James for Spain!' the Moormen
cry 'Mahoun!' "
Theresa applauded her little brother's eloquent recitation, and
thought him a very smart boy; but she said rather sadly: "I fear
me it will not be that way, my Pedro; for martyrdom means, as
mother has told us, the giving up of our life rather than bow to
the false faith of the Infidel, and thus to save our souls and
have a crown of glory."
"The crown would be very nice, I suppose, sister," said practical
young Pedro, "especially if it was all so fine as the one they
say the young King Carlos[1] wears--Emperor, too, now, is he not?
Could we be emperors, too, sister, if we were martyrs, and had
each a crown? But we must be crusaders first, I suppose. Come,
let us go at once."
[1] King Charles the Fifth was at this time King of Spain, and
had just been elected Emperor of Germany.
The road from granite-walled Avila to the south is across a wild
and desolate waste, frowned down upon on either hand by the
savage crests of the grim sierras of the Guadarrama. It winds
along gorges and ravines and rocky river-beds, and has always
been, even in the days of Spanish power and glory, about as
untamed and savagely picturesque a road as one could well
imagine.
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