Three hundred shields were piercéd through—no steel the shock might stay;—
Three hundred hauberks were torn off in that encounter sore;
Three hundred snow-white pennons were crimson-dyed in gore;
Three hundred chargers wandered loose—their lords were overthrown;
The Christians cry 'St. 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."
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
- ↑ King Charles the Fifth was at this time King of Spain, and had just been elected Emperor of Germany.
