st, and not quite so much of
the second."

"Thou art a pleasant sort of a fool, Roque," said Gomez Arias, as he
leisurely twirled round his curling jet-black mustachios, and with much
complacency eyed his fine figure in a mirror.

"Thank you, Sir," replied the valet, with a low bow; "but be pleased to
consider, that the good opinion you entertain of my talents is
unfortunately no adequate compensation for the privations and numberless
perils which I undergo in your service. To continue, then, the list
of----"

"My faults!" interrupted his master.

"I only say of my complaints," returned the valet: "next to your being a
gamester, what I most deprecate is, your military profession, and the
fame which you have acquired by your bravery."

"Good heavens!" cried Gomez Arias, "why thou art precisely complaining
of the qualities that most become a gentleman."

"But I am no gentleman," pertinently observed Roque; "and I cannot
imagine why I should be exposed to the dangers attendant on heroes,
without likewise reaping their rewards."

"I glory in being a soldier," exclaimed Don Lope, a sudden burst of
martial enthusiasm glowing on his manly countenance.--"Yes, I have laid
low many of the enemies of my country; and before I die I hope often to
try my good sword against those accursed and rebellious Moors of the
Alpujarras."

"All that is very fine, certainly," said Roque; "but do you know, Senor,
that I do not consider the country so much indebted to you, as no doubt
you most complacently imagine."

"What!" cried the cavalier, with looks of displeasure.

"Pray be temperate, Don Lope; I do not mean to offend. You have
unquestionably done great services to Spain, by ridding her of many an
unbelieving Moor; but reflect, Sir, that your sword has not been less
fatal to Christian blood. In battle you hew down infidels to your
soul's content, and in the intervals of peace, to keep you in practice,
I suppose, you take no less care to send the bravest of her majesty's
warriors to the grave. Now put this in the balance, and let us consider
whether the country does not suffer more by your duels in peace, than
she actually gains by your courage in war. But now comes the most
terrible of all your peccadilloes--of all my complaints, I mean."

"And which is that, pray?"

"The invincible propensity you have for intrigue, and the no less
unfortunate attendant upon it--inconstancy."

"Inconstancy!" exclaimed Gomez Arias. "How shou