been leaning idly against the wall,
knocked up the owner's arm at the moment the pistol went off.

"Ha' done!" cried the new-comer in English; "twenty to one is bad
enough, specially when that one is a fool. But pistols in a house-place
are a disgrace! Stand back there, will ye?"

And with no better weapon than a long-pronged labourer's fork snatched
from the chimney-corner, he set himself shoulder to shoulder with the
young Scot and laid lustily about him.

That son of an unkindly soil, instead of being grateful for this
interference on his behalf, seemed at first inclined to resent it.

"What call had ye to put your neck in danger for an unkenned man's
sake?" he cried, crabbedly. "Couldna ye hae letten me fill thae carles'
skins as fu' o' holes as a riddle?"

"I am not the man to stand and see a countryman in danger!" said the
other, while the broad sweeps of his companion's sword and the energetic
lunges of his own trident kept the enemy at a respectful distance.

Suddenly a thought struck the Englishman. Without dropping the fork, he
rushed to the hearth, where the _ollas_ and _pucheros_ of the entire
company bubbled and steamed, he caught the largest of the pots in one
hand and threatened to overturn the entire contents among the ashes and
_debris_ on the floor.

"I speak their lingo but ill," he cried to his companion; "but tell them
from John Mortimer, that if they do not cease their racket, I will
warrant that they shall not have an onion or a sprig of garlic to stink
their breaths with this night. And if that does not fear them, nothing
will--not Purgatory itself!"

The young man communicated this in his own way, and though every man
among his assailants was to the full as brave as himself, the threat of
the Englishman did not fail in its effect. The _arrieros_ and Aragonese
horse-clippers drew off and consulted, while the Scot who had caused all
the disturbance, dropped his point to the floor, and contented himself
with wrapping his cloak more tightly about his defensive arm. He had
evidently been some time in the country, for he wore the dark _capa_ and
red _boina_ of Navarra, and answered the deputation which now came
forward with readiness and composure. Whoever gave in, it would
certainly not be he. That, at least, was the impression given by his
attitude.

"Certainly, most certainly," he said. "I will be glad to meet any one of
you anywhere. I will stand to my words spoken in any language, or a