r,
handsome boy with his white skin and blue eyes, who managed his spirited
dun horse so firmly and joyously.

"Dona Magdalena and I followed them on our quiet bays. Her lips moved
constantly, and her right hand never stirred from the rosary at her belt
while we were riding along the woodland paths.

"To soothe her, I began to talk about the pieces of music which his
Majesty had brought from Brussels, but she did not hear me. So I remained
silent until the monastery glimmered through the trees. The blood left
her cheeks, for at the same moment the thought came to us both that King
Philip was taking him to the monks.

"But we had scarcely time to confide what we feared to each other ere the
blast of horns echoed from the forest.

"Then, to calm the anxious mother's heart, I remarked, 'His Majesty would
not have the horns sounded in that way if he were taking the pious
brothers a new companion,' and Dona Magdalena's wan cheeks again flushed
slightly.

"The forest is cleared in front of the monastery, but it surrounds on all
sides the open glade amid whose grass the meadow saffron was then growing
thickly.

"I can still see Geronimo as he swung himself from the saddle to gather
some of the flowers. His mother needed them as medicine for a poor woman
in the village.

"We stopped behind the last trees, where we had a good view of the glade.
Don Luis left the boy to himself for a time; but when the blast of horns
and the baying of the hounds sounded nearer, he ordered him, in the
commanding tone he used in teaching him to ride, to remount.

"Geronimo laughed, thrust the flowers hastily into his saddlebag, and
with a bold leap vaulted on his horse's back.

"A few minutes after, the King rode out of the forest.

"He was mounted on a noble bay hunting charber, and wore a huntsman's
dress.

"No rider can hold a slender figure more erect.

"His haughty head, with the fair, pointed beard, was carried slightly
thrown back, which gave him an especially arrogant appearance.

"When he saw Quijada, he raised his riding-whip with a significant
gesture to his lips. We, too, understood what it meant, and Don Luis knew
him far better than we.

"He greeted the King without the least constraint, as if he were merely a
friend of noble birth, then beckoned to Geronimo, and the introduction
was only the brief words, 'My son' and 'The Count of Flanders.'

"The boy raised his little plumed hat with frank courtesy and, while
bow