To which the youth replied, also in Spanish, "I am neither Turk, norMoor, nor renegade."
"What art thou, then?" said the viceroy.
"A Christian woman," replied the youth.
"A woman and a Christian, in such a dress and in such circumstances!It is more marvellous than credible," said the viceroy.
"Suspend the execution of the sentence," said the youth; "yourvengeance will not lose much by waiting while I tell you the storyof my life."
What heart could be so hard as not to he softened by these words, atany rate so far as to listen to what the unhappy youth had to say? Thegeneral bade him say what he pleased, but not to expect pardon for hisflagrant offence. With this permission the youth began in these words.
"Born of Morisco parents, I am of that nation, more unhappy thanwise, upon which of late a sea of woes has poured down. In thecourse of our misfortune I was carried to Barbary by two uncles ofmine, for it was in vain that I declared I was a Christian, as in factI am, and not a mere pretended one, or outwardly, but a trueCatholic Christian. It availed me nothing with those charged withour sad expatriation to protest this, nor would my uncles believeit; on the contrary, they treated it as an untruth and a subterfugeset up to enable me to remain behind in the land of my birth; andso, more by force than of my own will, they took me with them. I had aChristian mother, and a father who was a man of sound sense and aChristian too; I imbibed the Catholic faith with my mother's milk, Iwas well brought up, and neither in word nor in deed did I, I think,show any sign of being a Morisco. To accompany these virtues, for suchI hold them, my beauty, if I possess any, grew with my growth; andgreat as was the seclusion in which I lived it was not so great butthat a young gentleman, Don Gaspar Gregorio by name, eldest son of agentleman who is lord of a village near ours, contrived to findopportunities of seeing me. How he saw me, how we met, how his heartwas lost to me, and mine not kept from him, would take too long totell, especially at a moment when I am in dread of the cruel cord thatthreatens me interposing between tongue and throat; I will only say,therefore, that Don Gregorio chose to accompany me in ourbanishment. He joined company with the Moriscoes who were goingforth from other villages, for he knew their language very well, andon the voyage he struck up a friendship with my two uncles who werecarrying me with them; for my father, like a wise and far-sighted man,as soon as he heard the first edict for our expulsion, quitted thevillage and departed in quest of some refuge for us abroad. He lefthidden and buried, at a spot of which I alone have knowledge, alarge quantity of pearls and precious stones of great value,together with a sum of money in gold cruzadoes and doubloons. Hecharged me on no account to touch the treasure, if by any chancethey expelled us before his return. I obeyed him, and with myuncles, as I have said, and others of our kindred and neighbours,passed over to Barbary, and the place where we took up our abode wasAlgiers, much the same as if we had taken it up in hell itself. Theking heard of my beauty, and report told him of my wealth, which wasin some degree fortunate for me. He summoned me before him, andasked me what part of Spain I came from, and what money and jewels Ihad. I mentioned the place, and told him the jewels and money wereburied there; but that they might easily be recovered if I myself wentback for them. All this I told him, in dread lest my beauty and nothis own covetousness should influence him. While he was engaged inconversation with me, they brought him word that in company with mewas one of the handsomest and most graceful youths that could beimagined. I knew at once that they were speaking of Don GasparGregorio, whose comeliness surpasses the most highly vaunted beauty. Iwas troubled when I thought of the danger he was in, for among thosebarbarous Turks a fair youth is more esteemed than a woman, be sheever so beautiful. The king immediately ordered him to be broughtbefore him that he might see him, and asked me if what they said aboutthe youth was true. I then, almost as if inspired by heaven, toldhim it was, but that I would have him to know it was not a man, buta woman like myself, and I entreated him to allow me to go and dressher in the attire proper to her, so that her beauty might be seen toperfection, and that she might present herself before him with lessembarrassment. He bade me go by all means, and said that the nextday we should discuss the plan to be adopted for my return to Spain tocarry away the hidden treasure. I saw Don Gaspar, I told him thedanger he was in if he let it be seen he was a man, I dressed him as aMoorish woman, and that same afternoon I brought him before theking, who was charmed when he saw him, and resolved to keep the damseland make a present of her to the Grand Signor; and to avoid the riskshe might run among the women of his seraglio, and distrustful ofhimself, he commanded her to be placed in the house of some Moorishladies of rank who would protect and attend to her; and thither he wastaken at once. What we both suffered （for I cannot deny that I lovehim） may be left to the imagination of those who are separated if theylove one an. other dearly. The king then arranged that I should returnto Spain in this brigantine, and that two Turks, those who killed yoursoldiers, should accompany me. There also came with me this Spanishrenegade"- and here she pointed to him who had first spoken- "whom Iknow to be secretly a Christian, and to be more desirous of being leftin Spain than of returning to Barbary. The rest of the crew of thebrigantine are Moors and Turks, who merely serve as rowers. The twoTurks, greedy and insolent, instead of obeying the orders we had toland me and this renegade in Christian dress （with which we cameprovided） on the first Spanish ground we came to, chose to run alongthe coast and make some prize if they could, fearing that if theyput us ashore first, we might, in case of some accident befallingus, make it known that the brigantine was at sea, and thus, if therehappened to be any galleys on the coast, they might be taken. Wesighted this shore last night, and knowing nothing of these galleys,we were discovered, and the result was what you have seen. To sumup, there is Don Gregorio in woman's dress, among women, in imminentdanger of his life; and here am I, with hands bound, in expectation,or rather in dread, of losing my life, of which I am already weary.Here, sirs, ends my sad story, as true as it is unhappy; all I askof you is to allow me to die like a Christian, for, as I havealready said, I am not to be charged with the offence of which thoseof my nation are guilty;" and she stood silent, her eyes filled withmoving tears, accompanied by plenty from the bystanders. Theviceroy, touched with compassion, went up to her without speakingand untied the cord that bound the hands of the Moorish girl.
But all the while the Morisco Christian was telling her strangestory, an elderly pilgrim, who had come on board of the galley atthe same time as the viceroy, kept his eyes fixed upon her; and theinstant she ceased speaking he threw himself at her feet, andembracing them said in a voice broken by sobs and sighs, "O Ana Felix,my unhappy daughter, I am thy father Ricote, come back to look forthee, unable to live without thee, my soul that thou art!"
At these words of his, Sancho opened his eyes and raised his head,which he had been holding down, brooding over his unlucky excursion;and looking at the pilgrim he recognised in him that same Ricote hemet the day he quitted his government, and felt satisfied that thiswas his daughter. She being now unbound embraced her father,mingling her tears with his, while he addressing the general and theviceroy said, "This, sirs, is my daughter, more unhappy in heradventures than in her name. She is Ana Felix, surnamed Ricote,celebrated as much for her own beauty as for my wealth. I quitted mynative land in search of some shelter or refuge for us abroad, andhaving found one in Germany I returned in this pilgrim's dress, in thecompany of some other German pilgrims, to seek my daughter and take upa large quantity of treasure I had left buried. My daughter I didnot find, the treasure I found and have with me; and now, in thisstrange roundabout way you have seen, I find the treasure that morethan all makes me rich, my beloved daughter. If our innocence andher tears and mine can with strict justice open the door toclemency, extend it to us, for we never had any intention ofinjuring you, nor do we sympathise with the aims of our people, whohave been justly banished."
"I know Ricote well," said Sancho at this, "and I know too that whathe says about Ana Felix being his daughter is true; but as to thoseother particulars about going and coming, and having good or badintentions, I say nothing."
While all present stood amazed at this strange occurrence thegeneral said, "At any rate your tears will not allow me to keep myoath; live, fair Ana Felix, all the years that heaven has allottedyou; but these rash insolent fellows must pay the penalty of the crimethey have committed;" and with that he gave orders to have the twoTurks who had killed his two soldiers hanged at once at theyard-arm. The viceroy, however, begged him earnestly not to hang them,as their behaviour savoured rather of madness than of bravado. Thegeneral yielded to the viceroy's request, for revenge is not easilytaken in cold blood. They then tried to devise some scheme forrescuing Don Gaspar Gregorio from the danger in which he had beenleft. Ricote offered for that object more than two thousand ducatsthat he had in pearls and gems; they proposed several plans, butnone so good as that suggested by the renegade already mentioned,who offered to return to Algiers in a small vessel of about six banks,manned by Christian rowers, as he knew where, how, and when he couldand should land, nor was he ignorant of the house in which DonGaspar was staying. The general and the viceroy had some hesitationabout placing confidence in the renegade and entrusting him with theChristians who were to row, but Ana Felix said she could answer forhim, and her father offered to go and pay the ransom of the Christiansif by any chance they should not be forthcoming. This, then, beingagreed upon, the viceroy landed, and Don Antonio Moreno took thefair Morisco and her father home with him, the viceroy charging him togive them the best reception and welcome in his power, while on hisown part he offered all that house contained for theirentertainment; so great was the good-will and kindliness the beauty ofAna Felix had infused into his heart.