hope; and
we must dwell with the barbarians!"
"Dost thou think, that I will rest here, when they are murdering Don
Gabriel?--Hark thee! what knave has stolen away my sword?--Know, that I
will straightway make my escape, and carry thee along with me; for God
would not forgive me, did I leave thee abandoned to barbarians, to the
eternal loss and perdition of thy soul. I say to thee again, thou shalt
accompany me."
"I will remain with my father!" said the boy, stepping back, and
assuming some of that dignity and decision, which the neophyte had so
lately witnessed in Abdalla; "and so will my lord, likewise; for my lord
has given him a pledge, which he cannot forfeit."
"Miserable wretch that I am!" said the cavalier;--"in either case, I am
overwhelmed with dishonour. My gage was sinful, and the infraction of it
will be shame. Bring me hither Abdalla; I will revoke my promise to him
in person; and, after that, I can depart, without disgrace."
"Thou canst not escape, without shedding blood, at least," said the boy,
with a pale and yet determined countenance, "for, first, thou must slay
my father, who saved thee from the death of sacrifice. If thou goest, in
his absence, then must my lord strike down the son;--for with what
strength I have, I will prevent him!"
The amazement with which the warlike cavalier heard these words, and
beheld the stripling throw himself manfully before the door of the
apartment, entirely disconcerted him for a moment. Before he could find
words to express his anger, or perhaps derision, the page, with a sudden
revulsion of feeling, ran from the door, and flinging himself at his
patron's feet, embraced his knees, weeping and exclaiming, with much
passion,
"O my dear master! be not incensed with me: for I am but weak and silly,
and I have no friends but my father and thee! If thou takest me from my
father, then shall he be left childless, to live and to die alone; if
thou goest without us, we shall be deserted to perish without a friend;
for no one has smiled on us but my lord; and if thou goest while my
father is absent, he will curse me, and I will curse myself,--for thou
must needs die in the streets!"
The novice was touched, not so much by the last and undeniable
assurance, as by the pathetic appeal of the Morisco.
"Be comforted, Jacinto," he cried; "for now, indeed, it appears to me,
that, whether I had passed my gage or not, I could not take advantage of
the weakness of such a jailor, and fly, without the greatest shame. And,
in addition, it seems to me inhuman and unjust, that I should think of
escaping, without doing my best to snatch thee and thy father also,
(whose sinfulness does, in this case, at least, spring from affection,)
out of thraldom. Be thou therefore content: I will remain thy patient
prisoner, until such time as Abdalla returns; hoping that I can, then,
advance such remonstrance and argument, as shall convert him from his
purpose, and cause him to repent what wrongs he has already done Don
Hernan, and to accept his mercy, which I do again avow myself ready to
secure with my life, and even with my honour. But I warn thee, that I
can by no means remain a captive, while my friends are given up to
destruction."
"Senor," said Jacinto, rising, "there is a hope they will be spared, if
the king should recover; for greatly have the Mexicans mourned the rage
which wounded their monarch. If he live, and again command peace, there
will be peace; and all of us may yet be happy."
"God grant that this may be so!" said the cavalier, catching at the
hope. "I will therefore remain with thee a little; for if my friends be
not starved outright, I have no fear but that they can easily maintain
themselves a week in the palace."
"And besides, senor," said the page, returning to his playful manner,
"if you were to leave me, how should you hear more of the maid of
Almeria?"
"Of Leila?" cried the cavalier, forgetting at once his honour and his
friends; "now do I remember me, that you have not yet told me how you
acquired your most blessed and blissful knowledge. Heaven forgive me! I
did not think it possible,--but, I believe, I had entirely forgotten
her! How comest thou to know aught of her? Answer me quickly, and be
still more quick to tell me all you know."
"Will not my lord be satisfied with my knowledge, without seeking after
the means of acquiring it?" demanded the page, hesitatingly.
"If, indeed," said Don Amador, solemnly, "thou hast obtained it by the
practice of that land of magic which is forbidden, though my curiosity
will not permit me to eschew its revelations, yet must I caution thee,
from this time henceforth, to employ it no more; for, herein, dost thou
peril thy soul. But, if it be by those arts, which are not in themselves
sinful, thou shouldst not be ashamed to confess them; for the habit of
concealment is the first step in the path of deception; and I have
already assured thee, that a deceiver is, as one may say, a lie in the
face of his Maker. But of this I will instruct thee more fully
hereafter: at present, I burn with an unconquerable desire to hear thee
speak of Leila."
"But how know I," said the page, again hesitating, "that she of whom I
speak, is the Leila after whom it pleases my lord to inquire?--And why
indeed, now that I think of it, should my lord inquire at all after one
of a persecuted and despised race?"
"Wilt thou still torment me? Have I not told thee that I forgot her
origin, and loved her?"
"And did she love my lord back again?"
"Thou askest me what I cannot with certainty answer," replied the
cavalier, "for she was snatched away from me, before I had yet overcome
the natural scruples of my pride to discourse of love to one who seemed
so much beneath the dignity of my birth and fortunes."
"And my lord gave her no cause to think she had obtained favour in his
eyes?"
"In this thou dost not err; for, saving some gifts, which were, indeed,
more the boons of a patron than the tribute of a lover, I did nothing to
address me to her affections. In all things, as I may say, I did rather
assume the character of one who would befriend and protect her from
wrong, than of a man seeking after her love."
"But, if she accepted my lord's gifts, she must have loved him," said
Jacinto.
"They were very trifles," rejoined the cavalier, "saving only one,
indeed, which, as she must have perceived, could not have been more
properly bestowed than upon one so innocent and friendless as herself.
This was a very antique and blessed jewel,--a cross of rubies,--fetched
by mine ancestor, Don Rodrigo of Arragon, more than three hundred years
ago, from the Holy Land, after having been consecrated upon the
Sepulchre itself. It was thought to be a talisman of such heavenly
efficacy, in the hands of an unspotted virgin, that no harm could ever
come to her, who wore it upon her neck. For mine own part, though I
could tell thee divers stories of its virtue, recorded in our house, yet
was I ever inclined to think, that a natural purity of heart was, in all
cases, a much better protection of innocence than even a holy talisman.
Nevertheless, when I beheld this orphan Moor, I bethought me of the
imputed virtues of those rubies; and I put them upon her neck, as
thinking her friendless condition gave her the strongest claim to all
such blessed protection."
"A cross of rubies!" cried the page; "it is she!"
"And thou canst tell me of her resting-place? and of her present
condition?" cried the overjoyed cavalier. "I remember, that, at the
temple of Tlascala, thou didst aver, that, notwithstanding the apparent
baseness of her origin, it had been discovered that she was descended of
very noble parentage!"
"What I _can_ tell thee, and what I _will_," said Jacinto, gravely,
"will depend upon thine own actions. If thou leavest this place, without
my father's consent, hope not that thou shalt know any thing more than
has been spoken. If thou art content to remain a little time in
captivity, and to yield me the obedience which I demand, thou shalt
find, that a child of a contemned race may possess wisdom unknown to men
of happier degrees. Thou hast acknowledged thyself the captive of my
father; wilt thou promise obedience to me?"
Don Amador surveyed the boy with a bewildered stare:
"It is possible," said he, "that I am yet dreaming, for it seemeth to me
very absurd, that thou, who art a boy, and wert but yesterday a servant,
shouldst make such a demand of subjection to a man and a cavalier, and,
as I may say, also, thy master."
"My lord will not think I would have him become a servant," said
Jacinto. "The subjection I require, is for the purpose of securing him
that gratification of his curiosity, which he has sought,--and thus only
can he obtain it. In all other respects, I remain myself the slave of my
lord."
"Provided thou wilt demand me nothing dishonourable nor irreligious,
(and now, that I know, from thy father's confession, that thou art of
noble descent, I can scarcely apprehend in thee any meanness,) I will
make thee such a promise," said Don Amador. "But I must beseech thee,
not to torment me with delay."
"My lord shall not repent his goodness," said the page, with a happy
countenance; "for when he thinks not of it, his wishes shall be
gratified. But, at present, let him be at peace, and sleep; for the
time has not yet come. I claim, now, the first proof of my lord's
obedience. Let him eat of this medicinal confection, and, by a little
rest, dispel the heats of fever, which are again returning to him."
"I declare to thee," said Don Amador, "I am very well; and this fever is
caused by suspense, and not disease."
"Thou must obey," said the page. "While thou art sleeping, I will
inquire for thee the fate of Leila; for it is yet wrapped in darkness,
and it cannot be discovered but by great efforts."
The cavalier obeyed the injunctions of his young jailer, ate of the
confection, and, Jacinto leaving the apartment, he yielded to exhaustion
and drowsiness, and notwithstanding his eager and tormenting curiosity,
soon fell fast asleep.