It Was Considerably Past Midnight When,
Just As I Was Sinking Into A Slumber, I Was Aroused By A Confused
Noise In The Village, And The Glare Of Lights Through The Lattice
Of The Window Of The Room Where I Lay; Presently Entered Antonio,
Half Dressed.
"Mon maitre," said he, "the grand post from Madrid
to Coruna has just arrived in the village, attended by a
considerable escort, and an immense number of travellers.
The road
they say, between here and Lugo, is infested with robbers and
Carlists, who are committing all kinds of atrocities; let us,
therefore, avail ourselves of the opportunity, and by midday to-
morrow we shall find ourselves safe in Lugo." On hearing these
words, I instantly sprang out of bed and dressed myself, telling
Antonio to prepare the horses with all speed.
We were soon mounted and in the street, amidst a confused throng of
men and quadrupeds. The light of a couple of flambeaux, which were
borne before the courier, shone on the arms of several soldiers,
seemingly drawn up on either side of the road; the darkness,
however, prevented me from distinguishing objects very clearly.
The courier himself was mounted on a little shaggy pony; before and
behind him were two immense portmanteaux, or leather sacks, the
ends of which nearly touched the ground. For about a quarter of an
hour there was much hubbub, shouting, and trampling, at the end of
which period the order was given to proceed. Scarcely had we left
the village when the flambeaux were extinguished, and we were left
in almost total darkness; for some time we were amongst woods and
trees, as was evident from the rustling of leaves on every side.
My horse was very uneasy and neighed fearfully, occasionally
raising himself bolt upright. "If your horse is not more quiet,
cavalier, we shall be obliged to shoot him," said a voice in an
Andalusian accent; "he disturbs the whole cavalcade." "That would
be a pity, sergeant," I replied, "for he is a Cordovese by the four
sides; he is not used to the ways of this barbarous country." "Oh,
he is a Cordovese," said the voice, "vaya, I did not know that; I
am from Cordova myself. Pobrecito! let me pat him - yes, I know by
his coat that he is my countryman - shoot him, indeed! vaya, I would
fain see the Gallegan devil who would dare to harm him. Barbarous
country, io lo creo: neither oil nor olives, bread nor barley.
You have been at Cordova. Vaya; oblige me, cavalier, by taking
this cigar."
In this manner we proceeded for several hours, up hill and down
dale, but generally at a very slow pace. The soldiers who escorted
us from time to time sang patriotic songs, breathing love and
attachment to the young Queen Isabel, and detestation of the grim
tyrant Carlos. One of the stanzas which reached my ears, ran
something in the following style:-
"Don Carlos is a hoary churl,
Of cruel heart and cold;
But Isabel's a harmless girl,
Of only six years old."
At last the day began to break, and I found myself amidst a train
of two or three hundred people, some on foot, but the greater part
mounted, either on mules or the pony mares: I could not
distinguish a single horse except my own and Antonio's. A few
soldiers were thinly scattered along the road. The country was
hilly, but less mountainous and picturesque than the one which we
had traversed the preceding day; it was for the most part
partitioned into small fields, which were planted with maize. At
the distance of every two or three leagues we changed our escort,
at some village where was stationed a detachment. The villages
were mostly an assemblage of wretched cabins; the roofs were
thatched, dank, and moist, and not unfrequently covered with rank
vegetation. There were dunghills before the doors, and no lack of
pools and puddles. Immense swine were stalking about, intermingled
with naked children. The interior of the cabins corresponded with
their external appearance: they were filled with filth and misery.
We reached Lugo about two hours past noon: during the last two or
three leagues, I became so overpowered with weariness, the result
of want of sleep and my late illness, that I was continually dozing
in my saddle, so that I took but little notice of what was passing.
We put up at a large posada without the wall of the town, built
upon a steep bank, and commanding an extensive view of the country
towards the east. Shortly after our arrival, the rain began to
descend in torrents, and continued without intermission during the
next two days, which was, however, to me but a slight source of
regret, as I passed the entire time in bed, and I may almost say in
slumber. On the evening of the third day I arose.
There was much bustle in the house, caused by the arrival of a
family from Coruna; they came in a large jaunting car, escorted by
four carabineers. The family was rather numerous, consisting of a
father, son, and eleven daughters, the eldest of whom might be
about eighteen. A shabby-looking fellow, dressed in a jerkin and
wearing a high-crowned hat, attended as domestic. They arrived
very wet and shivering, and all seemed very disconsolate,
especially the father, who was a well-looking middle-aged man.
"Can we be accommodated?" he demanded in a gentle voice of the man
of the house; "can we be accommodated in this fonda?"
"Certainly, your worship," replied the other; "our house is large.
How many apartments does your worship require for your family?"
"One will be sufficient," replied the stranger.
The host, who was a gouty personage and leaned upon a stick, looked
for a moment at the traveller, then at every member of his family,
not forgetting the domestic, and, without any farther comment than
a slight shrug, led the way to the door of an apartment containing
two or three flock beds, and which on my arrival I had objected to
as being small, dark, and incommodious; this he flung open, and
demanded whether it would serve.
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