CHAPTER XXI.A SAFE HARBOR.“Weare in Malaga now; and we have to decide what to do next,” said Raymond, when they were shown to their room in the hotel.“I supposed you would wait till the squadron arrived,” replied Bark.“I do not intend to wait. We have talked so much about your affairs that we have said nothing about mine,” added Raymond. “My circumstances are very different from yours. I feel that I have been right all the time; and I expect that I shall be fully justified in the end for what I have done in violation of the discipline of the vessel to which I belong.”“I know that my case is very different from yours; but I do not want to part company with you,” said Bark, with an anxious look on his face.“I don’t know that it is necessary for us to part. Though I think it is your duty to join your ship as soon as convenient, I shall keep out of the way till she is ready to sail from Spain. The fleet will certainly visit Cadiz, whether it goes to sea from there or not. For this reason, I must work my way to Cadiz.”“And must I stay here till the squadron arrives?”“Let us look it over.”“I cannot speak Spanish; and I shall be like a cat in a strange garret, unless I employ a guide.”“The right thing for you to do is to return to your ship.”“Go back to Barcelona?”“I should advise you to do that if I were not afraid the fleet would leave before you could get there. The Prince will arrive within three days; and, if the Josephines and Tritonias have returned, the vessels may sail at once. It is a long, tedious, and expensive journey by rail; and you could not get there in this time by any steamer, for they all stop at the ports on the way. I don’t know where the fleet will put in on its way south; and you might miss it. On the whole, I think you had better stay with me.”“I think so myself,” replied Bark, pleased with the decision.“Because you want to think so, perhaps,” laughed Raymond. “We must be careful that our wishes don’t override our judgment.”“But you decided it for me.”“I think we have settled it right,” added Raymond. “I want to see something of my native land; and I shall go to the Alhambra and Seville on the way to Cadiz. In your case it will make only a difference of two or three days, whether you join the Tritonia here or in Cadiz.”This course was decided upon in the end; and, after a day in Malaga, they started for Granada. At the expiration of ten days, they had completed the tour marked out by Raymond, and were in Cadiz, waitingfor the arrival of the squadron. At the end of a week it had not come. Another week, and still it did not appear. Raymond looked over the ship-news in all the papers he could find in the club-house; but the last news he could obtain was that the Prince and her consorts had arrived at Carthagena. In vain he looked for any thing more. The next port would certainly be Malaga, unless the fleet put into Almeria, which was not probable. It was now the middle of January.“I don’t understand it,” said Raymond. “The vessels ought to have been here before this time.”“Perhaps they have gone over into Africa to look after us,” suggested Bark.“That is not possible: Mr. Lowington never goes to hunt up or hunt down runaways; but he may have gone over there to let the students see something of Africa,” replied Raymond. “I don’t think he has gone over to Africa at all.”“Where is he, then?”“That’s a conundrum, and I can’t guess it.”Raymond continued to watch the papers till the first of February; but still there were no tidings of the fleet. He had a list of the vessels that had passed Tarifa, and of those which had arrived at Algiers, Oran, and Nemours; but they did not contain the name of the Prince. Then he looked for ships at Alexandria, thinking the principal might have concluded to take the students to Egypt; but he found nothing to support such a possibility.“I don’t think I shall stay here any longer,” said Raymond. “We have been here a month.”“Where will you go?” asked Bark.“I believe we had better take a steamer, and follow the coast up to Carthagena, where we had the last news of the fleet,” replied Raymond. “When we get there we can ascertain for what port she sailed.”“Why not go on board of one of the steamers that come down the coast from Barcelona, and inquire of the officers if they have seen the squadron?” suggested Bark, who was always full of suggestions.“That’s a capital idea!” exclaimed Raymond. “I wonder we did not think of that idea before.”Then they had to wait a week for a steamer that had come down the coast; but one of the line from Oran had been in port, and they ascertained that the fleet was not in the port of Malaga. Raymond went to the captain of the steamer from Barcelona, and was informed that the squadron was at Carthagena, and had been there for over a month.“That accounts for it all,” said Raymond, as they returned to the boat in which they had boarded the steamer. “But I can’t imagine why the fleet is staying all this time in the harbor of Carthagena.”“Perhaps the Prince has broken some of her machinery, and they have stopped to repair damages,” suggested Bark.“That may be; but they could hardly be a month mending a break. They could build a new engine in that time almost.”“Well, we know where the fleet is; and the next question is, What are we to do about it?” added Bark, as they landed on the quay.They returned to the Hotel de Cadiz, where they boarded, and went to their room to consider the situation with the new light just obtained.“Your course is plain enough, Bark,” said Raymond. “Mine is not so plain.”“You think I ought to return to the Tritonia; don’t you?” added Bark.“That is my view.”“But suppose the fleet should sail before I get to Carthagena?”“You must take your chance of that.”“But you will not go back with me?”“No: it would not be safe for me to do that. It will be better for my uncle in Barcelona not to know where I am.”“But what shall I say to Mr. Lowington, or Mr. Pelham, when I am asked where you are?” inquired Bark. “I suppose it is still to be part of my programme not to lie.”“Undoubtedly; and I hope you will stick to it as long as you live.”“I intend to do so; and you might as well go with me as to have me tell them where you are.”“That is true, Bark; and, when you get on board of the Tritonia, tell all you know about me, and say that you left me in Cadiz.”“You might as well go with me.”“I think not.”“Then thatalguacilwill be after you in less than a week,” said Bark.“But he will not find me; for I shall not be in Cadiz when he arrives,” laughed the Spaniard.“Where are you going?” asked Bark curiously.“If I don’t tell you, you will not know.”“I see,” added Bark. “You do not intend to stay in Cadiz.”“Of course not.”“But you may miss the squadron when it goes to sea.”“If I do, I cannot help it; and in that case I may go to New York, or I may go to the West Indies in the Lopez steamers. I have not made up my mind what I shall do.”Raymond wrote a long letter to Scott, and gave it to his companion to deliver to him. In a few days a steamer came along that was going to stop at Carthagena. Bark went on board of her; and, after a hard parting, he sailed away in her to join the Tritonia, after an absence of two months.On the following day Raymond went to Gibraltar in the Spanish steamer, and remained there a full month, watching the papers for news of the fleet. At the end of this time he found the arrival of the squadron at Malaga. A few days later he saw that the Prince had passed Tarifa, and then that she had arrived at Cadiz. But, while he is watching the movements of the steamer, we will follow her to Barcelona, where she went nearly three months before.When the Prince reached her destination, the overland party had not returned, and were not expected for two or three days. An excursion to Monserrat was organized by Dr. Winstock, who declared that it would be ridiculous to leave Barcelona, when they had time on their hands, without visiting one of the most remarkable sights in Spain. The party had to take a train at seven o’clock in the morning; and then it was ten before they reached their destination.Monserrat is a lofty mountain, and takes its namefrom a Spanish word that means a “saw,” because the sharp peaks which cover the elevation resemble the teeth of that implement. At theposadain the village Dr. Winstock related the legend of the place.“This is one of the most celebrated shrines in Spain,” he began. “Sixty thousand pilgrims used to visit it every year; but now the various chapels and monastery buildings are mostly in ruins. In 880 mysterious lights were seen over a part of the mountain. The bishop came up to see what they were, and discovered a small image of the Virgin in one of the numerous grottos that are found in the mountain. This little statue was the work of St. Luke, of course, and was brought to Spain by St. Peter himself. The Bishop of Barcelona hid it in this cave when the Moors invaded Catalonia. Bishop Gondemar, who found it, attempted to carry it to Manresa; but it became so heavy that he did not succeed. This was a miraculous intimation from the image that it did not wish to go any farther. The obliging bishop built a chapel on the spot, and the image was shrined at its altar. He also appointed a hermit to watch over it.“Now, the Devil came to live in one of the caverns for the purpose of leading this anchorite astray. The Count of Barcelona had a beautiful daughter whose name was Riquilda; and the Devil ‘possessed’ her. She told her father that the evil spirit would not leave her till ordered to do so by Guarin, the pious custodian of the image. The count left her in his care. The hermit was wickedly inclined by the influence of the Devil, and finally killed the maiden, cutting off her head, and burying the body. Guarin was immediatelysorry for what he had done, and, fleeing from his evil neighbor, went to Rome. The pope absolved him with the penance that he should return to Monserrat on his hands and knees, and continue to walk like a beast, as he was morally, and never to look up to heaven which he had insulted, and never to speak a word. He became a wild beast in the forest; and Count Wildred captured the strange animal, and conveyed him to his palace, where he doubtless became a lion. One day the creature was brought in to be exhibited to the count’s guests at a banquet. A child cried out to him, ‘Arise, Juan Guarin! thy sins are forgiven!’ Then he arose in the form of the hermit; and the count pardoned him, having the grace to follow the example set him.“But the end was not yet; for, when the count and Guarin went to search for the body, Riquilda appeared to them alive and well, though she had been buried eight years, but with a red ring around her neck, like a silk thread, rather ornamental than otherwise. The count founded a nunnery at once; and his daughter was made the lady superior, while Guarin became themayor-domoof the establishment. In time the nuns were removed, and monks took their places; and the miracles performed by the image attracted thousands to its shrines. The treasury of this Virgin was immense at one time, being valued at two hundred thousand ducats; but most of it was carried away by the French. The scenery, you see, is wild and grand, and I think is more enjoyable than the relics and the grottos.”For hours the students wandered about the wildlocality. They saw the wonderful image; and those who had any taste for art thought that St. Luke, if he made the little statue, had not done himself any great credit. They visited the thirteen hermitages, and explored the grottos till they had had enough of this sort of thing. An hour after dark they were on board of the Prince. In two days more the Josephines and Tritonias arrived; and on Wednesday the squadron sailed for the South.During his stay in port, the principal had seen Don Francisco, and told him all he knew in regard to the fugitive. The lawyer was satisfied that Mr. Lowington had done nothing to keep the young Don out of the way of his guardian; and neither of them could suggest any means to recover possession of him. As yet no letter from Don Manuel in New York had been received.Favored by a good wind, the squadron arrived at Valencia in thirty hours. After a night’s sleep, all hands were landed at the port of the city, which the reader knows is Grao. The professor of geography and history, while the party were waiting for the vehicles that were to convey them to the city, gave the students a description of Valencia. It is an ancient city, founded by the Phœnicians, inhabited by the Romans for five centuries, captured by the Moors and held by them about the same time, though the Cid took the town, and held it for five years. At his death, in 1099, the Moors came down upon the city; and the body of the Cid was placed on his horse, and marched out of the city. The Moslems opened for it; and the Castilians passed through their army in safety, the enemy not daring toattack them. It was not such a victory for the Spaniards as some of the chronicles describe; for the Christians had to abandon the place. It was taken from the Moors in 1238, and became a part of Aragon, to be united with the other provinces of Spain by the union of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Moriscoes—the Moors who had been allowed to remain in Spain after the capture of Granada—made a great city of it, building its palaces and bridges; but they were driven out of the peninsula by Philip II. They had cultivated its vicinity, and made a paradise of the province; and their departure was almost a death-blow to the prosperity of the city.Though the modern kings of Spain have not spared its memorials of the past, it is still an interesting city. It has a population of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand, making it the fourth city of Spain. It is one of the most industrious cities of the peninsula; and its manufactures of silk and velvet are quite extensive. The city contains nothing very different from other Spanish towns. The students wandered over the most of it, looking into a few of the churches, nearly every one of which has a wonder-working image of the Virgin, or of St. Vincent, who is the patron saint of Valencia.The next day the squadron sailed, and put into Alicante after a twenty-four hours’ run; the wind being so light that the steamer had to tow her consorts nearly the whole distance. The students went on shore; but the old legend, “Nothing to see,” was passed around among them. Alicante is an old Spanish town, composed of white houses, standing at the foot of a highhill crowned with an old fortress. The lines, walls, covered ways, and batteries, seem to cover one side of the elevation. Those who cared to do it climbed to the top of the hill, and were rewarded with a fine view of the sea and the country.“When the Cid had captured Valencia,” said Dr. Winstock to his pupils, as they stood on the summit of the hill, “he conducted Ximine, his wife, to the top of a tower, and showed her the country he had conquered. It was called theHuerta, which means a large orchard. The land had been irrigated by the industrious and enterprising Moors, and bore fruit in luxurious abundance. Thevega, or plain, which we see, is scarcely less fertile; and the region around us is perhaps the most productive in Spain. Twelve miles south is Elche, which is filled with palm-plantations. We see an occasional palm and fig tree here.”Mr. Lowington did not favor excursions into the country when it could be avoided; but the doctor insisted that the students ought to visit Elche, and the point was yielded. They made the excursion in four separate parties; for comfortable carriages could not be obtained to take them all at once. The road was dry and dusty at first, and the soil poor; but the aspect of the country soon changed. Palms began to appear along the way, and soon the landscape seemed to be covered with them.“There is something to see here, at any rate,” said Sheridan, as the party approached the town.“I thought you would enjoy it,” replied the doctor. “This is the East transplanted in Spain.”“These palms are fifty feet high,” added Murray, measuring them with his eye.“Some of them are sixty; but fifty is about the average. Now we are in the palm-forest, which is said to contain forty thousand trees. This region is irrigated by the waters of the Vinalopo River, which are held back by a causeway stretched across the valley above. These plantations are very profitable.”“But all palms are not like these,” said Murray. “My uncle has seen palms over a hundred feet high.”“There are nearly a hundred kinds of palm, bearing different sorts of fruit. These are date-palms; and one of them bears from one to two hundred pounds of dates.”“And they sell at from ten to fifteen cents a pound at home,” added Sheridan.“But for not more than one or two cents a pound here,” continued the doctor. “I suppose you have learned about sex in plants, which is a modern discovery; but it is most strikingly illustrated in these date-palms. Only the female tree bears fruit. The male palm bears a flower whose pollen was shaken over the female trees by the Moors long before any thing was known about sex in plants; and the practice is continued by their successors. But the male palm yields a profit in addition to supplying the orchard with pollen. Its leaves are dried, and made into fans, crowns, and wreaths, and sold for use on Palm Sunday. This town gets seventy thousand dollars for its dates, and ten thousand for its palm-leaves.”“When are the dates picked?” asked Sheridan.“In November. The men climb the trees by the aid of ropes passed around the trunk and the body. I will ask one of them to ascend a tree for your benefit.”The excursionists reached the village, which is in the middle of the forest of palms. It was very Oriental in its appearance. The people were swarthy, and wore a peculiar costume, in which were some remnants of the Moorish fashion. The church has its image of the Virgin, who dresses very richly, and owns a date-plantation which pays the expenses of her wardrobe.The students were so delighted with the excursion that they made a rollicking time of it on the way back to Alicante, and astonished the peasants by their lively demonstrations. The road was no road at all, but merely a path across the country, and was very rough in places. The cottages of the vicinity were thatched with palm-leaves in some instances. At the door of many of them was a hamper of dates, from which any one could help himself, and leave acuartoin payment for the feast. It is not watched by the owner, for the Spaniard here is an honest man. The students frequently availed themselves of these hampers when the doctor had explained to them the custom of the country; but he exhorted them to be as honest as the natives.The squadron remained at anchor in the port of Alicante four days; and, when the students of the first party had told their story, the trip to Elche was the most popular excursion since they left Italy.“Which is the best port on the east coast of Spain, doctor?” asked the principal, as they sat on the deck of the Prince while the third party had gone to Elche.“I shall answer you as the admiral did Philip II.,—Carthagena,” replied the doctor.“I find that the students are tired of sight-seeing,and the lessons have been much neglected of late,” continued the principal. “I think we all need a rest. I have about made up my mind to lie up for three months in some good harbor, recruit the students, and push along their studies.”“I think that is an excellent plan. April will be a better month to see the rest of Spain than the middle of winter.”The plan was fully discussed and adopted; and on the following day the squadron sailed for Carthagena, and having a stiff breeze was at anchor in its capacious harbor at sunset. The students were not sorry to take the rest; for the constant change of place for the last six months had rendered a different programme acceptable. There was nothing in the town to see; and the harbor was enclosed with hills, almost landlocked, and as smooth as a millpond.CHAPTER XXII.THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE.Themail for the squadron—forwarded by the principal’s banker in Barcelona—had been following the fleet down the coast for a week, but was received soon after it anchored at Carthagena. Among the letters was one from Don Manuel, Raymond’s uncle in New York. He was astonished that his nephew had ventured into Spain, when he had been cautioned not to do so. He was glad he had left his vessel, and hoped the principal would do nothing to bring him back. It was extremely important that his nephew should not be restored to his uncle in Barcelona, for reasons which Henry would explain if necessary. If the fugitive was, by any mischance, captured by Don Alejandro or his agents, Don Manuel wished to be informed of the fact at once by cable; and it would be his duty to hasten to Spain without delay.Mr. Lowington was greatly astonished at this letter, and handed it to Dr. Winstock. It seemed to indicate that a satisfactory explanation could be given of the singular conduct of the second master of the Tritonia, and that he would be able to justify his course.“That is not the kind of letter I expected to receive,” said the principal, when the surgeon had read it.“There is evidently some family quarrel which Don Manuel does not wish to disclose to others,” replied the doctor.“But Don Manuel ought to have informed me that he did not wish to have his nephew taken into Spain.”“We can’t tell about that till we know all the facts in the case. I have no doubt that the uncle in Barcelona is the legal guardian of Enrique Raimundo,” continued the doctor.“Then how did the boy come into the possession of Don Manuel?”“I don’t know; but he seems to be actuated by very strong motives, for he is coming to Spain if the young man falls into the hands of his legal guardian. I don’t understand it; but I am satisfied that it is a case for the lawyers to work upon.”“I think not; for Don Manuel seems to believe that the safety of his nephew can only be secured by keeping him out of Spain; in other words, that he has no case which he is willing to take into a Spanish court.”“Perhaps you are right; but it looks to me like a fortune for the lawyers to pick upon; though I must say that Don Francisco is one of the most gentlemanly and obliging attorneys I ever met, and seems to ask for nothing that is not perfectly fair.”They could not solve the problem; and it was no use to discuss it. The principal had done all he could to recover the second master of the Tritonia, or rather to assist the detective who was in search of him. Thelast news of him, brought by Bill Stout, was that the fugitive had gone to Africa. Thealguacilhad gone to Africa, but Raimundo had left before he arrived. He was unable to obtain any clew to him, for Raymond looked like Spaniards in general; and in the dress he had put on in Valencia he did not look like Raymond in the uniform of an officer. While the fugitive was sunning himself in Gibraltar, the pursuer was looking for him in Italy and Egypt. The principal was confident he had gone to the East, for runaways would not expose themselves to capture till their money was all gone. Besides, some of the officers of the Tritonia said that Raymond had often expressed a desire to visit Egypt and the Holy Land.The affairs of the squadron went along smoothly for six weeks. The students were studious, now that they had nothing to distract their attention. Bill Stout staid in the brig till he promised to learn his lessons, and then was let out. He did not like the brig after the trap in the floor was screwed down so that he could not raise it. Ben Pardee and Lon Gibbs fell out with him; first, because he had run away without them, and, second, because he was a disagreeable and unreasonable fellow. Bill did study his lessons in order to keep out of the brig; but he was behind every class in the vessel, and his ignorance was so dense that the professors were disgusted with him. It was about six weeks after the squadron took up its quarters in the harbor of Carthagena, that a shore-boat came up to the gangway, and Bark Lingall stepped upon the deck of the Tritonia. Of course his heart beat violently; but he came back like the Prodigal Son. He was wiser and better thanwhen he left, and he was ready to submit cheerfully to the penalty of his offence; and he expected to be committed to the brig as soon as he showed himself to the principal.It was nearly dark when the prodigal boarded the Tritonia, and Scott was in charge of the anchor watch which had been set for the night. He looked at Bark as he came up the side; and, though the fugitive had changed his dress, he recognized him at once.“Lingall!” exclaimed Scott. “You haven’t made a mistake as Stout did; have you?”“I don’t know what mistake Stout made, except the mistake of running away; and I made that one with him,” replied Bark.“Stout came on board of the Prince at Lisbon, thinking she was a steamer bound to England,” laughed Scott.“I could not mistake the Tritonia for a steamer, even if I wanted to go to England.”“Where did you leave Raimundo?” asked the officer anxiously.“Here is a letter from him for you; and that will explain it all. I wish to see the vice-principal,” continued Bark.Mr. Pelham was summoned, and he gave a good-natured greeting to the returned fugitive, not doubting that he had spent all his money in riotous living, and had come back because he could not travel any more without funds.“Money all gone, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal, who, like his superior, believed that satire was an effective means of discipline at times.“No, sir: I have over fifty pounds left,” replied Bark, more respectfully than he had formerly been in the habit of speaking, even to the principal.“What did you come back for, then?” demanded Mr. Pelham.“Because I am sorry for what I have done, and ask to be forgiven,” answered Bark, taking off his hat, and fixing his gaze upon the deck, while his bosom was swelling with emotion.The vice-principal was touched by his manner. He had stood in the same position before the principal five years before; and he indulged in no more light words. He took the prodigal down into his cabin, so that whatever passed between them might have no witnesses.“Do you come back voluntarily, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal in gentle tones.“I do, sir: I left Cadiz three days ago. I had been waiting there a month for the squadron to arrive. We did not know where it was, for the last we could learn of it was its arrival in Carthagena.”“You say we: were you not alone?”“No, sir: Raymond was with me.”“Who is Raymond?”“Raimundo: he has translated his name into English, and now prefers to be called by that name.”“And you left him in Cadiz?”“Yes, sir.”“Is he there now?”“I don’t know, sir; but I think not. He did not tell me where he was going, and I did not wish to know.”“I see,” added Mr. Pelham. “I hope he will not be taken by those who are after him.”Bark looked up, utterly astonished at this last remark; for he supposed the sympathies of the officers were with Don Francisco, as they had been at the time he left the Tritonia. As Mr. Pelham was in the confidence of the principal in regard to the affair of the second master, he had been permitted to read the letter from Don Manuel; and this fact will explain the remark.“Raymond does not know from what port the squadron will sail for the islands; but he wants to return to his ship as soon as he can,” added Bark.As Raymond’s case seemed to be of more interest than his own, Bark told all he knew about his late companion; but no one was any wiser in regard to his present hiding-place.“Where have you been all this time?” asked the vice-principal, when his curiosity was fully satisfied concerning Raymond.“I have been a good deal worse than you think I have; and I wish that running away was the worst thing I had on my conscience,” replied Bark, in answer to this question.“I am sorry to hear you say that; but, whatever you have done, it is better to make a clean breast of it,” added Mr. Pelham.“That is what I am going to do, sir,” replied Bark; and he prefaced his confession with what had passed between Raymond and himself when he decided upon his course of action.He related the substance of his conversations withBill Stout at the beginning of the conspiracy, and then proceeded to inform the vice-principal what had occurred while they were in the brig together, including the setting of the fire in the hold.“Do you mean to say that Stout intended to burn the vessel?” demanded Mr. Pelham, astonished and shocked at the revelation.“He and I so intended; and we actually started the fire three or four times,” answered Bark, detailing all the particulars.“You are very tender of Stout—the villain!” exclaimed the vice-principal. “It appears that he proposed the plan, and set the fire, while you assented to the act.”“I don’t wish to make it out that I am not just as guilty as Stout.”“I understand you perfectly,” added Mr. Pelham. “The villain pretended to be penitent when he came back, and told lies enough to sink the ship, if they had had any weight with me. Mr. Marline reported to me that there had been fire in the old stuff in the hold. I thought there was some mistake about it; but it is all plain enough now.”Bark proceeded with his narrative of the escape, which had been before related by Bill Stout; but the two stories differed in some respects, especially in respect to the conduct of Bill in the affray with the Catalonian in the felucca. He told about his wanderings and waitings with Raymond, which explained why he had not come back before.“Stout said that you and he pulled the boatman down when Raimundo missed him with the tiller,” said Mr. Pelham.“I mean to tell the truth, if I know how; but Bill did not lift his finger to do any thing, not even after Raymond and I had the fellow down,” replied Bark. “Raymond called him a coward on the spot; and I wish he were here to tell you so, for I know you would believe him.”“And I believe you, Lingall.”At this moment there was a knock at the state-room door.“Come in,” said the principal; and Scott opened the door at this summons.“I have a letter from Mr. Raimundo, sir, in which he has a great deal to say about Lingall,” said the lieutenant. “I thought you might wish to know what he says before you settle this case. I will leave it with you, sir; for there is nothing private in it.”“Thank you, Mr. Scott,” replied the vice-principal, as he took the letter.He opened and read the letter. It related entirely to the affairs of Lingall, and was an earnest plea for his forgiveness. It recited all the incidents of the cruise in the felucca, and the particulars of Bark’s reformation. The writer added that he hoped to be able to join his ship soon; and should do so, if he could, when she was out of Spanish waters.“Now, Lingall, you may go on board of the Prince with me,” said Mr. Pelham, when he had finished reading the letter.A boat was manned, and they were pulled to the steamer. The whole story was gone over again; and Mr. Lowington read the letter of Raymond. The principal and Mr. Pelham had a long consultationalone; and then Bark was ordered to return to his duty, without so much as a reprimand. Bark was bewildered at this unexpected clemency. He was satisfied that it was Raymond’s letter that saved him, because it assured the principal of the thorough reformation of the culprit. The vice-principal told him afterwards, that it was as much his own confession of the conspiracy, which was not even suspected on board, as it was the letter, that produced the leniency in the minds of the authorities. The boat that brought Mr. Pelham and Bark back to the Tritonia immediately conveyed Bill Stout, in charge of Peaks, to the Prince, where he was committed to the brig, without any explanation of the charge against him.Bill did not know what to make of this sharp discipline; and he felt very much like a martyr, for he believed he had been “a good boy,” as he called the chaplain’s lambs. He had time to think about it when the bars separated him from the rest of his shipmates. The news that Bark Lingall had returned was circulated through the Tritonia before he left the vessel. He could only explain his present situation by the supposition that Bark had told about the conspiracy to burn the vessel. This must be the reason why he was caged in the Prince rather than in the Tritonia.For three days the stewards brought him his food; and for an hour, each forenoon, the big boatswain walked him up and down the deck to give him his exercise; but it was in vain that he asked them what he was caged for. As none of these officials knew, none of them could tell him. On the fourth day of his confinement, a meeting of the faculty was held for consultationin regard to the affairs of the squadron. This was the high court of the academy, and consisted of the principal, the vice-principals, the chaplain, the surgeon, and the professors,—fourteen in all. Though the authority of the principal was supreme, he preferred to have this council to advise him in important matters.When the faculty had assembled, Peaks brought Bill Stout into the cabin, and placed him at the end of the long table at which the members were seated. He was awed and impressed by the situation. The principal stated that the culprit was charged with attempting to set fire to the Tritonia, and asked what he had to say for himself. Bill made haste to deny the charge with all his might; but he might as well have denied his own existence. Raymond’s letter describing what he saw in the hold was read, but the parts relating to Bark were omitted. Bill supposed the letter was the only evidence against him, and the writer had spared Bark because he was a friend. Bill declared that Raymond hated him, and had made up this story to injure him. He had been trying to do his duty, and no complaint had been made against him since the fleet had been at anchor.The chaplain thought a student ought not to be condemned on the evidence of one who had run away from his vessel. As Bill would not be satisfied, it became necessary to call Bark Lingall. The reformed seaman gave his evidence in the form of a confession; and, when he had finished his story, no one doubted his sincerity, or the truth of his statement. By a unanimous vote of the faculty, approved by the principal,Bill Stout was dismissed from the academy as one whom it was not safe to have on board any of the vessels, and as one whose character was too bad to allow him to associate with the students. A letter to his father was written; and he was sent home in charge of the carpenter of the Josephine, who was about to return to New York on account of the illness of his son.The particulars of this affair were kept from the students; for the principal did not wish to have them know that any one had attempted to burn one of the vessels, lest it might tempt some other pupil to seek a dismissal by the same means. Bill Stout was glad to be sent away, even in disgrace.Early in March Mr. Lowington received a letter from Don Francisco, asking if any thing had been heard from Raymond, and informing him that his client Don Alejandro was dangerously sick. The principal, since he had received the letter from Don Manuel, had declined to assist in the search for the absentee, though he had not communicated his views to the lawyer. The detective had not returned from his tour in the East, and was doubtless willing to continue the search as long as he was paid for it. The principal was “a square man;” and he informed Don Francisco that his views on the subject had changed, and that he hoped the fugitive would not be captured. Ten days after this letter was answered came Don Francisco himself. He went on board of the Prince; and, in spite of the reply of the principal, he was as cordial and courteous as ever.“I suppose you have received my letter, declining todo any thing more to secure the return of the absentee,” Mr. Lowington began, when they were seated in the grand saloon.“I have received it,” replied Don Francisco; “but now all the circumstances of the case are changed, and I am confident that you will do all you can to find the young man. Your letter came to me on the day before the funeral of my client.”“Then Don Alejandro is dead!” exclaimed the principal, startled by the intelligence.“He died in the greatest agony and remorse,” added the lawyer. “He was sick four weeks, and suffered the most intense pain till death relieved him. He confessed to me, when I went to make his will, that he had intended to get his nephew out of the way in some manner, before the boy was of an age to inherit his father’s property. Don Manuel had charged him with this purpose before he left Spain, and had repeated the charge in his letters. He confessed because he wanted his brother’s forgiveness, as well as that of the Church. He wished me to see that justice was done to his nephew. When I wrote you that last letter, my client desired to see the young man, and to implore his forgiveness for the injury he had done him as a child, and for that he had meditated.”“This is a very singular story,” said Mr. Lowington. “You did not give me the reason for which Don Alejandro wished to see his nephew.”“I did not know it myself. What I have related transpired since I wrote that letter. The case is one of the remarkable ones; but I have known a few just like it,” continued the lawyer. “My client was toldby the physicians that he could not recover. Such an announcement to a Christian who has committed a crime—and to meditate it is the same thing in the eye of the Church, though not of the law—could not but change the whole current of his thoughts. I know that it caused my client more suffering than his bodily ailments, severe as the latter were. The terrors of the world to come haunted him; and he believed, that, if he did not do justice to that young man before he died, he would suffer for his crime through all the ages of eternity; and I believe so too. I think he confessed the crime to me, after he had done so to the priest, because he believed his son, who had been in his confidence, would carry out his wicked purpose after his father was gone; for this son would inherit the estate as the next heir under the will of the grandfather.”“I can understand how things appear to a man as wicked as your client was, when death stares him in the face,” added Mr. Lowington.“Now the young man is wanted. He is not of age, but he ought to have a voice in the selection of his guardian.”“I don’t know where he is under the altered circumstances, any more than I did before,” replied the principal; “but I am willing to make an effort to find him. Is he in any danger from the son of your late client?”“None at all: the son denies that he ever had any knowledge of the business; and, since the confession of the father, the son would not dare to do any thing wrong. Besides, my client put all the property in my hands before he died.”The next thing was to find Raymond. He might see the announcement of the death of his uncle in the newspapers; but, if he did not, he would be sure to keep out of the way till the squadron was ready to sail for the “isles of the sea.” Mr. Lowington sent for Bark Lingall, who had by this time established his character as one of the best-behaved and most earnest students in his vessel. The principal rehearsed the events that made it desirable to find Raymond.“Do you think you could find him, Lingall?” asked Mr. Lowington.“I think I might if I could speak Spanish,” replied Bark modestly.“You and Scott are the only students who know his history; and he would allow you to approach him, while he would keep out of the way of any other person connected with the squadron. We shall sail for Malaga to-morrow; and you shall have a courier to do your talking for you,” continued the principal.Bark was pleased with the mission. He was furnished with a letter from Don Francisco; and, as he had some idea of what Raymond’s plans were, he was hopeful of success. The squadron sailed the next day, and arrived at Malaga in thirty hours.CHAPTER XXIII.GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA.Whenthe academy fleet arrived at Malaga, the principal decided to follow the plan he had adopted at Barcelona, though on a smaller scale, and send the Josephines and Tritonias to Cadiz, while the Princes proceeded by rail to the same place, seeing Granada, Cordova, and Seville on the way. As soon as the transfer could be made, the steamer sailed with its company of tourists; and her regular crew were domiciled at the Hotel de la Alameda, in Malaga.“Here we are again,” said Sheridan, as the party of the doctor came together again at the hotel.“I feel more like looking at a cathedral than I did when we were sight-seeing in December,” added Murray.“You have not many more cathedrals to see,” replied the doctor. “There is one here; but, as this is Saturday, we will visit it to-morrow. Suppose we take a walk on the Alameda, as this handsome square is called.”It is a beautiful bit of a park, with a fountain at each end; but it was so haunted with beggars that the tourists could not enjoy it. It was fresh and green, and bright with the flowers of early spring.“What an abomination these beggars are!” exclaimed Sheridan, as a pair of them, one with his eyes apparently eaten out with sores, leaning on the shoulder of another seemingly well enough, saluted them with the usual petition. “It makes me sick to look at them.”Murray gave the speaker tworeales; but they would not go till the others had contributed. A little farther along they came to a blind man, who had stationed himself by a bridge, and held out his hand in silence.“That man deserves to be encouraged for holding his tongue,” said the captain, as he dropped apesetainto the extended hand. “Most of them yell and tease so that one don’t feel like giving.”The blind beggar called down the blessing of the Virgin upon the donor, in a gentle and devout tone. But he seemed to be an exception to all the other mendicants in Malaga. As the captain said, many of them were most disgusting sights; and they pointed out their ailments as though they were proud of them.“This is a commercial city, and there is not much to see in it,” said the doctor, as they returned to the hotel. “Its history is but a repetition of that of nearly all the cities of Spain. It was a place of great trade in the time of the Moors: it is the fifth city of Spain, ranking next to Valencia. You saw the United States flag on quite a number of vessels in the port; and it has a large trade with our country. Wine, raisins, oranges, lemons, and grapes are the principal exports.”The next day most of the students visited the cathedral, where they heard mass, which was attended by a battalion of soldiers, with a band which took part inthe service. Early on Monday morning the tourists started for Granada, taking the train at quarter past six o’clock. The ride was exceedingly interesting; for the country between Malaga and Cordova is very fertile, though a small portion of it is a region abounding in the wildest scenery. The first part of the journey was in the midst of orange-orchards and vineyards.“What is that sort of an inclined plane?” asked Sheridan, pointing to a stone structure like one side of the roof of a small house. “I have noticed a great many of them here and near Alicante.”“You observe that they all slope to the south,” replied the doctor. “They are used in drying raisins. This is a grape as well as an orange country. Raisins are dried grapes; and, when you eat your plum-pudding in the future, you will be likely to think of the country around Malaga, for the nicest of them come from here.”“This is a wild country,” said Murray, after they had been nearly two hours on the train.“We pass through the western end of the Sierra Nevada range. Notice this steep rock,” added the doctor, as they passed a lofty precipice. “It is ‘Lovers’ Rock.’”“Of course it is,” laughed Murray; “and they jumped down that cliff; and there is not a precipice in the world that isn’t a lovers’ leap.”“I think you are right. In this case it was a Spanish knight, and a Moorish maiden whose father didn’t like the match.”The travellers left the train at Bobadilla, and proceeded by rail to Archidona. Between this place andLoxa the railroad was not then built; and the distance—about sixteen miles—had to be accomplished by diligence. Half a dozen of these lumbering vehicles were in readiness, with their miscellaneous teams of horses and mules all hitched on in long strings. This part of the journey was likely to be a lark to the students; and they piled into and upon the carriages with great good-nature. The doctor and his pupils secured seats on the outside.“This is thecoupéin Spain, but it is thebanquettein Switzerland,” said he, when they were seated. “It is called the dickey in England.”“But the box for three passengers, with windows in the front of the diligence, is always thecoupé,” added Sheridan.“Not in Spain: that is called theberlinahere. The middle compartment, holding four or six, isel interior; andla rotundo, in the rear, like an omnibus, holds six. The last is used by the common people because it is the cheapest.”“But this seat is not long enough for four,” protested Murray, when the conductor directed another officer to mount thecoupé”.“Come up, commodore: I think we can make room for you,” added Sheridan.“This is a long team,” said Commodore Cantwell, when they were seated,—“ten mules and horses.”“I have travelled with sixteen,” added the doctor.On a seat wide enough for two, under the windows of theberlina, the driver took his place. His reins were a couple of ropes reaching to the outside ends of the bits of the wheel-horses. He was more properlythe brakeman, since he had little to do with the team, except to yell at the animals. On the nigh horse or mule, as he happened to be, rode a young man who conducted the procession. He is called thedelantero. Thezagalis a fellow who runs at the side of the animals, and whips them up with a long stick. Themayoralis the conductor, who is sometimes the driver; but in this case he seemed to have the charge of all the diligences.“Oja! oja!” (o-ha) yelled the driver. Thezagalbegan to hammer the brutes most unmercifully, and the team started at a lively pace.“That’s too bad!” exclaimed Sheridan, when he saw thezagalpounding the mules over the backbone with his club, which was big enough to serve for a bean-pole.“I agree with you, captain, but we can’t help ourselves,” added the doctor. “That villain will keep it up till we get to the end of our journey.”Thedilijenciapassed out of the town, and went through a wild country with no signs of any inhabitants. The road was as bad as a road could be, and was nothing but a track beaten over the fields, passing over rocks and through gullies and pools of water. Carts, drawn by long strings of mules or donkeys, driven by a peasant with a gun over his shoulder, were occasionally met; but the road was very lonely. Half way to Loxa they came to a river, over which was a narrow bridge for pedestrians; but thedilijenciahad to ford the stream.At this point the horses and mules were changed; and some of the students went over the bridge, andwalked till they were overtaken by the coaches. At three o’clock they drove into Loxa. The streets of the town are very steep and very narrow; and thezagalhad to crowd the team over to the opposite side, in order to get the vehicle around the corners. The students on the outside could have jumped into the windows of the houses on either side, and people on the ground often had to dodge into the doorways, to keep from being run over. From this place the party proceeded to Granada by railroad. Crossing a part of this city, which is a filthy hole, the party went to the Hotel Washington Irving, and the Hotel Siete Suelos, both of which are at the very gate of the Alhambra.The doctor and his friends were quartered at the former hotel, which is a very good one, but more expensive than theSiete Sueloson the other side of the street. They are both in the gardens of the Alhambra, the avenues of which are studded with noble elms, the gift of the Duke of Wellington.“And this is the Alhambra,” said Capt. Sheridan, as the trio came out for a walk, after dinner.“What is the meaning of the name of that hotel?”“Hotel de los Siete Suelos,—the hotel of the seven stories, or floors.”“But it hasn’t more than four or five.”“Haven’t you read Irving’s Alhambra? He mentions a tower with this name, in which was the gate where Boabdil left the Alhambra for the last time. It was walled up at the request of the Moor.”The party walked about the gardens till it was dark. The next morning, before the ship’s company were ready, the doctor and the three highest officers entered the walled enclosure.“This is the Tower of Justice,” said the doctor, as they paused at the entrance. “It is so called because the Moorish kings administered the law to the people here. You see the hand and the key carved over the door. If you ask the grandson of Mateo Ximenes, who is a guide here, what it means, he will tell you the Moors believed that, when this hand reached down and took the key, the Alhambra might be captured; but not till then. Then he will tell you that they were mistaken; and give glory to the Spaniards. The key was the Moslem symbol for wisdom and knowledge; and the hand, of the five great commandments of their religion.”The party entered the tower, in which is an altar, and passed into the square of the cisterns. Charles V. began to build a huge palace on one side of it; but the fear of earthquakes induced him to desist. He destroyed a portion of the Moorish palace to make room for it. The visitors entered an office where they registered their names, paid a couple ofpesetas, and received a plan of the palace. The first names in the book are those of Washington Irving and his Russian companion.“This is the Court of the Myrtles,” said the doctor, as they entered the first and largest court of the palace. “It is also called ‘the Court of Blessing,’ because the Moors believed water was a blessing; and this pond contains a good deal of it.”“My guide-book does not call it by either of these names,” said Commodore Cantwell, who had Harper’s Guide in his hand. “It says here it is ‘thePatio de la Alberca,’ or fish-pond.”“And so says Mr. Ford, who is the best authority on Spain. We must not try to reconcile the differences in guide-books. We had better call it after the myrtles that surround the tank, and let it go at that. This court is the largest of the palace, though it is only one hundred and forty by seventy-five feet. But the Alhambra is noted for its beauty, and not for its size. We will now pass into the Court of the Lions,” continued the doctor, leading the way. “This is the most celebrated, as it is the most beautiful, part of the palace.”“I have seen many pictures of it, but I supposed it was ten times as large as it is,” said Sheridan.“It is about one hundred and twenty by seventy feet. There are one hundred and twenty-four columns around the court. Now we must stop and look at the wonderful architecture and exquisite workmanship. Look at these graceful arches, and examine that sort of lace-work in the ceilings and walls.”While they were thus occupied, the ship’s company came into the court, and the principal called them together to hear Professor Mapps on the history of the Alhambra.“In 1238 Ibnu-I-Ahamar founded the kingdom of Granada, and he built the Alhambra for his palace and fortress. In Arabic it wasKasr-Alhamra, or Red Castle; and from this comes the present name. The Vermilion Tower was a part of the original fortress. Under this monarch, whose title was Mohammed I., Granada became very prosperous and powerful. When the Christians captured Valencia, the Moors fled to Granada, and fifty thousand were added to the populationof the kingdom; and it is estimated that a million more came when Seville and Cordova were conquered by the Castilians. The work of this king was continued by his successors; and the Alhambra was finished in 1333 by Yosuf I. He built the Gate of Judgment, Justice, or Law, as it is variously called, and the principal parts of the palace around you. The city was in its glory then, and is said to have had half a million inhabitants. But family quarrels came into the house of the monarch, here in the Alhambra; and this was the beginning of the decline of the Moorish power.“Abul-Hassan had two wives. One of them was Ayesha; and the other was a very beautiful Christian lady called Zoraya, or the Morning Star. Ayesha was exceedingly jealous of the other; and fearing that the son of the Morning Star, instead of her own, might succeed to the crown, she organized a powerful faction. On Zoraya’s side were the Beni-Serraj, whom the Spaniards called the Abencerrages. They were the descendants of a vizier of the King of Cordova,—Abou-Serraj. Abou-Abdallah was the eldest son of Ayesha; and in 1482 he dethroned his father. The name of this prince became Boabdil with the Spaniards; and so he is called in Mr. Irving’s works. As soon as he came into power, his mother, and the Zegris who had assisted her, persuaded him to retaliate upon the Abencerrages for the support they had given to Zoraya. Under a deceitful plea, he gathered them together in this palace, where the Zegris were waiting for them. One by one they were called into one of these courts, and treacherously murdered. Thus was Granada deprived of itsbravest defenders; and the Moors were filled with indignation and contempt for their king. While they were quarrelling among themselves, Ferdinand and Isabella advanced upon Granada. They had captured all the towns and strong fortresses; and there was nothing more to stay their progress. For nine months the sovereigns besieged the city before it fell. It was a sad day for the Moors when the victors marched into the town. There is a great deal of poetry and romance connected with this palace and the Moslems who were driven out of it. You should read Mr. Lockhart’s translation of the poems on these subjects, and the works of Prescott and Irving.”When the professor had completed his account, the doctor’s party passed in to the right, entering one of the apartments which surround the court on three of its sides.“That’s as mean a lot of lions as I ever saw,” said Murray, who had lingered at the fountain which gives its name to the court.“The sculpture of the lions is certainly very poor; but we can’t have every thing,” replied the doctor. “This is the Hall of the Abencerrages; and it gets its name from the story Mr. Mapps has just told you. Some say these nobles were slain in this room; and others, that they were beheaded near the fountain in the court, where the guides point out a dark spot as the stain of blood. You must closely examine the work in this little room if you wish to appreciate it.”They returned to the Court of the Lions, and, crossing it, entered the Hall of the Two Sisters. The studentsexpected to hear some romance told of these two ladies; but they proved to be two vast slabs in the floor. This room and that of the Abencerrages were probably the sleeping apartments of the monarch’s family; and several small chambers, used for baths and other purposes, are connected with them. On each side of them are raised platforms for the couches. At the farther end of the court is the council-hall of justice. It is long and narrow, seventy-five by sixteen feet; and is very elaborately ornamented.At the northern end of the Court of Myrtles, is the Hall of Ambassadors, which occupies the ground floor of the Tower of Comares. It is the largest apartment of the palace, seventy-five by thirty-seven feet. This was the throne-room, or hall of audience, of the monarchs. The doctor again insisted that his pupils should scrutinize the work; and he called their attention to the horseshoe arches and various other forms and shapes, to the curious niches and alcoves, to the delicate coloring in the ceilings and on the walls, and to the interlacing designs, in the portions of the palace they visited.They had now seen the principal apartments on the ground floor; and they ascended to the towers, the open galleries of which are a peculiarity in the construction of the edifice. They were shown the rooms occupied by Washington Irving when he “succeeded to Boabdil,” and became an inhabitant of the Alhambra; but the Alhambra is a thing to be seen, and not described. They visited the Royal Chapel, the fortress, and for two days they were busy as bees, though one day was enough to satisfy most of the students.On the third day of their sojourn at the Alhambra,the doctor’s party visited the Generalife. The name means “The Garden of the Architect,” who was probably an employee of the king; but the palace was purchased and used as a pleasure-house by one of the kings. The sword of Boabdil is shown here. The gardens, which are about all the visitor sees, are more quaint than beautiful. The walks are hedged in with box, and the cypress-trees are trimmed in square blocks, as in the gardens of Versailles. Passing through these, the visitor ascends a tower on a hill, which commands a magnificent view of Granada and the surrounding country.The abundance of water in and around the Alhambra attracts the attention of the tourist. The walks have a stream trickling down the hill on each side. It comes from the snow-crowned Sierra Nevadas; and, the warmer the weather, the faster do the ice and snow melt, and the greater is the flow of the water. In the Alhambra and in the Generalife these streams of water are to be met at almost every point.One day was given to the city of Granada, though the visitor cares but little for any thing but the Alhambra. Without mentioning what may be seen in the cathedral in detail, there is one sight there which is almost worth the pilgrimage to the city; and that is the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella. Dr. Winstock ordered a carriage for the purpose of taking his charge to the church.When the team appeared at the door of the hotel, the students were very much amused at its singular character; for it was a very handsome carriage, but it was drawn by mules. The harness was quite elaborateand elegant; yet to be drawn by these miserable mules seemed to some of the party to be almost a disgrace. But the doctor said that they had been highly honored, since they had been supplied with what was doubtless the finest turnout to be had. These mules were very large and handsome for their kind, and cost more money than the finest horses. After this explanation, they were satisfied to ride behind a pair of mules.There are plenty of pictures and sculptures in the cathedral; but the party hastened to the royal chapel built by order of the sovereigns, which became their burial-place. The mausoleum is magnificent beyond description. It consists of two alabaster sepulchres in the centre of the chapel, on one of which are the forms of Ferdinand and Isabella, and on the other those of Crazy Jane and Philip, the parents of Charles V. But the lion of the place, to the students, was the vault below the chapel, to which they were conducted, down a narrow staircase of stone, by the attendant. On a low dais in the middle of the tomb were two very ordinary coffins, not differing from those in use in New England, except that they were strapped with iron bands.“This one, marked ‘F,’ contains the remains of Ferdinand,” said the doctor, in a low tone. “The other has an ‘I’ upon it, and holds all that time has left of the mortal part of Isabella, whose patronage enabled Columbus to discover the New World.”“Is it possible that the remains of Ferdinand and Isabella are in those coffins?” exclaimed Sheridan.“There is not a doubt of the fact. Eight years ago the late queen of Spain visited Granada, and causedmass to be said for the souls of these sovereigns at the same altar used by them at the taking of the city. Some of the guides will tell you that these coffins were opened at this time, and the remains of the king and queen were found to be in an excellent state of preservation. I don’t know whether the statement is true or not.”“Here are two other coffins just like them,” said Murray, as he turned to a sort of shelf that extended across the sides of the vault.“They contain the remains of Crazy Jane and Philip her husband, both of whose effigies are introduced in the sculpture on the monuments in the chapel above,” replied the doctor. “The coffin of Philip is the very one that she carried about everywhere she went, and so often embraced in the transports of her grief. She is at rest now.”Deeply impressed by what they had seen in the vault, which made the distant past more real to the young men, they returned to the chapel above. In the sacristy they saw the sword of Ferdinand, a very plain weapon, and his sceptre; but more interesting were the crown of silver gilt worn by Isabella, her prayer-book, and the chasuble, or priest’s vestment, embroidered by her.The party next visited the Carthusian Monastery, just out of the city, which contains some exquisite marble-work and curious old frescos. On their return to the Alhambra, they gave some attention to the gypsies, who are a prominent feature of Granada, where they are colonized in greater numbers than at any other place in Spain, though they also abound in the vicinityof Seville. They live by themselves, on the side of a hill, outside of the city. The tourists crossed the Darro, which flows at the foot of the hill on which the Alhambra and Generalife stand. They found the gypsies lolling about in the sun, hardly disturbed by the advent of the visitors. They seem to lead a vagabond life at home as well as abroad. They were of an olive complexion, very dirty, and very indolent. Some of the young girls were pretty, but most of the women were as disagreeable as possible. The men work at various trades; but the reputation of all of them for honesty is bad. They do not live in houses, but in caverns in the rocks of which the hill is composed. They are not natural caverns, but are excavated for dwellings.The doctor led the party into one of them. It was lighted only by the door; but there was a hole in the top for the escape of the smoke. There was a bed in a corner, under which reposed three pigs, while a lot of hens were picking up crumbs thrown to them by a couple of half-naked children. It was the proper habitation of the pigs, rather than the human beings. The onslaughts of the beggars were so savage that the visitors were compelled to beat a hasty retreat. The women teased the surgeon to enter their grottos in order to get the fee.In the evening some British officers from “Gib,” as they always call the great fortress, had a gypsy dance at theSiete Suelos. The doctor and his pupils were invited to attend. There were two men dressed in full Spanish costume, and three girls, also in costume, one of whom was quite pretty. One of the men was the captain of the gypsies, and played the guitar with marvellousskill, an exhibition of which he gave the party. There was nothing graceful about the dancing: it was simply peculiar, with a curious jerking of the hips. At times the dancers indulged in a wild song. When the show was finished, the gypsy girls made an energetic demonstration on the audience for money, and must have collected a considerable sum from the officers, for they used all the arts of the coquette.Just at dark a small funeral procession passed the hotel. It was preceded by half a dozen men bearing great candles lighted. The coffin was borne on the shoulders of four more, and was highly ornamented. The funeral party were singing or chanting, but so irreverently that the whole affair seemed more like a frolic than a funeral.“That is a gay-looking coffin,” said Murray to Mariano Ramos, the best guide and courier in Spain, who had been in the employ of the principal since the squadron arrived at Malaga.“That is all for show,” laughed Mariano. “The men will bring it back with them.”“Don’t they bury the dead man in it?”“No: that would make it too expensive for poor folks. They tumble the dead into a rough box, or bury him without any thing.”The next morning the excursionists started for Cordova, and arrived late at night, going by the same route they had taken to Granada as far as Bobadilla.
CHAPTER XXI.A SAFE HARBOR.“Weare in Malaga now; and we have to decide what to do next,” said Raymond, when they were shown to their room in the hotel.“I supposed you would wait till the squadron arrived,” replied Bark.“I do not intend to wait. We have talked so much about your affairs that we have said nothing about mine,” added Raymond. “My circumstances are very different from yours. I feel that I have been right all the time; and I expect that I shall be fully justified in the end for what I have done in violation of the discipline of the vessel to which I belong.”“I know that my case is very different from yours; but I do not want to part company with you,” said Bark, with an anxious look on his face.“I don’t know that it is necessary for us to part. Though I think it is your duty to join your ship as soon as convenient, I shall keep out of the way till she is ready to sail from Spain. The fleet will certainly visit Cadiz, whether it goes to sea from there or not. For this reason, I must work my way to Cadiz.”“And must I stay here till the squadron arrives?”“Let us look it over.”“I cannot speak Spanish; and I shall be like a cat in a strange garret, unless I employ a guide.”“The right thing for you to do is to return to your ship.”“Go back to Barcelona?”“I should advise you to do that if I were not afraid the fleet would leave before you could get there. The Prince will arrive within three days; and, if the Josephines and Tritonias have returned, the vessels may sail at once. It is a long, tedious, and expensive journey by rail; and you could not get there in this time by any steamer, for they all stop at the ports on the way. I don’t know where the fleet will put in on its way south; and you might miss it. On the whole, I think you had better stay with me.”“I think so myself,” replied Bark, pleased with the decision.“Because you want to think so, perhaps,” laughed Raymond. “We must be careful that our wishes don’t override our judgment.”“But you decided it for me.”“I think we have settled it right,” added Raymond. “I want to see something of my native land; and I shall go to the Alhambra and Seville on the way to Cadiz. In your case it will make only a difference of two or three days, whether you join the Tritonia here or in Cadiz.”This course was decided upon in the end; and, after a day in Malaga, they started for Granada. At the expiration of ten days, they had completed the tour marked out by Raymond, and were in Cadiz, waitingfor the arrival of the squadron. At the end of a week it had not come. Another week, and still it did not appear. Raymond looked over the ship-news in all the papers he could find in the club-house; but the last news he could obtain was that the Prince and her consorts had arrived at Carthagena. In vain he looked for any thing more. The next port would certainly be Malaga, unless the fleet put into Almeria, which was not probable. It was now the middle of January.“I don’t understand it,” said Raymond. “The vessels ought to have been here before this time.”“Perhaps they have gone over into Africa to look after us,” suggested Bark.“That is not possible: Mr. Lowington never goes to hunt up or hunt down runaways; but he may have gone over there to let the students see something of Africa,” replied Raymond. “I don’t think he has gone over to Africa at all.”“Where is he, then?”“That’s a conundrum, and I can’t guess it.”Raymond continued to watch the papers till the first of February; but still there were no tidings of the fleet. He had a list of the vessels that had passed Tarifa, and of those which had arrived at Algiers, Oran, and Nemours; but they did not contain the name of the Prince. Then he looked for ships at Alexandria, thinking the principal might have concluded to take the students to Egypt; but he found nothing to support such a possibility.“I don’t think I shall stay here any longer,” said Raymond. “We have been here a month.”“Where will you go?” asked Bark.“I believe we had better take a steamer, and follow the coast up to Carthagena, where we had the last news of the fleet,” replied Raymond. “When we get there we can ascertain for what port she sailed.”“Why not go on board of one of the steamers that come down the coast from Barcelona, and inquire of the officers if they have seen the squadron?” suggested Bark, who was always full of suggestions.“That’s a capital idea!” exclaimed Raymond. “I wonder we did not think of that idea before.”Then they had to wait a week for a steamer that had come down the coast; but one of the line from Oran had been in port, and they ascertained that the fleet was not in the port of Malaga. Raymond went to the captain of the steamer from Barcelona, and was informed that the squadron was at Carthagena, and had been there for over a month.“That accounts for it all,” said Raymond, as they returned to the boat in which they had boarded the steamer. “But I can’t imagine why the fleet is staying all this time in the harbor of Carthagena.”“Perhaps the Prince has broken some of her machinery, and they have stopped to repair damages,” suggested Bark.“That may be; but they could hardly be a month mending a break. They could build a new engine in that time almost.”“Well, we know where the fleet is; and the next question is, What are we to do about it?” added Bark, as they landed on the quay.They returned to the Hotel de Cadiz, where they boarded, and went to their room to consider the situation with the new light just obtained.“Your course is plain enough, Bark,” said Raymond. “Mine is not so plain.”“You think I ought to return to the Tritonia; don’t you?” added Bark.“That is my view.”“But suppose the fleet should sail before I get to Carthagena?”“You must take your chance of that.”“But you will not go back with me?”“No: it would not be safe for me to do that. It will be better for my uncle in Barcelona not to know where I am.”“But what shall I say to Mr. Lowington, or Mr. Pelham, when I am asked where you are?” inquired Bark. “I suppose it is still to be part of my programme not to lie.”“Undoubtedly; and I hope you will stick to it as long as you live.”“I intend to do so; and you might as well go with me as to have me tell them where you are.”“That is true, Bark; and, when you get on board of the Tritonia, tell all you know about me, and say that you left me in Cadiz.”“You might as well go with me.”“I think not.”“Then thatalguacilwill be after you in less than a week,” said Bark.“But he will not find me; for I shall not be in Cadiz when he arrives,” laughed the Spaniard.“Where are you going?” asked Bark curiously.“If I don’t tell you, you will not know.”“I see,” added Bark. “You do not intend to stay in Cadiz.”“Of course not.”“But you may miss the squadron when it goes to sea.”“If I do, I cannot help it; and in that case I may go to New York, or I may go to the West Indies in the Lopez steamers. I have not made up my mind what I shall do.”Raymond wrote a long letter to Scott, and gave it to his companion to deliver to him. In a few days a steamer came along that was going to stop at Carthagena. Bark went on board of her; and, after a hard parting, he sailed away in her to join the Tritonia, after an absence of two months.On the following day Raymond went to Gibraltar in the Spanish steamer, and remained there a full month, watching the papers for news of the fleet. At the end of this time he found the arrival of the squadron at Malaga. A few days later he saw that the Prince had passed Tarifa, and then that she had arrived at Cadiz. But, while he is watching the movements of the steamer, we will follow her to Barcelona, where she went nearly three months before.When the Prince reached her destination, the overland party had not returned, and were not expected for two or three days. An excursion to Monserrat was organized by Dr. Winstock, who declared that it would be ridiculous to leave Barcelona, when they had time on their hands, without visiting one of the most remarkable sights in Spain. The party had to take a train at seven o’clock in the morning; and then it was ten before they reached their destination.Monserrat is a lofty mountain, and takes its namefrom a Spanish word that means a “saw,” because the sharp peaks which cover the elevation resemble the teeth of that implement. At theposadain the village Dr. Winstock related the legend of the place.“This is one of the most celebrated shrines in Spain,” he began. “Sixty thousand pilgrims used to visit it every year; but now the various chapels and monastery buildings are mostly in ruins. In 880 mysterious lights were seen over a part of the mountain. The bishop came up to see what they were, and discovered a small image of the Virgin in one of the numerous grottos that are found in the mountain. This little statue was the work of St. Luke, of course, and was brought to Spain by St. Peter himself. The Bishop of Barcelona hid it in this cave when the Moors invaded Catalonia. Bishop Gondemar, who found it, attempted to carry it to Manresa; but it became so heavy that he did not succeed. This was a miraculous intimation from the image that it did not wish to go any farther. The obliging bishop built a chapel on the spot, and the image was shrined at its altar. He also appointed a hermit to watch over it.“Now, the Devil came to live in one of the caverns for the purpose of leading this anchorite astray. The Count of Barcelona had a beautiful daughter whose name was Riquilda; and the Devil ‘possessed’ her. She told her father that the evil spirit would not leave her till ordered to do so by Guarin, the pious custodian of the image. The count left her in his care. The hermit was wickedly inclined by the influence of the Devil, and finally killed the maiden, cutting off her head, and burying the body. Guarin was immediatelysorry for what he had done, and, fleeing from his evil neighbor, went to Rome. The pope absolved him with the penance that he should return to Monserrat on his hands and knees, and continue to walk like a beast, as he was morally, and never to look up to heaven which he had insulted, and never to speak a word. He became a wild beast in the forest; and Count Wildred captured the strange animal, and conveyed him to his palace, where he doubtless became a lion. One day the creature was brought in to be exhibited to the count’s guests at a banquet. A child cried out to him, ‘Arise, Juan Guarin! thy sins are forgiven!’ Then he arose in the form of the hermit; and the count pardoned him, having the grace to follow the example set him.“But the end was not yet; for, when the count and Guarin went to search for the body, Riquilda appeared to them alive and well, though she had been buried eight years, but with a red ring around her neck, like a silk thread, rather ornamental than otherwise. The count founded a nunnery at once; and his daughter was made the lady superior, while Guarin became themayor-domoof the establishment. In time the nuns were removed, and monks took their places; and the miracles performed by the image attracted thousands to its shrines. The treasury of this Virgin was immense at one time, being valued at two hundred thousand ducats; but most of it was carried away by the French. The scenery, you see, is wild and grand, and I think is more enjoyable than the relics and the grottos.”For hours the students wandered about the wildlocality. They saw the wonderful image; and those who had any taste for art thought that St. Luke, if he made the little statue, had not done himself any great credit. They visited the thirteen hermitages, and explored the grottos till they had had enough of this sort of thing. An hour after dark they were on board of the Prince. In two days more the Josephines and Tritonias arrived; and on Wednesday the squadron sailed for the South.During his stay in port, the principal had seen Don Francisco, and told him all he knew in regard to the fugitive. The lawyer was satisfied that Mr. Lowington had done nothing to keep the young Don out of the way of his guardian; and neither of them could suggest any means to recover possession of him. As yet no letter from Don Manuel in New York had been received.Favored by a good wind, the squadron arrived at Valencia in thirty hours. After a night’s sleep, all hands were landed at the port of the city, which the reader knows is Grao. The professor of geography and history, while the party were waiting for the vehicles that were to convey them to the city, gave the students a description of Valencia. It is an ancient city, founded by the Phœnicians, inhabited by the Romans for five centuries, captured by the Moors and held by them about the same time, though the Cid took the town, and held it for five years. At his death, in 1099, the Moors came down upon the city; and the body of the Cid was placed on his horse, and marched out of the city. The Moslems opened for it; and the Castilians passed through their army in safety, the enemy not daring toattack them. It was not such a victory for the Spaniards as some of the chronicles describe; for the Christians had to abandon the place. It was taken from the Moors in 1238, and became a part of Aragon, to be united with the other provinces of Spain by the union of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Moriscoes—the Moors who had been allowed to remain in Spain after the capture of Granada—made a great city of it, building its palaces and bridges; but they were driven out of the peninsula by Philip II. They had cultivated its vicinity, and made a paradise of the province; and their departure was almost a death-blow to the prosperity of the city.Though the modern kings of Spain have not spared its memorials of the past, it is still an interesting city. It has a population of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand, making it the fourth city of Spain. It is one of the most industrious cities of the peninsula; and its manufactures of silk and velvet are quite extensive. The city contains nothing very different from other Spanish towns. The students wandered over the most of it, looking into a few of the churches, nearly every one of which has a wonder-working image of the Virgin, or of St. Vincent, who is the patron saint of Valencia.The next day the squadron sailed, and put into Alicante after a twenty-four hours’ run; the wind being so light that the steamer had to tow her consorts nearly the whole distance. The students went on shore; but the old legend, “Nothing to see,” was passed around among them. Alicante is an old Spanish town, composed of white houses, standing at the foot of a highhill crowned with an old fortress. The lines, walls, covered ways, and batteries, seem to cover one side of the elevation. Those who cared to do it climbed to the top of the hill, and were rewarded with a fine view of the sea and the country.“When the Cid had captured Valencia,” said Dr. Winstock to his pupils, as they stood on the summit of the hill, “he conducted Ximine, his wife, to the top of a tower, and showed her the country he had conquered. It was called theHuerta, which means a large orchard. The land had been irrigated by the industrious and enterprising Moors, and bore fruit in luxurious abundance. Thevega, or plain, which we see, is scarcely less fertile; and the region around us is perhaps the most productive in Spain. Twelve miles south is Elche, which is filled with palm-plantations. We see an occasional palm and fig tree here.”Mr. Lowington did not favor excursions into the country when it could be avoided; but the doctor insisted that the students ought to visit Elche, and the point was yielded. They made the excursion in four separate parties; for comfortable carriages could not be obtained to take them all at once. The road was dry and dusty at first, and the soil poor; but the aspect of the country soon changed. Palms began to appear along the way, and soon the landscape seemed to be covered with them.“There is something to see here, at any rate,” said Sheridan, as the party approached the town.“I thought you would enjoy it,” replied the doctor. “This is the East transplanted in Spain.”“These palms are fifty feet high,” added Murray, measuring them with his eye.“Some of them are sixty; but fifty is about the average. Now we are in the palm-forest, which is said to contain forty thousand trees. This region is irrigated by the waters of the Vinalopo River, which are held back by a causeway stretched across the valley above. These plantations are very profitable.”“But all palms are not like these,” said Murray. “My uncle has seen palms over a hundred feet high.”“There are nearly a hundred kinds of palm, bearing different sorts of fruit. These are date-palms; and one of them bears from one to two hundred pounds of dates.”“And they sell at from ten to fifteen cents a pound at home,” added Sheridan.“But for not more than one or two cents a pound here,” continued the doctor. “I suppose you have learned about sex in plants, which is a modern discovery; but it is most strikingly illustrated in these date-palms. Only the female tree bears fruit. The male palm bears a flower whose pollen was shaken over the female trees by the Moors long before any thing was known about sex in plants; and the practice is continued by their successors. But the male palm yields a profit in addition to supplying the orchard with pollen. Its leaves are dried, and made into fans, crowns, and wreaths, and sold for use on Palm Sunday. This town gets seventy thousand dollars for its dates, and ten thousand for its palm-leaves.”“When are the dates picked?” asked Sheridan.“In November. The men climb the trees by the aid of ropes passed around the trunk and the body. I will ask one of them to ascend a tree for your benefit.”The excursionists reached the village, which is in the middle of the forest of palms. It was very Oriental in its appearance. The people were swarthy, and wore a peculiar costume, in which were some remnants of the Moorish fashion. The church has its image of the Virgin, who dresses very richly, and owns a date-plantation which pays the expenses of her wardrobe.The students were so delighted with the excursion that they made a rollicking time of it on the way back to Alicante, and astonished the peasants by their lively demonstrations. The road was no road at all, but merely a path across the country, and was very rough in places. The cottages of the vicinity were thatched with palm-leaves in some instances. At the door of many of them was a hamper of dates, from which any one could help himself, and leave acuartoin payment for the feast. It is not watched by the owner, for the Spaniard here is an honest man. The students frequently availed themselves of these hampers when the doctor had explained to them the custom of the country; but he exhorted them to be as honest as the natives.The squadron remained at anchor in the port of Alicante four days; and, when the students of the first party had told their story, the trip to Elche was the most popular excursion since they left Italy.“Which is the best port on the east coast of Spain, doctor?” asked the principal, as they sat on the deck of the Prince while the third party had gone to Elche.“I shall answer you as the admiral did Philip II.,—Carthagena,” replied the doctor.“I find that the students are tired of sight-seeing,and the lessons have been much neglected of late,” continued the principal. “I think we all need a rest. I have about made up my mind to lie up for three months in some good harbor, recruit the students, and push along their studies.”“I think that is an excellent plan. April will be a better month to see the rest of Spain than the middle of winter.”The plan was fully discussed and adopted; and on the following day the squadron sailed for Carthagena, and having a stiff breeze was at anchor in its capacious harbor at sunset. The students were not sorry to take the rest; for the constant change of place for the last six months had rendered a different programme acceptable. There was nothing in the town to see; and the harbor was enclosed with hills, almost landlocked, and as smooth as a millpond.
A SAFE HARBOR.
“Weare in Malaga now; and we have to decide what to do next,” said Raymond, when they were shown to their room in the hotel.
“I supposed you would wait till the squadron arrived,” replied Bark.
“I do not intend to wait. We have talked so much about your affairs that we have said nothing about mine,” added Raymond. “My circumstances are very different from yours. I feel that I have been right all the time; and I expect that I shall be fully justified in the end for what I have done in violation of the discipline of the vessel to which I belong.”
“I know that my case is very different from yours; but I do not want to part company with you,” said Bark, with an anxious look on his face.
“I don’t know that it is necessary for us to part. Though I think it is your duty to join your ship as soon as convenient, I shall keep out of the way till she is ready to sail from Spain. The fleet will certainly visit Cadiz, whether it goes to sea from there or not. For this reason, I must work my way to Cadiz.”
“And must I stay here till the squadron arrives?”
“Let us look it over.”
“I cannot speak Spanish; and I shall be like a cat in a strange garret, unless I employ a guide.”
“The right thing for you to do is to return to your ship.”
“Go back to Barcelona?”
“I should advise you to do that if I were not afraid the fleet would leave before you could get there. The Prince will arrive within three days; and, if the Josephines and Tritonias have returned, the vessels may sail at once. It is a long, tedious, and expensive journey by rail; and you could not get there in this time by any steamer, for they all stop at the ports on the way. I don’t know where the fleet will put in on its way south; and you might miss it. On the whole, I think you had better stay with me.”
“I think so myself,” replied Bark, pleased with the decision.
“Because you want to think so, perhaps,” laughed Raymond. “We must be careful that our wishes don’t override our judgment.”
“But you decided it for me.”
“I think we have settled it right,” added Raymond. “I want to see something of my native land; and I shall go to the Alhambra and Seville on the way to Cadiz. In your case it will make only a difference of two or three days, whether you join the Tritonia here or in Cadiz.”
This course was decided upon in the end; and, after a day in Malaga, they started for Granada. At the expiration of ten days, they had completed the tour marked out by Raymond, and were in Cadiz, waitingfor the arrival of the squadron. At the end of a week it had not come. Another week, and still it did not appear. Raymond looked over the ship-news in all the papers he could find in the club-house; but the last news he could obtain was that the Prince and her consorts had arrived at Carthagena. In vain he looked for any thing more. The next port would certainly be Malaga, unless the fleet put into Almeria, which was not probable. It was now the middle of January.
“I don’t understand it,” said Raymond. “The vessels ought to have been here before this time.”
“Perhaps they have gone over into Africa to look after us,” suggested Bark.
“That is not possible: Mr. Lowington never goes to hunt up or hunt down runaways; but he may have gone over there to let the students see something of Africa,” replied Raymond. “I don’t think he has gone over to Africa at all.”
“Where is he, then?”
“That’s a conundrum, and I can’t guess it.”
Raymond continued to watch the papers till the first of February; but still there were no tidings of the fleet. He had a list of the vessels that had passed Tarifa, and of those which had arrived at Algiers, Oran, and Nemours; but they did not contain the name of the Prince. Then he looked for ships at Alexandria, thinking the principal might have concluded to take the students to Egypt; but he found nothing to support such a possibility.
“I don’t think I shall stay here any longer,” said Raymond. “We have been here a month.”
“Where will you go?” asked Bark.
“I believe we had better take a steamer, and follow the coast up to Carthagena, where we had the last news of the fleet,” replied Raymond. “When we get there we can ascertain for what port she sailed.”
“Why not go on board of one of the steamers that come down the coast from Barcelona, and inquire of the officers if they have seen the squadron?” suggested Bark, who was always full of suggestions.
“That’s a capital idea!” exclaimed Raymond. “I wonder we did not think of that idea before.”
Then they had to wait a week for a steamer that had come down the coast; but one of the line from Oran had been in port, and they ascertained that the fleet was not in the port of Malaga. Raymond went to the captain of the steamer from Barcelona, and was informed that the squadron was at Carthagena, and had been there for over a month.
“That accounts for it all,” said Raymond, as they returned to the boat in which they had boarded the steamer. “But I can’t imagine why the fleet is staying all this time in the harbor of Carthagena.”
“Perhaps the Prince has broken some of her machinery, and they have stopped to repair damages,” suggested Bark.
“That may be; but they could hardly be a month mending a break. They could build a new engine in that time almost.”
“Well, we know where the fleet is; and the next question is, What are we to do about it?” added Bark, as they landed on the quay.
They returned to the Hotel de Cadiz, where they boarded, and went to their room to consider the situation with the new light just obtained.
“Your course is plain enough, Bark,” said Raymond. “Mine is not so plain.”
“You think I ought to return to the Tritonia; don’t you?” added Bark.
“That is my view.”
“But suppose the fleet should sail before I get to Carthagena?”
“You must take your chance of that.”
“But you will not go back with me?”
“No: it would not be safe for me to do that. It will be better for my uncle in Barcelona not to know where I am.”
“But what shall I say to Mr. Lowington, or Mr. Pelham, when I am asked where you are?” inquired Bark. “I suppose it is still to be part of my programme not to lie.”
“Undoubtedly; and I hope you will stick to it as long as you live.”
“I intend to do so; and you might as well go with me as to have me tell them where you are.”
“That is true, Bark; and, when you get on board of the Tritonia, tell all you know about me, and say that you left me in Cadiz.”
“You might as well go with me.”
“I think not.”
“Then thatalguacilwill be after you in less than a week,” said Bark.
“But he will not find me; for I shall not be in Cadiz when he arrives,” laughed the Spaniard.
“Where are you going?” asked Bark curiously.
“If I don’t tell you, you will not know.”
“I see,” added Bark. “You do not intend to stay in Cadiz.”
“Of course not.”
“But you may miss the squadron when it goes to sea.”
“If I do, I cannot help it; and in that case I may go to New York, or I may go to the West Indies in the Lopez steamers. I have not made up my mind what I shall do.”
Raymond wrote a long letter to Scott, and gave it to his companion to deliver to him. In a few days a steamer came along that was going to stop at Carthagena. Bark went on board of her; and, after a hard parting, he sailed away in her to join the Tritonia, after an absence of two months.
On the following day Raymond went to Gibraltar in the Spanish steamer, and remained there a full month, watching the papers for news of the fleet. At the end of this time he found the arrival of the squadron at Malaga. A few days later he saw that the Prince had passed Tarifa, and then that she had arrived at Cadiz. But, while he is watching the movements of the steamer, we will follow her to Barcelona, where she went nearly three months before.
When the Prince reached her destination, the overland party had not returned, and were not expected for two or three days. An excursion to Monserrat was organized by Dr. Winstock, who declared that it would be ridiculous to leave Barcelona, when they had time on their hands, without visiting one of the most remarkable sights in Spain. The party had to take a train at seven o’clock in the morning; and then it was ten before they reached their destination.
Monserrat is a lofty mountain, and takes its namefrom a Spanish word that means a “saw,” because the sharp peaks which cover the elevation resemble the teeth of that implement. At theposadain the village Dr. Winstock related the legend of the place.
“This is one of the most celebrated shrines in Spain,” he began. “Sixty thousand pilgrims used to visit it every year; but now the various chapels and monastery buildings are mostly in ruins. In 880 mysterious lights were seen over a part of the mountain. The bishop came up to see what they were, and discovered a small image of the Virgin in one of the numerous grottos that are found in the mountain. This little statue was the work of St. Luke, of course, and was brought to Spain by St. Peter himself. The Bishop of Barcelona hid it in this cave when the Moors invaded Catalonia. Bishop Gondemar, who found it, attempted to carry it to Manresa; but it became so heavy that he did not succeed. This was a miraculous intimation from the image that it did not wish to go any farther. The obliging bishop built a chapel on the spot, and the image was shrined at its altar. He also appointed a hermit to watch over it.
“Now, the Devil came to live in one of the caverns for the purpose of leading this anchorite astray. The Count of Barcelona had a beautiful daughter whose name was Riquilda; and the Devil ‘possessed’ her. She told her father that the evil spirit would not leave her till ordered to do so by Guarin, the pious custodian of the image. The count left her in his care. The hermit was wickedly inclined by the influence of the Devil, and finally killed the maiden, cutting off her head, and burying the body. Guarin was immediatelysorry for what he had done, and, fleeing from his evil neighbor, went to Rome. The pope absolved him with the penance that he should return to Monserrat on his hands and knees, and continue to walk like a beast, as he was morally, and never to look up to heaven which he had insulted, and never to speak a word. He became a wild beast in the forest; and Count Wildred captured the strange animal, and conveyed him to his palace, where he doubtless became a lion. One day the creature was brought in to be exhibited to the count’s guests at a banquet. A child cried out to him, ‘Arise, Juan Guarin! thy sins are forgiven!’ Then he arose in the form of the hermit; and the count pardoned him, having the grace to follow the example set him.
“But the end was not yet; for, when the count and Guarin went to search for the body, Riquilda appeared to them alive and well, though she had been buried eight years, but with a red ring around her neck, like a silk thread, rather ornamental than otherwise. The count founded a nunnery at once; and his daughter was made the lady superior, while Guarin became themayor-domoof the establishment. In time the nuns were removed, and monks took their places; and the miracles performed by the image attracted thousands to its shrines. The treasury of this Virgin was immense at one time, being valued at two hundred thousand ducats; but most of it was carried away by the French. The scenery, you see, is wild and grand, and I think is more enjoyable than the relics and the grottos.”
For hours the students wandered about the wildlocality. They saw the wonderful image; and those who had any taste for art thought that St. Luke, if he made the little statue, had not done himself any great credit. They visited the thirteen hermitages, and explored the grottos till they had had enough of this sort of thing. An hour after dark they were on board of the Prince. In two days more the Josephines and Tritonias arrived; and on Wednesday the squadron sailed for the South.
During his stay in port, the principal had seen Don Francisco, and told him all he knew in regard to the fugitive. The lawyer was satisfied that Mr. Lowington had done nothing to keep the young Don out of the way of his guardian; and neither of them could suggest any means to recover possession of him. As yet no letter from Don Manuel in New York had been received.
Favored by a good wind, the squadron arrived at Valencia in thirty hours. After a night’s sleep, all hands were landed at the port of the city, which the reader knows is Grao. The professor of geography and history, while the party were waiting for the vehicles that were to convey them to the city, gave the students a description of Valencia. It is an ancient city, founded by the Phœnicians, inhabited by the Romans for five centuries, captured by the Moors and held by them about the same time, though the Cid took the town, and held it for five years. At his death, in 1099, the Moors came down upon the city; and the body of the Cid was placed on his horse, and marched out of the city. The Moslems opened for it; and the Castilians passed through their army in safety, the enemy not daring toattack them. It was not such a victory for the Spaniards as some of the chronicles describe; for the Christians had to abandon the place. It was taken from the Moors in 1238, and became a part of Aragon, to be united with the other provinces of Spain by the union of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Moriscoes—the Moors who had been allowed to remain in Spain after the capture of Granada—made a great city of it, building its palaces and bridges; but they were driven out of the peninsula by Philip II. They had cultivated its vicinity, and made a paradise of the province; and their departure was almost a death-blow to the prosperity of the city.
Though the modern kings of Spain have not spared its memorials of the past, it is still an interesting city. It has a population of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand, making it the fourth city of Spain. It is one of the most industrious cities of the peninsula; and its manufactures of silk and velvet are quite extensive. The city contains nothing very different from other Spanish towns. The students wandered over the most of it, looking into a few of the churches, nearly every one of which has a wonder-working image of the Virgin, or of St. Vincent, who is the patron saint of Valencia.
The next day the squadron sailed, and put into Alicante after a twenty-four hours’ run; the wind being so light that the steamer had to tow her consorts nearly the whole distance. The students went on shore; but the old legend, “Nothing to see,” was passed around among them. Alicante is an old Spanish town, composed of white houses, standing at the foot of a highhill crowned with an old fortress. The lines, walls, covered ways, and batteries, seem to cover one side of the elevation. Those who cared to do it climbed to the top of the hill, and were rewarded with a fine view of the sea and the country.
“When the Cid had captured Valencia,” said Dr. Winstock to his pupils, as they stood on the summit of the hill, “he conducted Ximine, his wife, to the top of a tower, and showed her the country he had conquered. It was called theHuerta, which means a large orchard. The land had been irrigated by the industrious and enterprising Moors, and bore fruit in luxurious abundance. Thevega, or plain, which we see, is scarcely less fertile; and the region around us is perhaps the most productive in Spain. Twelve miles south is Elche, which is filled with palm-plantations. We see an occasional palm and fig tree here.”
Mr. Lowington did not favor excursions into the country when it could be avoided; but the doctor insisted that the students ought to visit Elche, and the point was yielded. They made the excursion in four separate parties; for comfortable carriages could not be obtained to take them all at once. The road was dry and dusty at first, and the soil poor; but the aspect of the country soon changed. Palms began to appear along the way, and soon the landscape seemed to be covered with them.
“There is something to see here, at any rate,” said Sheridan, as the party approached the town.
“I thought you would enjoy it,” replied the doctor. “This is the East transplanted in Spain.”
“These palms are fifty feet high,” added Murray, measuring them with his eye.
“Some of them are sixty; but fifty is about the average. Now we are in the palm-forest, which is said to contain forty thousand trees. This region is irrigated by the waters of the Vinalopo River, which are held back by a causeway stretched across the valley above. These plantations are very profitable.”
“But all palms are not like these,” said Murray. “My uncle has seen palms over a hundred feet high.”
“There are nearly a hundred kinds of palm, bearing different sorts of fruit. These are date-palms; and one of them bears from one to two hundred pounds of dates.”
“And they sell at from ten to fifteen cents a pound at home,” added Sheridan.
“But for not more than one or two cents a pound here,” continued the doctor. “I suppose you have learned about sex in plants, which is a modern discovery; but it is most strikingly illustrated in these date-palms. Only the female tree bears fruit. The male palm bears a flower whose pollen was shaken over the female trees by the Moors long before any thing was known about sex in plants; and the practice is continued by their successors. But the male palm yields a profit in addition to supplying the orchard with pollen. Its leaves are dried, and made into fans, crowns, and wreaths, and sold for use on Palm Sunday. This town gets seventy thousand dollars for its dates, and ten thousand for its palm-leaves.”
“When are the dates picked?” asked Sheridan.
“In November. The men climb the trees by the aid of ropes passed around the trunk and the body. I will ask one of them to ascend a tree for your benefit.”
The excursionists reached the village, which is in the middle of the forest of palms. It was very Oriental in its appearance. The people were swarthy, and wore a peculiar costume, in which were some remnants of the Moorish fashion. The church has its image of the Virgin, who dresses very richly, and owns a date-plantation which pays the expenses of her wardrobe.
The students were so delighted with the excursion that they made a rollicking time of it on the way back to Alicante, and astonished the peasants by their lively demonstrations. The road was no road at all, but merely a path across the country, and was very rough in places. The cottages of the vicinity were thatched with palm-leaves in some instances. At the door of many of them was a hamper of dates, from which any one could help himself, and leave acuartoin payment for the feast. It is not watched by the owner, for the Spaniard here is an honest man. The students frequently availed themselves of these hampers when the doctor had explained to them the custom of the country; but he exhorted them to be as honest as the natives.
The squadron remained at anchor in the port of Alicante four days; and, when the students of the first party had told their story, the trip to Elche was the most popular excursion since they left Italy.
“Which is the best port on the east coast of Spain, doctor?” asked the principal, as they sat on the deck of the Prince while the third party had gone to Elche.
“I shall answer you as the admiral did Philip II.,—Carthagena,” replied the doctor.
“I find that the students are tired of sight-seeing,and the lessons have been much neglected of late,” continued the principal. “I think we all need a rest. I have about made up my mind to lie up for three months in some good harbor, recruit the students, and push along their studies.”
“I think that is an excellent plan. April will be a better month to see the rest of Spain than the middle of winter.”
The plan was fully discussed and adopted; and on the following day the squadron sailed for Carthagena, and having a stiff breeze was at anchor in its capacious harbor at sunset. The students were not sorry to take the rest; for the constant change of place for the last six months had rendered a different programme acceptable. There was nothing in the town to see; and the harbor was enclosed with hills, almost landlocked, and as smooth as a millpond.
CHAPTER XXII.THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE.Themail for the squadron—forwarded by the principal’s banker in Barcelona—had been following the fleet down the coast for a week, but was received soon after it anchored at Carthagena. Among the letters was one from Don Manuel, Raymond’s uncle in New York. He was astonished that his nephew had ventured into Spain, when he had been cautioned not to do so. He was glad he had left his vessel, and hoped the principal would do nothing to bring him back. It was extremely important that his nephew should not be restored to his uncle in Barcelona, for reasons which Henry would explain if necessary. If the fugitive was, by any mischance, captured by Don Alejandro or his agents, Don Manuel wished to be informed of the fact at once by cable; and it would be his duty to hasten to Spain without delay.Mr. Lowington was greatly astonished at this letter, and handed it to Dr. Winstock. It seemed to indicate that a satisfactory explanation could be given of the singular conduct of the second master of the Tritonia, and that he would be able to justify his course.“That is not the kind of letter I expected to receive,” said the principal, when the surgeon had read it.“There is evidently some family quarrel which Don Manuel does not wish to disclose to others,” replied the doctor.“But Don Manuel ought to have informed me that he did not wish to have his nephew taken into Spain.”“We can’t tell about that till we know all the facts in the case. I have no doubt that the uncle in Barcelona is the legal guardian of Enrique Raimundo,” continued the doctor.“Then how did the boy come into the possession of Don Manuel?”“I don’t know; but he seems to be actuated by very strong motives, for he is coming to Spain if the young man falls into the hands of his legal guardian. I don’t understand it; but I am satisfied that it is a case for the lawyers to work upon.”“I think not; for Don Manuel seems to believe that the safety of his nephew can only be secured by keeping him out of Spain; in other words, that he has no case which he is willing to take into a Spanish court.”“Perhaps you are right; but it looks to me like a fortune for the lawyers to pick upon; though I must say that Don Francisco is one of the most gentlemanly and obliging attorneys I ever met, and seems to ask for nothing that is not perfectly fair.”They could not solve the problem; and it was no use to discuss it. The principal had done all he could to recover the second master of the Tritonia, or rather to assist the detective who was in search of him. Thelast news of him, brought by Bill Stout, was that the fugitive had gone to Africa. Thealguacilhad gone to Africa, but Raimundo had left before he arrived. He was unable to obtain any clew to him, for Raymond looked like Spaniards in general; and in the dress he had put on in Valencia he did not look like Raymond in the uniform of an officer. While the fugitive was sunning himself in Gibraltar, the pursuer was looking for him in Italy and Egypt. The principal was confident he had gone to the East, for runaways would not expose themselves to capture till their money was all gone. Besides, some of the officers of the Tritonia said that Raymond had often expressed a desire to visit Egypt and the Holy Land.The affairs of the squadron went along smoothly for six weeks. The students were studious, now that they had nothing to distract their attention. Bill Stout staid in the brig till he promised to learn his lessons, and then was let out. He did not like the brig after the trap in the floor was screwed down so that he could not raise it. Ben Pardee and Lon Gibbs fell out with him; first, because he had run away without them, and, second, because he was a disagreeable and unreasonable fellow. Bill did study his lessons in order to keep out of the brig; but he was behind every class in the vessel, and his ignorance was so dense that the professors were disgusted with him. It was about six weeks after the squadron took up its quarters in the harbor of Carthagena, that a shore-boat came up to the gangway, and Bark Lingall stepped upon the deck of the Tritonia. Of course his heart beat violently; but he came back like the Prodigal Son. He was wiser and better thanwhen he left, and he was ready to submit cheerfully to the penalty of his offence; and he expected to be committed to the brig as soon as he showed himself to the principal.It was nearly dark when the prodigal boarded the Tritonia, and Scott was in charge of the anchor watch which had been set for the night. He looked at Bark as he came up the side; and, though the fugitive had changed his dress, he recognized him at once.“Lingall!” exclaimed Scott. “You haven’t made a mistake as Stout did; have you?”“I don’t know what mistake Stout made, except the mistake of running away; and I made that one with him,” replied Bark.“Stout came on board of the Prince at Lisbon, thinking she was a steamer bound to England,” laughed Scott.“I could not mistake the Tritonia for a steamer, even if I wanted to go to England.”“Where did you leave Raimundo?” asked the officer anxiously.“Here is a letter from him for you; and that will explain it all. I wish to see the vice-principal,” continued Bark.Mr. Pelham was summoned, and he gave a good-natured greeting to the returned fugitive, not doubting that he had spent all his money in riotous living, and had come back because he could not travel any more without funds.“Money all gone, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal, who, like his superior, believed that satire was an effective means of discipline at times.“No, sir: I have over fifty pounds left,” replied Bark, more respectfully than he had formerly been in the habit of speaking, even to the principal.“What did you come back for, then?” demanded Mr. Pelham.“Because I am sorry for what I have done, and ask to be forgiven,” answered Bark, taking off his hat, and fixing his gaze upon the deck, while his bosom was swelling with emotion.The vice-principal was touched by his manner. He had stood in the same position before the principal five years before; and he indulged in no more light words. He took the prodigal down into his cabin, so that whatever passed between them might have no witnesses.“Do you come back voluntarily, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal in gentle tones.“I do, sir: I left Cadiz three days ago. I had been waiting there a month for the squadron to arrive. We did not know where it was, for the last we could learn of it was its arrival in Carthagena.”“You say we: were you not alone?”“No, sir: Raymond was with me.”“Who is Raymond?”“Raimundo: he has translated his name into English, and now prefers to be called by that name.”“And you left him in Cadiz?”“Yes, sir.”“Is he there now?”“I don’t know, sir; but I think not. He did not tell me where he was going, and I did not wish to know.”“I see,” added Mr. Pelham. “I hope he will not be taken by those who are after him.”Bark looked up, utterly astonished at this last remark; for he supposed the sympathies of the officers were with Don Francisco, as they had been at the time he left the Tritonia. As Mr. Pelham was in the confidence of the principal in regard to the affair of the second master, he had been permitted to read the letter from Don Manuel; and this fact will explain the remark.“Raymond does not know from what port the squadron will sail for the islands; but he wants to return to his ship as soon as he can,” added Bark.As Raymond’s case seemed to be of more interest than his own, Bark told all he knew about his late companion; but no one was any wiser in regard to his present hiding-place.“Where have you been all this time?” asked the vice-principal, when his curiosity was fully satisfied concerning Raymond.“I have been a good deal worse than you think I have; and I wish that running away was the worst thing I had on my conscience,” replied Bark, in answer to this question.“I am sorry to hear you say that; but, whatever you have done, it is better to make a clean breast of it,” added Mr. Pelham.“That is what I am going to do, sir,” replied Bark; and he prefaced his confession with what had passed between Raymond and himself when he decided upon his course of action.He related the substance of his conversations withBill Stout at the beginning of the conspiracy, and then proceeded to inform the vice-principal what had occurred while they were in the brig together, including the setting of the fire in the hold.“Do you mean to say that Stout intended to burn the vessel?” demanded Mr. Pelham, astonished and shocked at the revelation.“He and I so intended; and we actually started the fire three or four times,” answered Bark, detailing all the particulars.“You are very tender of Stout—the villain!” exclaimed the vice-principal. “It appears that he proposed the plan, and set the fire, while you assented to the act.”“I don’t wish to make it out that I am not just as guilty as Stout.”“I understand you perfectly,” added Mr. Pelham. “The villain pretended to be penitent when he came back, and told lies enough to sink the ship, if they had had any weight with me. Mr. Marline reported to me that there had been fire in the old stuff in the hold. I thought there was some mistake about it; but it is all plain enough now.”Bark proceeded with his narrative of the escape, which had been before related by Bill Stout; but the two stories differed in some respects, especially in respect to the conduct of Bill in the affray with the Catalonian in the felucca. He told about his wanderings and waitings with Raymond, which explained why he had not come back before.“Stout said that you and he pulled the boatman down when Raimundo missed him with the tiller,” said Mr. Pelham.“I mean to tell the truth, if I know how; but Bill did not lift his finger to do any thing, not even after Raymond and I had the fellow down,” replied Bark. “Raymond called him a coward on the spot; and I wish he were here to tell you so, for I know you would believe him.”“And I believe you, Lingall.”At this moment there was a knock at the state-room door.“Come in,” said the principal; and Scott opened the door at this summons.“I have a letter from Mr. Raimundo, sir, in which he has a great deal to say about Lingall,” said the lieutenant. “I thought you might wish to know what he says before you settle this case. I will leave it with you, sir; for there is nothing private in it.”“Thank you, Mr. Scott,” replied the vice-principal, as he took the letter.He opened and read the letter. It related entirely to the affairs of Lingall, and was an earnest plea for his forgiveness. It recited all the incidents of the cruise in the felucca, and the particulars of Bark’s reformation. The writer added that he hoped to be able to join his ship soon; and should do so, if he could, when she was out of Spanish waters.“Now, Lingall, you may go on board of the Prince with me,” said Mr. Pelham, when he had finished reading the letter.A boat was manned, and they were pulled to the steamer. The whole story was gone over again; and Mr. Lowington read the letter of Raymond. The principal and Mr. Pelham had a long consultationalone; and then Bark was ordered to return to his duty, without so much as a reprimand. Bark was bewildered at this unexpected clemency. He was satisfied that it was Raymond’s letter that saved him, because it assured the principal of the thorough reformation of the culprit. The vice-principal told him afterwards, that it was as much his own confession of the conspiracy, which was not even suspected on board, as it was the letter, that produced the leniency in the minds of the authorities. The boat that brought Mr. Pelham and Bark back to the Tritonia immediately conveyed Bill Stout, in charge of Peaks, to the Prince, where he was committed to the brig, without any explanation of the charge against him.Bill did not know what to make of this sharp discipline; and he felt very much like a martyr, for he believed he had been “a good boy,” as he called the chaplain’s lambs. He had time to think about it when the bars separated him from the rest of his shipmates. The news that Bark Lingall had returned was circulated through the Tritonia before he left the vessel. He could only explain his present situation by the supposition that Bark had told about the conspiracy to burn the vessel. This must be the reason why he was caged in the Prince rather than in the Tritonia.For three days the stewards brought him his food; and for an hour, each forenoon, the big boatswain walked him up and down the deck to give him his exercise; but it was in vain that he asked them what he was caged for. As none of these officials knew, none of them could tell him. On the fourth day of his confinement, a meeting of the faculty was held for consultationin regard to the affairs of the squadron. This was the high court of the academy, and consisted of the principal, the vice-principals, the chaplain, the surgeon, and the professors,—fourteen in all. Though the authority of the principal was supreme, he preferred to have this council to advise him in important matters.When the faculty had assembled, Peaks brought Bill Stout into the cabin, and placed him at the end of the long table at which the members were seated. He was awed and impressed by the situation. The principal stated that the culprit was charged with attempting to set fire to the Tritonia, and asked what he had to say for himself. Bill made haste to deny the charge with all his might; but he might as well have denied his own existence. Raymond’s letter describing what he saw in the hold was read, but the parts relating to Bark were omitted. Bill supposed the letter was the only evidence against him, and the writer had spared Bark because he was a friend. Bill declared that Raymond hated him, and had made up this story to injure him. He had been trying to do his duty, and no complaint had been made against him since the fleet had been at anchor.The chaplain thought a student ought not to be condemned on the evidence of one who had run away from his vessel. As Bill would not be satisfied, it became necessary to call Bark Lingall. The reformed seaman gave his evidence in the form of a confession; and, when he had finished his story, no one doubted his sincerity, or the truth of his statement. By a unanimous vote of the faculty, approved by the principal,Bill Stout was dismissed from the academy as one whom it was not safe to have on board any of the vessels, and as one whose character was too bad to allow him to associate with the students. A letter to his father was written; and he was sent home in charge of the carpenter of the Josephine, who was about to return to New York on account of the illness of his son.The particulars of this affair were kept from the students; for the principal did not wish to have them know that any one had attempted to burn one of the vessels, lest it might tempt some other pupil to seek a dismissal by the same means. Bill Stout was glad to be sent away, even in disgrace.Early in March Mr. Lowington received a letter from Don Francisco, asking if any thing had been heard from Raymond, and informing him that his client Don Alejandro was dangerously sick. The principal, since he had received the letter from Don Manuel, had declined to assist in the search for the absentee, though he had not communicated his views to the lawyer. The detective had not returned from his tour in the East, and was doubtless willing to continue the search as long as he was paid for it. The principal was “a square man;” and he informed Don Francisco that his views on the subject had changed, and that he hoped the fugitive would not be captured. Ten days after this letter was answered came Don Francisco himself. He went on board of the Prince; and, in spite of the reply of the principal, he was as cordial and courteous as ever.“I suppose you have received my letter, declining todo any thing more to secure the return of the absentee,” Mr. Lowington began, when they were seated in the grand saloon.“I have received it,” replied Don Francisco; “but now all the circumstances of the case are changed, and I am confident that you will do all you can to find the young man. Your letter came to me on the day before the funeral of my client.”“Then Don Alejandro is dead!” exclaimed the principal, startled by the intelligence.“He died in the greatest agony and remorse,” added the lawyer. “He was sick four weeks, and suffered the most intense pain till death relieved him. He confessed to me, when I went to make his will, that he had intended to get his nephew out of the way in some manner, before the boy was of an age to inherit his father’s property. Don Manuel had charged him with this purpose before he left Spain, and had repeated the charge in his letters. He confessed because he wanted his brother’s forgiveness, as well as that of the Church. He wished me to see that justice was done to his nephew. When I wrote you that last letter, my client desired to see the young man, and to implore his forgiveness for the injury he had done him as a child, and for that he had meditated.”“This is a very singular story,” said Mr. Lowington. “You did not give me the reason for which Don Alejandro wished to see his nephew.”“I did not know it myself. What I have related transpired since I wrote that letter. The case is one of the remarkable ones; but I have known a few just like it,” continued the lawyer. “My client was toldby the physicians that he could not recover. Such an announcement to a Christian who has committed a crime—and to meditate it is the same thing in the eye of the Church, though not of the law—could not but change the whole current of his thoughts. I know that it caused my client more suffering than his bodily ailments, severe as the latter were. The terrors of the world to come haunted him; and he believed, that, if he did not do justice to that young man before he died, he would suffer for his crime through all the ages of eternity; and I believe so too. I think he confessed the crime to me, after he had done so to the priest, because he believed his son, who had been in his confidence, would carry out his wicked purpose after his father was gone; for this son would inherit the estate as the next heir under the will of the grandfather.”“I can understand how things appear to a man as wicked as your client was, when death stares him in the face,” added Mr. Lowington.“Now the young man is wanted. He is not of age, but he ought to have a voice in the selection of his guardian.”“I don’t know where he is under the altered circumstances, any more than I did before,” replied the principal; “but I am willing to make an effort to find him. Is he in any danger from the son of your late client?”“None at all: the son denies that he ever had any knowledge of the business; and, since the confession of the father, the son would not dare to do any thing wrong. Besides, my client put all the property in my hands before he died.”The next thing was to find Raymond. He might see the announcement of the death of his uncle in the newspapers; but, if he did not, he would be sure to keep out of the way till the squadron was ready to sail for the “isles of the sea.” Mr. Lowington sent for Bark Lingall, who had by this time established his character as one of the best-behaved and most earnest students in his vessel. The principal rehearsed the events that made it desirable to find Raymond.“Do you think you could find him, Lingall?” asked Mr. Lowington.“I think I might if I could speak Spanish,” replied Bark modestly.“You and Scott are the only students who know his history; and he would allow you to approach him, while he would keep out of the way of any other person connected with the squadron. We shall sail for Malaga to-morrow; and you shall have a courier to do your talking for you,” continued the principal.Bark was pleased with the mission. He was furnished with a letter from Don Francisco; and, as he had some idea of what Raymond’s plans were, he was hopeful of success. The squadron sailed the next day, and arrived at Malaga in thirty hours.
THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE.
Themail for the squadron—forwarded by the principal’s banker in Barcelona—had been following the fleet down the coast for a week, but was received soon after it anchored at Carthagena. Among the letters was one from Don Manuel, Raymond’s uncle in New York. He was astonished that his nephew had ventured into Spain, when he had been cautioned not to do so. He was glad he had left his vessel, and hoped the principal would do nothing to bring him back. It was extremely important that his nephew should not be restored to his uncle in Barcelona, for reasons which Henry would explain if necessary. If the fugitive was, by any mischance, captured by Don Alejandro or his agents, Don Manuel wished to be informed of the fact at once by cable; and it would be his duty to hasten to Spain without delay.
Mr. Lowington was greatly astonished at this letter, and handed it to Dr. Winstock. It seemed to indicate that a satisfactory explanation could be given of the singular conduct of the second master of the Tritonia, and that he would be able to justify his course.
“That is not the kind of letter I expected to receive,” said the principal, when the surgeon had read it.
“There is evidently some family quarrel which Don Manuel does not wish to disclose to others,” replied the doctor.
“But Don Manuel ought to have informed me that he did not wish to have his nephew taken into Spain.”
“We can’t tell about that till we know all the facts in the case. I have no doubt that the uncle in Barcelona is the legal guardian of Enrique Raimundo,” continued the doctor.
“Then how did the boy come into the possession of Don Manuel?”
“I don’t know; but he seems to be actuated by very strong motives, for he is coming to Spain if the young man falls into the hands of his legal guardian. I don’t understand it; but I am satisfied that it is a case for the lawyers to work upon.”
“I think not; for Don Manuel seems to believe that the safety of his nephew can only be secured by keeping him out of Spain; in other words, that he has no case which he is willing to take into a Spanish court.”
“Perhaps you are right; but it looks to me like a fortune for the lawyers to pick upon; though I must say that Don Francisco is one of the most gentlemanly and obliging attorneys I ever met, and seems to ask for nothing that is not perfectly fair.”
They could not solve the problem; and it was no use to discuss it. The principal had done all he could to recover the second master of the Tritonia, or rather to assist the detective who was in search of him. Thelast news of him, brought by Bill Stout, was that the fugitive had gone to Africa. Thealguacilhad gone to Africa, but Raimundo had left before he arrived. He was unable to obtain any clew to him, for Raymond looked like Spaniards in general; and in the dress he had put on in Valencia he did not look like Raymond in the uniform of an officer. While the fugitive was sunning himself in Gibraltar, the pursuer was looking for him in Italy and Egypt. The principal was confident he had gone to the East, for runaways would not expose themselves to capture till their money was all gone. Besides, some of the officers of the Tritonia said that Raymond had often expressed a desire to visit Egypt and the Holy Land.
The affairs of the squadron went along smoothly for six weeks. The students were studious, now that they had nothing to distract their attention. Bill Stout staid in the brig till he promised to learn his lessons, and then was let out. He did not like the brig after the trap in the floor was screwed down so that he could not raise it. Ben Pardee and Lon Gibbs fell out with him; first, because he had run away without them, and, second, because he was a disagreeable and unreasonable fellow. Bill did study his lessons in order to keep out of the brig; but he was behind every class in the vessel, and his ignorance was so dense that the professors were disgusted with him. It was about six weeks after the squadron took up its quarters in the harbor of Carthagena, that a shore-boat came up to the gangway, and Bark Lingall stepped upon the deck of the Tritonia. Of course his heart beat violently; but he came back like the Prodigal Son. He was wiser and better thanwhen he left, and he was ready to submit cheerfully to the penalty of his offence; and he expected to be committed to the brig as soon as he showed himself to the principal.
It was nearly dark when the prodigal boarded the Tritonia, and Scott was in charge of the anchor watch which had been set for the night. He looked at Bark as he came up the side; and, though the fugitive had changed his dress, he recognized him at once.
“Lingall!” exclaimed Scott. “You haven’t made a mistake as Stout did; have you?”
“I don’t know what mistake Stout made, except the mistake of running away; and I made that one with him,” replied Bark.
“Stout came on board of the Prince at Lisbon, thinking she was a steamer bound to England,” laughed Scott.
“I could not mistake the Tritonia for a steamer, even if I wanted to go to England.”
“Where did you leave Raimundo?” asked the officer anxiously.
“Here is a letter from him for you; and that will explain it all. I wish to see the vice-principal,” continued Bark.
Mr. Pelham was summoned, and he gave a good-natured greeting to the returned fugitive, not doubting that he had spent all his money in riotous living, and had come back because he could not travel any more without funds.
“Money all gone, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal, who, like his superior, believed that satire was an effective means of discipline at times.
“No, sir: I have over fifty pounds left,” replied Bark, more respectfully than he had formerly been in the habit of speaking, even to the principal.
“What did you come back for, then?” demanded Mr. Pelham.
“Because I am sorry for what I have done, and ask to be forgiven,” answered Bark, taking off his hat, and fixing his gaze upon the deck, while his bosom was swelling with emotion.
The vice-principal was touched by his manner. He had stood in the same position before the principal five years before; and he indulged in no more light words. He took the prodigal down into his cabin, so that whatever passed between them might have no witnesses.
“Do you come back voluntarily, Lingall?” asked the vice-principal in gentle tones.
“I do, sir: I left Cadiz three days ago. I had been waiting there a month for the squadron to arrive. We did not know where it was, for the last we could learn of it was its arrival in Carthagena.”
“You say we: were you not alone?”
“No, sir: Raymond was with me.”
“Who is Raymond?”
“Raimundo: he has translated his name into English, and now prefers to be called by that name.”
“And you left him in Cadiz?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is he there now?”
“I don’t know, sir; but I think not. He did not tell me where he was going, and I did not wish to know.”
“I see,” added Mr. Pelham. “I hope he will not be taken by those who are after him.”
Bark looked up, utterly astonished at this last remark; for he supposed the sympathies of the officers were with Don Francisco, as they had been at the time he left the Tritonia. As Mr. Pelham was in the confidence of the principal in regard to the affair of the second master, he had been permitted to read the letter from Don Manuel; and this fact will explain the remark.
“Raymond does not know from what port the squadron will sail for the islands; but he wants to return to his ship as soon as he can,” added Bark.
As Raymond’s case seemed to be of more interest than his own, Bark told all he knew about his late companion; but no one was any wiser in regard to his present hiding-place.
“Where have you been all this time?” asked the vice-principal, when his curiosity was fully satisfied concerning Raymond.
“I have been a good deal worse than you think I have; and I wish that running away was the worst thing I had on my conscience,” replied Bark, in answer to this question.
“I am sorry to hear you say that; but, whatever you have done, it is better to make a clean breast of it,” added Mr. Pelham.
“That is what I am going to do, sir,” replied Bark; and he prefaced his confession with what had passed between Raymond and himself when he decided upon his course of action.
He related the substance of his conversations withBill Stout at the beginning of the conspiracy, and then proceeded to inform the vice-principal what had occurred while they were in the brig together, including the setting of the fire in the hold.
“Do you mean to say that Stout intended to burn the vessel?” demanded Mr. Pelham, astonished and shocked at the revelation.
“He and I so intended; and we actually started the fire three or four times,” answered Bark, detailing all the particulars.
“You are very tender of Stout—the villain!” exclaimed the vice-principal. “It appears that he proposed the plan, and set the fire, while you assented to the act.”
“I don’t wish to make it out that I am not just as guilty as Stout.”
“I understand you perfectly,” added Mr. Pelham. “The villain pretended to be penitent when he came back, and told lies enough to sink the ship, if they had had any weight with me. Mr. Marline reported to me that there had been fire in the old stuff in the hold. I thought there was some mistake about it; but it is all plain enough now.”
Bark proceeded with his narrative of the escape, which had been before related by Bill Stout; but the two stories differed in some respects, especially in respect to the conduct of Bill in the affray with the Catalonian in the felucca. He told about his wanderings and waitings with Raymond, which explained why he had not come back before.
“Stout said that you and he pulled the boatman down when Raimundo missed him with the tiller,” said Mr. Pelham.
“I mean to tell the truth, if I know how; but Bill did not lift his finger to do any thing, not even after Raymond and I had the fellow down,” replied Bark. “Raymond called him a coward on the spot; and I wish he were here to tell you so, for I know you would believe him.”
“And I believe you, Lingall.”
At this moment there was a knock at the state-room door.
“Come in,” said the principal; and Scott opened the door at this summons.
“I have a letter from Mr. Raimundo, sir, in which he has a great deal to say about Lingall,” said the lieutenant. “I thought you might wish to know what he says before you settle this case. I will leave it with you, sir; for there is nothing private in it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Scott,” replied the vice-principal, as he took the letter.
He opened and read the letter. It related entirely to the affairs of Lingall, and was an earnest plea for his forgiveness. It recited all the incidents of the cruise in the felucca, and the particulars of Bark’s reformation. The writer added that he hoped to be able to join his ship soon; and should do so, if he could, when she was out of Spanish waters.
“Now, Lingall, you may go on board of the Prince with me,” said Mr. Pelham, when he had finished reading the letter.
A boat was manned, and they were pulled to the steamer. The whole story was gone over again; and Mr. Lowington read the letter of Raymond. The principal and Mr. Pelham had a long consultationalone; and then Bark was ordered to return to his duty, without so much as a reprimand. Bark was bewildered at this unexpected clemency. He was satisfied that it was Raymond’s letter that saved him, because it assured the principal of the thorough reformation of the culprit. The vice-principal told him afterwards, that it was as much his own confession of the conspiracy, which was not even suspected on board, as it was the letter, that produced the leniency in the minds of the authorities. The boat that brought Mr. Pelham and Bark back to the Tritonia immediately conveyed Bill Stout, in charge of Peaks, to the Prince, where he was committed to the brig, without any explanation of the charge against him.
Bill did not know what to make of this sharp discipline; and he felt very much like a martyr, for he believed he had been “a good boy,” as he called the chaplain’s lambs. He had time to think about it when the bars separated him from the rest of his shipmates. The news that Bark Lingall had returned was circulated through the Tritonia before he left the vessel. He could only explain his present situation by the supposition that Bark had told about the conspiracy to burn the vessel. This must be the reason why he was caged in the Prince rather than in the Tritonia.
For three days the stewards brought him his food; and for an hour, each forenoon, the big boatswain walked him up and down the deck to give him his exercise; but it was in vain that he asked them what he was caged for. As none of these officials knew, none of them could tell him. On the fourth day of his confinement, a meeting of the faculty was held for consultationin regard to the affairs of the squadron. This was the high court of the academy, and consisted of the principal, the vice-principals, the chaplain, the surgeon, and the professors,—fourteen in all. Though the authority of the principal was supreme, he preferred to have this council to advise him in important matters.
When the faculty had assembled, Peaks brought Bill Stout into the cabin, and placed him at the end of the long table at which the members were seated. He was awed and impressed by the situation. The principal stated that the culprit was charged with attempting to set fire to the Tritonia, and asked what he had to say for himself. Bill made haste to deny the charge with all his might; but he might as well have denied his own existence. Raymond’s letter describing what he saw in the hold was read, but the parts relating to Bark were omitted. Bill supposed the letter was the only evidence against him, and the writer had spared Bark because he was a friend. Bill declared that Raymond hated him, and had made up this story to injure him. He had been trying to do his duty, and no complaint had been made against him since the fleet had been at anchor.
The chaplain thought a student ought not to be condemned on the evidence of one who had run away from his vessel. As Bill would not be satisfied, it became necessary to call Bark Lingall. The reformed seaman gave his evidence in the form of a confession; and, when he had finished his story, no one doubted his sincerity, or the truth of his statement. By a unanimous vote of the faculty, approved by the principal,Bill Stout was dismissed from the academy as one whom it was not safe to have on board any of the vessels, and as one whose character was too bad to allow him to associate with the students. A letter to his father was written; and he was sent home in charge of the carpenter of the Josephine, who was about to return to New York on account of the illness of his son.
The particulars of this affair were kept from the students; for the principal did not wish to have them know that any one had attempted to burn one of the vessels, lest it might tempt some other pupil to seek a dismissal by the same means. Bill Stout was glad to be sent away, even in disgrace.
Early in March Mr. Lowington received a letter from Don Francisco, asking if any thing had been heard from Raymond, and informing him that his client Don Alejandro was dangerously sick. The principal, since he had received the letter from Don Manuel, had declined to assist in the search for the absentee, though he had not communicated his views to the lawyer. The detective had not returned from his tour in the East, and was doubtless willing to continue the search as long as he was paid for it. The principal was “a square man;” and he informed Don Francisco that his views on the subject had changed, and that he hoped the fugitive would not be captured. Ten days after this letter was answered came Don Francisco himself. He went on board of the Prince; and, in spite of the reply of the principal, he was as cordial and courteous as ever.
“I suppose you have received my letter, declining todo any thing more to secure the return of the absentee,” Mr. Lowington began, when they were seated in the grand saloon.
“I have received it,” replied Don Francisco; “but now all the circumstances of the case are changed, and I am confident that you will do all you can to find the young man. Your letter came to me on the day before the funeral of my client.”
“Then Don Alejandro is dead!” exclaimed the principal, startled by the intelligence.
“He died in the greatest agony and remorse,” added the lawyer. “He was sick four weeks, and suffered the most intense pain till death relieved him. He confessed to me, when I went to make his will, that he had intended to get his nephew out of the way in some manner, before the boy was of an age to inherit his father’s property. Don Manuel had charged him with this purpose before he left Spain, and had repeated the charge in his letters. He confessed because he wanted his brother’s forgiveness, as well as that of the Church. He wished me to see that justice was done to his nephew. When I wrote you that last letter, my client desired to see the young man, and to implore his forgiveness for the injury he had done him as a child, and for that he had meditated.”
“This is a very singular story,” said Mr. Lowington. “You did not give me the reason for which Don Alejandro wished to see his nephew.”
“I did not know it myself. What I have related transpired since I wrote that letter. The case is one of the remarkable ones; but I have known a few just like it,” continued the lawyer. “My client was toldby the physicians that he could not recover. Such an announcement to a Christian who has committed a crime—and to meditate it is the same thing in the eye of the Church, though not of the law—could not but change the whole current of his thoughts. I know that it caused my client more suffering than his bodily ailments, severe as the latter were. The terrors of the world to come haunted him; and he believed, that, if he did not do justice to that young man before he died, he would suffer for his crime through all the ages of eternity; and I believe so too. I think he confessed the crime to me, after he had done so to the priest, because he believed his son, who had been in his confidence, would carry out his wicked purpose after his father was gone; for this son would inherit the estate as the next heir under the will of the grandfather.”
“I can understand how things appear to a man as wicked as your client was, when death stares him in the face,” added Mr. Lowington.
“Now the young man is wanted. He is not of age, but he ought to have a voice in the selection of his guardian.”
“I don’t know where he is under the altered circumstances, any more than I did before,” replied the principal; “but I am willing to make an effort to find him. Is he in any danger from the son of your late client?”
“None at all: the son denies that he ever had any knowledge of the business; and, since the confession of the father, the son would not dare to do any thing wrong. Besides, my client put all the property in my hands before he died.”
The next thing was to find Raymond. He might see the announcement of the death of his uncle in the newspapers; but, if he did not, he would be sure to keep out of the way till the squadron was ready to sail for the “isles of the sea.” Mr. Lowington sent for Bark Lingall, who had by this time established his character as one of the best-behaved and most earnest students in his vessel. The principal rehearsed the events that made it desirable to find Raymond.
“Do you think you could find him, Lingall?” asked Mr. Lowington.
“I think I might if I could speak Spanish,” replied Bark modestly.
“You and Scott are the only students who know his history; and he would allow you to approach him, while he would keep out of the way of any other person connected with the squadron. We shall sail for Malaga to-morrow; and you shall have a courier to do your talking for you,” continued the principal.
Bark was pleased with the mission. He was furnished with a letter from Don Francisco; and, as he had some idea of what Raymond’s plans were, he was hopeful of success. The squadron sailed the next day, and arrived at Malaga in thirty hours.
CHAPTER XXIII.GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA.Whenthe academy fleet arrived at Malaga, the principal decided to follow the plan he had adopted at Barcelona, though on a smaller scale, and send the Josephines and Tritonias to Cadiz, while the Princes proceeded by rail to the same place, seeing Granada, Cordova, and Seville on the way. As soon as the transfer could be made, the steamer sailed with its company of tourists; and her regular crew were domiciled at the Hotel de la Alameda, in Malaga.“Here we are again,” said Sheridan, as the party of the doctor came together again at the hotel.“I feel more like looking at a cathedral than I did when we were sight-seeing in December,” added Murray.“You have not many more cathedrals to see,” replied the doctor. “There is one here; but, as this is Saturday, we will visit it to-morrow. Suppose we take a walk on the Alameda, as this handsome square is called.”It is a beautiful bit of a park, with a fountain at each end; but it was so haunted with beggars that the tourists could not enjoy it. It was fresh and green, and bright with the flowers of early spring.“What an abomination these beggars are!” exclaimed Sheridan, as a pair of them, one with his eyes apparently eaten out with sores, leaning on the shoulder of another seemingly well enough, saluted them with the usual petition. “It makes me sick to look at them.”Murray gave the speaker tworeales; but they would not go till the others had contributed. A little farther along they came to a blind man, who had stationed himself by a bridge, and held out his hand in silence.“That man deserves to be encouraged for holding his tongue,” said the captain, as he dropped apesetainto the extended hand. “Most of them yell and tease so that one don’t feel like giving.”The blind beggar called down the blessing of the Virgin upon the donor, in a gentle and devout tone. But he seemed to be an exception to all the other mendicants in Malaga. As the captain said, many of them were most disgusting sights; and they pointed out their ailments as though they were proud of them.“This is a commercial city, and there is not much to see in it,” said the doctor, as they returned to the hotel. “Its history is but a repetition of that of nearly all the cities of Spain. It was a place of great trade in the time of the Moors: it is the fifth city of Spain, ranking next to Valencia. You saw the United States flag on quite a number of vessels in the port; and it has a large trade with our country. Wine, raisins, oranges, lemons, and grapes are the principal exports.”The next day most of the students visited the cathedral, where they heard mass, which was attended by a battalion of soldiers, with a band which took part inthe service. Early on Monday morning the tourists started for Granada, taking the train at quarter past six o’clock. The ride was exceedingly interesting; for the country between Malaga and Cordova is very fertile, though a small portion of it is a region abounding in the wildest scenery. The first part of the journey was in the midst of orange-orchards and vineyards.“What is that sort of an inclined plane?” asked Sheridan, pointing to a stone structure like one side of the roof of a small house. “I have noticed a great many of them here and near Alicante.”“You observe that they all slope to the south,” replied the doctor. “They are used in drying raisins. This is a grape as well as an orange country. Raisins are dried grapes; and, when you eat your plum-pudding in the future, you will be likely to think of the country around Malaga, for the nicest of them come from here.”“This is a wild country,” said Murray, after they had been nearly two hours on the train.“We pass through the western end of the Sierra Nevada range. Notice this steep rock,” added the doctor, as they passed a lofty precipice. “It is ‘Lovers’ Rock.’”“Of course it is,” laughed Murray; “and they jumped down that cliff; and there is not a precipice in the world that isn’t a lovers’ leap.”“I think you are right. In this case it was a Spanish knight, and a Moorish maiden whose father didn’t like the match.”The travellers left the train at Bobadilla, and proceeded by rail to Archidona. Between this place andLoxa the railroad was not then built; and the distance—about sixteen miles—had to be accomplished by diligence. Half a dozen of these lumbering vehicles were in readiness, with their miscellaneous teams of horses and mules all hitched on in long strings. This part of the journey was likely to be a lark to the students; and they piled into and upon the carriages with great good-nature. The doctor and his pupils secured seats on the outside.“This is thecoupéin Spain, but it is thebanquettein Switzerland,” said he, when they were seated. “It is called the dickey in England.”“But the box for three passengers, with windows in the front of the diligence, is always thecoupé,” added Sheridan.“Not in Spain: that is called theberlinahere. The middle compartment, holding four or six, isel interior; andla rotundo, in the rear, like an omnibus, holds six. The last is used by the common people because it is the cheapest.”“But this seat is not long enough for four,” protested Murray, when the conductor directed another officer to mount thecoupé”.“Come up, commodore: I think we can make room for you,” added Sheridan.“This is a long team,” said Commodore Cantwell, when they were seated,—“ten mules and horses.”“I have travelled with sixteen,” added the doctor.On a seat wide enough for two, under the windows of theberlina, the driver took his place. His reins were a couple of ropes reaching to the outside ends of the bits of the wheel-horses. He was more properlythe brakeman, since he had little to do with the team, except to yell at the animals. On the nigh horse or mule, as he happened to be, rode a young man who conducted the procession. He is called thedelantero. Thezagalis a fellow who runs at the side of the animals, and whips them up with a long stick. Themayoralis the conductor, who is sometimes the driver; but in this case he seemed to have the charge of all the diligences.“Oja! oja!” (o-ha) yelled the driver. Thezagalbegan to hammer the brutes most unmercifully, and the team started at a lively pace.“That’s too bad!” exclaimed Sheridan, when he saw thezagalpounding the mules over the backbone with his club, which was big enough to serve for a bean-pole.“I agree with you, captain, but we can’t help ourselves,” added the doctor. “That villain will keep it up till we get to the end of our journey.”Thedilijenciapassed out of the town, and went through a wild country with no signs of any inhabitants. The road was as bad as a road could be, and was nothing but a track beaten over the fields, passing over rocks and through gullies and pools of water. Carts, drawn by long strings of mules or donkeys, driven by a peasant with a gun over his shoulder, were occasionally met; but the road was very lonely. Half way to Loxa they came to a river, over which was a narrow bridge for pedestrians; but thedilijenciahad to ford the stream.At this point the horses and mules were changed; and some of the students went over the bridge, andwalked till they were overtaken by the coaches. At three o’clock they drove into Loxa. The streets of the town are very steep and very narrow; and thezagalhad to crowd the team over to the opposite side, in order to get the vehicle around the corners. The students on the outside could have jumped into the windows of the houses on either side, and people on the ground often had to dodge into the doorways, to keep from being run over. From this place the party proceeded to Granada by railroad. Crossing a part of this city, which is a filthy hole, the party went to the Hotel Washington Irving, and the Hotel Siete Suelos, both of which are at the very gate of the Alhambra.The doctor and his friends were quartered at the former hotel, which is a very good one, but more expensive than theSiete Sueloson the other side of the street. They are both in the gardens of the Alhambra, the avenues of which are studded with noble elms, the gift of the Duke of Wellington.“And this is the Alhambra,” said Capt. Sheridan, as the trio came out for a walk, after dinner.“What is the meaning of the name of that hotel?”“Hotel de los Siete Suelos,—the hotel of the seven stories, or floors.”“But it hasn’t more than four or five.”“Haven’t you read Irving’s Alhambra? He mentions a tower with this name, in which was the gate where Boabdil left the Alhambra for the last time. It was walled up at the request of the Moor.”The party walked about the gardens till it was dark. The next morning, before the ship’s company were ready, the doctor and the three highest officers entered the walled enclosure.“This is the Tower of Justice,” said the doctor, as they paused at the entrance. “It is so called because the Moorish kings administered the law to the people here. You see the hand and the key carved over the door. If you ask the grandson of Mateo Ximenes, who is a guide here, what it means, he will tell you the Moors believed that, when this hand reached down and took the key, the Alhambra might be captured; but not till then. Then he will tell you that they were mistaken; and give glory to the Spaniards. The key was the Moslem symbol for wisdom and knowledge; and the hand, of the five great commandments of their religion.”The party entered the tower, in which is an altar, and passed into the square of the cisterns. Charles V. began to build a huge palace on one side of it; but the fear of earthquakes induced him to desist. He destroyed a portion of the Moorish palace to make room for it. The visitors entered an office where they registered their names, paid a couple ofpesetas, and received a plan of the palace. The first names in the book are those of Washington Irving and his Russian companion.“This is the Court of the Myrtles,” said the doctor, as they entered the first and largest court of the palace. “It is also called ‘the Court of Blessing,’ because the Moors believed water was a blessing; and this pond contains a good deal of it.”“My guide-book does not call it by either of these names,” said Commodore Cantwell, who had Harper’s Guide in his hand. “It says here it is ‘thePatio de la Alberca,’ or fish-pond.”“And so says Mr. Ford, who is the best authority on Spain. We must not try to reconcile the differences in guide-books. We had better call it after the myrtles that surround the tank, and let it go at that. This court is the largest of the palace, though it is only one hundred and forty by seventy-five feet. But the Alhambra is noted for its beauty, and not for its size. We will now pass into the Court of the Lions,” continued the doctor, leading the way. “This is the most celebrated, as it is the most beautiful, part of the palace.”“I have seen many pictures of it, but I supposed it was ten times as large as it is,” said Sheridan.“It is about one hundred and twenty by seventy feet. There are one hundred and twenty-four columns around the court. Now we must stop and look at the wonderful architecture and exquisite workmanship. Look at these graceful arches, and examine that sort of lace-work in the ceilings and walls.”While they were thus occupied, the ship’s company came into the court, and the principal called them together to hear Professor Mapps on the history of the Alhambra.“In 1238 Ibnu-I-Ahamar founded the kingdom of Granada, and he built the Alhambra for his palace and fortress. In Arabic it wasKasr-Alhamra, or Red Castle; and from this comes the present name. The Vermilion Tower was a part of the original fortress. Under this monarch, whose title was Mohammed I., Granada became very prosperous and powerful. When the Christians captured Valencia, the Moors fled to Granada, and fifty thousand were added to the populationof the kingdom; and it is estimated that a million more came when Seville and Cordova were conquered by the Castilians. The work of this king was continued by his successors; and the Alhambra was finished in 1333 by Yosuf I. He built the Gate of Judgment, Justice, or Law, as it is variously called, and the principal parts of the palace around you. The city was in its glory then, and is said to have had half a million inhabitants. But family quarrels came into the house of the monarch, here in the Alhambra; and this was the beginning of the decline of the Moorish power.“Abul-Hassan had two wives. One of them was Ayesha; and the other was a very beautiful Christian lady called Zoraya, or the Morning Star. Ayesha was exceedingly jealous of the other; and fearing that the son of the Morning Star, instead of her own, might succeed to the crown, she organized a powerful faction. On Zoraya’s side were the Beni-Serraj, whom the Spaniards called the Abencerrages. They were the descendants of a vizier of the King of Cordova,—Abou-Serraj. Abou-Abdallah was the eldest son of Ayesha; and in 1482 he dethroned his father. The name of this prince became Boabdil with the Spaniards; and so he is called in Mr. Irving’s works. As soon as he came into power, his mother, and the Zegris who had assisted her, persuaded him to retaliate upon the Abencerrages for the support they had given to Zoraya. Under a deceitful plea, he gathered them together in this palace, where the Zegris were waiting for them. One by one they were called into one of these courts, and treacherously murdered. Thus was Granada deprived of itsbravest defenders; and the Moors were filled with indignation and contempt for their king. While they were quarrelling among themselves, Ferdinand and Isabella advanced upon Granada. They had captured all the towns and strong fortresses; and there was nothing more to stay their progress. For nine months the sovereigns besieged the city before it fell. It was a sad day for the Moors when the victors marched into the town. There is a great deal of poetry and romance connected with this palace and the Moslems who were driven out of it. You should read Mr. Lockhart’s translation of the poems on these subjects, and the works of Prescott and Irving.”When the professor had completed his account, the doctor’s party passed in to the right, entering one of the apartments which surround the court on three of its sides.“That’s as mean a lot of lions as I ever saw,” said Murray, who had lingered at the fountain which gives its name to the court.“The sculpture of the lions is certainly very poor; but we can’t have every thing,” replied the doctor. “This is the Hall of the Abencerrages; and it gets its name from the story Mr. Mapps has just told you. Some say these nobles were slain in this room; and others, that they were beheaded near the fountain in the court, where the guides point out a dark spot as the stain of blood. You must closely examine the work in this little room if you wish to appreciate it.”They returned to the Court of the Lions, and, crossing it, entered the Hall of the Two Sisters. The studentsexpected to hear some romance told of these two ladies; but they proved to be two vast slabs in the floor. This room and that of the Abencerrages were probably the sleeping apartments of the monarch’s family; and several small chambers, used for baths and other purposes, are connected with them. On each side of them are raised platforms for the couches. At the farther end of the court is the council-hall of justice. It is long and narrow, seventy-five by sixteen feet; and is very elaborately ornamented.At the northern end of the Court of Myrtles, is the Hall of Ambassadors, which occupies the ground floor of the Tower of Comares. It is the largest apartment of the palace, seventy-five by thirty-seven feet. This was the throne-room, or hall of audience, of the monarchs. The doctor again insisted that his pupils should scrutinize the work; and he called their attention to the horseshoe arches and various other forms and shapes, to the curious niches and alcoves, to the delicate coloring in the ceilings and on the walls, and to the interlacing designs, in the portions of the palace they visited.They had now seen the principal apartments on the ground floor; and they ascended to the towers, the open galleries of which are a peculiarity in the construction of the edifice. They were shown the rooms occupied by Washington Irving when he “succeeded to Boabdil,” and became an inhabitant of the Alhambra; but the Alhambra is a thing to be seen, and not described. They visited the Royal Chapel, the fortress, and for two days they were busy as bees, though one day was enough to satisfy most of the students.On the third day of their sojourn at the Alhambra,the doctor’s party visited the Generalife. The name means “The Garden of the Architect,” who was probably an employee of the king; but the palace was purchased and used as a pleasure-house by one of the kings. The sword of Boabdil is shown here. The gardens, which are about all the visitor sees, are more quaint than beautiful. The walks are hedged in with box, and the cypress-trees are trimmed in square blocks, as in the gardens of Versailles. Passing through these, the visitor ascends a tower on a hill, which commands a magnificent view of Granada and the surrounding country.The abundance of water in and around the Alhambra attracts the attention of the tourist. The walks have a stream trickling down the hill on each side. It comes from the snow-crowned Sierra Nevadas; and, the warmer the weather, the faster do the ice and snow melt, and the greater is the flow of the water. In the Alhambra and in the Generalife these streams of water are to be met at almost every point.One day was given to the city of Granada, though the visitor cares but little for any thing but the Alhambra. Without mentioning what may be seen in the cathedral in detail, there is one sight there which is almost worth the pilgrimage to the city; and that is the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella. Dr. Winstock ordered a carriage for the purpose of taking his charge to the church.When the team appeared at the door of the hotel, the students were very much amused at its singular character; for it was a very handsome carriage, but it was drawn by mules. The harness was quite elaborateand elegant; yet to be drawn by these miserable mules seemed to some of the party to be almost a disgrace. But the doctor said that they had been highly honored, since they had been supplied with what was doubtless the finest turnout to be had. These mules were very large and handsome for their kind, and cost more money than the finest horses. After this explanation, they were satisfied to ride behind a pair of mules.There are plenty of pictures and sculptures in the cathedral; but the party hastened to the royal chapel built by order of the sovereigns, which became their burial-place. The mausoleum is magnificent beyond description. It consists of two alabaster sepulchres in the centre of the chapel, on one of which are the forms of Ferdinand and Isabella, and on the other those of Crazy Jane and Philip, the parents of Charles V. But the lion of the place, to the students, was the vault below the chapel, to which they were conducted, down a narrow staircase of stone, by the attendant. On a low dais in the middle of the tomb were two very ordinary coffins, not differing from those in use in New England, except that they were strapped with iron bands.“This one, marked ‘F,’ contains the remains of Ferdinand,” said the doctor, in a low tone. “The other has an ‘I’ upon it, and holds all that time has left of the mortal part of Isabella, whose patronage enabled Columbus to discover the New World.”“Is it possible that the remains of Ferdinand and Isabella are in those coffins?” exclaimed Sheridan.“There is not a doubt of the fact. Eight years ago the late queen of Spain visited Granada, and causedmass to be said for the souls of these sovereigns at the same altar used by them at the taking of the city. Some of the guides will tell you that these coffins were opened at this time, and the remains of the king and queen were found to be in an excellent state of preservation. I don’t know whether the statement is true or not.”“Here are two other coffins just like them,” said Murray, as he turned to a sort of shelf that extended across the sides of the vault.“They contain the remains of Crazy Jane and Philip her husband, both of whose effigies are introduced in the sculpture on the monuments in the chapel above,” replied the doctor. “The coffin of Philip is the very one that she carried about everywhere she went, and so often embraced in the transports of her grief. She is at rest now.”Deeply impressed by what they had seen in the vault, which made the distant past more real to the young men, they returned to the chapel above. In the sacristy they saw the sword of Ferdinand, a very plain weapon, and his sceptre; but more interesting were the crown of silver gilt worn by Isabella, her prayer-book, and the chasuble, or priest’s vestment, embroidered by her.The party next visited the Carthusian Monastery, just out of the city, which contains some exquisite marble-work and curious old frescos. On their return to the Alhambra, they gave some attention to the gypsies, who are a prominent feature of Granada, where they are colonized in greater numbers than at any other place in Spain, though they also abound in the vicinityof Seville. They live by themselves, on the side of a hill, outside of the city. The tourists crossed the Darro, which flows at the foot of the hill on which the Alhambra and Generalife stand. They found the gypsies lolling about in the sun, hardly disturbed by the advent of the visitors. They seem to lead a vagabond life at home as well as abroad. They were of an olive complexion, very dirty, and very indolent. Some of the young girls were pretty, but most of the women were as disagreeable as possible. The men work at various trades; but the reputation of all of them for honesty is bad. They do not live in houses, but in caverns in the rocks of which the hill is composed. They are not natural caverns, but are excavated for dwellings.The doctor led the party into one of them. It was lighted only by the door; but there was a hole in the top for the escape of the smoke. There was a bed in a corner, under which reposed three pigs, while a lot of hens were picking up crumbs thrown to them by a couple of half-naked children. It was the proper habitation of the pigs, rather than the human beings. The onslaughts of the beggars were so savage that the visitors were compelled to beat a hasty retreat. The women teased the surgeon to enter their grottos in order to get the fee.In the evening some British officers from “Gib,” as they always call the great fortress, had a gypsy dance at theSiete Suelos. The doctor and his pupils were invited to attend. There were two men dressed in full Spanish costume, and three girls, also in costume, one of whom was quite pretty. One of the men was the captain of the gypsies, and played the guitar with marvellousskill, an exhibition of which he gave the party. There was nothing graceful about the dancing: it was simply peculiar, with a curious jerking of the hips. At times the dancers indulged in a wild song. When the show was finished, the gypsy girls made an energetic demonstration on the audience for money, and must have collected a considerable sum from the officers, for they used all the arts of the coquette.Just at dark a small funeral procession passed the hotel. It was preceded by half a dozen men bearing great candles lighted. The coffin was borne on the shoulders of four more, and was highly ornamented. The funeral party were singing or chanting, but so irreverently that the whole affair seemed more like a frolic than a funeral.“That is a gay-looking coffin,” said Murray to Mariano Ramos, the best guide and courier in Spain, who had been in the employ of the principal since the squadron arrived at Malaga.“That is all for show,” laughed Mariano. “The men will bring it back with them.”“Don’t they bury the dead man in it?”“No: that would make it too expensive for poor folks. They tumble the dead into a rough box, or bury him without any thing.”The next morning the excursionists started for Cordova, and arrived late at night, going by the same route they had taken to Granada as far as Bobadilla.
GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA.
Whenthe academy fleet arrived at Malaga, the principal decided to follow the plan he had adopted at Barcelona, though on a smaller scale, and send the Josephines and Tritonias to Cadiz, while the Princes proceeded by rail to the same place, seeing Granada, Cordova, and Seville on the way. As soon as the transfer could be made, the steamer sailed with its company of tourists; and her regular crew were domiciled at the Hotel de la Alameda, in Malaga.
“Here we are again,” said Sheridan, as the party of the doctor came together again at the hotel.
“I feel more like looking at a cathedral than I did when we were sight-seeing in December,” added Murray.
“You have not many more cathedrals to see,” replied the doctor. “There is one here; but, as this is Saturday, we will visit it to-morrow. Suppose we take a walk on the Alameda, as this handsome square is called.”
It is a beautiful bit of a park, with a fountain at each end; but it was so haunted with beggars that the tourists could not enjoy it. It was fresh and green, and bright with the flowers of early spring.
“What an abomination these beggars are!” exclaimed Sheridan, as a pair of them, one with his eyes apparently eaten out with sores, leaning on the shoulder of another seemingly well enough, saluted them with the usual petition. “It makes me sick to look at them.”
Murray gave the speaker tworeales; but they would not go till the others had contributed. A little farther along they came to a blind man, who had stationed himself by a bridge, and held out his hand in silence.
“That man deserves to be encouraged for holding his tongue,” said the captain, as he dropped apesetainto the extended hand. “Most of them yell and tease so that one don’t feel like giving.”
The blind beggar called down the blessing of the Virgin upon the donor, in a gentle and devout tone. But he seemed to be an exception to all the other mendicants in Malaga. As the captain said, many of them were most disgusting sights; and they pointed out their ailments as though they were proud of them.
“This is a commercial city, and there is not much to see in it,” said the doctor, as they returned to the hotel. “Its history is but a repetition of that of nearly all the cities of Spain. It was a place of great trade in the time of the Moors: it is the fifth city of Spain, ranking next to Valencia. You saw the United States flag on quite a number of vessels in the port; and it has a large trade with our country. Wine, raisins, oranges, lemons, and grapes are the principal exports.”
The next day most of the students visited the cathedral, where they heard mass, which was attended by a battalion of soldiers, with a band which took part inthe service. Early on Monday morning the tourists started for Granada, taking the train at quarter past six o’clock. The ride was exceedingly interesting; for the country between Malaga and Cordova is very fertile, though a small portion of it is a region abounding in the wildest scenery. The first part of the journey was in the midst of orange-orchards and vineyards.
“What is that sort of an inclined plane?” asked Sheridan, pointing to a stone structure like one side of the roof of a small house. “I have noticed a great many of them here and near Alicante.”
“You observe that they all slope to the south,” replied the doctor. “They are used in drying raisins. This is a grape as well as an orange country. Raisins are dried grapes; and, when you eat your plum-pudding in the future, you will be likely to think of the country around Malaga, for the nicest of them come from here.”
“This is a wild country,” said Murray, after they had been nearly two hours on the train.
“We pass through the western end of the Sierra Nevada range. Notice this steep rock,” added the doctor, as they passed a lofty precipice. “It is ‘Lovers’ Rock.’”
“Of course it is,” laughed Murray; “and they jumped down that cliff; and there is not a precipice in the world that isn’t a lovers’ leap.”
“I think you are right. In this case it was a Spanish knight, and a Moorish maiden whose father didn’t like the match.”
The travellers left the train at Bobadilla, and proceeded by rail to Archidona. Between this place andLoxa the railroad was not then built; and the distance—about sixteen miles—had to be accomplished by diligence. Half a dozen of these lumbering vehicles were in readiness, with their miscellaneous teams of horses and mules all hitched on in long strings. This part of the journey was likely to be a lark to the students; and they piled into and upon the carriages with great good-nature. The doctor and his pupils secured seats on the outside.
“This is thecoupéin Spain, but it is thebanquettein Switzerland,” said he, when they were seated. “It is called the dickey in England.”
“But the box for three passengers, with windows in the front of the diligence, is always thecoupé,” added Sheridan.
“Not in Spain: that is called theberlinahere. The middle compartment, holding four or six, isel interior; andla rotundo, in the rear, like an omnibus, holds six. The last is used by the common people because it is the cheapest.”
“But this seat is not long enough for four,” protested Murray, when the conductor directed another officer to mount thecoupé”.
“Come up, commodore: I think we can make room for you,” added Sheridan.
“This is a long team,” said Commodore Cantwell, when they were seated,—“ten mules and horses.”
“I have travelled with sixteen,” added the doctor.
On a seat wide enough for two, under the windows of theberlina, the driver took his place. His reins were a couple of ropes reaching to the outside ends of the bits of the wheel-horses. He was more properlythe brakeman, since he had little to do with the team, except to yell at the animals. On the nigh horse or mule, as he happened to be, rode a young man who conducted the procession. He is called thedelantero. Thezagalis a fellow who runs at the side of the animals, and whips them up with a long stick. Themayoralis the conductor, who is sometimes the driver; but in this case he seemed to have the charge of all the diligences.
“Oja! oja!” (o-ha) yelled the driver. Thezagalbegan to hammer the brutes most unmercifully, and the team started at a lively pace.
“That’s too bad!” exclaimed Sheridan, when he saw thezagalpounding the mules over the backbone with his club, which was big enough to serve for a bean-pole.
“I agree with you, captain, but we can’t help ourselves,” added the doctor. “That villain will keep it up till we get to the end of our journey.”
Thedilijenciapassed out of the town, and went through a wild country with no signs of any inhabitants. The road was as bad as a road could be, and was nothing but a track beaten over the fields, passing over rocks and through gullies and pools of water. Carts, drawn by long strings of mules or donkeys, driven by a peasant with a gun over his shoulder, were occasionally met; but the road was very lonely. Half way to Loxa they came to a river, over which was a narrow bridge for pedestrians; but thedilijenciahad to ford the stream.
At this point the horses and mules were changed; and some of the students went over the bridge, andwalked till they were overtaken by the coaches. At three o’clock they drove into Loxa. The streets of the town are very steep and very narrow; and thezagalhad to crowd the team over to the opposite side, in order to get the vehicle around the corners. The students on the outside could have jumped into the windows of the houses on either side, and people on the ground often had to dodge into the doorways, to keep from being run over. From this place the party proceeded to Granada by railroad. Crossing a part of this city, which is a filthy hole, the party went to the Hotel Washington Irving, and the Hotel Siete Suelos, both of which are at the very gate of the Alhambra.
The doctor and his friends were quartered at the former hotel, which is a very good one, but more expensive than theSiete Sueloson the other side of the street. They are both in the gardens of the Alhambra, the avenues of which are studded with noble elms, the gift of the Duke of Wellington.
“And this is the Alhambra,” said Capt. Sheridan, as the trio came out for a walk, after dinner.
“What is the meaning of the name of that hotel?”
“Hotel de los Siete Suelos,—the hotel of the seven stories, or floors.”
“But it hasn’t more than four or five.”
“Haven’t you read Irving’s Alhambra? He mentions a tower with this name, in which was the gate where Boabdil left the Alhambra for the last time. It was walled up at the request of the Moor.”
The party walked about the gardens till it was dark. The next morning, before the ship’s company were ready, the doctor and the three highest officers entered the walled enclosure.
“This is the Tower of Justice,” said the doctor, as they paused at the entrance. “It is so called because the Moorish kings administered the law to the people here. You see the hand and the key carved over the door. If you ask the grandson of Mateo Ximenes, who is a guide here, what it means, he will tell you the Moors believed that, when this hand reached down and took the key, the Alhambra might be captured; but not till then. Then he will tell you that they were mistaken; and give glory to the Spaniards. The key was the Moslem symbol for wisdom and knowledge; and the hand, of the five great commandments of their religion.”
The party entered the tower, in which is an altar, and passed into the square of the cisterns. Charles V. began to build a huge palace on one side of it; but the fear of earthquakes induced him to desist. He destroyed a portion of the Moorish palace to make room for it. The visitors entered an office where they registered their names, paid a couple ofpesetas, and received a plan of the palace. The first names in the book are those of Washington Irving and his Russian companion.
“This is the Court of the Myrtles,” said the doctor, as they entered the first and largest court of the palace. “It is also called ‘the Court of Blessing,’ because the Moors believed water was a blessing; and this pond contains a good deal of it.”
“My guide-book does not call it by either of these names,” said Commodore Cantwell, who had Harper’s Guide in his hand. “It says here it is ‘thePatio de la Alberca,’ or fish-pond.”
“And so says Mr. Ford, who is the best authority on Spain. We must not try to reconcile the differences in guide-books. We had better call it after the myrtles that surround the tank, and let it go at that. This court is the largest of the palace, though it is only one hundred and forty by seventy-five feet. But the Alhambra is noted for its beauty, and not for its size. We will now pass into the Court of the Lions,” continued the doctor, leading the way. “This is the most celebrated, as it is the most beautiful, part of the palace.”
“I have seen many pictures of it, but I supposed it was ten times as large as it is,” said Sheridan.
“It is about one hundred and twenty by seventy feet. There are one hundred and twenty-four columns around the court. Now we must stop and look at the wonderful architecture and exquisite workmanship. Look at these graceful arches, and examine that sort of lace-work in the ceilings and walls.”
While they were thus occupied, the ship’s company came into the court, and the principal called them together to hear Professor Mapps on the history of the Alhambra.
“In 1238 Ibnu-I-Ahamar founded the kingdom of Granada, and he built the Alhambra for his palace and fortress. In Arabic it wasKasr-Alhamra, or Red Castle; and from this comes the present name. The Vermilion Tower was a part of the original fortress. Under this monarch, whose title was Mohammed I., Granada became very prosperous and powerful. When the Christians captured Valencia, the Moors fled to Granada, and fifty thousand were added to the populationof the kingdom; and it is estimated that a million more came when Seville and Cordova were conquered by the Castilians. The work of this king was continued by his successors; and the Alhambra was finished in 1333 by Yosuf I. He built the Gate of Judgment, Justice, or Law, as it is variously called, and the principal parts of the palace around you. The city was in its glory then, and is said to have had half a million inhabitants. But family quarrels came into the house of the monarch, here in the Alhambra; and this was the beginning of the decline of the Moorish power.
“Abul-Hassan had two wives. One of them was Ayesha; and the other was a very beautiful Christian lady called Zoraya, or the Morning Star. Ayesha was exceedingly jealous of the other; and fearing that the son of the Morning Star, instead of her own, might succeed to the crown, she organized a powerful faction. On Zoraya’s side were the Beni-Serraj, whom the Spaniards called the Abencerrages. They were the descendants of a vizier of the King of Cordova,—Abou-Serraj. Abou-Abdallah was the eldest son of Ayesha; and in 1482 he dethroned his father. The name of this prince became Boabdil with the Spaniards; and so he is called in Mr. Irving’s works. As soon as he came into power, his mother, and the Zegris who had assisted her, persuaded him to retaliate upon the Abencerrages for the support they had given to Zoraya. Under a deceitful plea, he gathered them together in this palace, where the Zegris were waiting for them. One by one they were called into one of these courts, and treacherously murdered. Thus was Granada deprived of itsbravest defenders; and the Moors were filled with indignation and contempt for their king. While they were quarrelling among themselves, Ferdinand and Isabella advanced upon Granada. They had captured all the towns and strong fortresses; and there was nothing more to stay their progress. For nine months the sovereigns besieged the city before it fell. It was a sad day for the Moors when the victors marched into the town. There is a great deal of poetry and romance connected with this palace and the Moslems who were driven out of it. You should read Mr. Lockhart’s translation of the poems on these subjects, and the works of Prescott and Irving.”
When the professor had completed his account, the doctor’s party passed in to the right, entering one of the apartments which surround the court on three of its sides.
“That’s as mean a lot of lions as I ever saw,” said Murray, who had lingered at the fountain which gives its name to the court.
“The sculpture of the lions is certainly very poor; but we can’t have every thing,” replied the doctor. “This is the Hall of the Abencerrages; and it gets its name from the story Mr. Mapps has just told you. Some say these nobles were slain in this room; and others, that they were beheaded near the fountain in the court, where the guides point out a dark spot as the stain of blood. You must closely examine the work in this little room if you wish to appreciate it.”
They returned to the Court of the Lions, and, crossing it, entered the Hall of the Two Sisters. The studentsexpected to hear some romance told of these two ladies; but they proved to be two vast slabs in the floor. This room and that of the Abencerrages were probably the sleeping apartments of the monarch’s family; and several small chambers, used for baths and other purposes, are connected with them. On each side of them are raised platforms for the couches. At the farther end of the court is the council-hall of justice. It is long and narrow, seventy-five by sixteen feet; and is very elaborately ornamented.
At the northern end of the Court of Myrtles, is the Hall of Ambassadors, which occupies the ground floor of the Tower of Comares. It is the largest apartment of the palace, seventy-five by thirty-seven feet. This was the throne-room, or hall of audience, of the monarchs. The doctor again insisted that his pupils should scrutinize the work; and he called their attention to the horseshoe arches and various other forms and shapes, to the curious niches and alcoves, to the delicate coloring in the ceilings and on the walls, and to the interlacing designs, in the portions of the palace they visited.
They had now seen the principal apartments on the ground floor; and they ascended to the towers, the open galleries of which are a peculiarity in the construction of the edifice. They were shown the rooms occupied by Washington Irving when he “succeeded to Boabdil,” and became an inhabitant of the Alhambra; but the Alhambra is a thing to be seen, and not described. They visited the Royal Chapel, the fortress, and for two days they were busy as bees, though one day was enough to satisfy most of the students.
On the third day of their sojourn at the Alhambra,the doctor’s party visited the Generalife. The name means “The Garden of the Architect,” who was probably an employee of the king; but the palace was purchased and used as a pleasure-house by one of the kings. The sword of Boabdil is shown here. The gardens, which are about all the visitor sees, are more quaint than beautiful. The walks are hedged in with box, and the cypress-trees are trimmed in square blocks, as in the gardens of Versailles. Passing through these, the visitor ascends a tower on a hill, which commands a magnificent view of Granada and the surrounding country.
The abundance of water in and around the Alhambra attracts the attention of the tourist. The walks have a stream trickling down the hill on each side. It comes from the snow-crowned Sierra Nevadas; and, the warmer the weather, the faster do the ice and snow melt, and the greater is the flow of the water. In the Alhambra and in the Generalife these streams of water are to be met at almost every point.
One day was given to the city of Granada, though the visitor cares but little for any thing but the Alhambra. Without mentioning what may be seen in the cathedral in detail, there is one sight there which is almost worth the pilgrimage to the city; and that is the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella. Dr. Winstock ordered a carriage for the purpose of taking his charge to the church.
When the team appeared at the door of the hotel, the students were very much amused at its singular character; for it was a very handsome carriage, but it was drawn by mules. The harness was quite elaborateand elegant; yet to be drawn by these miserable mules seemed to some of the party to be almost a disgrace. But the doctor said that they had been highly honored, since they had been supplied with what was doubtless the finest turnout to be had. These mules were very large and handsome for their kind, and cost more money than the finest horses. After this explanation, they were satisfied to ride behind a pair of mules.
There are plenty of pictures and sculptures in the cathedral; but the party hastened to the royal chapel built by order of the sovereigns, which became their burial-place. The mausoleum is magnificent beyond description. It consists of two alabaster sepulchres in the centre of the chapel, on one of which are the forms of Ferdinand and Isabella, and on the other those of Crazy Jane and Philip, the parents of Charles V. But the lion of the place, to the students, was the vault below the chapel, to which they were conducted, down a narrow staircase of stone, by the attendant. On a low dais in the middle of the tomb were two very ordinary coffins, not differing from those in use in New England, except that they were strapped with iron bands.
“This one, marked ‘F,’ contains the remains of Ferdinand,” said the doctor, in a low tone. “The other has an ‘I’ upon it, and holds all that time has left of the mortal part of Isabella, whose patronage enabled Columbus to discover the New World.”
“Is it possible that the remains of Ferdinand and Isabella are in those coffins?” exclaimed Sheridan.
“There is not a doubt of the fact. Eight years ago the late queen of Spain visited Granada, and causedmass to be said for the souls of these sovereigns at the same altar used by them at the taking of the city. Some of the guides will tell you that these coffins were opened at this time, and the remains of the king and queen were found to be in an excellent state of preservation. I don’t know whether the statement is true or not.”
“Here are two other coffins just like them,” said Murray, as he turned to a sort of shelf that extended across the sides of the vault.
“They contain the remains of Crazy Jane and Philip her husband, both of whose effigies are introduced in the sculpture on the monuments in the chapel above,” replied the doctor. “The coffin of Philip is the very one that she carried about everywhere she went, and so often embraced in the transports of her grief. She is at rest now.”
Deeply impressed by what they had seen in the vault, which made the distant past more real to the young men, they returned to the chapel above. In the sacristy they saw the sword of Ferdinand, a very plain weapon, and his sceptre; but more interesting were the crown of silver gilt worn by Isabella, her prayer-book, and the chasuble, or priest’s vestment, embroidered by her.
The party next visited the Carthusian Monastery, just out of the city, which contains some exquisite marble-work and curious old frescos. On their return to the Alhambra, they gave some attention to the gypsies, who are a prominent feature of Granada, where they are colonized in greater numbers than at any other place in Spain, though they also abound in the vicinityof Seville. They live by themselves, on the side of a hill, outside of the city. The tourists crossed the Darro, which flows at the foot of the hill on which the Alhambra and Generalife stand. They found the gypsies lolling about in the sun, hardly disturbed by the advent of the visitors. They seem to lead a vagabond life at home as well as abroad. They were of an olive complexion, very dirty, and very indolent. Some of the young girls were pretty, but most of the women were as disagreeable as possible. The men work at various trades; but the reputation of all of them for honesty is bad. They do not live in houses, but in caverns in the rocks of which the hill is composed. They are not natural caverns, but are excavated for dwellings.
The doctor led the party into one of them. It was lighted only by the door; but there was a hole in the top for the escape of the smoke. There was a bed in a corner, under which reposed three pigs, while a lot of hens were picking up crumbs thrown to them by a couple of half-naked children. It was the proper habitation of the pigs, rather than the human beings. The onslaughts of the beggars were so savage that the visitors were compelled to beat a hasty retreat. The women teased the surgeon to enter their grottos in order to get the fee.
In the evening some British officers from “Gib,” as they always call the great fortress, had a gypsy dance at theSiete Suelos. The doctor and his pupils were invited to attend. There were two men dressed in full Spanish costume, and three girls, also in costume, one of whom was quite pretty. One of the men was the captain of the gypsies, and played the guitar with marvellousskill, an exhibition of which he gave the party. There was nothing graceful about the dancing: it was simply peculiar, with a curious jerking of the hips. At times the dancers indulged in a wild song. When the show was finished, the gypsy girls made an energetic demonstration on the audience for money, and must have collected a considerable sum from the officers, for they used all the arts of the coquette.
Just at dark a small funeral procession passed the hotel. It was preceded by half a dozen men bearing great candles lighted. The coffin was borne on the shoulders of four more, and was highly ornamented. The funeral party were singing or chanting, but so irreverently that the whole affair seemed more like a frolic than a funeral.
“That is a gay-looking coffin,” said Murray to Mariano Ramos, the best guide and courier in Spain, who had been in the employ of the principal since the squadron arrived at Malaga.
“That is all for show,” laughed Mariano. “The men will bring it back with them.”
“Don’t they bury the dead man in it?”
“No: that would make it too expensive for poor folks. They tumble the dead into a rough box, or bury him without any thing.”
The next morning the excursionists started for Cordova, and arrived late at night, going by the same route they had taken to Granada as far as Bobadilla.