A large fire blazed on its broad hearth, and shed a ruddy glow upon the rough architecture and ill-squared beams of the chamber, from the roof of which hung innumerable bunches of raisins, strings of the garlic onion, pigskins of wine, hams, baskets, and other etcetera. The flood of steady red light that gushed from the hearth glared on the striking forms and foreign faces of the listening group, among whom were the well-conditioned potters and soap-boilers of Seville in their black velvet jackets and gaudy sashes; our patrona, a plump and pretty paisana of Valverde, in her provincial costume, a dark blue skirt, the scantiness of which displayed her well-turned legs and handsome feet encased in little shoes of untanned leather, while the gathered masses of her smooth black hair shone in the glow of light; there, too, sat the old padre José of Medina in his sable cape and long cassock, and a grisly goatherd of the Honda clad from neck to knee in sheepskins, with a weatherbeaten sombrero slouched over his sallow visage; a knife and bota, castanets and flute, at his girdle, to which descended his snow-white beard, giving him the aspect of St. Anthony in the major's story; then there was the major himself in his light green frock-coat, scarlet cap and trowsers, with a cigar glowing like a hot coal in the centre of his heavy thick mustache; then there was an old unhoused Franciscan, begging for that subsistence of which the new Government had deprived his order; a charming young Gitana, tall and beautiful in form, with a clear olive complexion and magnificent eyes; and by her side sat a free, jolly Catalan reaper, whom in defiance of all gypsy rule and immemorial custom she had taken as her spouse; so it must be acknowledged that if Jack's audience was not select, it had at least the merit of being so remarkable in costume and character, that a painter or novelist would have been delighted with the whole group, its background, and accessories.
"In many of its features," said Slingsby, "my story is so similar to the one just related by the major, that I am assured you cannot fail to be struck with the resemblance. The adventure made a deep impression upon me; and though several months have passed since it occurred, the whole affair is as fresh in my mind as if it had happened only yesterday. On leaving the 6th Regiment," continued Jack, turning to me, "I went for a few months into the Highlanders, but, being an Englishman, I never felt at home in the kilt, so I exchanged into our present corps, which will account for my being in the Mediterranean at the time referred to.—So now for the story."
"Bravo, señor!" said the major of the regiment of Lagos; "you speak Spanish like a good Christian. We are all attention."
Jack bowed, stuck his glass in his eye, tipped the ashes off his cigar with the nail of his forefinger, and began the following story, which deserves an entire chapter devoted to itself.
CHAPTER VI
LA POSADA DEL CAVALLO.
In the summer of last year, I was proceeding home to Britain on leave of absence from my regiment, the —th Highlanders, which were then, and are still, lying in garrison at Malta. Favoured by the friendship of her commander, and my good friend and old school-fellow, Lieutenant John Hall, I had a passage given to me in Her Majesty's Sloop Blonde, of twenty-six guns; and after a pleasant run for a few days, a smart breeze, which we encountered off Almuneçar, when sailing along the coast of Spain, brought down some of our top hamper, and we ran in to Malaga to repair the damage.
It was a beautiful and sunny evening when our anchor plunged into the shining waters of that deep bay which presents so superb a line of coast, and the background of which is formed by the undulating line of the Sierra de Mija towering into the pure blue sky of Spain, and bounding, in the distance, the flat and fertile Vega.
From the quarter-deck of the Blonde, we had a magnificent prospect of Malaga, with its stately mansions, its domes, its spires and snowy kiosks, bathed in a warm yellow tint as the sun's rays faded along the Vega, and the shadows deepened on its hills, clothed with vineyards and plantations of orange, almond, lemon and olive trees. The gaudy Spanish flag descended from the dark ramparts of the old Moorish fortress of Gibral-Faro as the evening gun was fired from the guard-ship; and then, as the sun set behind tha mountains, the bells tolled for vespers in the lofty steeple of the square Cathedral, and a red lambent light began to glimmer on the tall brick chimneys of that extensive iron-foundry, which (alas for romance!) a thoroughly practical Scotsman has built in Malaga, where it finds food and work for hundreds, in smelting the ore of the adjacent hills, while it pollutes the cerulean sky of Granada.
Bent upon a ramble or adventure, the second-lieutenant (Jack Hall) and I took our fowling-pieces, and, leaving our swords behind us—at least I took only my regimental dirk—were pulled ashore in the dingy, which landed us at one of those piers that project from the city into the sea, forming part of that noble mole which measures seven hundred yards in length.