nnot
be more than nineteen."

"Not more than nineteen!" returned Sebastien, opening the said eyes very
wide. "Why, senor, I am twenty-three, going on for twenty-four. I know I
look young, and do what I will I can't help it, and can't make myself
look any older. I have tried hard to grow a moustache, but it is only
just beginning to sprout."

He laughed, and we laughed with him, for the down upon his upper lip was
of the most elementary description. He looked youthful in every way, but
we cheered him with the reflection that it was a fault time would
inevitably rectify.

"I have one consolation," he said. "At the fonda I get as much
black-pudding as I want--once a week; in the army they don't give
black-pudding at all. So if I have lost something, I have gained
something too."

"Sebastien, we are ashamed of you! Would you sacrifice your birthright
for a mess of pottage?"

"What does the senor mean?" asked Sebastien, looking puzzled.

"Have you never heard of Esau?"

"Never, senor. Was he a Spaniard or an Englishman? And was he, too, fond
of black-pudding?"

It was impossible to help laughing; but we passed over the question,
feeling that a course of Bible history begun on the bridge would come to
an untimely end. So we left him to his ignorance and his preference for
black-pudding, passed away from the canal, the old bridge and ancient
outlines, and climbed about the steep decayed streets. The rain poured
through the water-spouts, and every now and then we came in for an
unwelcome shower-bath. This highly amused Sebastien, who never enjoyed
the fun more than when he himself was victim.

Suddenly we found ourselves confronted by one of those views which come
upon one as a revelation of what nature sometimes accomplishes. We had
seen nothing equal to it, nothing to resemble it since the days of
Segovia. In sunshine the likeness might have been still more striking.

We had passed by a steep descent into the lower part of the town and
stood upon the hill side. To our right rose the great collegiate church
of La Seo, crowning a massive and majestic rock. Houses stretched far
down the slopes, and the church rose above them in magnificent outlines.
It was built of yellow greystone that harmonised wonderfully with the
grey skies. For the time being these had ceased to weep, and everything
was bathed in a thin mist, which rolled and curled about and threw a
wonderful romance and glamour over the scene, especially ref