on his companions. The
swords flashed from their scabbards, and the band prepared for attack.
But Ruy Lopez, who appeared to have put forth the strength of a
Hercules, cast upon the ground his heavy wooden stool.

"The first of you who passes this limit dies!" he cried in a loud voice.
"Courage, Duke!--to the attack! There are only four of these miscreants.
The last desire of your Grace shall be gratified, were I to lose my life
in the attempt. And you, wretched man, beware how you lay a finger upon
a Bishop of the Church. Down with your swords and respect the Lord's
anointed!" And Ruy Lopez continued to hurl forth, in a jargon of
Spanish and Latin, one of those formulas of excommunication and
malediction which at that period acted so strongly upon the masses of
the people.

The effect was prompt. The men stood rooted to the spot with terror,
whilst Calavar, thinking that to kill a Bishop without a sealed order
from the King was to run the risk of putting his life in jeopardy in
this world and his soul in the next, avowed himself vanquished. He knew
not what to do next. To rush with the news to the King, who was waiting
impatiently for Don Gusman's head, was only to expose himself. To attack
the prisoner and the priest would be too hazardous, for Ruy Lopez was a
man of no mean strength. The position of affairs was critical. At last
he decided to take the easiest way out of the difficulty--to wait.

"Will you promise me faithfully to give yourself up in half an hour?" he
demanded of Don Gusman.

"I promise," replied the Duke.

"Play on, then," said the executioner.

The truce being thus concluded, the players returned to their seats and
their game, whilst Calavar and his companions, forming themselves into a
circle, stationed themselves round the two players. Calavar, who was
himself a chess player, looked on with interest, and could not prevent
himself from involuntarily considering each move the players made.

Don Gusman looked up for an instant upon the circle of faces which
surrounded him, but his _sang froid_ did not abandon him.

"Never have I played in the presence of such a noble company!" he cried.
"Bear witness, rascals, that at least once in my life I have beaten Don
Lopez." Then he returned to the game with a smile upon his lips. The
Bishop gripped the handle of the axe which he still held in his hand.

"If I were only sure of escaping from this tigers' den," he thought, "I
would break every head of