CHAPTER XIII.

BLAS EL GUERRILLERO.

A BANDIT'S STORY.

"_La murmuracion, como Hija natural del odio y de la enbidia, siempre anda procurando como manchar y escurecer las vidas y virtudes agenas. Y assi en la gente de condicion vil y baja, es la salsa de mayor apetito, sin quien alguna viando no tiene buen gusto, ni està sazonada._" "GUZMAN DE ALFARACHE."

The tale which occupies this and the succeeding chapters interested us, however unworthily, so deeply, that the following day--whilst its details, as well as the peculiar phrases of the narrator, were yet fresh in our memories--was chiefly devoted to transmitting them to our journals, in as regular order as the case would admit of. By a strange coincidence, however, (which will be noted in the course of my wanderings) an opportunity was some years afterwards afforded me of revising and correcting my MS. under the eye of the hero of the tale himself; who, besides adding many minor details that had escaped our recollection, explained various circumstances which had struck us as somewhat obscure and unaccountable.

I leave the tale, however, so far in its original state, as to make our acquaintance himself relate

THE ADVENTURES OF BLAS EL GUERRILLERO,

Who, having first carefully examined the outer apartment, which was used as a kind of granary, and then closed the door of that we occupied, thus commenced his story.

My name, _caballeros_, is Blas Maldonado; my present office, that of _Corregidor_[170] of the neighbouring town of ----.[171] The place of my birth was M----, a small _pueblo_[172] on the other side of the _Serranía de Ronda_, of which my father and mother were natives.

I believe, notwithstanding the somewhat Italian sound of my _appellido_,[173] that there is a tolerable proportion of the red blood of the Moors in my veins, and that my name is corrupted from the Arabic.

My parents were both of respectable, though humble, birth, and owned a small _pacienda_ in the vicinity of Utrera, which, from time immemorial, had been in possession of my mother's family. Devoid alike of pride, education, and ambition, they lived in monotonous contentment on the proceeds of their miserable farm, which I, as their only child who had reached maturity, was destined to inherit.

I was beloved by my parents, but especially by my mother, with the most unbounded affection; and from my earliest youth was accustomed to have every wish gratified, every whim indulged. As I advanced in years, I soon showed that I possessed a spirit which soared above the pruning of vines and gathering of olives; and my kind mother checked not this rising ambition; for, though unaspiring herself, she was anxious that her child should be distinguished above the common herd of mankind. My father, however, was desirous of bringing me up to the occupation of my forefathers; saying to my mother, that they themselves had always been happy in the state to which it had pleased their maker to call them;--a condition which, if humble, was one of independence, and placed them, in point of worldly wealth, above the most part of their associates; and that, if they consulted their child's welfare, they should not bring him up above his calling; for he would only thereby lose the friendship and esteem of his neighbours, without increasing their respect; and might, by idleness and pride, be led to his perdition here and hereafter.

These old-fashioned notions were fortunately overruled; though I must needs confess, that in the early part of my career, I often thought my father had been endowed with the gift of prophecy. My more tender-hearted parent declared, that I had a mind above the direction of a plough, even if my bodily frame had been strong enough to bear the fatigue of a life of labour; and closing her arguments with a flood of tears, she reminded my father of the children they had lost in early life, and begged that I, their last hope, might not also be sacrificed.

I was accordingly sent to Seville, to be educated for the church; that being the only profession my well-intentioned father would hear of my embracing. My fond mother paid me constant visits, to convince herself that my health was not suffering from too close an application to study; supplying me with money saved by her household economy, to enable me to purchase books, and whatever else I might stand in need of. Her fears were not perhaps so groundless as, judging from my present strength and health, you might imagine; for, following the natural bent of my inclination, a thirst for knowledge, I gave up the whole of my time to reading; despising the amusements of my schoolfellows, to whom I felt myself as superior in intellect, as they prided themselves on being in the accidental matter of birth.

I soon, however, wearied of the lives of the saints, and other good books placed in my hands; and leaving them for such as wished to learn how to merit canonization, I sought for more worldly knowledge in the pages of Guzman de Alfarache, Gil Blas, and other adventurers, who, like myself, had had their fortunes to seek; and, whilst I considered the last-named _hero_ a mere driveller, devoid of all honourable ambition, I adopted his code of morality, as the only one to be followed by one who has to push his way through the selfish crowd that throngs every avenue to wealth and power.

My parents, informed by those to whose care I was entrusted, that I was by no means likely to become an ornament to the church, were at length persuaded to allow me to make trial of the law. But though at the outset I applied very diligently to the dry study to which my mind was now directed, yet I soon found it suited my taste as little as that of divinity. Of the two, indeed, I think I preferred the lives of the Holy Fathers to the _Siete Partidas_ of _Alfonzo el Sabio_; for the former, at all events, contained ample matter for satire and ridicule, for which I had a natural turn; whereas the latter formed a mass of heavy reading, replete with incongruities, and clogged with technicalities, which ill-suited my peculiar humour.

During the latter years of my residence at Seville, however, my reading was altogether diverted into another channel. I became acquainted with a French youth, by name Louis Xavier le Bas, who, intended for the mercantile profession, had been sent to our commercial capital, where some of his mother's relatives were settled, for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of the Spanish language.

Though this person was several years my senior in age, a similarity of tastes soon warmed into the closest friendship an acquaintance that had been commenced merely with a view to our mutual advantage. I initiated him in all the mysteries of Spanish life, and he, in return, undertook _à me decrasser_, as he termed it, and render me fit to _jouer un rôle distingué_ on the theatre of the world. In short, we became inseparable; and our despised and despising fellow-students thence designated us Don Cleofas and Asmodeus.

This valuable friend, devil or not, was the means of my acquiring a tolerable knowledge of the French language, (which has proved of infinite service to me,) and of my understanding being enlarged by the writings of Voltaire, Diderot, Condorcet, and other enlightened materialists of his nation, whose depth of reasoning and witty satires were, at that period, effecting such beneficial changes in France; removing from the eyes of the _people_ the bandages of ignorance and bigotry that had so long blinded them to their state of slavery and debasement.

These works, though forbidden by the despot government of Spain, were surreptitiously obtained for me by my kind friend; and their perusal opened my eyes also to the deplorable state of degradation in which my own country was plunged. I accordingly became a philosopher, and, I may say, even a _liberal_, long before the term was heard or understood in this enslaved and priest-ridden land.

Our school companions, unable to comprehend the elevated principles by which we were governed, shunned us as plebeian democrats and blasphemous free thinkers. But we soon collected around us a set of more congenial spirits, and became the founders of a secret political association, that has since spread widely throughout the whole kingdom.

I had nearly completed the fifth year of my sojourn at Seville, when an unwelcome summons from my father bade me repair forthwith to M----. His letter briefly stated, that, concluding I must by this time have thoroughly digested the contents of _all_ the law books ever published in the universe--my father, as you may perceive, was very ignorant in such matters--he had embraced a most favourable opportunity that presented itself of establishing me in the world agreeably to my desire; and, accordingly, was about to place me, together with a handsome bonus, in the hands of Don Benito Quisquilla, the village attorney, to be by him initiated into all the practical quirks and chicaneries of the law; with the view, if I gave promise of becoming a useful co-operator in the work of litigation, of being eventually admitted to a share of his daily increasing profits.

This prospect of settling down as a country attorney was, as my friend and counsellor Le Bas said, quite insufferable to one of my intellectual powers, cultivated mind, and honourable ambition. If I had finally determined on following the profession of the law, he observed, the only fit field for one of my abilities was the capital. _There_, he had no doubt, I should soon rise to distinction; whereas, in a country town, my pursuit of fame would be as vain as that of partridges _en campo raso_.[174]

This opinion tallied exactly with my own; for, feeling myself as superior in mental endowments as in physical powers to the decrepit piece of nobility who owned the vast plains surrounding the miserable inheritance to which I was born, I saw no reason why I should be inferior to him in worldly wealth and consideration. With these and various other arguments, therefore, I replied to my father, urging him to break off with Don Benito, and furnish me with the means of accompanying my friend, Le Bas, to Madrid, where he was about to establish himself as a merchant. My father, however, would not listen to reason. He replied, that the Duke of Medina Celi was born a grandee of Spain, and I a peasant; and, with respect to a reflection I had cast upon the justice of Providence in distributing so unequally the good things of this world, he maintained that, though my life was doomed to be one of labour, yet it was as sweet, probably even sweeter, than that of him whose lot I seemed so much to envy.

Finding that it was _predicar en el desierto_[175] to argue with my father, and that my mother did not give me the support on which I had reckoned, I had no alternative but to acquiesce in the proposed plan, and wait for the favourable moment of relieving myself from the paternal yoke. I, therefore, took a most affectionate leave of Le Bas, who promised to summons me to the capital as soon as he had an opportunity of serving me, and, with a very bad grace, obeying my father's commands, proceeded to M----.

My parents were delighted with the improvements that had taken place in my health, person, and deportment, and not less proud of the superiority my education and accomplishments had given me over the companions of my childhood. I was now, my fond mother declared, entitled to _llamar de vos_[176] the first _hidalgo_ in the land; and, I believe, _Caballeros_, that, without vanity, I may say, my coming caused some little sensation in my natal town.

I was not long in discovering, however, that the place contained no fit associate for one of my stamp. Those few amongst the inhabitants whose professions had rendered some little education necessary, were, from morning to night, occupied at their respective vocations, and affected rather to treat me as a _parvenu_. The youths of my own age, on the other hand, were ignorant clowns, of whom I could not possibly make companions; and, with pain I make the admission, even on the authors of my being I could not now avoid looking down with some slight feeling of contempt. They were all kindness, however, and my father spared not the means of enabling me to continue the same expensive manner of life to which I had so long been accustomed.

Deprived as I now found myself of associates of my own sex--for I believe every boor in the place hated me most thoroughly--my time was exclusively devoted to the society of the other; and I need not, therefore, tell you--for most young men are aware of the expenses attendant on such intimacies--that my father's purse was drawn heavily upon to meet my increasing exigencies.

Meanwhile my legal studies were prosecuted with no great assiduity. Don Benito, who, whilst my father's money was fresh in his pocket, had, for the sake of appearances, treated me with affected kindness, soon threw off the mask of hypocrisy, and neglected no occasion of making me aware of the little interest he took in my welfare. The soft and speaking eyes of his fair daughter told me, however, that she entertained a kindlier feeling towards me; an avowal which was quickly followed by the admission that I was the sole possessor of her affections.

I must make the ungallant confession, _Caballeros_, that _expediency_ was the only incentive I had for encouraging the passion of the lovely girl. My life had been too dissolute to admit so pure an affection as her's readily to take root within my breast; but I saw in it the only sure stepping-stone to greatness--money; for Don Benito was a wealthy man, Alitéa his only daughter.

Whilst yet undecided as to the best means to be adopted for the accomplishment of my purpose (for it was a matter requiring some consideration, since I was perfectly aware the crafty old lawyer would never _consent_ to our union, my dissipated mode of living having involved me in pecuniary difficulties of which he could not well be ignorant), events occurred which, by opening other prospects to me, for a time drove Alitéa altogether out of my thoughts.

The trifling sum that my father's frugal habits had enabled him to lay by, had been entirely swallowed up in placing me with Don Benito; and to meet my increasing expenditure, which he fully believed was merely money put out to interest, he conceived that increased exertions on his part were necessary. Against this--since in replying to my mother's objections to my following the plough, he had ever maintained that agricultural pursuits were of all others the most healthy--I could have nothing to say. But these exertions soon proved too much for the old man's strength, and he contracted a painful disorder, from which, after a tedious confinement, it became a mercy to be relieved.

I mention these circumstances, _Caballeros_, not for the purpose of repelling the charge brought against me by my kind fellow-townsmen, of having wilfully accelerated my parent's death, a crime of which, God be praised, my conscience is quite clear, but to show the ill will they entertained towards me; a feeling to which, in the course of my story, I shall again have occasion to refer.

I had always expected, on the death of my father, to find myself in the possession of a comfortable independence, as he had ever represented to me that such would be the case.

But, during his protracted illness, every thing had gone wrong at the farm: the cattle died; those of our neighbours intruded upon our crops; the vines remained unpruned; the olives rotted upon the ground; the property, in fact, had become a perfect wilderness; and, to obtain money to defray the expenses of my parent's funeral, I was obliged to sell the implements of husbandry upon the farm; those being the only property which could be immediately rendered available.

Before proceeding to this extremity, however, I had applied to Don Benito for assistance. The pettifogging rascal in reply said, that he had every disposition in the world to befriend me, and, with that view, felt called upon to say, that the further study of a profession for which I had neither the requisite talent nor application, would be merely a waste of time and money; and to advise me to apply myself to the healthful occupation of my forefathers, for which, on the other hand, my bodily strength peculiarly fitted me. "On this condition only," he concluded, "can I render you assistance. Give me your promise to devote your best energies to this honest calling, and I am ready at once to return the sum advanced by your father, though not called upon to do so, either by law or equity."

I spurned his offer with the contemptuous indignation it merited, withdrew from all further intercourse with the miserly wretch, and, as I have already said, sold every thing that I could lay my hands upon.

Could I have acted otherwise? impossible! But the blow inflicted on my mother by this sudden destruction of her long-indulged hopes was too heavy for her to bear up against. Staggering already under her late loss, and now with the dread of penury and want added to her sufferings, she sank broken-hearted to the grave.

I can ill describe my feelings on the heart-rending occasion. I had loved my mother with the fondest affection; yet had it been my _fate_ to drug the cup that agonised her last moments! With pleasure would I have laid down my own life to prolong her's; yet had it been my unlucky destiny to inflict the blow that hurried her to the tomb! She nevertheless felt more for me than for herself, even in her last moments; and her dying breath was spent in calling down a blessing on my head. _Ya està en el cielo._[177]

To meet the fresh expenses my mother's illness and death had brought upon me, as well as to liquidate my former debts, I was now under the necessity of raising more money. I tried in vain to effect a mortgage on my property: nobody would advance a _maravedi_ upon it! To obtain a few paltry doubloons, therefore, I had no alternative left but to sell the patrimony handed down to me by a long line of ancestors. My _hacienda_ was accordingly put up to public auction; and--deteriorated in value as it was represented to be, by every one but the auctioneer--sold for something less than one third of its real value. The purchaser was Don Benito Quisquilla.

The proceeds of the sale, after paying the customary expenses, were barely sufficient to satisfy the various demands made upon me; and I was left a bankrupt in wealth as well as expectations; a being without a relative in the wide world to speak comfort to him; without a friend to advise him; without a home; without even the means of subsistence!

Was life any longer worth preserving? I weighed its value in the scales of experience--fleeting joys on the one side, rankling injuries on the other; and the preponderating weight of the latter had well nigh determined me to rid myself of the burthen of existence, when the sweetness of revenge, cast into the opposing balance, turned the scale, and decided me to live--to live to be revenged on _mankind_.

The purchaser of my property, or rather the swindler who had obtained possession of it, again outraged my wounded feelings by the repetition of his humiliating offer of assistance. Thus insulted and scorned by the specious villain whose robberies had rendered me a beggar, I swore to let fall on him the first stroke of my revenge. I kept my oath! I tore from his arms his daughter, his darling Alitéa--the solace of his widowed hearth--the prop of his declining years. She fled from the paternal roof, and became my--mistress!

Ignorant of all that had passed between her father and myself, and but too ready to lend a favouring ear to my tale, few persuasions were necessary to induce Alitéa to comply with my proposal. I assured her that I had sounded Don Benito on the subject of a marriage, and that he objected only on account of the disparity of years: she who was then entering her twenty-third year, being two years older than myself. But as this objection, trifling as it could not but be considered, was nevertheless one which would always exist, I convinced her that it could only be overcome by the step I proposed, a step which would readily be forgiven by an indulgent father. She trusted to my honour and her father's kindness, and became my victim.

We fled to the mountains, and sought a refuge amongst the lawless bandits of Olbera, a place proverbial for sheltering the outcasts of society. There we remained for several months, subsisting on the few _onzas_ that remained in my purse from the sale of my patrimony, and by disposing of various trinkets that Alitéa had brought away with her. But our funds were soon exhausted, and it became necessary to take some steps to procure the means of maintenance.

On matters reaching this stage, it had originally been my intention to abandon Don Benito's daughter to her fate, and seek my fortune in America; for, as I have already said, Alitéa had awakened no feeling of love within my breast, and the idea of making her my wife, though entertained previous to my rupture with her father, had never once entered my thoughts on taking her from the paternal roof. Revenge alone had instigated me to an act, by which I purposed bringing everlasting disgrace on Don Benito, and his vaunted high connexions.

But, besides that Alitéa possessed great personal attractions, and had given proof of loving me with the most boundless affection, which naturally disposed my feelings to warm towards her, she, even now, on discovering the deceit I had practised; that I was a libertine; a beggar; nay, even when I told her she was the mere instrument of my revenge, did not reproach me with one bitter word.--"Blas, Blas, I trust to your honour," was the only appeal made to her seducer's feelings.

Was it in human nature to spurn so confiding, so affectionate a being? For my _punishment_ (so a confessor would, probably, have told me) it was ordained, that the cold admiration with which I first regarded Alitéa should gradually warm into the most fervent, the most ardent love, to make me feel more poignantly the wrong I had done, the misery I had brought on this admirable being!

Bitterly as I upbraided _fate_, and curst the author of my misfortunes, more bitter still were my self-reproaches at having exposed the object of my adoration to the hardships and privations we were doomed to suffer; for we were now obliged to labour from daylight to dark to earn a miserable pittance, barely sufficient to procure the necessaries of life, and to be satisfied with the humblest lodging, the coarsest garments, and the poorest food.

At length, urged by my love for Alitéa, and yet more by the prospect of a family, I determined on opening a communication with Don Benito, which I did by proposing to marry his daughter, and thus save the blighted honour of her family. This proposal was, of course, coupled with a stipulation--for it was now my turn to dictate terms--that a handsome settlement should be made upon us.

The medium I selected for carrying on this delicate negociation was one of the villagers, a smuggler, with whom I had become intimate, and whose avocation afforded the opportunity of communicating with Don Benito, without furnishing a clue, by which our place of concealment could be discovered. On the fidelity of my friend--having exacted a promise of the most inviolable secrecy--I thought the fullest reliance might be placed; but "honour and profit will not both keep in one sack," as the saying is. The scoundrel had not enough virtue to resist a bribe of a few dollars, and he acquainted Don Benito with every thing concerning us.

This abominable piece of treachery, whilst it served to increase the hatred I bore mankind, had a considerable influence in stamping my future character, for I became habitually wary and distrustful. But, to resume my narrative, on returning one evening from my daily work, I found Don Benito at my Alitéa's bed-side, and that she had prematurely given birth to a male child--an _illegitimate_ child.

I pass over the scene of mutual recrimination that ensued. What might have happened, but for the precarious state in which Alitéa was lying, I know not. Enraged beyond measure at the circumstance, which, for the moment, had caused the failure of his project to recover his daughter, Don Benito took his departure, calling down upon me every possible malediction, and declaring to the village authorities his firm resolve to return without loss of time, armed with power to lodge me in a gaol, and place his daughter in a convent; but I baulked his purpose, by making Alitéa my wife that very night. Her father had dropped his purse upon the floor, and I scrupled not to employ its contents in so legitimate a purpose.

I soon found an obsequious priest, ready to do my bidding. They are not over-scrupulous in religious matters at Olbera, neither are the laws very rigidly enforced there[178]; so that on my _father-in-law's_ return, a few days after, with the _justicia_, I set him at defiance.

I had, some time previously, made up my mind to perform this tardy act of justice to my Alitéa, but had delayed it with the view of exacting favourable terms from her father, who, I thought, as our Spanish saying has it, would rather see _La hija mal casada que bien abarraganada_.[179] Having failed in this, it became necessary to marry her for my own sake; since, though Don Benito might still send me to prison, I could now insist on my _wife_ accompanying me.

He was outrageous on finding that his revengeful intention was thwarted; but, seeing that menaces had no effect upon me, changed his tone, and proposed that I should resign his daughter for a sum of money. This I resolutely declined, whilst Alitéa, on her knees, implored his forgiveness. How the monster could refuse I know not; but he did, and they parted, to meet no more.

A few days after this scene, a letter was delivered to Alitéa from her unnatural parent. In it, after declaring that he would no longer hold communion with the villain who had brought misery on her, and disgrace on the name she bore, and who, but on her account, he would pursue with the utmost vengeance of the outraged laws of our country, he proceeded to state, that still prompted by the recollection of the unbounded affection he had borne her mother, he had determined to make an allowance sufficient for our bare support, and that a certain sum would, for that purpose, be lodged periodically in the hands of the superior of the convent of _San Pablo de la Breña_, in our vicinity; where he charged her, if the religious precepts he had implanted in her breast were not entirely eradicated, to make the frequent confessions necessary for the salvation of her soul. The money indeed, he added, was to be paid only on these conditions, and into her own hands, and so long as he was assured that she experienced proper treatment from me. Convinced, however, he pursued, that I was actuated solely by the vilest of motives, and not influenced by any regard for _her_ in refusing to give her up, he once more repeated the offer made at our last interview; or even offered to settle on me alone the sum he purposed to allow us jointly, if I would formally resign his daughter, and allow the marriage to be annulled. In conclusion, he informed her, that though his door would ever be open to admit a repentant daughter, it was closed for ever against that daughter's seducer, and the offspring of our criminality.

My wife perused the letter, and, with a steady countenance, but brimful eye, placed it in my hands. "Well, Alitéa," said I, "will you return to your father and luxury, or remain to share the poverty of your husband? I pledge you my word it shall be as you may choose--decide."--"I have already decided," she replied: "I remain."

I sent a scornful reply to Don Benito's letter, returning, with usurious interest, the opprobrious terms he had lavished upon me. "Villain," indeed, from him who was the source of all my misfortunes!--Nevertheless, he was as good as his word; the allowance was regularly paid into the hands of Alitéa; and, added to the profits arising from the cultivation of a vineyard, it enabled us, without much labour, to live in comfort, if not luxury.

But short, alas! was this period of happiness; the cup of life appeared only to have been sweetened for a brief space, to render more bitter the long draught of misery that was in reserve for me. My Alitéa had never entirely recovered from the effects of the shock occasioned by her father's sudden visit; and, as if fate took pleasure in mocking our tardy marriage, the illegitimate Fernando was doomed to be the only issue that proceeded from it. Suffice it to say, my wife fell at length a victim to her father's rash act, and I was once more alone in the world, and a beggar.

Even now, _Caballeros_, though two-and-thirty years have elapsed since my Alitéa was torn from me, I cannot speak of her loss with composure. Judge then of my frantic rage at the time. In my ungovernable frenzy, I rushed into the open air, to upbraid the Almighty Being who had given me existence; I invoked his utmost wrath, I defied his utmost power, but in vain! I was fated to live on, to endure yet greater wretchedness. Fool that I was, to repine at what was written in the book of _Fate_!

I returned to the house of death, to obtain the means of ridding myself of an existence that I abhorred. I was about to snatch my knife from its sheath to execute my purpose, when, casting my eyes yet once more on my adored Alitéa, I saw my child, my helpless Fernando, extended in violent convulsions at her side. A sense of the duty I owed the dear pledge of my Alitéa's love checked my upraised arm. I determined to live for that boy--that boy thenceforth became my all.

The allowance made by Don Benito was immediately stopped on the death of his daughter, without his condescending even to inquire after her child. It became necessary, therefore, to adopt some course of life better suited to me than that of a field labourer, to earn wherewith to support us; and I accordingly joined a band of Contrabandistas, and, in the lawless life I thenceforth led, found an occupation well suited to my adventurous, and now reckless disposition.

During several years that I devoted to this precarious profession, I made frequent visits to Cadiz, where my knowledge of the French language threw me in constant communication with the various merchants of that nation, who were, at that period, established there. Amongst these, to my inexpressible delight, I discovered my old friend Le Bas--though now glorying in the virtuous republican appellation of Publius Manlius Niveleur. Our intimacy was, of course, renewed, and, as he had the means of throwing a great deal of business into my hands, I soon drove a thriving trade. Through him, also, I became _au fait_ as to the state of affairs in France, and, consequently, aware of the great benefits that had accrued to the people by the change from a Despotic to a Republican government; and of other events, which our rulers took every possible pains to prevent reaching the ears of the Spanish people.

I am speaking now of as distant an epoch as the year 1796, when France, having emancipated herself from the thraldom of a tyrannical king, a vicious nobility, and a corrupt priesthood, was basking in the sunshine of liberty;--when each had his rights, and was equal to his neighbour. Need I say, _Caballeros_, that I longed for the day to arrive when my own country should be relieved from the ravages of similar birds of prey and devouring locusts?

My early hatred of our abominated tyrants and oppressors had been fostered by numerous persecutions; for, since entering on my new vocation--a vocation made necessary for the _people_, by the infamous monopolies enjoyed by those termed _noble_--I had been twice imprisoned, and no less than three times afterwards relieved from that punishment solely by dint of bribery. Once, also, I had been subjected to a heavy fine for barking trees in a forest, belonging to a worthy brotherhood of _Capuchinos Descalzos_;--a swarm of lazy drones, who, gaining an easy livelihood by begging impudently from door to door, could ill brook seeing others turn that to account, which, if not neglected by themselves, would render their alms-seeking unnecessary.

However, I had now an excellent business, and money, I calculated, would bring me out of all further difficulties; for, by this time, I had acquired a knowledge of its value in obtaining immunity for all sorts of crimes. In an unlucky hour, however, I was detected shooting deer in a forest belonging to the _Conde de Aguila_; and one of the keepers, who owed me a grudge, refused the proffered bribe. The Count himself proved beyond my price, though I made him a handsome offer; and, affecting great indignation at this attempt to corrupt the pure course of justice, he prosecuted me most vindictively. The consequence was, I was found guilty, and sentenced to ten years' transportation to Ceuta, with chains and hard labour.

Who will deny that these things called for a change in the institutions of my country? Was the luxury of tobacco to be placed beyond the reach of the peasant, whilst the noble _con pierna tendida_[180] spent his whole life involved in a cloud of smoke? Was the industrious husbandman to be contented with rags and tatters, whilst lazy priests were clothed in silks and brocade? And, surely, even if the neglected bark of the forest trees was sacred, the wild beasts, that sheltered in that forest, were the property of all!

The most severe pang the banishment from my native land caused me, was the separation from my beloved Fernando, at that time a boy of eight years old. During my frequent short absences from home, I had always left him in charge of an old crone, the widow of one of our gang, and receiver of our smuggled cargoes. But I dreaded lest, on the news of my sentence reaching her ears, she should send my poor boy adrift to beg his bread--perhaps, to starve--in this wide, uncharitable world.

For the ten long years that I was doomed to exile, did this dread weigh upon me yet heavier than the chains that bound me to my task. I constantly wrote, and sent repeated messages by convicts returning to our native land, at the expiration of their term of punishment, and who invariably promised to inform me of the result of their inquiries; but never did any tidings of my boy arrive, to cheer me in my tedious captivity!

The day of my release at length arrived; the shackles were struck from my emaciated limbs; and, ere I left the African shore, I registered a vow--which has been most truly kept--that the tyrants should rue the day on which Blas Maldonado had been condemned to labour like a highway robber, or midnight assassin.

I seized the first opportunity of proceeding to Gibraltar. Had the means of quitting the sea-girt prison[181] not quickly presented itself, I verily believe I should have attempted to swim across the wide channel that separated me from my country, so painful had my restraint become. The communication with the English fortress was then open. On landing there, I learnt that our imbecile old king and his hopeful son had both been persuaded to leave their country; which, distracted by parties, and without a government, was at the mercy of an ambitious priesthood, and an ignorant, perfidious nobility.

The opportunity of wreaking vengeance on my oppressors was most favourable. I hastened first, however, to Olbera, to obtain tidings of my son--my long estranged Fernando. Alas! no one could give me any information concerning him. The _Tia Dorotea_, in whose charge I had left him, had been dead several years; but the boy had, "it was said," absconded from her, long before her death. It was not a matter to interest the savages who had been my associates. I cursed them all from the bottom of my heart, and proceeded on to M----.

My inquiries there were not more successful. Don Benito had long since left the place, and no one could, or _would_, give me any information concerning my son. I included the whole population in my sweeping malediction, and, with a heart panting for revenge, proceeded to Seville, where I had ascertained that one of my oppressors, at all events, was within reach of my knife.

Reckless of life, and fearless of consequences; with a ready flow of words, and a breast full of wrongs, I soon acquired an extraordinary ascendency over the ignorant and volatile mob of that turbulent city. A riot was the consequence; and by the knife of _one of those_ engaged in it, fell the Conde de Aguila!

For some months after this I went about exciting feelings of distrust against the nobility, and of hatred against the hypocritical monks, that eat up the produce of our fertile fields. But the battle of Beylen having again restored, in some measure, the influence of these rapacious vultures, I was arrested as a seditious person, on information lodged by one of my own followers. A mockery of justice took place in the way of a trial; I was found guilty, and sentenced to death.

The day of my execution was fixed; but I had a purse full of money, and managed to escape from the place allotted for my prison; and thinking that the constitution at this period, promulgated by the intrusive king, held out great promise of relieving my unhappy country from its state of degradation--as well by opening all professions to every _class_ of Spaniards as by making promotion the reward of merit--I determined to seek distinction in the ranks of our liberators. Accordingly, I proceeded to the north of Spain, and joined the French army at the moment it was about to resume offensive operations on the banks of the Ebro.

My acquaintance with the invaders' language made me a valuable recruit, and I was attached as an orderly and interpreter to General----.

With all my wrongs fresh rankling in my breast, I burned to bathe my sword in the blood of my base countrymen, fighting in the ranks of slavery and despotism. And too soon, alas! was the opportunity afforded me.

The first operations of the French army, in the campaign which now opened, were crowned with the most brilliant success. Army after army disappeared before them, like chaff before the wind. A last effort to resist the invaders was made by Palafox and Castaños, in the plains of Tudela; and here, again, I drew my sword for those whom I hoped were to be the liberators of my country.

I need not describe more of that scene of slaughter than is necessary for my tale. The Arragones, posted on the Spanish right, shamefully abandoned their position, after a feeble resistance. The gallant old Castaños flew to the left, where the Andalusian troops, whom he had led to victory at Baylen, were stationed, and attempted to restore the battle; but his efforts were vain; all he could effect was to withdraw this wing of his panic-struck army with some kind of order.

It is impossible for me to describe the irresistible thirst for blood which impelled me forward on that fatal day. I have since--as you will hear in the sequel--fought against these very French, whose bread I was then eating; but never was my sword edged with the same temper that now sharpened it. The moment of revenge had, I conceived, at length arrived--the long invoked opportunity of wreaking vengeance on my perfidious, abject countrymen. I thought of my wife, hurried to an untimely grave--of my child, left to perish for want--of my ignominious chains and treacherous associates; and I became frantic with rage.

I had quitted the side of my general, whose division was posted towards the centre of the line, that I might be opposed to the vile _espadachines_ of my native province. I arrived at the moment that the general confusion was spreading amongst their ranks; and, seizing a lance from a Frenchman, who fell wounded at my side, I rushed impetuously upon my flying countrymen. Trampling down the common herd, for others who came after me to despatch, I pushed madly forward in pursuit of nobler game, and marked as my victim a young cavalry officer, who was vainly endeavouring to rally his fugitive troopers. I rode at him with my lance _en joue_, and, being an able _toreador_, had little fears of the result of the contest, though he awaited my onset with perfect self-possession. Before I came within his reach, however, he was struck from his horse by a musket-ball, and fell, apparently lifeless, at my feet.

I do not know what prompted me--certainly not the love of gold, for at that moment my thoughts were bent entirely on blood--not a feeling of mercy, for that was yet further from my mind than wealth; but some unaccountable impulse, perhaps the agency of the devil, persuaded me to alight, and strip the youth of his bright gold epaulettes.

I found that he had been shot in the head, the ball having entered at one eye, and seemingly passed out at the other. His face was suffused with gore, but he was not dead.

I was about to finish his short career with a thrust of my lance, when it struck me it would be less merciful to allow the blind wretch to eke out his miserable existence. Stripping him, therefore, of his epaulettes, "You may live, young _hidalgo_," said I, "unless you are lucky enough to find some Frenchman more charitably disposed towards you than myself. You will yet serve for an _espantajo_!"[182]

"What!" exclaimed the youth, "is it a Spaniard who pillages a dying countryman? Is it a vile renegade that taunts me with the disfigurement of an honourable wound? Then may my dying curse be upon him; may it ring perpetually in his ears, as a foretaste of torments to be endured, should my arm fail in sending him at once to eternal punishment!"

So saying, he snatched a pistol from his breast, and, ere I could arrest his hand, fired in the direction he judged me to be. The ball--would it had been more surely aimed!--merely grazed my left cheek, leaving the mark you may see through my bushy whisker.

Provoked beyond endurance by this act, I seized my adversary by the throat, and, forcing my knife into his mouth, cut out the tongue that had so lately cursed me; and then, after watching some moments the wreathings of my tortured victim, sheathed it in his breast.

I felt in so doing that it had struck against something hard--I thought, perhaps, a watch; and, tearing open his jacket, discovered, oh God!--that I was the murderer of my son!