hen he was brought before him, 'let me hear
your answers, or I will have you shot this day.' 'Your Majesty,' said the
herdsman, 'I think I can do it. If you were to set a million of children
to playing among the snow of the Sierra Nevada, they would soon clear it
all away; and if you were to dig a ditch as wide and as deep as all Spain,
you would make the sea that much smaller,' 'But,' said the King, 'that
makes only two questions; there are two more yet,' 'I think I can answer
those, also,' said the herdsman: 'the moon contains four quarters, and
therefore weighs only one arroba; and as for the last question, it is not
even a single league to the Land of Heavenly Glory--for, if your Majesty
were to die after breakfast, you would get there before you had an
appetite for dinner,' 'Well done! said the King; and he then made him
Count, and Marquez, and I don't know how many other titles. In the
meantime, Don Pedro without Fear and without Care had died of his fright;
and, as he left no family, the herdsman took possession of all his
estates, and, until the day of his death, was called Don Pedro without
Fear and without Care."

I write, sitting by the grated window of this lonely inn, looking out on
the meadows of the Guadaljorce. The chain of mountains which rises to the
west of Malaga is purpled by the light of the setting sun, and the houses
and Castle of Carlama hang on its side, in full view. Further to the
right, I see the smoke of Monda, where one of the greatest battles of
antiquity was fought--that which overthrew the sons of Pompey, and gave
the Roman Empire to Caesar. The mozo of the venta is busy, preparing my kid
and rice, and Jose is at his elbow, gently suggesting ingredients which
may give the dish a richer flavor. The landscape is softened by the hush
of coming evening; a few birds are still twittering among the bushes, and
the half-moon grows whiter and clearer in mid-heaven. The people about me
are humble, but appear honest and peaceful, and nothing indicates that I
am in the wild _Serrania de Ronda_, the country of robbers,
contrabandistas, and assassins.

Chapter XXXVII.

The Mountains of Ronda.

Orange Valleys--Climbing the Mountains--Jose's Hospitality--El
Burgo--The Gate of the Wind--The Cliff and Cascades of Ronda--The
Mountain Region--Traces of the Moors--Haunts of Robbers--A Stormy
Ride--The Inn at Gaucin--Bad News--A Boyish Auxiliary--Descent from the
Mountains--The Ford o