The landlord, cursing his luck, swore that this time the knight errant
and his squire should not escape without paying. But Don Quixote,
whose hand the curate was holding in an endeavor to calm him, merely
fell on his knees before the curate, exclaiming: "Exalted and
beautiful Princess! Your Highness may now live in peace; for I have
slain the giant!" He imagined that he was at the feet of Micomicona.
Soon after having spoken thus, he showed signs of great weariness, and
the curate, the barber and Cardenio carried him to his bed, where he
fell asleep.

Next they had to console Sancho, who was grief-stricken because he had
been unable to find the giant's head. He swore he had seen it falling
when his master cut it off, and imagined that if it could not be
produced there would be no reward for either him or his master; but
Dorothea, in her role of Princess, calmed and comforted him.

All this time the innkeeper's wife was crying about the ox-tail, which,
she said, had lost its usefulness after having served as beard, and the
innkeeper was demanding that he be paid for the spilt wine and other
losses. The curate assured them that he himself would see to it that they
were reimbursed for everything; and when the excitement in the inn had
simmered down, and everybody had gathered again in the room where they
had heard the curate read from "Ill-Advised Curiosity," he was asked to
resume the reading. This he did; and they all thought it a very
entertaining story and listened intensely to what the curate was reading.

[Illustration: "SLASHING RIGHT AND LEFT, DREAMING THAT HE HAD
ENCOUNTERED THE GIANT ENEMY."--_Page 93_]

CHAPTER XXXVI

WHICH TREATS OF MORE CURIOUS INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED AT THE INN

At this moment there was a sound of people approaching on horseback,
and the innkeeper rushed to the gate to receive the guests. There were
four men, with lances and bucklers, and black veils for their faces; a
woman, dressed in white and also veiled, and two attendants on foot.
One of the four, a gentleman of distinction, helped the lady to
dismount, and they entered the inn.

As they came into the room where the curate had just finished reading
the novel of "Ill-Advised Curiosity," Dorothea covered her face, and
Cardenio left and went to the garret. As the gentleman seated the lady
in a chair, she heaved a deep sigh. Her arms fell limply by her side.
The curate was curious to know who these people were, so he asked