confidence
in the magnitude of my service, I shall leave the reward entirely to
your generosity,--and now listen. At midnight you must be with Theodora
at the extremity of _El cerro de los Martires_;[41] the distance is
short from Granada, and can therefore soon be traversed. There I will
wait for you, and there you may likewise meet the noble Moor that
employs me."

"I am resolved," cried Gomez Arias. "Yes, I will meet you at midnight
then"--and rising, he was about to withdraw, when the renegade gently
detaining him--

"Stay," he said; "I must have a pledge to present to my master."

"What dost thou demand?" asked Don Lope.

"That ring," returned Bermudo, pointing to one that sparkled on the hand
of Gomez Arias.

"I cannot part with this gem; it is a bauble, but one I must preserve;
ask for another boon three times as valuable, and it shall be granted
thee."

"One does not hinder the other," said the renegade, dissembling. "Think
you, Don Lope, that the difficulty from which I disentangle you merits
no other reward than a paltry ring? I must have it for a pledge, and it
shall be returned in due time for gold."

Gomez Arias cast a look of contempt on the Moor, who, thoroughly
prepared for his part, most efficaciously assumed the appearance of the
mercenary he was then undertaking to personate.

"Well, what is it you resolve," he cried, with a malicious smile--"to
part with a ring, or keep the woman you detest?"

"Take it!" disdainfully replied Gomez Arias, throwing the required
pledge on the ground.

The renegade humbly inclined himself to take it; but he could not so
completely master his feelings as not to betray some marks of the
pleasure he felt at the possession of so precious a gage. Gomez Arias,
however, erroneously attributed these symptoms to the avaricious
disposition of the wretch who appeared willing to undertake any service
for gold. He again cast a contemptuous glance on the Moor, and making a
sign to Roque, abruptly left the place. The renegade gave a loose to the
joy which swelled tumultuously in his bosom; he kissed the ring with
wild demonstrations of pleasure, and looking in the direction that Gomez
Arias was gone--

"Now," he exclaimed, "my time is coming, and soon, proud Spaniard, wilt
thou feel the power of thy bitterest enemy."

CHAPTER XII.

Cielos en que ha se parar
Tan dificultosa empresa?

_Lope de Vega._

Quoi! tant de p