exultant; and what it will not win for you in the wars, that shall
be won for you by your mandolin, for you have a way with it that
goes well with the old airs of Spain. And choose, my son, rather a
moonlight night when you sing under those curved balconies that I
knew, ah me, so well; for there is much advantage in the moon. In
the first place maidens see in the light of the moon, especially
in the Spring, more romance than you might credit, for it adds for
them a mystery to the darkness which the night has not when it is
merely black. And if any statue should gleam on the grass near by,
or if the magnolia be in blossom, or even the nightingale singing,
or if anything be beautiful in the night, in any of these things
also there is advantage; for a maiden will attribute to her lover
all manner of things that are not his at all, but are only
outpourings from the hand of God. There is this advantage also in
the moon, that, if interrupters come, the moonlight is better
suited to the play of a blade than the mere darkness of night;
indeed but the merry play of my sword in the moonlight was often a
joy to see, it so flashed, so danced, so sparkled. In the
moonlight also one makes no unworthy stroke, but hath scope for
those fair passes that Sevastiani taught, which were long ago the
wonder of Madrid."

The old lord paused, and breathed for a little space, as it were
gathering breath for his last words to his son. He breathed
deliberately, then spoke again. "I leave you," he said, "well
content that you have the two accomplishments, my son, that are
most needful in a Christian man, skill with the sword and a way
with the mandolin. There be other arts indeed among the heathen,
for the world is wide and hath full many customs, but these two
alone are needful." And then with that grand manner that they had