highway, and sought a
retired situation.

It happened that an attendant of the Countesses, surprised at the
determination of the party to divide routes, had been led by curiosity
to follow them unobserved. This follower, after having waited some time
for their return to the high-road, penetrated into the midst of the
wood, in order to discover the cause of the delay. He found the two
brides lying on the ground, almost without clothing, and covered with
blood, and learned that they had just been left by their husbands, who
had been scourging them almost to death.

It was against the perpetrators of this outrage that the Cid pleaded for
justice. A certain number of nobles were selected by Alonzo, and
directed to give a decision after hearing the accusation and the
defence. The offence being proved, the Counts had nothing to urge in
extenuation, and judgment was pronounced. All the sums of money,
treasures, gold and silver vases and goblets, and precious stones,
given by the Cid with his daughters as their dowry, to be restored; and
(at the request of Ruy Diaz) the two Counts of Carrion, and their uncle,
who had advised them to commit the act, were condemned to enter the
lists against three of the followers of the Cid. The last decision was
momentarily evaded by the Counts; who urged, that, having come to Toledo
to be present at the cortez, they were unprovided with the necessary
accoutrements. The King, however, insisted that they should not escape
so mild a punishment, and repaired himself to Carrion, where he
witnessed the combat, in which, it is needless to add, the culprits came
off second best. The marriages being, at the same time, declared null,
the Cid's daughters were shortly afterwards married a second time; the
eldest, Dona Elvira, to Don Ramiro, son of Sancho, King of Navarre; and
the younger, Dona Sol, to Don Pedro, hereditary Prince of Aragon.

LETTER XI.

STREETS OF TOLEDO. EL AMA DE CASA. MONASTERY OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES.
PALACE OF DON HURTADO DE MENDOZA.

Toledo.

We will now hasten to the opposite extremity of the city, where the
monastery of San Juan de los Reyes lays claim to especial interest. But
I already hear you cry for mercy, and exclaim against these endless
convents and monasteries; the staircases, courts, and corridors of which
cause more fatigue to your imagination, than to the limbs of those who,
however laboriously, explore their infinite details. Infinite they are,
litera