on't swear, then let
him not come in here."

"Tell you what," said Guiomar, the negress, in her broken jargon,
"s'ppose him no swear, let him in all the same, in devil's name; for
s'ppose him swear, once him in, him forget eberyting."

Loaysa listened very demurely to the Senora Marialonso's harangue, and
replied with great gravity, "Be assured, ladies, my charming sisters and
companions, my intention never was, is, or shall be other than to
gratify and content you to the utmost of my powers; and therefore I make
no difficulty with regard to this oath which is required of me, though I
could have wished that some confidence had been reposed in my simple
word, which, given by such a person as I am, would have been as good as
a bond signed and sealed; for I would have you to know, ladies, that
under a bad cloak there is often a good drinker. But to the end that you
may all be assured of my upright intentions, I will take the oath as a
catholic and a man of parts. I swear then by the immaculate efficacy,
wherever it abides in greatest sanctity and fulness, by all the
entrances and exits of the holy mount Libanus, and by all that is
contained in the preface to the true history of Charlemagne, with the
death of the giant Fierabras, not to swerve or depart from the oath I
have taken, or from the commands which may be laid upon me by the least
of these ladies, under penalty, should I do otherwise, or attempt to do
otherwise, that from this time forth till then, and from thenceforth
till now, the same shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever."

When honest Loaysa had got so far in his oath, one of the young maidens,
who had listened to him with wrapt attention, cried out, "Well, if that
is not what you may call an oath! it is enough to melt the heart of a
stone. Plague take me if you shall swear any more for me; for after
such an oath as that you might enter the very cave of Cabra." So saying,
she caught hold of him by the breeches, and drew him within the door,
where the rest immediately gathered close round him. One of them ran off
with the news to her mistress, who stood watching her husband; and who,
when she heard that the musico was actually within doors, was moved
almost at the same moment by joy and fear, and hurriedly asked if he had
sworn. The girl told her he had done so, and with the most singular form
of oath she had ever heard in her life.

"Well, since he has sworn, we have him fast," said Leonora. "O