"Why, what are you saying, John Joseph?"
"I am saying that the boys have sent you many remembrances."
"Have you had a letter from them?"
"No, I am the letter myself."
"You! Why, what do you mean by that?"
"That I went to Morocco and have come back again without losing my way, with my mule Orejero, who showed little surprise when, on arriving in that strange country, we found ourselves in the midst of noise and confusion-- Moors everywhere, bands playing, guns firing."
"Holy Mary! And what did you go there for, rash man?"
"To sell some pears that I got an excellent price for; to see the boys, whom I found in good health and as gay as larks; and to kill three Moors who will never again call any Spaniard "Christian dog." So you see, wife, that I have not lost my journey."
"And you did that? G.o.d help us! G.o.d help us!" cried the good woman, crossing herself. "You killed three Moors, did you say? You would not have been able to do that unless they had been unarmed, or had been taken prisoners, or had surrendered; and you did that?"
"Maria, what are you saying?" responded her husband. "Don"t you know that to kill an unarmed man would be contrary to the laws of honor and the work of an executioner? Don"t you know that to kill a man who had surrendered would be a vile deed and would be to make one"s self a butcher of men?
Don"t you know that to kill a man who asks quarter would be the deed of a miscreant and a coward, and would disgrace the name of Christian and dishonor the name of Spaniard? In honorable combat I killed them, Maria, when with arms in their hands they tried to kill me and my companions. I know well that the glory is not in killing but in conquering the enemy, and I wouldn"t want at the hour of my death to have to remember killing any man by treachery. I tell you, so help me G.o.d, that I killed them honorably, like a brave man, and may they all die thus, for they won"t surrender, not even with the bayonet at their b.r.e.a.s.t.s."
"Mercy!" cried Maria, "and why not?"
"Because their holy men have made them believe that the Spaniards are as ferocious as themselves, and that we burn alive the wounded and the prisoners we take. You thought that only young chaps were good for the war, and that I, with my sixty-five years, would be of no use in it; well, you were mistaken, you see, you were mistaken, for I am of good quality, and although the steel is worn off, the non remains. Do you understand?
And I am a brave soldier, but not an a.s.sa.s.sin, do you understand?"
"Forgive me, John Joseph, I didn"t stop to think--"
"It is plain you didn"t stop to think; and you didn"t remember, either, that your husband is a Christian of the old stock, and a well-born Spaniard, and that he knows how to fight the enemies of his faith, of his country, and of his queen; but that he will never dishonor himself by killing a defenceless man, nor debase himself by putting to death a man who has surrendered, nor make a tiger of himself by refusing his life to a man who asks it, not even if he were Barabbas himself."
"Were ours winning, John Joseph?"
"To be sure they were. Winning all the time, past, present, and future."
"But I have heard them say that a great many more Moors are coming, with a brother of their king, whom they call Muley Abbas."
"Let them come! That is just what we want; but don"t imagine that those Moors that are with the king are like the Riff Moors, who are the most savage and the fiercest of all the Moors. But all of them together could do nothing against the division of Echague, which has covered itself with glory in the war. Queen Isabel may well be proud of her soldiers. But as I was telling you, when I arrived at Algeciras I embarked with my mule and my pears; and you know that I have no fancy for travelling by sea; for the mule that falls on that road doesn"t get up again. I landed at Ceuta and from there I went with my mule and my pears to the camp; and when I saw the flag of Spain floating over the Serrallo, my heart swelled so that my breast could hardly contain it. I reached the camp and sold my pears like lightning, for there is no want of money there, nor of the will to spend it. What a hubbub, Maria! It seemed like the gayest kind of a fair; nothing was to be heard but the tw.a.n.g of guitars, singing, and hurrahs for the queen. I need only tell you that the commander-in-chief has had to forbid so much singing and guitar playing at night, because it served as a guide to the accursed Moors. I was just inquiring for the King"s regiment, when the bugle sounded, our soldiers seized their guns, crying, "Long live Spain!" and advanced to the attack. I left my mule there and followed them; and you may believe me that the sight was worth seeing, and one that would have set the blood coursing in a dead man"s veins. Each of our soldiers was a Bernardo, every officer a Pizarro, every general a Cid. One might have thought that Santiago himself, on his white horse, was at the head of the army, so completely did they rout the Moors, who are all warriors, and who were three times as many as we. I could not tell you all I saw, not if I had a hundred tongues. I saw General Quesada seize a gun and lead the bayonet charge himself. "Ah, brave son of a brave father!" I said to myself; for I had served under his father, and he was another of the right kind. But why do I say another, when they are all of the right kind! I saw the bullets flying over the head of the commander-in-chief, as thick as comfits in Carnival. I saw the regiment of Granada, with its valiant commander, Colonel Trillo, at its head, make a bayonet charge crying, "Long live the Queen!" that made the Moors fly in terror from the field; and I heard the commander-in-chief say to the colonel, that that exploit deserved a decoration; to which the generous colonel replied: "Nothing for me, General, the credit belongs to my battalion." I heard the commander-in-chief say to a group of soldiers of the Granada regiment, "How goes it, boys? Have you received your baptism yet?" "Yes, General,"
answered the soldiers, "and the Moors have paid dear for the christening."
In short, Maria, if I was to tell you of all I saw there, I should keep on talking till the Day of Judgment. But the ones I never lost sight of, Maria, were our two boys; and you may imagine how well they must have fought when the commander-in-chief, who was nearby, observed them, and going up to Michael, he said, "You have fought well. Now tell me, what do you wish?" "To keep on fighting, General," answered Michael; and on the instant the general gave him the cross of St. Ferdinand. I cannot tell you how I felt; but I thought I should go out of my wits with joy; I could not contain myself, and I was running to embrace him, when I saw one of those crazy howlers stab one of our soldiers, who fell down beside me. "So?" I said, seizing the wounded man"s gun; "you won"t have a chance to kill another brave Christian;" and with that I despatched him; and as I had joined the dance, I despatched two others, and I made a bayonet charge with the boys that put wings to the feet of the Moors, for if they have a heavy hand for the fight they have a light foot for flight. Then, night coming on, I gave up the gun and went to look for my mule, who evidently had not found that dance of Moors and Christians to his liking, and who, I learned on inquiry, had gone, like a mule of peace, to the shelter of the walls of Ceuta.
"That night a storm arose that I don"t believe had its equal since the world began. I thought the sea, the wind, and the rain together would bring the world to an end. But the next morning we were all as if nothing had happened, and if the devil had sent that, and others like it, at the instance of his friend, Mahoma, to terrify his enemies, they might both have been convinced that Spaniards are not to be terrified either by the roaring of the elements or the howling of their ferocious Moors.
"Well, as I was saying, next morning I got up and walked to the camp to have a chat with the boys; for, as I have told you, the Moors had prevented me from doing so the day before. When I arrived I found the King"s regiment drawn up in line, with its band and all! "What may this be for?" I said to myself. The sentry on guard was as mute and as motionless as a statue, so that it isn"t because there are Moors in sight. And why is this regiment drawn up and not the others? This was beginning to excite my curiosity. I drew near. The band was playing away when the colonel, taking his place in front of the regiment, commanded silence, and said in a loud voice, so that all might hear him:
""The commander-in-chief has learned with great satisfaction that on the afternoon of the 24th of November, a soldier of the King"s regiment, which I have the honor to command, seeing his companion and friend wounded and in the hands of the Moors, and animated by the n.o.blest sentiments, fixed his bayonet, and throwing himself heroically upon the Moors, and striking down those who attempted to stop him, seized his wounded friend, threw him over his shoulder, more regardful of his friend"s life than of his own, and, s.n.a.t.c.hing him from certain death, carried him back to the ranks; and desiring to recompense, in view of the whole regiment, the soldier who, in so admirable a manner, unites in himself the gallantry of the soldier and the piety of the Christian, transmits to him this gold medal, which the Cadiz Athenaeum has provided and caused to be engraved, with the object of making it an honorable reward for an act of surpa.s.sing merit, to be given to him before his regiment drawn up in line, so that it may serve as a stimulus to the brave and generous soldier referred to--""
The old man"s voice, up to this time so animated, here failed him, and he was unable to proceed.
"Well," said his wife, deeply moved by the story she had been listening to, "why do you stop, John Joseph? Go on."
"I can"t get the words out, there"s a lump in my throat; for the soldier whose name was called and who stepped from the ranks to receive the gold medal was--"
"Was who? Why do you stop?"
"He was--my son. He was Gaspar!"
"Child of my heart! And the Virgin has kept him safe for me!" cried Maria.
"My darling brother! And he saved Michael"s life!" murmured Catherine.
"And he killed three Moors! Ah, good son, honor of my gray hairs!" added John Joseph, with enthusiastic tenderness.
There was a moment"s silence during which tears choked the utterance of these simple people, and they could only clasp their hands and raise their eyes to heaven.
When he had somewhat recovered from his emotion, John Joseph continued his recital in these words:
"When the ceremony was over I went in search of my boys. I cannot describe, Maria, what I felt when I saw them, the one with his gold medal and the other with his cross of St. Ferdinand. But what I can say is that the queen herself can"t feel prouder, with her crown and sceptre, than I felt with my Gaspar and my Michael! If Gaspar was happy, Michael was happier still; his eyes danced with joy; the other seemed dazed. "Good, my son, good," I said to him, "that"s the way Spaniards behave when they are fighting for their country, their queen, and their faith, remembering that the soldier who is brave and not humane is brave only as the brutes are.
You have deserved the medal, son, and your father"s blessing with it.""
""Why, what did I do?" said Gaspar, who like all really brave men is neither proud nor boastful, and holds himself for less, not more than he is really worth.
""You saved your brother"s life," I replied.
""And by so heroic an act that it will be written in letters of gold,"
added Michael.
""Why, nonsense," answered Gaspar, putting his arm around his brother"s neck; "I have done nothing but pay a debt I owed."
""And Spain has paid the debt she owed to the Moors, and with interest," I said; and I fancy they won"t be likely to try their tricks again. So you see, wife, all the advantages the war has brought us. Hurrah for the war!"
"John Joseph," returned his wife, "we mustn"t forget, because it has been favorable to us--and that, perhaps, owing to that poor mother"s dying blessing--the many evils to which war gives rise: the unhappy people who suffer, those who are left disabled, those who die, and all the families who are at this moment weeping and in mourning; for war is a calamity, and therefore we ought to pray to G.o.d with all our hearts and souls for peace, for the song of the angels is: "Glory to G.o.d in the highest; and peace on earth, to men of goodwill!""
CHAPTER VI
Two months later, that is to say, toward the middle of January, John Joseph, his wife, and his daughter were seated one evening around the brazier. The sky had been covered for several days with heavy clouds that sent down their rain with a steadiness not usual in storms. The wind that came from the Levant roared as if it brought with it, to terrify Spain, the menacing howls of the savage children of Africa and the growling of its lions.
"Who knows what they may be going through now!" said Catherine, in a voice choked with emotion.
"Ah, merciful G.o.d," answered her mother, "with swamps for a floor, tents that let the water through for shelter, and the cholera killing them by hundreds, and the Moors lying in ambush for them or treacherously following them, and those eternal nights that swallow up the days! There is no strength nor courage that could bear up against so many ills."
"And that is not the worst," said John Joseph, with the thoughtless frankness of the peasant, bringing his foot heavily down on the floor and raising his eyes to heaven.
"What! There are worse things yet?" said Maria, anxious and surprised.
"Why, what else is there, John Joseph? What else? Speak out."
"Hunger!" answered her husband in a funereal voice.
"Holy Mary!" cried the poor mother in terror. "What is that you say, man?