"In the midst of this I was a little startled to find my acquaintance, the Jew dentist, enter, with his box under his arm, a bloody cloth encircling his head and half concealing his basilisk eyes, which bent on me a demoniacal scowl of recognition; and I discovered to my consternation that this worthy, in virtue of being a greater fiend than his fellows, was no other than the lieutenant of Julian d'Aviero. But, without seeming to observe me, he advanced to the side of the latter, and whispered a few words in his ear.
"'Ha,' said Don Julian, 'is it so? then our hellish compact must be observed. I am sorry for the little paisana, but there is no remedy. Hold, there, cammarados! bring in the prisoners of Santarem—the potter Perez and the girl who was captured with him last night by our worthy Teniente Isacco Zendono.'
"'The girl is his sister,' growled the Jew robber, in husky Spanish, as he threw off his blue gown and revealed his gaudy Spanish dress, and sash bristling with pistols and knives, 'and a fair sample of mother Eve's flesh she is—Bueno!'
"'Curses blast you! bring them in, or'—and Julian, who always assumed the blustering ruffian to his own people, grasped a pistol.
"The lieutenant quitted his presence; but almost immediately returned, dragging in a stout peasant about three or four and twenty years of age. He had all the lofty air, the well-knit and erect figure of those peasantry on frontiers where the Portuguese are improved by intermarriage with the Spaniards. He wore a brown vest with loose sleeves, and breeches of bright yellow cotton, tied about the middle by a red silk scarf. His long raven hair was gathered in a wide silk netting, and hung in a heavy mass upon his neck. His hands were tightly pinioned by a cord, but he gazed about him with an air of reckless defiance, which, however, failed to intimidate the thieves, or to encourage his sister, a pretty-looking girl of sixteen, or thereabout, who clung to his arm in the utmost terror.
"Her coal-black hair was plaited somewhat after the fashion of the Basque women, in two gigantic braids, and reached below the flounces of her yellow skirt, which was short enough to expose, half-way up to the knee, her very handsome legs, encased in bright scarlet stockings which were elaborately covered with white braiding. Her little feet and ankles were equipped with open cut abarcas, interlaced with thongs of morocco leather, like the hose of your Highland soldiers. Her teeth and lips were a miracle, and her terror made her dark eyes glitter like diamonds. Ah! merci, monsieur, she was excessively captivating, that little paisana.
"Though such a little beauty is not uncommon in Spain, the robbers of Don Julian gazed upon her with gloating eyes of evil admiration and longing; many of them licked their huge blubber lips with grim and grotesque glee, as if anticipating kisses; while the poor sinking girl shrunk from their bold and villainous gaze, as she would have done from the eyes of so many serpents or fiends.
"'Teresa, hold up your head, my dear girl; do not droop before these base ladrones, stained as they are by a thousand atrocities. Dios! should innocence quail before guilt?' said the young peasant with a fearlessness that at once gained him my sympathy and admiration; and for a time I forgot my own troubles in those of the strangers. 'Be bold of heart, my sweet sister! We are possessed of that which can touch even the hearts of these bad men, and unlock the doors of their prison-house.'
"'You are mistaken in this idea, Señor Perez el Cantarero,' said Don Julian, with a quiet sneer, while his band crowded round with lowering brows and gloating eyes. 'Quite mistaken, allow me to inform you. Your honest uncle, the abagado (O most honest lawyer of Santarem!) has refused to ransom you. Our messenger, the very reverend rabbi, Isacco Zendono, has come back just now empty-handed.'
"The girl shrieked and hid her face in the bosom of her brother, who gazed around him with a look of rage, astonishment, and stupefaction.