However, Par Malheur, I Was At This Time Very Much
Dissatisfied With Madame His Mother About The Quail, And I Insisted
That Before I Accompanied Him The Bird Should Be Slaughtered For
The Kitchen.
To this madame would by no means consent; and even
the young gentleman, who had always taken my part on other
occasions, said that I was unreasonable:
So I left the house in a
huff, and never entered it again.
"Eh bien, mon maitre, the young gentleman went upon his travels,
and continued abroad several years; and from the time of his
departure until we met him at Colunga, I have not set eyes upon,
nor indeed heard of him. I have heard enough, however, of his
family; of monsieur the father, of madame, and of the brother, who
was an officer of cavalry. A short time before the troubles, I
mean before the death of Ferdinand, monsieur the father was
appointed captain-general of Coruna. Now monsieur, though a good
master, was rather a proud man, and fond of discipline and all that
kind of thing, and of obedience. He was, moreover, no friend to
the populace, to the canaille, and he had a particular aversion to
the nationals. So when Ferdinand died, it was whispered about at
Coruna, that the general was no liberal, and that he was a better
friend to Carlos than to Christina. Eh bien, it chanced that there
was a grand fete, or festival at Coruna, on the water; and the
nationals were there, and the soldiers. And I know not how it
befell, but there was an emeute, and the nationals laid hands on
monsieur the general, and tying a rope round his neck, flung him
overboard from the barge in which he was, and then dragged him
astern about the harbour until he was drowned. They then went to
his house and pillaged it, and so ill-treated madame, who at that
time happened to be enceinte, that in a few hours she expired.
"I tell you what, mon maitre, when I heard of the misfortune of
madame and the general, you would scarcely believe it, but I
actually shed tears, and was sorry that I had parted with them in
unkindness on account of that pernicious quail.
"Eh bien, mon maitre, nous poursuivrons notre histoire. The eldest
son, as I told you before, was a cavalry officer and a man of
resolution, and when he heard of the death of his father and
mother, he vowed revenge. Poor fellow! but what does he do but
desert, with two or three discontented spirits of his troop, and
going to the frontier of Galicia, he raised a small faction, and
proclaimed Don Carlos. For some little time he did considerable
damage to the liberals, burning and destroying their possessions,
and putting to death several nationals that fell into his hands.
However, this did not last long, his faction was soon dispersed,
and he himself taken and hanged, and his head stuck on a pole.
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