ent him on before them to
Alcala de Henares upon business of importance, bidding him, when that
was done, to proceed to Toledo, and wait for him at the Sevillano; and
he believed that his master would arrive there that night or the
following day at farthest.

So plausibly did Avendano tell this fib that the landlord was quite
taken in by it. "Very well, friend," said he, "you may stop here till
your master comes."

"Many thanks, senor landlord," replied Avendano; "and will your worship
bid them give me a room for myself, and a comrade of mine who is
outside? We have got money to pay for it, as well as another."

"Certainly," said the host, and turning to the girl he said, "Costanza,
bid la Argueello take these two gallants to the corner room, and give
them clean sheets."

"I will do so, senor," and curtsying to her master she went away,
leaving Avendano by her departure in a state of feeling like that of the
tired wayfarer when the sun sets and he finds himself wrapt in cheerless
darkness. He went, however, to give an account of what he had seen and
done to Carriazo, who very soon perceived that his friend had been
smitten in the heart; but he would not say a word about the matter then,
until he should see whether there was a fair excuse for the hyperbolical
praises with which Avendano exalted the beauty of Costanza above the
stars.

At last they went in doors, and la Argueello, the chamber maid, a woman
of some five-and-forty years of age, showed them a room which was
neither a gentleman's nor a servant's, but something between the two. On
their asking for supper, la Argueello told them they did not provide
meals in that inn; they only cooked and served up such food as the
guests bought and fetched for themselves; but there were eating-houses
in the neighbourhood, where they might without scruple of conscience go
and sup as they pleased. The two friends took la Argueello's advice, and
went to an eating-house, where Carriazo supped on what they set before
him, and Avendano on what he had brought with him, to wit, thoughts and
fancies. Carriazo noticed that his friend ate little or nothing, and, by
way of sounding him, he said on their way back to the inn, "We must be
up betimes to-morrow morning, so that we may reach Orgez before the heat
of the day."

"I am not disposed for that," replied Avendano, "for I intend, before I
leave this city, to see all that is worth seeing in it, such as the
cathedral, the waterwo