With  chocolate  and  comfits,  pressing  us
To  eat.     Ines  told  her  I  needed  rest ;
And  the  kind  mistress  of  the  house  replied
That  all  she  had  was  mine,  and  her  own  bed
She  offered  me  to  rest  in  till  restored
With  sleep.     And  while  the  couch  was  being  laid,
Ines  told  me  her  story  thus :  "  You  see,
By  her  blue  eyes,*  that  Marta  is  of  kin
To  none  of  us ;  she's  of  a  northern  tribe
Settled  in  the  Sierra,  to  replace
The  banished  races  and  the  ravages
Of  wars  that  had  dispeopled  all  these  lands.
Now  Marta  was  the  very  prettiest  girl
In  all  the  Sierra.     In  her  sixteenth  year
Her  parents  died,  father  and  mother  both
In  that  same  year.     She  was  their  only  child.
Her  father's  cousin  then  as  guardian  came,
And  took  her  to  Madrid ;  against  her  will
She  placed  her  in  a  convent.     The  pretence
Was  education,  but  the  real  intent
Was  to  immure  her  there  till  she  professed
And  took  the  veil.     But  Marta  liked  it  not ;
Freedom  is  sweet  to  all  the  blue-eyed  race,
And  the  young  maidens  of  this  mountain  district
Prefer  to  share  their  gold  and  their  estates
With  husbands  rather  than  religious  houses.
*  Appendix  F.
MARIQUITA.  113

We  aided  her  escape  from  those  grim  walls ;
We  aided  her  concealment  in  the  Sierra,
In  humble  guise.     But  she  was  beautiful,
And  the  young  labrador  that  courted  her,
Married  her  for  her  beauty,  not  for  gain.
Her  guardian  now  is  dead,  and  she  enjoys
Not  only  all  her  own  inheritance,
But  all  her  guardian  had ;  so  they  are  rich,
And  Marta's  kindness  to  us  never  fails.
So  now  be  sure  you  have  a  friend  in  her.
