“Come along, nina,” said the old gipsy; “say no more, you have said a great deal already, and know more than I ever taught you.  Don’t put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted; speak of things suitable to your years; and don’t set yourself on the high ropes, lest you should chance to have a fall.”

“The deuce is in these gitanas,” said the delighted lieutenant, as they were taking their leave.  The doncella of the thimble stopped them for a moment, saying to Preciosa, “Tell me my fortune, or give me back my thimble, for I have not another to work with.”

“Senora doncella,” replied Preciosa, “count upon your fortune as if it were already told, and provide yourself with another; or else sew no more gussets until I come again on Friday, when I will tell you more fortunes and adventures than you could read in any book of knight errantry.”

The gipsies went away, and falling in with numerous workwomen returning from Madrid to their villages as usual at the Ave Maria, they joined company with them, as they always did for the greater security; for the old gipsy lived in perpetual terror lest some one should run away with her granddaughter.

One morning after this as they were returning to Madrid to levy black mail along with other gitanas, in a little valley about five hundred yards from the city, they met a handsome young gentleman richly dressed; his sword and dagger were a blazo of gold; his hat was looped with a jewelled band, and was adorned with plumes of various colours.  The gitanas stopped on seeing him, and set themselves to observe his movements at their leisure, wondering much that so fine a cavalier should be alone and on foot in such a place at that early hour.  He came up to them, and addressing the eldest gitana, said, “On your life, friend, I entreat you do me the favour to let me say two words in private to you and Preciosa.  It shall be for your good.”

“With all my heart,” said the old woman, “so you do not take us much out of our way, or delay us long;” and calling Preciosa, they withdrew to some twenty paces distance, where they stopped, and the young gentleman thus addressed them:  “I am so subdued by the wit and beauty of Preciosa, that after having in vain endeavoured to overcome my admiration, I have at last found the effort impossible.  I, senoras (for I shall always give you that title if heaven favours my pretensions), am a knight, as this dress may show you;” and opening his cloak he displayed the insignia of one of the highest orders in Spain; “I am the son of——­” (here he mentioned a personage whose name we suppress for obvious reasons), “and am still under tutelage and command.  I am an only son, and expect to inherit a considerable estate.  My father is here in the capital, looking for a certain post which by all accounts he is on the point of obtaining.  Being then of the rank and condition which I have declared to you, I should yet wish to be a great lord for the