"At last we are in Seville!" said I, as I threw myself into a down fauteuil, after tossing off a glass of iced Valdepenas, and flung aside the last week's Madrid papers, the 'Heraldo' and 'España;' "in Seville, where Trajan, Adrian, and Theodosius were born, and where----" "You shall flirt with the pretty Paulina to-morrow," said Jack; "pass over the decanter; thanks; I can take you off your stilts in a twinkling, my boy." CHAPTER IX. THE TERTULIA. In the morning, after coffee, a devilled bone and a cigar, we sallied forth to deliver the dispatch of our Governor to the captain general, and resolved, soon after, to bid farewell to Seville; for Jack was full of fears that the whole corps would be off, bag and baggage, to fight the Russians before we could return. The hour was somewhat early, so we rambled about the beautiful city; but I do not mean to inflict upon the reader a description of all we saw--of the gay crowds who thronged the Plaza de Toros and the Alameda, with fan and mantilla, sombrero and mantle; of the cathedral of Santa Maria, with its carved buttresses and stupendous spires; of the Alcazar or palace of the Moorish kings, with all its arabesques and oval arches; of the Lonja and the huge tobacco factory. I beg my reader to imagine them all, for I could easily devote five several chapters to describing these five several edifices. It is enough that the Sevillanos have an ancient proverb, that he who never saw Seville has never seen a wonder; to wit-- "Que en no ha visto Sevilla, Ne ha visto Maravilla." As we issued from the cathedral, Jack's loquacity was somewhat stilled by the grandeur of that stupendous pile and its dark Murillos, the chief of which is the adoration of the Saviour by St. Anthony of Padua--I beg pardon--of Lisbon and of Lagos--and full of thoughts, which were rather solemn for such fellows as we are, we walked slowly on with our eyes fixed on the far-famed tower of the weathercock--the Giralda--which rises at the north-east angle of the church, when a personage, whose eyes were raised to the same altitude, came somewhat violently against us, and then we poured forth mutual apologies. "Maldito--come esta, señores; well met." "Come esta, señor major--who would have thought of meeting you here?" "Why so?" asked Don Joaquim, for he proved to be our friend of the noble regiment of Lagos; "I think that I mentioned Seville as my native city--so you have reached the end of your journey?" "Yes, and mean to leave this to-morrow," said Jack. "So early! Maldito--a short visit. Is your business so soon concluded?" "It is not yet begun; we have a dispatch for the captain general." "Indeed!" said he, with wonder in his face. "Where is his palace? We were just about to inquire the way."