f feeling the delightful sensation of seething oil!

Of all the traditions as numerous here as elsewhere, the prettiest and
most improbable is doubtless that of Nalvillos, a typical chevalier of
romance, who fell desperately in love with a beautiful Moorish princess
and wedded her. She pined, however, for a lover whom in her youth she
had promised to wed, and though her husband erected palaces and bought
slaves for her, she escaped with her sweetheart. Nalvillos followed the
couple to where they lay retired in a castle, and it was surrounded by
him and his trusty followers. The hero himself, disguised as a seller of
curative herbs, entered the apartment where his wife was waiting for her
lover's return, and made himself known. The former's return, however,
cut matters short, and Nalvillos was obliged to hide himself. The
Moorish girl was true to her love, and told her sweetheart where the
Christian was hiding; brought out of his retreat, he was on the point of
being killed when he asked permission to blow a last blast on his
bugle--a wish that was readily conceded by the magnanimous lover. The
result? The princess and her sweetheart were burnt to death by the
flames ignited by Nalvillos's soldiers. The Christian warrior was, of
course, able to escape.

In 1455 the effigy of Henry IV. was dethroned in Avila by the prelates
of Toledo and other cities, and by an assembly of noblemen who felt that
feudalism was dying out, and were anxious to strike a last blow at the
weak king whom they considered was their enemy.

The effigy was placed on a throne; the Archbishop of Toledo harangued
the multitude which, silent and scowling, was kept away from the throne
by a goodly number of obedient mercenary soldiers. Then the prelate tore
off the mock crown, another of the conspirators the sceptre, another the
royal garments, and so on, each accompanying his act by an ignominious
curse. At last the effigy was torn from the throne and trampled under
the feet of the soldiers. Alfonso, a boy of eleven, stepped on the dais
and was proclaimed king. His hand was kissed by the humble (!) prelates
and noblemen, who swore allegiance, an oath they had not the slightest
intention of keeping, and did not keep, either.

Philip III.'s decree expelling Moors from Spain, was, as in the case of
Plasencia, the _coup de grace_ given to the city's importance; half the
population was obliged to leave, and Avila never recovered her lost
importance and inf