he
birds twittered all sorts of inspiring things; still in his mouth was
the delightful bitterness of the hops. He threw off care as a mantle,
and he stepped forward with joyful heart. Spain was a wild country, the
land of the grave hidalgo and the haughty princess. He felt in his
strong right arm the power to fight and kill and conquer. Black-bearded
villains should capture beautiful maidens on purpose for him to rescue.
Van Tiefel was but a stepping-stone; he was not made for the desk of a
counting-house. No heights dazzled him; he saw himself being made a peer
or a prince, being granted wide domains by a grateful monarch. He was
not too low to aspire to the hand of a king's fair daughter; he was a
hero, every inch a hero. Great is the power of beer. Avaunt! ye sallow
teetotalers, ye manufacturers of lemonade, ye cocoa-drinkers!

At night he slept on a haystack, with the blue sky, star-bespangled, for
his only roof, and dreamed luxurious dreams.... The mile-stones flew
past one another as he strode along, two days, three days, four days. On
the fifth, as he reached the summit of a little hill, he saw a great
expanse of light shining in the distance, and the sea glittered before
him like the bellies of innumerable little silver fishes. He went down
the hill, up another, and thence saw Plymouth at his feet; the masts of
the ships were like a great forest of leafless trees.... He thanked his
stars, for one's imagination is all very well for a while, and the
thought of one's future prowess certainly shortens the time; but roads
are hard and hills are steep, one's legs grow tired and one's feet grow
sore; and things are not so rose-coloured at the end of a journey as at
the beginning. Amyntas could not for ever keep thinking of beautiful
princesses and feats of arms, and after the second day he had exhausted
every possible adventure; he had raised himself to the highest possible
altitudes, and his aristocratic amours had had the most successful
outcome.

He sat down by a little stream that ran along the roadside, and bathed
his aching feet; he washed his face and hands; starting down the hill,
he made his way towards the town and entered the gate.

VII

Amyntas discovered Captain Thorman of the good ship _Calderon_ drinking
rum punch in a tavern parlour. In those days all men were heroic.... He
gave him the parson's letter.

'Well, my boy,' said the captain, after twice reading it; 'I don't mind
taking you to Cad