Myself. - And a fine account you have given of yourself; by your own
confession, your behaviour was most atrocious. Were it not for the
many marks of courage and fidelity which you have exhibited in my
service, I would from this moment hold no farther communication
with you.
Antonio. - Mais qu' est ce que vous voudriez, mon maitre? Am I not
a Greek, full of honour and sensibility? Would you have the cooks
of Sceira and Stambul submit to be insulted here in Spain by the
sons of counts rushing into the temple with manchets of bread.
Non, non, mon maitre, you are too noble to require that, and what
is more, TOO JUST. But we will talk of other things. Mon maitre,
I came not alone; there is one now waiting in the corridor anxious
to speak to you.
Myself. - Who is it?
Antonio. - One whom you have met, mon maitre, in various and strange
places.
Myself. - But who is it?
Antonio. - One who will come to a strange end, FOR SO IT IS WRITTEN.
The most extraordinary of all the Swiss, he of Saint James, - Der
schatz graber.
Myself. - Not Benedict Mol?
"Yaw, mein lieber herr," said Benedict, pushing open the door which
stood ajar; "it is myself. I met Herr Anton in the street, and
hearing that you were in this place, I came with him to visit you."
Myself. - And in the name of all that is singular, how is it that I
see you in Madrid again? I thought that by this time you were
returned to your own country.
Benedict. - Fear not, lieber herr, I shall return thither in good
time; but not on foot, but with mules and coach. The schatz is
still yonder, waiting to be dug up, and now I have better hope than
ever: plenty of friends, plenty of money. See you not how I am
dressed, lieber herr?
And verily his habiliments were of a much more respectable
appearance than any which he had sported on former occasions. His
coat and pantaloons, which were of light green, were nearly new.
On his head he still wore an Andalusian hat, but the present one
was neither old nor shabby, but fresh and glossy, and of immense
altitude of cone: whilst in his hand, instead of the ragged staff
which I had observed at Saint James and Oviedo, he now carried a
huge bamboo rattan, surmounted by the grim head of either a bear or
lion, curiously cut out of pewter.
"You have all the appearance of a treasure seeker returned from a
successful expedition," I exclaimed.
"Or rather," interrupted Antonio, "of one who has ceased to trade
on his own bottom, and now goes seeking treasures at the cost and
expense of others."
I questioned the Swiss minutely concerning his adventures since I
last saw him, when I left him at Oviedo to pursue my route to
Santander. From his answers I gathered that he had followed me to
the latter place; he was, however, a long time in performing the
journey, being weak from hunger and privation. At Santander he
could hear no tidings of me, and by this time the trifle which he
had received from me was completely exhausted. He now thought of
making his way into France, but was afraid to venture through the
disturbed provinces, lest he should fall into the hands of the
Carlists, who he conceived might shoot him as a spy. No one
relieving him at Santander, he departed and begged his way till he
found himself in some part of Aragon, but where he scarcely knew.
"My misery was so great," said Bennet, "that I nearly lost my
senses. Oh, the horror of wandering about the savage hills and
wide plains of Spain, without money and without hope! Sometimes I
became desperate, when I found myself amongst rocks and barrancos,
perhaps after having tasted no food from sunrise to sunset, and
then I would raise my staff towards the sky and shake it, crying,
lieber herr Gott, ach lieber herr Gott, you must help me now or
never; if you tarry, I am lost; you must help me now, now! And
once when I was raving in this manner, methought I heard a voice,
nay I am sure I heard it, sounding from the hollow of a rock, clear
and strong; and it cried, 'Der schatz, der schatz, it is not yet
dug up; to Madrid, to Madrid. The way to the schatz is through
Madrid.' And then the thought of the schatz once more rushed into
my mind, and I reflected how happy I might be, could I but dig up
the schatz. No more begging, then, no more wandering amidst horrid
mountains and deserts; so I brandished my staff, and my body and my
limbs became full of new and surprising strength, and I strode
forward, and was not long before I reached the high road; and then
I begged and bettled as I best could, until I reached Madrid."
"And what has befallen you since you reached Madrid?" I inquired.
"Did you find the treasure in the streets?"
On a sudden Bennet became reserved and taciturn, which the more
surprised me, as, up to the present moment, he had at all times
been remarkably communicative with respect to his affairs and
prospects. From what I could learn from his broken hints and
innuendoes, it appeared that, since his arrival at Madrid, he had
fallen into the hands of certain people who had treated him with
kindness, and provided him with both money and clothes; not from
disinterested motives, however, but having an eye to the treasure.
"They expect great things from me," said the Swiss; "and perhaps,
after all, it would have been more profitable to have dug up the
treasure without their assistance, always provided that were
possible." Who his new friends were, he either knew not or would
not tell me, save that they were people in power.
![The Bible In Spain By George Borrow
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[Greek verse]
And in this manner, mon maitre, I left the house of the Count of -
.
Myself. - And a fine - Page 158](../images/travel.jpg)
