nose, drawing my grandfather, by means of the
tight reins, well over the pummel. On these occa-
28 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD."
sions, the Major, feeling resistance to be in vain,
would sit looking easily about him, feigning to be
absorbed in admiration of the prospect — which was
all very well, where there was a prospect to look
at, but wore a less plausible appearance when the
animal paused in a hollow between two hedges, or
ran his nose into a barn-door. But whenever this
happened, Carlota, instead of half-smothering a
laugh, as a mischievous English girl would, ten to
one, have done, sat most patiently till the Major
and his steed came to an understanding, and would
greet him, as they moved on again, with a good-
natured smile, that won her, each time, a higher
place in his estimation.
Thus they proceeded till the sun rose Irigh in
the heavens, when, on reaching a grove on the
edge of one of the plains, they halted under a huge
cork-tree, near which ran a rivulet. The cavalcade
dismounted — the horses were tethered, the mules
disburthened of the saddle-bags, and the contents
displayed under the tree ; horse-cloths and cloaks
were spread around on the ground, and a fire of
dry sticks was lit on the edge of the stream with
such marvellous celerity that, before my grand-
father had time to take more than a hasty survey
of the eatables, after seating himself on the root of
a tree, a cup of steaming chocolate was placed in
his hand.
"Confess, Major," said Garry, speaking with his
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 29
mouth full of sausage, " that a man may lose some
of the pleasures of existence by leading the life of
a hermit. Don't you feel grateful to me for drag-
ging you out of your cobweb to such a pleasant
place as this?"
" Tis an excellent breakfast," said my grand-
father, who had just assisted the Senorita Carlota
to a slice of turkey's breast, and himself to an entire
leg and tliigh — dividing with her, at the same time,
a crisp white loaf, having a handle like a teapot or
smootliing-iron — " and my appetite is really very
good. I should be perfectly easy if I could only
understand the remarks of this very agreeable lady,
and make suitable replies."
"Let me interpret your sentiments," said Garry;
" and though I may not succeed in conveying them
in their original force and poetry, yet they shall
lose as little as possible in transmission. Just try
me — what would you wish to say?"
"Why, really," said my grandfather, pondering,
" I had a great many things to say as we came
along, but they've gone out of my head. Do you
tliink she ever read Shakespeare ?"
" Not a chance of it," said Owen.
Here the Senorita laughingly appealed to Frank
to know what my grandfather was saying about
her.
" Ah," quoth my grandfather, quoting his friend
Shakespeare —
30 TALES FROM "BLACKWOOD.
" ' I understand thy looks — the pretty Spanish
Which thou pourest down from these swelling heavens
I am not perfect in '
She's an extremely agreeable woman, Frank, I'll
be sworn, if one only understood her," quoth my
grandfather, casting on her a glance full of gal-
lantry.
The Ensign was not so entirely occupied in pro-
secuting his own love affair as to be insensible to
the facilities afforded him for amusing himself at
the Major's expense. Accordingly, he made a speech
in Spanish to Carlota, purporting to be a faithful
translation of my grandfather's, but teeming, in
fact, with the most romantic expressions of chival-
rous admiration, as was apparent from the frequent
recurrence of the words " ojos" (eyes), " corazon"
(heart), and the like amatory currency.
"There, Major," said the interpreter, as he fin-
ished ; " I've told her what you said of her."
The Major endorsed the compliments by laying
his hand upon his heart, and bowing with a tender
air. Whereupon Carlota, laughing, and blushing
a deeper red, made her acknowledgments.
" She says," quoth Frank, " that she knew the
English before to be a gallant nation ; but that if
all the caballeros (that's gentlemen) of that favour-
ed race are equal to the present specimen, her
own countrymen must be thrown entirely into the
shade."
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 31
"Delightful!" cried my grandfather; but it is
doubtful whether this expression of pleasure was
called forth by the sentiments attributed to the
Senorita, or by the crisp succulent tenderness of a
mouthful of sucking-pig which was at that moment
spreading itself over his palate.
Following up his idea, the mischievous Ensign
continued to diversify the graver pursuit of pro-
secuting his own suit with Juana, by impressing
Carlota and the Major with the idea that each was
disposed to think favourably of the other. In this
he was tolerably successful — the speeches he made
to Carlota, supposed to originate with my grand-
father, had a very genuine warmth about them,
being, in fact, very often identical with those he
had just been making, under immediate inspiration,
to his own divinity ; while as for the Major, it would
have been an insult to the simplicity of that worthy
man's nature to exert any great ingenuity in de-
ceiving him ; it would have been like setting a
trap for a snail. So they journeyed on, highly
pleased with each other, and occasionally, in the
absence of their faithful interpreter, conversed by
means of smiles and courteous gesticulations, till
my grandfather felt entirely at his ease, and was
almost sorry when, on the evening of the second
day, they got to Cadiz.
32 TALES FROM "BLACKWOOD."
CHAPTER III.
A whole city full of people condensed into one
broad amphitheatre, all bearing a national resem-
blance to each other in countenance and costume,
all apparently animated by the same spirit — for
nothing could be more unanimous than the applause
which greeted a favourite smilingly crossing the
arena, the abuse which overwhelmed an object
offensive to the eye of the many-headed, or the
ridicule which descended in a joyous uproarious
flood on the hapless individual in whose appear-
ance, dress, or manner, anything was detected cal-
culated to appeal to the highly sensitive risible
faculty of a Spanish assembly ; — a gay and pictur-
esque mixture of colours, waving and tossing like
a garden in a breeze, as the masses of white man-
tillas, heads black as coal, decorated with flowers
and green leaves, red sashes, tufted sombreros, and
yellow gaiters, with here and there a blue-and-
white soldier standing stiffly up, were agitated by
each new emotion — such was the scene that met
the eyes of our travellers on entering the bull-ring
at Cadiz before the sport commenced.
My grandfather had made his entry in spectacles
— appendages highly provocative of the public
mirth — and had looked wonderingly for a minute
or two through the obnoxious glasses on a sea of
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 33
faces upturned, sideturned, and downturned, all
looking at hiin, and all shouting some indistin-
guishable chorus ; while the men beat time, each
with the long, forked, painted stick, without which
no Spaniard possessing sentiments of propriety ever
comes to a bull-fight, in a manner most embarrassing
to a somewhat bashful stranger, till their attention
was luckily diverted to an unhappy man in a white
hat, in derision of whom they immediately sang a
song, the burden of which was " El del sombrero
bianco," (he of the white hat), the multitude con-
ducting itself throughout like one man.
My grandfather and his friends occupied a dis-
tinguished position in a box high above the mul-
titude, and near that of the alcalde. The SeSorita
Juana looked more lovely than ever in a white dress,
over which flowed a white gauzy mantilla, giving a
kind of misty indistinctness to the wavy outlines of
her figure, and the warm tint of her neck and arms.
From her masses of black hair peeped one spot of
vivid white, a rosebud ; and a green plumy leaf,
a favourite ornament with Spanish girls, drooped,
bending, and soft as a feather, on one side of her
gold-and-tortoiseshell comb. The Major sat be-
side Carlota, who, naturally frank, and looking
upon him now as an old acquaintance, would tap
his arm most bewitchingly with her fan when she
wanted to direct his attention to any object cf in-
terest. So the Major sat by her, all gallantry and
Q
34 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD."
smiles, gazing about liim with wonder through the
double gold eyeglass, which still, in spite of the
late expression of popular feeling, bestrid his nose.
He looked with the interest of a child at every-
thing — at the faces and dresses around him, distinct
in their proximity, and at those, confused in their
details by distance, on the opposite side of the arena.
He shared in the distress of an unfortunate person (a
contractor for bulls, who had palmed some bad ones on
the public) who tried, as he walked conspicuously
across the ring, to smile off a torrent of popular exe-
cration about as successfully as a lady might attempt
to ward off Niagara with her parasol, and who was, as
it were, washed out at an opposite door, drenched
and sodden with jeers. And when the folding-gates
were opened, and the gay procession entered, my
grandfather gazed on it with delight, and shouted
" Bravo ! " as enthusiastically as if he had been an
habitual frequenter of bull-rings from his earliest
youth. First came the espadas or matadores, their
hair clubbed behind like a woman's, dressed in
bright-coloured jackets, and breeches seamed with
broad silver lace, white stockings, shoes fastened
with immense rosettes, and having their waists girt
with silk sashes, bearing on their arms the blood-
coloured cloaks that were to lure the bull upon the
sword-point. Next followed the chulos, similarly
attired ; then the picadores, riding stiffly, with
padded legs, on their doomed steeds ; and mules,
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 35
whose office it was to drag off the dead bulls and
horses, harnessed three abreast as in classic chariots,
and almost hidden under a mass of gay housings,
closed the procession. Marching across the middle
of the ring to the alcalde's box, they requested per-
mission to begin, and, it being granted, the pica-
dores stationed themselves at equal distances from
each other round the circumference of the arena.
Then, at a signal from the alcalde, two trumpeters
in scarlet, behind him, stood up and sounded — a
man, standing with his hand ready on a bolt in a
door underneath, drew it, and pulled the door swiftly
back, shutting himself into a niche, as the dark
space thus opened was filled by the formidable
figure of a bull, who, with glancing horns and tail
erect, bounded out, and, looking around during one
fierce brief pause, made straight at the first picador.
The cavalier, standing straight in his stirrups, his
lance tucked firmly under his arm, fixed the point
fairly in the shoulder of the brute, who, never paus-
ing for that, straightway upset man and horse.
Then my grandfather might be seen stretching far
over the front of his box, his eyes staring on the
prostrate picador, and his hands clenched above his
head, while he shouted, " By the Lord, sir, he'll be
killed ! " And when a chulo, darting alongside,
waved his cloak before the bull's eyes and lured
him away, the Major, drawing a long breath, turned
to a calm Spaniard beside him, and said, " By
36 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD."
heaven, sir, 'twas the mercy of Providence ! " — but
the Spaniard, taking his cigar from his mouth, and
expelling the smoke through his nostrils, merely
said, " Bien esta " ('tis very well.) Meanwhile, the
bull (who, like his predecessor in the china- shop,
seemed to have it all Ms own way) had run his
horn into the heart of a second horse, and the pica-
dor, perceiving from the shivering of the wounded
creature that the hurt was mortal, dismounted in
all haste, while the horse, giving one long, blunder-
ing stagger, fell over and died, and was imme-
diately stript of his accoutrements. This my grand-
father didn't Like at all ; but, seeing no kindred dis-
gust in the faces round him, he nerved himself,
considering that it was a soldier's business to look
on wounds and death. He even beheld, with toler-
able firmness, the spectacle of a horse dashing
blindfold and riderless, and mad with fear and pain,
against the barrier — rebounding whence to the
earth with a broken shoidder, it was forced again
on its three legs, and led stumbling from the ring.
But when he saw another horse raised to its feet,
and, all ript open as it was, spurred to a second
assault, the Major, who hadn't the heart himself to
hurt a fly, could stand it no longer, but, feeling
unwell, retired precipitately from the scene. On
reaching the door, he wrote over the same, with a
bit of chalk, part of the speech of Henry V., " the
royal imp of fame," to his soldiers at Agincourt : —
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 37
" Ho that hath not stomach for the fight,
Let him depart "
to the great astonishment of the two Spanish sen-
tries, who gazed on the words as if they contained
a magical spell.
Frank sat till it was over — "played out the play."
Not that he saw much of the fight, however ; he
had eyes and speech for nothing but Juana, and
was able to indulge his penchant without interrup-
tion, as the little Governor took great interest in
the fight, and the lover with the silver fishes was a
connoisseur in the sport, and laid bets on the num-
ber of horses that each particular bull would kill
with great accuracy. So the Ensign had it all his
own way, and, being by no means the sort of per-
son to throw away this or any other opportunity
with which fortune might favour him, got on quite
as well, probably, as you or I might have done in
his place.
Leaving Cadiz next morning, they resumed the
order of march they had adopted in coming — Don
Pablo riding, as before, in front with the knight of
the silver fishes, discussing with him the incidents
of the bull-ring. The old gentleman, though very
courteous when addressing the two Englishmen,
had but little to say to them — neither did he
trouble himself to talk much to the ladies ; and
when he did, a sharp expression would sometimes
slip out. convincing Owen that he was something
38 TALES FROM "BLACKWOOD."
of a domestic tyrant in private — a character by no
means inconsistent with the blandest demeanour in
public. The Ensign was at great pains to encourage
the Major to be graeiotis to Carlota. " Get a Httle
more tropical in your looks, Major," he would say ;
" these Spanish ladies are not accustomed to fri-
gid glances. She's desperately in love with you —
pity she can't express what she feels ; and she
mightn't like to trust an interpreter with her senti-
ments."
" Pooh, nonsense, boy," said the Major, colouring
with pleasure, " she doesn't care for an old fellow
like me."
" Doesn't she ? — see what her eyes say — that's
what I call ocular demonstration," quoth the En-
sign. " If you don't return it, you're a stock,
a stone." Then he would say something to Car-
lota, causing her eyes to sparkle, and canter on to
rejoin Jnana.
It was genial summer-time with Carlota — she
had passed the age of maiden diffidence, without
having attained that of soured and faded spinster-
hood. She had a sort of jovial confidence in her-
self, and an easy demeanour towards the male sex,
such as is seen in widows. These supposed ad-
vances of the Major were accordingly met by her
rather more than half-way. None but the Major
was permitted to assist her into the saddle, or to
receive her plump form descending from it. None
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 39
but the Major was beckoned to her rein when the
path was broken and perilous, or canght on his pro-
tecting arm the pressure of her outstretched hand,
when her steed stumbled over the loose pebbles.
None was repaid for a slight courtesy by so many
warm, confiding smiles as he. These, following
fast one on another, began to penetrate the rusty
casing of the Major's heart. On his own ground —
that is, in his own quarters — he could have given
•battle, successfully, to a score of such insidious
enemies : his books, his flowers, his pipe, his slip-
pers, and a hundred other Penates would have
encircled him ; but here, with all his strong palis-
ading of habit torn up and scattered, all his wonted
trains of ideas upset and routed by the novelty of
situation and scenery, he lay totally defenceless,
and open to attack. The circumstance of himself
and Carlota being ignorant of each other's language,
far from being an obstacle to their mutual good-
will, rather favoured its progress. In company
with an Englishwoman, in similar circumstances,
my grandfather would have considered himself
bound to entertain her with his conversation, and,
perhaps, have spoiled all by trying to make him-
self agreeable — it would have been a tax on the
patience of both : but being absolved from any
such duty in the present instance, he could with-
out awkwardness ride onward in full and silent
communion with his own thoughts, and enjoy the
40 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD."
pleasure of being smiled upon without being at any
pains to earn it.
His note-book, containing an account of the ex-
pedition, which I have seen — and whence, indeed,
1.1 ie greater part of this clironicle is gathered — ex-
hibit, at this period of the journey, sufficient proof
that the Major enjoyed this new state of being
extremely, and felt his intellect, his heart, and his
stomach all stimulated at once.
" Spain," says my grandfather, in a compendious-
descriptive sentence, " is a country of garlicky
odours, of dirty contentment, of overburthened
donkeys, and of excellent pork ; but a fine air in
the hills, and the country much sweeter than the
towns. The people don't seem to know what com-
fort is, or cleanhness, but are nevertheless very
contented in their ignorance. My saddle is bad, I
think, for I dismounted very sore to-day. The
Seiiorita mighty pleasant and gracious. I enter-
tain a great regard for her — no doubt a sensible
woman, as well as a handsome. A pig to-day at
breakfast, the best I have tasted in Spain."
The desultory style of the composition of these
notes prevents me from quoting largely from them.
Statistics, incidents of travel, philosophic reflec-
tions, and the state of his digestive organs, are all
chronicled indiscriminately. But, from the above
mixture of sentiments, it will be perceived that the
Major's admiration for Carlota was of a sober nature,
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 41
by no means ardent or Quixotic, and pretty much
on a par with his passion for pig.
This was far from being the case with Garry, who
became more and more enamoured every hour. The
Spanish lover continued to conduct hirnself as if he
had been married to Juana for twenty years, never
troubling himself to be particularly agreeable or
attentive, for which obliging conduct Garry felt
very grateful to him. The Major had been too long
accustomed to witness Owen's philanderings to see
anj^hing peculiar in the present case, till his atten-
tion was attracted by a little incident he accident-
ally witnessed. After the last halt they made before
reaching Tarifa, Garry was, as usual, at hand, to
assist Juana to her saddle. Her horse was fastened
in a thicket of oleanders, whose flowers and leaves
formed a screen such as Cupid himself might have
planted. Garry seized the charming opportunity
to offer to re-tie the ribbons of her hat, which was
very considerate ; for, to tie them herself, she would
have been obliged to take off her gloves, which would
have been a great trouble. Having done so, still
retaining his hold of the strings, he glanced quickly
around, and then drew her blooming face towards
his own till their lips met — for winch piece of im-
pudence he only suffered the slight penalty of a
gentle tap with her whip. My grandfather dis-
creetly and modestly withdrew his eyes, but he was
not the only observer. He of the silver fishes was
42 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD.
regarding them with a fixed look from among some
neighbouring trees, where he had tethered his horse.
Probably the Spaniard, with all his indifference,
thought this was carrying matters a little too far,
for, after conversing a moment with the Governor,
he took his place at Juana's side, and did not again
quit it till they arrived at Tarifa. Then both he
and the Governor took leave of our travellers with
a cold civility, defying all Garry's attempts to thaw
it, and seeming to forbid all prospect of a speedy
renewal of the acquaintance.
CHAPTER IV.
At the inn, that night, the Major betook himself
to rest early, that he might be ready to start for
Gibraltar betimes in the morning, for on the follow-
ing day their leave was to expire.
He had slept soundly for several hours, when he
was awoke by Owen, who entered with a candle in
his hand. The Major sat up in bed and rubbed
his eyes.
" Time's up, my boy, eh ? " said he, with a
cavernous yawn. " I should have liked another
hour of it, but it can't be helped," (preparing to
turn out).
" I didn't want to spoil your rest last night,"
said Owen, seating himself on the edge of the bed,
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 43
" so T said nothing about a mishap that has occurred.
That smuggling villain, Francisco, took advantage
of our absence to fetch a contraband cargo in the
boat from Gibraltar, and has been caught in at-
tempting to run it here."
" God bless me," said my grandfather, " who
would have thought it ! — and he such a capital
cook ! But what's to be done? where 's the boat?"
" The boat is, for the present, confiscated," said
Garry ; " but I daresay the Governor would let us
have it in the morning, on explaining, and would
perhaps release Francisco, with the loss of his cargo ;
but — but — in fact, Major, I don't want the Governor
to know anything about our departure."
My grandfather stared at him, awaiting further
explanation.
" Juana looked pale last night," said the Ensign
after a pause.
The Major did not dispute the fact, though he
could not, for the life of him, see what the state of
Juana's complexion had to do with the subject.
" She never liked that dingy Spanish lover of
hers," said the Ensign, "and her father intends she
shall marry him in a month. 'Twould make her
miserable for Life."
" Dear me," said my grandfather, " how do you
know that?"
" She told me so. You see," said Owen, shading
the candle with his hand, so that my grandfather
44 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD.
couldn't see his face, and speaking hurriedly, " I
didn't intend we should start alone — in fact —
that is — Juana has agreed to fly with me to Gib-
raltar."
" Agreed ! — fly ! " — gasped my grandsire : "what
an extraordinary young fellow ! "
" She's waiting for us now," resumed Garry,
gathering courage after the fiist plunge into the
subject ; "we ought to be off before daylight.
Oblige me, my dear sir" (smiling irresistibly), "by
getting up immediately."
"And how are we to get away," asked my grand-
father, " supposing this insane scheme of yours to
be attempted?"
" I've bribed the sentry at Francisco's place of
durance," returned the Ensign. "We shall get out
of the town the instant the gates are opened ; and
the boat is tied to the steps, as before, only under
the charge of a sentry whom we can easily evade.
Every guarda costa in the place was sent out last
night to blockade a noted smuggler who has taken
refuge in Tangier; so, once out, we are safe from
pursuit : I found it all out after you had gone to
bed."
The disposition of Major Flinders, as the reader
knows, was the reverse of enterprising — he wouldn't
have given a straw to be concerned in the finest
adventure that ever happened in romance. He
paused with one stocking on, inclined, like the Little
A LEGEND OF GIBRALTAR. 45
woman whose garments had been curtailed by the
licentious shears of the pedlar, to doubt his own
identity, and wondering if it could be really he,
John Flinders, to whom such a proposition was
broached, requiring. him to assist in invading the
peace of a family. As soon as he recovered his
powers of speech, of which astonishment had for a
moment deprived him, he began earnestly to dis-
suade the Ensign from the enterprise ; but Owen
knew his man too well, and had too much youthful
vivacity of will to allow much time for remon-
strance.
" Look you, Major," said he, " I'm positive I
can't live without Juana. I'll make a bold stroke
for a wife. The thing's settled — no going back