changed me," cried the stranger, "that you cannot recognise in me your
missing king, Sebastian?" He then proceeded to pour his past history
into the ears of the astonished hidalgo, narrating the chief events of
the African battle, detailing the circumstances of his own escape, and
mentioning the friends and events of his earlier life so fluently and
correctly that his listener had no hesitation in accepting him as the
true Sebastian. The news of the appearance of this pretender in Padua
soon reached Portugal, and spread with unexampled rapidity throughout
the country. Philip II. was gravely disturbed by the report, knowing
that his own rule was unpopular, and that the people would be disposed
to rally round any claimant who promised on his accession to the
throne to relieve them from the heavy burdens under which they
groaned. He therefore lost no time in forestalling any attempt to oust
him from the Portuguese sovereignty; and despatched a courier to
Venice, demanding the interference of the authorities. The governor of
Venice, anxious to please the powerful ruler of the Spanish peninsula,
issued an order for the immediate expulsion of "the man calling
himself Don Sebastian;" but the "man" had no intention of being
disposed of in this summary manner. Immediately on receipt of the
order he proceeded to Venice, presented himself at court, and declared
himself ready to prove his identity. The Spanish minister, acting upon
his instructions, denounced him as an impostor, and as a criminal who
had been guilty of heinous offences, and demanded his arrest. He was
thrown into prison; but when the charges of the Spanish minister were
investigated, they failed signally, and no crime could be proven
against him. At the solicitation of Philip, however, he was kept under
arrest, and was frequently submitted to examination by the
authorities, with a view of entrapping him into some damaging
admission. At first he answered readily, and astonished his
questioners by his intimate knowledge of the inner life of the