e. For never shalt thou be
conquered, but ever victorious; for God grants thee His blessing. So
rest thee well and do ever the right." And so Rodrigo prayed until
morning, and then went on his way rejoicing.

Meanwhile the day came, on which the combat was to be fought between the
Cid and a knight of Aragon, to decide whether the city of Calahorra
should belong to the King of Castile or the King of Aragon. The two
kings, with a splendid company of nobles, had taken places to watch the
combat, the lists were all prepared, and the heralds stood ready to give
the signal; but the Cid did not appear. Very uneasy was King Fernando at
the absence of his champion. A cousin of the tardy knight offered to
take his place, and was about to mount and enter the lists, when the Cid
came spurring up in hot haste. Leaping from his tired horse, he sprang
upon the steed that stood ready, and, wasting no time in words, lowered
his lance and charged fiercely on his waiting adversary. The two met
with a shock that shivered the lances. Both knights were badly wounded,
but they drew their swords and prepared to fight on. The knight of
Aragon now thought to frighten the Cid, and exclaimed boastfully,--

"Right sorely shalt thou rue that thou hast come into this place with
me, for never shalt thou return alive to Castile!"

But Rodrigo was not at all troubled by the threat.

[Illustration: The Knighting of the Cid]

"Don Martin Gonzales," he replied coolly, "thou art a good knight, but
such words befit not this place. We must fight with our hands, and not
with empty words." And grasping his sword, he suddenly brought it down
on the helmet of his foe with such tremendous force that it wellnigh
drove the head of Gonzales down to the neck of his steed. The knight of
Aragon, however, was a stout fighter, and rallying from the shock, he
dealt a blow that cut through the edge of the Cid's shield. So firmly
fixed was the sword that, when drawn back, it brought the shield with
it. Enraged at this loss, the Cid cut his adversary fiercely across the
face; but Gonzales, though bleeding copiously, still fought on bravely.
Only after a long, fierce fight did the Champion unhorse and slay this
valiant knight. Then the umpires announced that the Cid had conquered,
and so won the good city of Calahorra for his king.

After this Rodrigo did such valiant service to King Fernando at the
siege of Coimbra, a city of Portugal, that he was there formally dubbed