DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE SPANISH. 



Castilians. I am no great lover of battles but then we must have proof that 

 we may surrender without disgrace. Show us that we may do so, and I pro- 

 mise you that, on our side, not a shot shall be fired/ He had not finished 

 speaking, when Rojas, rendered impatient by this conference, discharged his 

 piece at the summoner, but without effect. 



" ' Curse your precipitation !' cried the mayoral ; ' but, by the holy virgin 

 of Covodanza, the die is cast. Come, my sons, let us defend ourselves as we 

 may.' 



" The cavalier wheeled about his horse, saying, in a tone of irony, ' In faith, 

 a fine attempt : but now, Carajo, I shall teach you to play with the seven sons 

 of Ecija/ He darted off at full gallop, checked his steed a hundred paces further 

 on, and, standing in his stirrups, to take deliberate aim, discharged liis long gun. 



" Rojas fell, uttering a curse. The ball had broken his thigh. At the same 

 instant several other shots were discharged, and four cavaliers darted forth from 

 the brushwood. Two muleteers had fallen by this first discharge. The firing 

 then commenced on both sides, but the odds were unequal. In a few minutes 

 several muleteers were disabled, some killed, and others more or less dangerously 

 wounded. The mules which had been struck, became a new species of embar- 

 rassment to them rushing in confusion, and, casting off their burthens, rolling 

 in the dust. One of the banditti then advanced anew. ' Holloa !' cried he : 

 ' In the name of all the devils, let whoever values life throw down his arms, 

 and lie flat upon the ground/ 



" Antonio alone whether it was that he had not comprehended the injunctions 

 of the victor, or whether he looked upon it as a ruse or whether it was that he 

 was carried away by a warlike ardour he alone remained upright ; and seizing 

 the gun of one of his wounded companions, discharged it at the bandit. The 

 horse of the latter fell dead upon the spot. A cry of rage burst from the bri- 

 gands, and they all rushed upon the unfortunate Antonio, who, too late, repented 

 of his fatal folly. Already the dismounted cavalier, more furious than the rest, 

 had levelled his piece at his breast, and was on the point of firing, when the 

 cavalier, who had stopped the convoy, cried out, ' Give him time to say his 

 prayers, Pedro. Don't you see he is an ecclesiastic?' At these words, the long 

 gun of Pedro was gently inclined. ' Let him pray, then, quickly the dog," 

 said he. ' Carajo, he has killed the best steed that Spain has produced since 

 the time of Cid Babieca. Were he the Pope himself, he must pay for it with 

 his life." 5 



In this critical situation, his life is saved by the interposition of one 

 of the brigands,, whom he recognizes as his cousin, and who prepares to 

 give battle, in his defence, to the inflexible Pedro. On a sudden a 

 shout was heard 



" ' In the name of the Constitution, and of the King, surrender ! Long live 

 Riego! Follow, cavalry!'" 



From behind the olives, a party of horsemen debouched upon the 

 road. The suddenness of the attack so disconcerts the brigands, that 

 they are routed, and most of them slain. Pedro, left without his horse, 

 takes refuge in a ruined cottage, and defends himself furiously to the 

 last, but is slain by a sabre-blow from the young Marquis of Penaflores, 

 the leader of the party, who had so opportunely arrived to the deliver- 

 ance of the convoy. From the time in which he was surprised by the 

 banditti, at one of his country seats, and obliged to fly, almost naked, 

 from the burning ruins of his house, he had been the scourge of the 

 brigands, in conformity with an oath he had taken to exterminate them. 



The wildness of passion, and almost frantic energy of grief, with 

 which the tidings of the death of Pedro, are received by the daughter 

 of Eusebio, the smuggler, whose cortejo, or lover, he was, is no less 

 striking, and exhibitive of the fierce flashes of daring recklessness 



