is a thing to swear by. Every man knows
his own goods; and should the French ever visit our village again these
wagons might cost us dear. Therefore let them be made into firewood as
quickly as possible, and let them all be consumed before other fuel is
touched. And now, capitano, I think that Katherine will be ready for
us."

So saying he led the way back into his house. A capital meal was
provided, and Jack found that the priest had by no means over praised
either his cook or his cellar. After the meal was over and the two had
drawn their chairs up to the hearth, on which was blazing brightly some
wood which Jack recognized as forming part of one of the wagons, and the
priest had placed on a small table close at hand a large flask which he
had himself gone into the cellar to fetch, Jack said:

"How is it, father, that, as you told me, you have seen such acts
of brutality on the part of the French as to cause you to wage a war
without mercy against them, when, as you say, they have never penetrated
to your village? Your reasons must be strong, for your profession is a
peaceful one. You do not look like a man who would rush into deeds of
violence for their own sake, and your cook and your cellar offer you
strong inducements to remain at home."

"That is so, my son," the priest said with a laugh. "I am, as you may
see, an easygoing man, well contented with my lot, and envy not the
Bishop of Toledo; but you know it is said that even a worm will turn,
and so you have seen the peaceful priest enacting the part of the
bloodthirsty captain. But, my son,"--and his face grew grave now--"you
can little imagine the deeds which the ferocious Tesse has enacted
here in Arragon. When warring with you English the French behave like
a civilized nation; when warring with us Spanish peasants, who have no
means of making our wrongs known to the world, they behave worse than
a horde of brutal savages. But I will tell you the circumstances which
have driven me to place myself at the head of my parishioners, to wage a
war of extermination with the French, and to deny mercy to every one of
that accursed nation who may fall into my hands. I have a brother--or
rather I should say I had one--a well to do farmer who lived at a
village some six miles from Saragossa. He had an only daughter, who was
to be married to the son of a neighboring proprietor. A handsome, high
spirited lad he was, and devoted to Nina. They were to have been married
som