she said, breaking off from him. "Come,
Mrs. Shortridge, let me tear you from this barren spot, to which grief
has rooted you on parting from the commissary;" and, seizing that
lady's mule by the rein, Lady Mabel led her, as if helpless from
sorrow, after the guide, who had taken the left-hand road.

"Somewhere hereabouts," L'Isle remarked, as they rode on, "lies what
is called the field of Sertorius. I know not why it is so named; but
it figures largely in the tradition, and yet more in the
superstitions, of the country. 'There exists in Portugal a strange
superstition concerning King Sebastian, whose reappearance is as
confidently expected by many of the Portuguese, as the coming of the
Messiah by the Jews. The rise and progress of this belief forms a
curious part of their history. It began in hope, when the return of
that prince, after his hapless expedition to Morocco, and the fatal
battle of _Alcacar Quiber_, was not only possible, but might have been
considered likely; it was fostered by the policy of the Braganzan
party after all reasonable hope had ceased; and length of time only
served to ripen it into a confirmed and rooted superstition, which
even the intolerance of the Inquisition spared, for the sake of the
loyal and patriotic feelings in which it had its birth. The holy
office never interfered farther with the sect, than to prohibit the
publication of its numerous prophecies, which were suffered to
circulate in private. For many years the persons who held this strange
opinion had been content to enjoy their dream in private, shrinking
from observation and ridicule; but as the belief had begun in a time
of deep calamity, so now, when a heavier evil had overwhelmed the
kingdom, it spread beyond all former example. Their prophecies were
triumphantly brought to light, for only in the promises which were
there held out could the Portuguese find consolation; and proselytes
increased so rapidly, that half Lisbon became Sebastianists. The
delusion was not confined to the lower orders; it reached the educated
classes; and men who had been graduated in theology became professors
of a faith which announced that Portugal was soon to be the head of
the Fifth and Universal Monarchy; Sebastian was speedily to come from
the Secret Island; the Queen would resign the sceptre into his hands;
he would give Bonaparte battle near Evora, on the field of Sertorius,
slay the tyrant, and become monarch of the world."

"And this s