oner, beheaded him; others that the Moors confined acer exercitos y peleas, como lo que se cuenta por him in a dungeon, and put an end to his life with tradicion (y aun algunos personas lo deponen como lingering torments; while others affirm that the testigos de vista) de la torre y castello de Marcuello, tower of the castle of Marcuello, near Huesca, in lugar al pie de las montañas de Aragon (aora inhabArragon, in which he took refuge, fell on him and itable, por las grandes y espantables ruidos, que en el crushed him to pieces. All agree that his latter end se oyen) donde se retraxo el Conde Don Julian, was miserable in the extreme, and his death violent. causa de la perdicion de España; sobre el qual casThe curse of heaven, which had thus pursued him tillo, deze se ven en el aire ciertas visiones, como de to the grave, was extended to the very place which soldados, que el vulgo dize son los cavalleros y gente had given him shelter; for we are told that the cas- que le favorecian. tle is no longer inhabited on account of the strange and horrible noises that are heard in it; and that visions of armed men are seen above it in the air; which are supposed to be the troubled spirits of the apostate christians who favoured the cause of the traitor.

In aftertimes a stone sepulchre was shown, outside of the chapel of the castle, as the tomb of Count Julian; but the traveller and the pilgrim avoided it, or bestowed upon it a malediction; and the name of Julian has remained a bye-word and a scorn in the land for the warning of all generations. Such ever be the lot of him who betrays his country. Here end the legends of the conquest of Spain. Written in the Alhambra, June 10, 1829.

NOTE TO THE PRECEDING LEgend.

EL licenciado Ardevines (Lib. 2. c. 8.) dize que dichos Duendos caseros, o los del aire, hazen apar

Vide "el Ente Dislucidado, por Fray Antonio de Fuentalapeña capuchin. Seccion 3. Subseccion 5. Instancia 8. Num. 644.”

As readers unversed in the Spanish language may wish to know the testimony of the worthy and discreet capuchin friar, Antonio de Fuentalapeña, we subjoin a translation of it.

"The licentiate Ardevines, (Book II., chap. 8,) says, that the said house-fairies, (or familiar spirits,) or those of the air, cause the apparitions of armies and battles; such as those which are related in tradition, (and some persons even depose to the truth of them as eye-witnesses) of the town and castle of Marcuello, a fortress at the foot of the mountains of Arragon, (at present uninhabitable, on account of the great and frightful noises heard in it) the place of retreat of Count Don Julian, the cause of the perdition of Spain. It is said that certain apparitions of soldiers are seen in the air, which the vulgar say are those of the courtiers and the people who aided him."

TALES OF A TRAVELLER.

PART FIRST.

STRANGE STORIES BY A NERVOUS GENTLEMAN.

I'll tell you more; there was a fish taken,

A monstrous fish, with a sword by's side, a long sword,

A pike in's neck, and a gun in's nose, a huge gun.

And letters of mart in's mouth, from the Duke of Florence.
Cleanthes. This is a monstrous lie.
Tony. I do confess it.

Do you think I'd tell you truths?

[The following adventures were related to me by the same nervous gentleman who told me the romantic tale of THE STOUT GENTLEMAN, published in Bracebridge Hall.

It is very singular, that although I expressly stated that story to have been told to me, and described the very person who told it, still it has been received as an adventure that happened to myself. Now, I protest I never met with any adventure of the kind. I should not have grieved at this, had it not been intimated by the author of Waverley, in an introduction to his romance of Peveril of the Peak, that he was himself the Stout Gentleman alluded to. I have ever since been importuned by letters and questions from gentlemen, and particularly from ladies without number, touching what I had seen of the great unknown.

Now, all this is extremely tantalizing. It is like being congratulated on the high prize when one has drawn a blank; for I have just as great a desire as any one of the public to penetrate the mystery of that very singular personage, whose voice fills every corner of the world, without any one being able to tell from whence it comes. He who keeps up such a wonderful and whimsical incognito: whom nobody knows, and yet whom every body thinks he can swear to.

My friend, the nervous gentleman, also, who is a man of very shy, retired habits, complains that he has been excessively annoyed in consequence of its getting about in his neighbourhood that he is the fortunate personage. Insomuch, that he has become a character of considerable notoriety in two or three country towns; and has been repeatedly teased to exhibit himself at blue-stocking parties, for no other reason than that of being "the gentleman who has had a glimpse of the author of Waverley."

FLETCHER'S WIFE FOR A MONTH.

A HUNTING DINNER.

f

I WAS once at a hunting dinner, given by a worthy fox-hunting old Baronet, who kept Bachelor's Hall in jovial style, in an ancient rook-haunted family mansion, in one of the middle counties. He had been a devoted admirer of the fair sex in his young days; but having travelled much, studied the sex in various countries with distinguished success, and returned home profoundly instructed, as he supposed, in the ways of woman, and a perfect master of the art of pleasing, he had the mortification of being jilted by a little boarding school girl, who was scarcely versed in the accidence of love.

The Baronet was completely overcome by such an incredible defeat; retired from the world in disgust, put himself under the government of his housekeeper, and took to fox-hunting like a perfect Jehu. Whatever poets may say to the contrary, a man will grow out of love as he grows old; and a pack of fox hounds may chase out of his heart even the memory of a boarding school goddess. The Baronet was when I saw him as merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound; and the love he had once felt for one woman had spread itself over the whole sex; so that there was not a pretty face in the whole country round, but came in for a share.

The dinner was prolonged till a late hour; for our host having no ladies in his household to summon us to the drawing room, the bottle maintained its true bachelor sway, unrivalled by its potent enemy Indeed, the poor man has grown ten times as nerv- the tea-kettle. The old hall in which we dined ous as ever, since he has discovered, on such good echoed to bursts of robustious fox-hunting merriauthority, who the stout gentleman was; and will ment, that made the ancient antlers shake on the never forgive himself for not having made a more walls. By degrees, however, the wine and wassail resolute effort to get a full sight of him. He has anx- of mine host began to operate upon bodies aliously endeavoured to call up a recollection of what ready a little jaded by the chase. The choice spirits he saw of that portly personage; and has ever since that flashed up at the beginning of the dinner, sparkkept a curious eye on all gentlemen of more than or-led for a time, then gradually went out one after andinary dimensions, whom he has seen getting into stage coaches. All in vain! The features he had caught a glimpse of seem common to the whole race of stout gentlemen; and the great unknown remains as greit an unknown as ever.]

other, or only emitted now and then a faint gleam from the socket. Some of the briskest talkers, who had given tongue so bravely at the first burst, tell fast asleep; and none kept on their way but certain of those long-winded prosers, who, like short-legged hounds, worry on unnoticed at the bottom of conversation, but are sure to be in at the death. Even these at length subsided into silence; and scarcely any thing was heard but the nasal communications of two or three veteran masticators, who, having (341)

been silent while awake, were indemnifying the company in their sleep.

I had remarked this last personage throughout dinner-time for one of those incessant questioners, At length the announcement of tea and coffee in who seem to have a craving, unhealthy appetite in the cedar parlour roused all hands from this tempo- conversation. He never seemed satisfied with the rary torpor. Every one awoke marvellously reno-whole of a story; never laughed when others laughed; vated, and while sipping the refreshing beverage out but always put the joke to the question. He could of the Baronet's old-fashioned hereditary china, be- never enjoy the kernel of the nut, but pestered himgan to think of departing for their several homes. self to get more out of the shell. But here a sudden difficulty arose. While we had been prolonging our repast, a heavy winter storm had set in, with snow, rain, and sleet, driven by such bitter blasts of wind, that they threatened to penetrate to the very bone.

"Do you believe in ghosts, then?" said the inquisitive gentleman.

Faith, but I do," replied the jovial Irishman; "I was brought up in the fear and belief of them; we had a Benshee in our own family, honey."

"A Benshee-and what's that?" cried the questioner.

"It's all in vain," said our hospitable host, "to think of putting one's head out of doors in such weather. So, gentlemen, I hold you my guests for "Why an old lady ghost that tends upon your this night at least, and will have your quarters pre-real Milesian families, and wails at their window to pared accordingly." let them know when some of them are to die." "A mighty pleasant piece of information," cried an elderly gentleman, with a knowing look and a flexible nose, to which he could give a whimsical twist when he wished to be waggish.

"By my soul, but I'd have you know it's a piece of distinction to be waited upon by a Benshee. It's a proof that one has pure blood in one's veins. But, egad, now we're talking of ghosts, there never was a house or a night better fitted than the present for a ghost adventure. Faith, Sir John, haven't you such a thing as a haunted chamber to put a guest in?

The unruly weather, which became more and more tempestuous, rendered the hospitable suggestion unanswerable. The only question was, whether such an unexpected accession of company, to an already crowded house, would not put the housekeeper to her trumps to accommodate them. Pshaw," cried mine host, did you ever know of a Bachelor's Hall that was not elastic, and able to accommodate twice as many as it could hold?" So out of a good-humoured pique the housekeeper was summoned to consultation before us all. The old lady appeared, in her gala suit of faded brocade, which rustled with flurry and agitation, for in spite Perhaps," said the Baronet, smiling, "I might of mine host's bravado, she was a little perplexed. accommodate you even on that point." But in a bachelor's house, and with bachelor guests, "Oh I should like it of all things, my jewel. these matters are readily managed. There is no lady Some dark oaken room, with ugly wo-begone porof the house to stand upon squeamish points about traits that stare dismally at one, and about which lodging guests in odd holes and corners, and expos- the housekeeper has a power of delightful stories of ing the shabby parts of the establishment. A bach- love and murder. And then a dim lamp, a table elor's housekeeper is used to shifts and emergencies. with a rusty sword across it, and a spectre all in After much worrying to and fro, and divers consul-white to draw aside one's curtains at midnight—” tations about the red room, and the blue room, and "In truth," said an old gentleman at one end the chintz room, and the damask room, and the little of the table, "you put me in mind of an anec room with the bow window, the matter was finally dote-" arranged.

"Oh, a ghost story! a ghost story!" was voWhen all this was done, we were once more sum-ciferated round the board, every one edging his chair moned to the standing rural amusement of eating. a little nearer. The time that had been consumed in dozing after dinner, and in the refreshment and consultation of the cedar parlour, was sufficient, in the opinion of the rosy-faced butler, to engender a reasonable appetite for supper. A slight repast had therefore been tricked up from the residue of dinner, consisting of cold sirloin of beef; hashed venison; a devilled leg of a turkey or so, and a few other of those light articles taken by country gentlemen to ensure sound sleep and heavy snoring.

The attention of the whole company was now turned upon the speaker. He was an old gentleman, one side of whose face was no match for the other. The eyelid drooped and hung down like an unhinged window shutter. Indeed, the whole side of his head was dilapidated, and seemed like the wing of a house shut up and haunted. I'll warrant that side was well stuffed with ghost stories.

There was a universal demand for the tale. "Nay," said the old gentleman, "it's a mere anecThe nap after dinner had brightened up every one's dote-and a very commonplace one; but such as it wit; and a great deal of excellent humour was ex-is you shall have it. It is a story that I once heard pended upon the perplexities of mine host and his housekeeper, by certain married gentlemen of the company, who considered themselves privileged in joking with a bachelor's establishment. From this the banter turned as to what quarters each would find, on being thus suddenly billeted in so antiquated a mansion.

my uncle tell when I was a boy. But whether as having happened to himself or to another, I cannot recollect. But no matter, it's very likely it happened to himself, for he was a man very apt to meet with strange adventures. I have heard him tell of others much more singular. At any rate, we will suppose it happened to himself."

"What kind of man was your uncle?" said the questioning gentleman.

"Why, he was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body; a great traveller, and fond of telling his adventures. "Pray, how old might he have been when this happened?"

"When what happened?" cried the gentleman with the flexible nose, impatiently-"Egad, you have not given any thing a chance to happencome, never mind our uncle's age; let us have his adventures."