"Why not?" said Antonio. "Look you here now, sir, whoever you are; if you want any help from us, speak, and you will see whether you are right or not in your conjectures."
"Take then," said the horseman, "take this chain of gold, which should be worth two hundred crowns; and take also this thing, which is priceless, at least I cannot name its value, and carry it to the city of Trujillo, where you will give it to one of two gentlemen, who are well-known both there and elsewhere: one is called Don Francisco Pizarro, and the other, Don Juan de Orellana, both bachelors, both free, both rich, and both extremely generous;" (thus saying, he placed in Ricla's arms, who, like a compassionate woman, stepped forward to receive it, a baby, which was beginning to cry, wrapt in clothes that might have been rich or poor, they could not tell which;) "and," continued he, "you will bid them keep it; and say, they shall soon know who it is, and the misfortunes that have brought it to them, if it ever comes there, and forgive my saying more, for I am pursued by my enemies; if they come up with you, and ask if you have seen me, tell them you have not, since there is no occasion for you to say you have seen me, or if you prefer it, you may say that three or four men on horseback have gone by, who went crying, 'For Portugal! for Portugal!' and now please God, I must not delay, for if fear lend spurs, sharper yet are those of honour," and so, touching the horse's sides with his, he vanished like a flash of lightning, not, however, before he had returned, rapidly exclaiming, "It is unbaptized," and then resumed his flight.
Behold our pilgrims now, Ricla with the baby in her arms, Periander with the chain about his neck, and the boy Antonio with his bow ready strung, his father also holding in readiness the sword which was concealed in his staff; Auristella confounded and astonished at the strangeness of the adventure, and altogether wondering at it, and what would come forth from it.
Auristella advised that they should make haste and find the herdsmen's fold, as there they might procure food to nourish this new-born infant, for by its small size and weak cries they guessed it could not be many hours old. They had hardly reached it, after many wrong turnings, and many stumbles and falls, when before they could ask whether the herdsman would give them a shelter for the night, a woman came up weeping, but not aloud, for she showed by her suppressed moans that she tried not to let her voice be heard. She was but half dressed, though the garments she had on, evidently proved her to be a person of some consequence.
By the light of the fires, in spite of the care with which she tried to conceal her face, it was plainly seen that she was as beautiful as she was young, and as young as she was beautiful. Ricla, who was the best judge of ages, guessed that she might be from sixteen to seventeen years old. The herdsmen and shepherds asked her if she was pursued, or if anything had happened to her that required a speedy help; to which the unhappy girl replied, "The first help I need, sirs, is to be put under ground, or I had better say that I may be hidden somewhere, so that no one can find me; the second, that you will give me some food, for I am well nigh expiring from fatigue and fright."
"We will show that we have charity," said an old shepherd; and he went quickly towards the hollow trunk of a tree—the ruin of a once noble oak—and placing within it some snowy fleeces of sheep and goats, he made a sort of bed, good enough for the present necessity; then taking the young lady in his arms, he hid her in the old tree, and then brought her some milk; (he would have given her wine had she wished it;) then he covered her up closely with more sheep-skins, and hung them also about the tree, as if to dry them.
Ricla, who watched all this, speedily conjectured that this must be the mother of the baby that she held in her arms. She went up to the old shepherd, saying, "Let not your charity, good sir, stop here, but extend it to this infant, which is perishing of hunger;" and she quickly explained how they had come by it. Answering more to her wants than words, the old shepherd called to one of the other shepherds, and bid him take the child to the sheep-fold, and put it by one of the goats in such a manner as to enable it to suck: he had hardly done this, and hardly had the last wailing cry of the baby ceased, when a troop of horsemen rode up to the fold, and asked if they had seen anything of a fugitive young woman, or of a man on horseback. But as no one gave them any intelligence of what they demanded, they passed on with extreme speed, which not a little rejoiced the charitable protectors of the woman and child; and the night passed away more quietly than the pilgrims expected, and more merrily to the herdsmen and shepherds, who had not looked for so much good company.
FOOTNOTES:
[M] ] The Gracioso of the Spanish Comedy.