“Hold him down! don’t let him up!” cried Raimundo.
Bark was a stout fellow; and he held on, in spite of the struggles of the Spaniard. At this moment Juan left the tiller, and rushed forward to take a hand in the conflict, now that his father had got the worst of it. He had a knife in his hand, and Raimundo did not hesitate to strike him down with the heavy tiller; and he lay senseless in the bottom of the felucca. The young officer then went to the assistance of Bark Lingall; and, in a few minutes more, they had bound the skipper hand and foot, and lashed him down to the floor.
CHAPTER XII.
SIGHTS IN MADRID.
After an early breakfast—early for Spain—the students were assembled in a large hall provided by the landlord; and Professor Mapps gave the usual lesson relating to the city they were visiting:—
“The population of Madrid has fallen off from about four hundred thousand to the neighborhood of three hundred thousand. The city was in existence in the tenth century, but was not of much account till the sixteenth, when Charles V. took up his residence here. Toledo was at that time the capital, as about every prominent city of Spain had been before. In 1560 Philip III. made Madrid the sole capital of the country; and it has held this distinction down to this day, though Philip II. tried to move it to Valladolid. It is twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the sea; and the cutting off of all the trees in the vicinity—and I may add in all Spain—has injuriously affected the climate. This region has been said to have but two seasons,—‘nine months of winter, and three months of hell.’ If it is very cold in winter, it is probably by comparison with the southern part of the peninsula. Like many other cities of Spain, Madrid has been captured by the English and the French.”
Though the professor had much more to say, we shall report only these few sentences. The students hastened out to see the city; and the surgeon took the captain and the first lieutenant under his wing, as usual. They went into the Puerta del Sol,—the Gate of the Sun. Most of the city in early days lay west of this point, so that its eastern gate was where the centre now is. As the sun first shone on this gate, it was called the gate of the sun. Though the gate is gone, the place where it was located still retains the name. It is nearly in the shape of an ellipse; and most of the principal streets radiate from it. It usually presents a very lively scene, by day or by night. It is always full of peddlers of matches, newspapers, lottery-tickets, and other merchandise.
“Where shall we go?” said the doctor.