would say,--pitching your tent
under the pleasant hedgerow, listening to the song of the feathered
tribes, collecting all the leaky kettles in the neighbourhood, soldering
and joining, earning your honest bread by the wholesome sweat of your
brow--making ten holes--hey, what's this? what's the man crying for?

* * * * *

'Did you speak, Don Jorge?' demanded the archbishop.

'That is a fine brilliant on your lordship's hand,' said I.

'You are fond of brilliants, Don Jorge,' said the archbishop, his
features brightening up; 'vaya! so am I; they are pretty things. Do you
understand them?'

'I do,' said I, 'and I never saw a finer brilliant than your own, one
excepted; it belonged to an acquaintance of mine, a Tartar Khan. He did
not bear it on his finger, however; it stood in the frontlet of his
horse, where it shone like a star. He called it Daoud Scharr, which,
being interpreted, meaneth light of war.'

'Vaya!' said the archbishop, 'how very extraordinary! I am glad you are
fond of brilliants, Don Jorge. Speaking of horses, reminds me that I
have frequently seen you on horseback. Vaya! how you ride! It is
dangerous to be in your way.'

'Is your lordship fond of equestrian exercise?'

'By no means, Don Jorge; I do not like horses. It is not the practice of
the Church to ride on horseback. We prefer mules; they are the quieter
animals. I fear horses, they kick so violently.'

'The kick of a horse is death,' said I, 'if it touches a vital part. I
am not, however, of your lordship's opinion with respect to mules: a good
ginete may retain his seat on a horse however vicious, but a mule--vaya!
when a false mule tira par detras, I do not believe that the Father of
the Church himself could keep the saddle a moment, however sharp his
bit.'

* * * * *

Francis Ardry and myself dined together, and after dinner partook of a
bottle of the best port which the inn afforded. After a few glasses, we
had a great deal of conversation; I again brought the subject of marriage
and love, divine love, upon the carpet, but Francis almost immediately
begged me to drop it; and on my having the delicacy to comply, he
reverted to dog-fighting, on which he talked well and learnedly; amongst
other things, he said that it was a princely sport of great antiquity,
and quoted from Quintus Curtius to prove that the princes of India must
have been of the fancy, they having, according to that author, treated
Alexander to a fight b