y, the Count of Gormaz. Diego
wept and raged at the insult put upon him and his inability to resent
it. Moved deeply by his father's grief, Rodrigo determined to avenge the
insult to the honor of his family.

Donning the discarded armor of Diego, the youth next took down from the
wall an ancient sword. This treasured weapon had once belonged to a
celebrated warrior, Mudarra, and with it that knight had avenged the
death of his seven brothers. Buckling on the good blade, Rodrigo said,--

"O valiant sword! bethink thee that mine is Mudarra's arm! Thou hast now
as great a wrong as his to right. Thou lackest thy great master's hand;
yet never shalt thou see me turn my back on a foe. Thou shalt find me
true as thy tempered steel, for thy second master, like thy first, was
not born to yield. Should the foe overmaster me, not long will I endure
the shame, but plunge thee straightway in my breast!"

Then Rodrigo sallied forth secretly from Bivar, and seeking the haughty
count, challenged him to battle. Gormaz laughed him to scorn.

"Fight thee? Thou art mad, thou silly boy. Get thee hence, or thy skin
shall suffer for thine insolence."

"Thou art no true knight," cried Rodrigo, "but a craven who dost insult
old men! If thou fight me not, all Castile shall hear of thy shameful
deed!" Many more deadly insults he added, until the enraged count
consented to fight him, expecting an easy victory over the youth. But
Rodrigo was strong as a man, and his deadly hate of the count added
vigor to his arm. Though soon wounded and bleeding, he yet parried with
skill the blows aimed at his heart, and finally, with one desperate
effort, drove the sword of Mudarra through and through the body of
Gormaz. The head of his fallen enemy Rodrigo carried home in triumph to
the proud Diego. Thus did the youthful Ruy Diaz de Bivar avenge the
wrongs of his father.

Soon after this combat with Gormaz, Rodrigo, while riding with some
companions, unexpectedly met a band of Moors. These men were returning
to Aragon from a thieving expedition into Castile, driving their
captives and stolen cattle before them. Rodrigo and his friends fell
upon this band with great fury and soon defeated the infidels; but the
prisoners taken were generously set free by their youthful captor.
Later, when Rodrigo went to the Saracen court of Saragossa, these Moors,
in return for his kindness, gave him the title of Sidy, or Said,--an
Arabic word, meaning lord, or my lord. In