h she knew she loved no one but himself,
Basilio, who was poor, and, therefore, helpless. As he nevertheless
wished them happiness, he would now remove the last obstacle to this
end.

So saying, Basilio pulled from the staff he carried and which served
as a sheath, a rapier, upon which in another instant he had thrown
himself. There he lay on the ground, bleeding profusely, the point of
the blade appearing through his back, when his many friends came
running to give him aid. Don Quixote lifted up his head, and they
found that he was still breathing. Some one suggested that they pull
out the blade, but the priest warned them not to do that before the
poor man had been given the sacrament, as the moment the rapier was
removed, death would follow.

Just then Basilio was heard to say in a weak voice that if he could
only be joined to his beloved one, he would die happy. The priest
cautioned him to think of his soul rather than of his body in these
last moments of his, but Basilio interrupted him stubbornly and said
he would not confess until this had been done. When Don Quixote heard
the dying man implore the priest to carry out his wish, he, too,
besought him, and added that under the circumstances Senor Camacho
could have nothing against marrying a widow of a man who had died so
gallantly and honorably as Basilio. Camacho heard all this, and when
Basilio's friends at the same time entreated him to think of the poor
man's soul, he consented; and as Quiteria, too, was compassionate, the
priest united them as man and wife, gave them his blessing with tears
in his eyes, and hoped that Heaven would receive the soul of the
wedded man.

But the instant the ceremony was at an end, the suicide jumped to his
feet as lightly as a deer. Some began to shout that a miracle had been
performed. But Basilio was honest and confessed that he had played a
trick; and, indeed, it seemed as if the whole thing had been planned
by the two lovers, for Quiteria said that if the marriage was not
valid, she would now confirm it anew. Some of Camacho's friends became
violent and threatened the life of Basilio, but the valiant Don
Quixote did not abandon his new-found friend; he kept them all at a
distance with his lance and his sword.

In the meantime Sancho was guarding a spot that to his mind was the
most important one there, namely where the wine-jars were standing.

When Don Quixote had made himself respected by the followers of the
rich Ca