fluence, at least most virtuously. The boy, who was named Luis after
his grandfather, was remarkably handsome, of a sweet docile disposition;
and his manners and deportment, even at that tender age, were such as
showed him to be the son of some noble father. His grandfather and
grandmother were so delighted with his grace, beauty, and good
behaviour, that they came at last to regard their daughter's mischance
as a happy event, since it had given them such a grandson. When the boy
walked through the streets, blessings were showered upon him by all who
saw him--blessings upon his beauty, upon the mother that bore him, upon
the father that begot him, upon those who brought him up so well. Thus
admired by strangers, as well as by all who knew him, he grew up to the
age of seven, by which time he could already read Latin and his mother
tongue, and write a good round hand; for it was the intention of his
grandparents to make him learned and virtuous, since they could not make
him rich, learning and virtue being such wealth as thieves cannot steal,
or fortune destroy.

One day, when the boy was sent by his grandfather with a message to a
relation, he passed along a street in which there was a great concourse
of horsemen. He stopped to look at them; and to see them the better, he
moved from his position, and crossed the street. In doing so, he was not
rapid enough to avoid a fiery horse, which its rider could not pull up
in time, and which knocked Luis down, and trampled upon him. The poor
child lay senseless on the ground, bleeding profusely from his head. A
moment after the accident had happened, an elderly gentleman threw
himself from his horse with surprising agility, took the boy out of the
arms of a person who had raised him from the ground, and carried him to
his own house, bidding his servants go fetch a surgeon.

Many gentlemen followed him, greatly distressed at the sad accident
which had befallen the general favourite; for it was soon on everybody's
lips that the sufferer was little Luis. The news speedily reached the
ears of his grandparents and his supposed cousin, who all hurried in
wild dismay to look for their darling. The gentleman who had humanely
taken charge of him being of eminent rank, and well known, they easily
found their way to his house, and arrived there just as Luis was under
the surgeon's hands. The master and mistress begged them not to cry, or
raise their voices in lamentation; for it would do th