"'Nay, but it does not please my Gracious Majesty to have four fools for judges,' he said. 'Liars! Can you not see that there are but five?' and he raised two of the halves and held them together. 'Know, oh, unjust judges,' he said, sternly, 'that the king's servants must see more than the surface of things if they are to conduct that portion of the realm which it is their business to attend to, and since you cannot tell a half from a whole, perchance that is the reason of the tales I hear of your ill-dealings with the property of some of my subjects!' "He ordered them to be beheaded and their places filled with better men, and the poor people whom they had defrauded had their property restored to them. There are many other stories of King Pedro which are not pleasant to tell, and it is good to remember that he sometimes did kind things." "Thank you," said Fernando. "What is the Alcazar where the gardens were?" "It is a very remarkable place, and when you go to Sevilla you will see it. At first, hundreds of years ago, when the Romans were in Spain, it was the house of Cæsar; afterward the Moors turned it into a fortress, and it is a perfect example of Moorish work. Don Pedro rebuilt it, and spent a great deal of money upon it, making it the most beautiful palace in all Spain. All manner of things happened there, among them the murder of Don Pedro's half-brother, Don Fadrique, who he was afraid would lay claim to the throne. "But here come your mother and Juanita, and I think your rest time is about over. Go and play, and tell Manuel we return at four o'clock, so you must be on time." So Fernando spent a delightful afternoon in the orange grove, and drove home through the cool twilight, passing the _paseo_ just as the band was playing the _Marche Real_, the national song, which he hummed until he went to bed. [Illustration: Music] CHAPTER IV. AT THE ALHAMBRA "_Mi madre_," cried Fernando, rushing into the house one day in October, "to-day is the feast-day of the head master, and we have a holiday. May I have permission to go to the hill to see Antonio?" "Not by yourself, my son," replied his mother, and Fernando said, hastily, "Oh, no, _madre mia_, Manuel says that he will take me if you will permit me, and, if Juanita's nurse could be spared, we could take the _niña_, as she has never been there, and that would give her pleasure." "Let me see," his mother paused a moment, "the day is fine. This morning I am busy, but after luncheon I will drive thither with the little one, and leave you for an hour while I go on to the villa of the Señora Sanchez; but you must be a good boy, and mind Manuel."