It is, I suppose, about two hundred miles from Oviedo to Salamanca.  Not very far, you will say, but it took me two years to cover the distance.  When one travels along a high road at the age of seventeen, master of one’s actions, of an old mule, and forty ducats, one is bound to meet with adventures on the way.  I was out to see the world, and I meant to see it; my self-confidence was equalled only by my utter inexperience.  Out of my first misadventure came an extraordinary piece of good luck.  I fell into the hands of some brigands, and lost my mule and my money.  Among my fellow prisoners was a wealthy lady, Dona Mencia, of Burgos.  I helped her to escape and got away myself, and when I came to Zurgos she rewarded me very handsomely with a diamond ring and a thousand ducats.  This changed my plan of life completely.  Why should I go and study at Salamanca?  Did I want to become a priest or a pedant?  I was now sure that I didn’t.

“Gil Blas,” I said, “you are a good-looking lad, clever, well-educated, and ambitious.  Why not go to Madrid and try to get some place at the court of King Philip the Third?”

I spent sixty ducats in dressing myself out gaily in the manner of a rich cavalier, and I engaged a man of about thirty years of age to come with me as my servant.

Lamela, as he was called, was quite different from the other valets who applied for the position.  He did not demand any sum as wages.

“Only let me come with you, sir,” he said.  “I shall be content with whatever you give me.”

It seemed to me that I had got a very good servant We slept at Duengas the first night, and on the second day we arrived at Valladolid.  As I was sitting in my inn, a charming lady entered and asked to see me.

“My dear Gil Blas,” she exclaimed “Lamela has just told me of your arrival.  I am a cousin of Dona Mencia, and I received a letter from her this morning.  How brave it was of you to rescue her from those wicked brigands!  I can’t leave you in this inn.  You must come at once to my house.  My brother, Don Raphael, will be delighted to see you when he returns in an hour or two from our country castle.”

Dona Camilla, as the lady was called, led me to a great house in the best part of the town, and at the door we met Don Raphael.  “What a handsome young cavalier you are, my dear Gil Blas!” he said.  “You must make up your mind to stay with us for some weeks.”

The supper was a pleasant affair.  Dona Camilla and her brother found something to admire in everything I said, and I began to fancy myself as a wit.  It was very late when Lamela led me to my bed-room and helped me to undress.  And it was very late when I awoke next day.  I called to Lamela, but he did not come, so I arose and dressed myself and went downstairs.  To my surprise there was nobody in the house, and all my baggage had disappeared.  I looked at my hand—­the diamond ring had gone.  Then I understood why Lamela had been willing to come with me without troubling about wages.  I had fallen for a second time into the hands of thieves.  They had hired the furnished house for a week, and had trapped me in it.  It was clear that I had boasted too much at Burgos about the thousand ducats which Dona Mencia gave me.  Now I found myself at Valladolid quite penniless.