Mercedes of Castile

ing that shook t

at the gate,

d Ruy Diez,

n his arms

Hem

of modern travellers, the time has scarcely ever existed when the inns of Spain were good, or the roads safe. These are two of the blessings of civilization which the people of the peninsula would really seem destined never to attain; for, in all ages,

ld that kingdom have been added to the list. The King of Aragon had seen a long and troubled reign, and, at this very moment, his treasury was nearly exhausted by his efforts to subdue the truculent Catalans, though he was nearer a triumph than he could then foresee, his competitor, the Duke of Lorraine, dying suddenly, only two short months after the precise period chosen for the commencement of our tale. But it is denied to man to look into the future, and on the 9th of the month just mentioned, the ingenuity of the royal treasurer was most sorely taxed, there having arisen an unexpected demand for a considerable sum of money, at the very moment that the army was about to disband itself for the want of pay, and the public coffers contained only the very moderate sum of three hundred Enriques, or Henrys-a gold coin named after a previous monarch, and which had a value not far from that of the modern ducat, or our own quarter eagle. The matter, however, was too pressing to be deferred, and even the objects of the war were considered as secondary to those connected with thi

Henry, as a monarch, had driven a portion of his subjects into open rebellion. Three years preceding that selected for our opening, his brother Alfonso had been proclaimed king in his stead, and a civil war had raged throughout his provinces. This war had been recently terminated by the death of Alfonso, when the peace of the kingdom was temporarily restored by a treaty, in which Henry consented to the setting aside of his own daughter-or rather of the daughter of Joanna of Portugal-and to the recognition of his half-sister Isabella, as the rightful heiress of the throne. The last concession was the result of dire necessity, and, as might have been expected, it led to many secret and violent measures, with a view to defeat its objects. Among the other expedients adopted by the king-or, it might be better to say,

rs and partisans; while the royal maiden, herself, who was the object of so much competition and rivalry, observed a discreet and womanly decorum, even while firmly bent on indulging her most womanly and dearest sentiments. Her brother, the king, was in the south, pursuing his pleasures, and, long accustomed to dwell in comparative solitude, the princess was earnestly occupied in arranging her own affairs, in a way that she believed would m

gallant display drew crowds after the horses' heels, and, together with some prayers for success, a vast deal of crude and shallow conjecture, as is still the practice with the uninstructed and gossiping, was lavished on the probable objects and results of the journey. But curiosity has its limits, and even the gossip occasionally grows weary; and by the time the sun was setting, most of the multitude had already forgotten to think and

curvily-appointed guard than that he hath this day led through the southern gate, notwithstanding the glitter of housings, and the clangor of trumpets. We could have furnished lances from Valencia mor

e money lavished in this courtly letter-writing, to pay the brave men who

, and you grudge him every Enrique he spends on his necessities. I am an older soldier, and

, after all, these Catalans are as good Christians as we are ourselves; some of them are

, seldom has any thing worth taking, while the other opens his stores to you as freely

you, now, Roderique, that there is not money enough among all those varl

not particularly anxious to be too familiar with the rest, and laughing, lightly, as he spoke: "Yonder vagabond is nearer the truth than is comfortable! We may h

vident by their appearance, for in that age the different classes were easily recognized by their attire, halted at the gate. The permission t

re among the traders. The merchants, moreover, were of a better class, as was evident by a follower or two, who rode in their train, in the garbs of menials, and who kept at a respectful distance while their masters paid the light fee that it was customary to g

ed doblas a year do they pay, in that service of thine,

rted and reddened at this free inquiry, which was enforced by a hand slapped familiarly on his knee, and such a squeeze of the leg as denoted the freedom of the cam

dly observed; "and if thou wilt take a friend's counsel, it will be, never t

Pedro!-I sh

ful rowel into the flank of his mule, and the vigorous animal dashed ahead, nearly

oldier, as he recovered his feet. "I thought, for one momen

nswered his comrade; "and it had been no wonder had that youth st

cringing Hebrew! He dare to strik

most of his frame and muscle are called on to go in harness. I think I have seen t

nd a younker that has just esca

young as he may seem. Thou knowest that the nobles are wont to carry their sons, as

of what art thou thinking, that thou likenest this knave to a young noble? Dost f

own in battle, and heard that sharp, quick voice, in a rally. By St

near to listen to what he said; and looking carefully round, to make certain th

recoiling quite three paces, in surprise a

her, positively. "Have I not often seen him with his vi

der's varlet! Nay, I know not,

seeing, and to listen without hearing. Although his coffers are low, Don John is a

ipe of the knee, and my foolish tongu

e king, and, as for the field, as he is wont to go first, there will

n, he will not be a

ke it in ill part; as such as he have more deman

again to appear in the ranks. Were it a favor I conferred, I might ho

e from time to time, although the elder frequently admoni

as nothing about the appearance of the travellers-who soon entered the territory of Soria, a province of Old Castile, where armed parties of the monarch were active in watching the passes-to attract the attention of Henry's soldiers; and as for the more vulgar robber, he was temporarily driven from the highways by the presence of those who acted in the name of the prince. As respects the youth who had given rise to the discourse between the two soldiers, he rode diligently in the rear of his master, so long as it pleased the latter to remain in the saddle; and during the few and brief pauses that occurred in the travelling, he busied himself, like the other menials, in the duties of his prope

from thy position in the van, to this unseem

es those of the fables and legends of necromancy and knight-errantry. The worthy Master Ferreras, yonder, who is so skilful in handling gold, having passed his whole life in buying and selling barley and oats,

Thank Heaven! the Burgo of Osma cannot be very distant; and we may have less occasion for gold. And now, master of mine, let me command thee to keep thy proper place in this cavalcade, and

cared to respect his own admonitions; while the other evidently sought a look of r

f the freedom, than the young merchant in advance dealt sundry blows on it with his staff, effectually apprising those within of his presence. It required no strong pull of the reins to stop the mules of those behind; but the pretended varlet now pushed ahead, and was about to assume his place among the principal personages near the gate, when a heavy stone, hurled from the battlements, passed so close

peaceful travellers; merchants, who come to ask

er, spies and agents of King Henry. Who are ye? Speak promptly, o

ng to be questioned himself-"who holds this b

at can a set of travelling traders know of His Excellency? and who art th

ince of Aragon-the King of Sicily. G

ver to note the promptitude with which the young cavaliers, in particular, rose in their saddles, as if casting aside the lounging mien of grovelling traders, in order to appear what they really were, men accustomed to the tourney and the field. On the ramparts the change was equally sudden and great. All appearance of drowsiness vanished; the soldiers spoke to each other in suppressed but hurried voices; and the distant tramp of feet announced that messengers were dispatched in various directions. S

ntern was lowered from the wall, as if to make a closer inspection of the party at the gate: "Am

d the king, "that thou may'st make thyself sure. I will cheerfully overlook th

kings, and that voice have I heard, often, rallying the squadrons of Aragon, in their onsets against the

by sound of trumpet, encircled by a strong party of men-at-arms, a

lodgings without cost; it being a melancholy truth, that Master Ferreras hath, negligently enough, mislaid the only purse there was among us. In such a strait, it would not

smiling, "we shall throw ourselves gladly on thy hospitality, well kn

ratification I can pay for. My attachment for the Princess Isabella hath driven me from my lands; and even the h

e Do?a Beatriz de Bobadilla; and I hear they are altogether at thy disposal, or

s happily as it commenceth, I may, indeed, look t

r, in a manner very different from that in which it had approached its gate. Ferdinand now appeared as a knight, mounted on a noble Andalusian charger; and all his followers had still more openly assumed their proper characters. A strong body of lancers, led by the Count of Trevi?

races of that period, and indeed of this, in despite of the burning sun under which he dwelt, his native complexion was brilliant, though it had already become embrowned by exposure in the chase, and in the martial occupations of his boyhood. Temperate as a Mussulman, his active and well-proportioned frame seemed to be early indurating, as if Providence held him in reserve for some of its own dispensations, that called for great bodily vigor as wel