"Manoel! Manoel!" who soon showed himself in the shape of a young
clown, crawling out from behind a heap of straw in a neighboring shed,
and who was ordered to assist in unloading the mules and taking care
of the horses.

Tired and thirsty, and glad to find shelter, the ladies entered the
house, where they were met by two young women, unmistakably the
daughters of the host. Their sparkling eyes and coal-black hair, their
round faces and regular features, were like his; and they were only
less swarthy, from being less exposed to the sun. Their dress was in
fashion, but commonly worn by the peasant women--the jacket and
petticoat--but smarter, and of more costly stuffs than usual. Their
feet, too, were bare, but small and well-formed, betraying little
indurating familiarity with the rough paths around them.

Had they preserved their pedigree, this family would have found many
an ancestor among the Lusitanian Moors, and afforded the most striking
among the many proofs the travelers had met with, that many a
Mohammedan, when the crescent waned before the cross, had preferred
his country to his faith. The girls were for a while abashed at the
presence of the strangers; but, with a hospitality spurred on by
curiosity, soon recovered themselves, and encumbered the ladies with
their attentions. Strangers they seldom saw, and these outlandish
ladies were as strange to them as if they had dropped from the moon.
Under pretence of assisting the travelers to rid themselves of their
outer garment of dust, they examined the texture and fashion of their
dresses, veils and gloves, spread out Lady Mabel's shawl to admire the
pattern, and asked more questions than she could answer or understand.
They were closely inspecting the rings on her fingers, and wondering
at the whiteness of her hand, when their father coming in, rebuked