True It Is That One
Of Our Number, For There Were Four Of Us Originally, Fell The Other
Day Into The Hands Of The Canaille:
He had wandered across the
bridge amongst the thickets with his gun in search of a hare or
rabbit, when three or four of them fell upon him and put him to
death in a manner too horrible to relate.
But patience! every man
who lives must die. I shall not sleep the worse to-night because I
may chance to be hacked by the knives of these malvados to-morrow.
Cavalier, I am from Barcelona, and have seen there mariners of your
nation; this is not so good a country as Barcelona. Paciencia!
Cavalier, if you will step into our house, I will give you a glass
of water; we have some that is cool, for we dug a deep hole in the
earth and buried there our pitcher; it is cool, as I told you, but
the water of Castile is not like that of Catalonia."
The moon had arisen when we mounted our horses to return to the
village, and the rays of the beauteous luminary danced merrily on
the rushing waters of the Tagus, silvered the plain over which we
were passing, and bathed in a flood of brightness the bold sides of
the calcareous hill of Villaluenga and the antique ruins which
crowned its brow. "Why is that place called the Castle of
Villaluenga?" I demanded.
"From a village of that name, which stands on the other side of the
hill, Don Jorge," replied the herrador. "Vaya! it is a strange
place, that castle; some say it was built by the Moors in the old
times, and some by the Christians when they first laid siege to
Toledo. It is not inhabited now, save by rabbits, which breed
there in abundance amongst the long grass and broken stones, and by
eagles and vultures, which build on the tops of the towers; I
occasionally go there with my gun to shoot a rabbit. On a fine day
you may descry both Toledo and Madrid from its walls. I cannot say
I like the place, it is so dreary and melancholy. The hill on
which it stands is all of chalk, and is very difficult of ascent.
I heard my grandame say that once, when she was a girl, a cloud of
smoke burst from that hill, and that flames of fire were seen, just
as if it contained a volcano, as perhaps it does, Don Jorge."
The grand work of Scripture circulation soon commenced in the
Sagra. Notwithstanding the heat of the weather, I rode about in
all directions. It was well that heat agrees with my constitution,
otherwise it would have been impossible to effect anything in this
season, when the very arrieros frequently fall dead from their
mules, smitten by sun-stroke. I had an excellent assistant in
Antonio, who, disregarding the heat like myself, and afraid of
nothing, visited several villages with remarkable success.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 322 of 424
Words from 168874 to 169379
of 222596
