All was solitude and silence. Coming out of the cottage, he looked around through the fields, endeavouring to discover his friend, called him repeatedly, but in vain; the echo alone replied to the sound of his voice. Under these sad circumstances the heart of Bernardo was oppressed, and a thousand fears and suspicions took possession of his mind. Where could Fernan Ramirez be? What could be the cause of the desolation and destruction which he saw? Not being able to explain these appearances, his sighs and affliction increased.

Bernardo had taken the reins of his horse, to remove from that place, when he saw not far distant a shepherd, and calling him, he tried to learn of him what had become of the old Ruy Velasco, the name by which the count was then known. In reply to his questions, the shepherd said, with a sad countenance, and shaking his head, "I know not where he is gone all that I can tell you is, that this morning there appeared here a party of soldiers, who fell upon this cottage, and left it in the state you see. Its master was apparently the object of their search. Whether they carried him away, or whether the good Ruy Velasco managed to save himself by flight, I have not been able to learn. But he has disappeared, his cattle have dispersed, and the dogs, missing their master, have likewise gone off."

At hearing these words, and in the midst of the

grief they caused him, Bernardo gave himself a blow on the breast, and taking leave of the shepherd with a look expressive of his affliction, he put spurs to Bayardo, and set out on his return to the court, hoping there to find the clew to this labyrinth, and the solution of so many doubts.

G

CHAPTER XIV.

THE King Don Alfonso was in his cabinet with some of the principal officers of his army, and was discussing with them the plan of the approaching campaign, when there came into his presence a gallant knight, clothed in mourning; a cloak and doublet of black, plumes of the same colour in his bonnet, and his countenance clouded with an expression of sadness which accorded well with the seriousness of his dress. This knight was Bernardo. The king was astonished to see him thus, and said, "What novelty is this, Bernardo? You in mourning! Have you lost any friend? Or perchance you plot my death?"

"Sire," said Bernardo, "I neither desire your death, nor are these signs of grief because I have lost any relation; my misfortune is greater, and the cause of my mourning is more deeply felt. This mourning announces the unhappy fate of a father, who, made a monument of your excessive severity, lives in a dying state, which is much worse than death. In the Castle of Luna, and in a dungeon into whose sad bosom descends a winding staircase, I found the good Count Sancho

Diaz, that illustrious lord of Saldaña, who in former time placed so often at your feet the African crescents, and obtained for you so many victories, fighting for you against the Moors of Toledo and Calatrava. Pale, wasted, and in irons, how different, oh Heavens! he seemed from what he was, as they tell me, when in times past he returned to Leon covered with laurels, and rich with the spoils he had gained from the enemy in Orcejon, in Orbigo, and Valdemoro ! This is, sire, the just cause of my grief, and the occasion of this mourning, which I have resolved not to put off so long as the imprisonment of the count and the rigour of your anger continues. But if neither tears nor entreaties can suffice to move you to pity, tell me at least at what price you will grant me his liberty. And since I ask him of you at a ransom, say how many enemies' heads you will have for him, how many banners, towns, and castles, for I pledge myself to any thing, and I have confidence for every thing, from the valour which animates me as your nephew, and the son of Sancho Diaz."

"Bernardo, nephew, friend," said the king, "arise and hear my resolution. Although deeply offended with the count, I feel in some sort your sorrows, and your valour and merits are of so much weight with me, that from this moment I promise to give your father liberty, and restore him all my favour; but it must be under certain

conditions, which if you fulfil as you offer, I will not fail in my word." The king then proceeded to inform Bernardo, that according to news he had received, the French were already in motion and approaching the frontier with a numerous army. Presenting him with the staff of general, which Don Tibalte de Velasco had resigned in his favour, and exhorting him to make a good use of that emblem with which he delivered to him the command of his armies, and placed in his hands the security of the kingdom and the glory of Castile, he said to him, "March against the Frenchman, break his ranks, and return victorious; which if you do, the liberty of the count and the esteem of your country will be the reward of your services."

The proposition of the king filled Bernardo with a warlike ardour, and awakened all the energy of his character. With the desire that he had of going out against the enemy, the hours seemed ages, and every delay, in such circumstances, seemed to him an injury done to his father the count. Determining immediately to put himself at the head of the army, he retired from the presence of the king, accompanied by the captains; and, with their unanimous consent, he gave his orders that, on the following day, there should be a general review.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty in which he remained with regard to the fate of the Count Fer