all was peace.

CHAPTER XV.

MONTSERRAT.

Early rising--Imp of darkness--Death warrant--The men who
fail--Ranges of Montserrat--Sabadell--Labour and romance--The
Llobregat--Monistrol--Summer resort--Sleeping village--Empty
letter-bags--Ascending--Splendid view--Romantic element--Charms of
antiquity--Human interests--Mons Serratus--A man of
letters--_Solitude a deux_--Fellow travellers--Substantial
lady-merchant--Resignation--Military policeman--"Nameless here for
evermore"--Round man in square hole--Romantic history--_Cherchez la
femme_--Woman a divinity--Good name the best inheritance--No
fighting against the stars--Fascinations of astrology--Love and
fortune--Too good to last--Taste for pleasure--Ruin--Sad end--Truth
reasserts itself--Fortune smiles again--Ceylon--Philosophical in
misfortune--A windfall--Approaching Montserrat--Paradise of the
monks--Romance and beauty--New order of things--Gipsy encampment.

We rose early one morning for the purpose of visiting Montserrat the
sublime, the magnificent, and the romantic.

Early as it was, Barcelona was by no means in a state of repose. Many of
its people never seemed to go to bed at all, and some of its shops never
closed. If we looked out upon the world at midnight, at three in the
morning, or at five, Bodegas selling wine and bread were open to
customers. The Rambla was never quite deserted. Before daylight trams
began to run to and fro; the street cries soon swelled to a chorus.

Early rising is not always agreeable when wandering about the world in
search of the picturesque. Perhaps you have gone to bed late overnight,
tired out with running to and fro. Energy is only half-restored when an
imp of darkness enters, lights your candles, and pronounces a
death-warrant. "It is five o'clock, senor. Those who wish to catch the
train must get up."

You think it only five minutes since you fell asleep. "Two o'clock, not
five," cries a drowsy voice. "You have waked me too soon."

"As you please, senor. Not for me to contradict you."

The imp retires. If, like Mrs. Major O'Dowd, you carry a _repater_, you
strike it. Five o'clock, sure enough, and ten minutes towards six.
Nothing for it but to yield. Not as a certain friend who once bribed
another imp of darkness with half-a-crown to wake him at five o'clock.
The half-crown was duly earned. "Another half-crown if you let me sleep
on until