MARQUINEZ AND LA COLLEGIALA. 181 



the unfortunate Spaniard, who first fell forward on 

 his horse's neck, and then rolled to the ground, strik- 

 ing in his fall against the stone basin, which was 

 sprinkled with his blood. The assassin sprang from 

 his saddle, and stood over his victim with a sharp 

 short dagger in his hand. He had no occasion to use 

 it. The teeth of the guerilla chieftain were set firmly 

 against each other, and a slight froth stood upon his 

 lips. The independence of Spain had lost one of its 

 most gallant defenders. 



When the news of this cowardly deed reached 

 Marquinez's comrades, the latter did not hesitate 

 to attribute it to the French general Boyer, from 

 whose column the German had deserted. It would 

 be unjust, however, to lay the instigation of so foul 

 a murder at the door of a brave officer without some 

 better proof than mere suspicions. One thing is cer- 

 tain that when the murderer, after some hairbreadth 

 escapes, succeeded in rejoining the French, he received 

 an officer's commission, as a reward for having rid 

 them of so troublesome and active an enemy. 



Shortly after Marquinez's death, La Collegiala, 

 with thirty or forty men, deserted to Valladolid, 

 then held by the French. Those who knew her 

 best were unable to discover or imagine any pos- 

 sible reason for so extraordinary an act. Some few, 

 indeed, supposed that she had taken this step as the 

 only means by which she could hope to find an 

 opportunity of revenging the death of her lover ; 



