at he had been
forced to bear away with his shattered ships to Cape Metafuz, whither he
advised the emperor to march with all speed, as the skies were still
threatening and the tempest might be renewed.

The emperor was now in a fearful quandary. Metafuz was at least three
days' march away. All the food that had been brought ashore was consumed.
The soldiers, worn out with fatigue, were in no condition for such a
journey. Yet it was impossible to stay where they were. There was no need
of deliberation; no choice was left; their only hope of safety lay in
instant movement.

The sick, wounded, and feeble were placed in the centre, the stronger in
front and rear, and the disastrous march began. Some of the men could
hardly bear the weight of their arms; others, worn out with toiling
through the nearly impassable roads, lay down and died; many perished from
hunger and exhaustion, there being no food but roots and berries gathered
by the way and the flesh of horses killed by the emperor's order; many
were drowned in the streams, swollen by the severe rains; many were killed
by the enemy, who followed and harassed them throughout the march. The
late gallant army was a bedraggled and miserable fragment when the
survivors at length reached Metafuz. Fortunately the storm was at an end,
and they were able to obtain from the ships the provisions of which they
stood so sorely in need.

The calamities which attended this unlucky expedition were not yet at an
end. No sooner had the soldiers embarked than a new storm arose, less
violent than the former, but sufficient to scatter the ships to right and
left, some making port in Spain, some in Italy, all seeking such harbors
of refuge as they could find. The emperor, after passing through great
perils, was driven to the port of Bugia in Africa, where contrary winds
held him prisoner for several weeks. He at length reached Spain, to find
the whole land in dismay at the fate of the gallant expedition, which had
set out with such high hopes of success. To the end of his reign Charles
V. had no further aspirations for conquest in Africa.

AN EMPEROR RETIRED FROM BUSINESS.

In October of the year 1555 a strange procession passed through a rugged
and hilly region of Spain. At its head rode an alcalde with a posse of
alguazils. Next came a gouty old man in a horse-litter, like a prisoner in
the hands of a convoy of officers of justice. A body of horsemen followed,
and in the rea