e
temple, was then borne to the ground marked out, which, concealed by
a thick hedge of cypress and cedar, lay some little distance from the
temple; for, in their secret race, it was not permitted for the house
destined to the worship of the Most High, to be surrounded by the
homes of the dead. A slow and solemn hymn accompanied the lowering of
the coffin; a prayer in the same unknown language; a brief address,
and the grave was filled up; the noble dead left with his kindred,
kindred alike in blood as faith; and ere the morning rose, the living
had all departed, save the few retainers of the house of Henriquez and
Morales, to whose faithful charge the retreat had been intrusted. No
proud effigy marked those simple graves; the monuments of the dead
were in the hearts of the living. But in the cathedral of Segovia a
lordly monument arose to the memory of Ferdinand Morales, erected,
not indeed for idle pomp, but as a tribute from the gratitude of a
Sovereign--and a nation's love.

CHAPTER XVII.

ANGELO. We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey;
And let it keep one shape, till custom make it
Their perch, and not their terror.

ESCALUS. Ay, but yet
Let us be keen, and rather cut a little,
Than fall and bruise to death.

SHAKSPEARE.

On the evening preceding the day appointed for the trial, Isabella,
unattended and unannounced, sought her husband's private closet; she
found him poring so intently over maps and plans, which strewed the
tables before him, that she spoke before he perceived her.

"Just come when most wished for, dear wife, and royal liege," was his
courteous address, as he rose and gracefully led her to a seat beside
his own. "See how my plans for the reduction of these heathen Moors
are quietly working; they are divided within themselves, quarrelling
more and more fiercely. Pedro Pas brings me information that the road
to Alhama is well nigh defenceless, and therefore the war should
commence in that quarter. But how is this, love?" he added, after
speaking of his intended measures at some length, and perceiving that
they failed to elicit Isabella's interest as usual. "Thy thoughts are
not with me this evening."

"With thee, my husband, but not with the Moors," replied the Queen,
faintly smiling. "I confess to a pre-occupied mind; but just now my
heart is so filled with sorrowing sympathy, that I can think but
of individuals, not of nat