harquebus and fired. The great bay steed which bore Sir Mortimer Ferne
reared, screamed, then fell, hurling its rider to earth, where he lay,
senseless, stark in black armor, with a knot of rose-colored velvet in
his crest.

No hawk like De Guardiola was Pedro Mexia, but when luck pinioned his
prey his talons were strong to close upon it. Now on the instant he
wheeled, swooped with all his might upon the disordered vanguard of the
English. Baldry and those with him fought madly, the English on foot
made all haste; the prostrate figure, pinned beneath the dying bay,
became the centre of a wild melee, the hotly contested prize of friend
and foe! Then burst from the tunal, came at a run down the hill,
re-enforcements for Mexia....

Erelong, Don Luiz de Guardiola sent to inform Sir John Nevil that he had
for his prisoner one of the latter's captains. It appeared to the
Governor of Nueva Cordoba that the English held the man in some
esteem,--perchance even that he was their leader's close friend. Sir
John Nevil would understand that to a Spanish soldier and good son of
the Church the prisoner was, inevitably, mere pirate and heretic, to be
dealt with as such.

To this announcement John Nevil returned curt answer. Nueva Cordoba lay
in the hollow of his hand, and at his disposal were some Spanish lives
perhaps not altogether valueless in the eyes of Don Luiz de Guardiola,
since their kindred and friends and Spain herself might hold him
responsible for their sudden and piteous taking off.

When an hour had dragged itself away the fortress spoke again, and its
speech was of a piece with the Governor's mind. The peril of the town