E-text prepared by Delphine Lettau, Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) THE FIREBRAND by S. R. CROCKETT London Macmillan and Co., Limited New York: The Macmillan Company 1901 All rights reserved Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London and Beccles. Copyright in the United States of America by S. R. Crockett, 1901. CONTENTS I. THE MAKING OF AN OUTLAW II. THE MAN WITHOUT A FRIEND III. COCK O' THE NORTH IV. A LITTLE COMB-CUTTING V. THE ABBEY OF MONTBLANCH VI. BROTHER HILARIO VII. THE ABBOT'S DINNER VIII. SANCTUARY IX. THE SHADOW OF THE DESTROYER X. A MAN AND HIS PRICE XI. CARTEL OF DEFIANCE XII. THE CRYING OF A YOUNG CHILD XIII. DON TOMAS DIGS A GRAVE XIV. THE HOLY INNOCENTS XV. ROLLO INTERVENES XVI. DON LUIS IS WILLING XVII. A GRAVE IRREGULARITY XVIII. A FLUTTER OF RED AND WHITE XIX. SIGNALS OF STORM XX. THE BUTCHER OF TORTOSA XXI. TO BE SHOT AT SUNRISE! XXII. HIS MOTHER'S ROSARY XXIII. THE BURNING OF THE MILL-HOUSE XXIV. HOW TO BECOME A SOLDIER XXV. THE MISSION OF THE SENORITA CONCHA XXVI. DEEP ROMANY XXVII. THE SERGEANT AND LA GIRALDA XXVIII. THE DEAD AND THE LIVING XXIX. A LITTLE QUEEN AT HOME XXX. PALACE BURGLARS XXXI. THE QUEEN'S ANTE-CHAMBER XXXII. LIKE A FALLING STAR XXXIII. CONCHA WAITS FOR THE MORNING XXXIV. OUR ROLLO TO THE RESCUE XXXV. THE EXECUTIONER OF SALAMANCA XXXVI. THE DEATH-CART XXXVII. THE DEAD STAND SENTINEL XXXVIII. CONCHA SAYS AMEN XXXIX. A HANDFUL OF ROSES XL. ALL DANDIES ARE NOT COWARDS XLI. ROLLO USES A LITTLE PERSUASION XLII. A SNARE NOT SPREAD IN VAIN XLIII. THE RED BOINAS OF NAVARRE XLIV. "FOR ROLLO'S SAKE" XLV. FORLORNEST HOPES XLVI. THE SERGEANT'S LAST SALUTE XLVII. MENDIZABAL XLVIII. A POINT OF HONOUR XLIX. LIKE FIRE THROUGH SUMMER GRASS L. AVE CONCHA IMPERATRIX THE FIREBRAND CHAPTER I THE MAKING OF AN OUTLAW Ramon Garcia, called El Sarria, lay crouched like a wild beast. And he was a wild beast. Yet he smiled as he blinked into the midnoon heat, under his shaggy brows, from his den beneath the great rock of limestone that shadowed him. El Sarria was hunted, and there was on his hands the blood of a man--to be more particular, on his left hand. For El Sarria had smitten hard and eager, so soon as he had seen Rafael de Flores--Rafael, the pretty boy, the cousin of his young wife, between whom and her relative there was at least cousinly affection. So the neighbours said, all but Manuela, the priest's housekeeper. So Ramon smote and wiped his Manchegan knife on his vest, in the place under the flap at the left side where he had often wiped it before. He used the same gesture as when he killed a sheep.