The earnestness with which Rafaella spoke went to the hearts of Auristella and Constance, and they believed her words, and only replied by thanks. They immediately called Periander and Antonio, and told them what had passed. Then, without seeming to do anything particular, they all went out. Bartholomew objected much to the move, for he felt more in need of rest than a change of abode; but he obeyed his masters, and they reached the church, where they were well received by the priest and the Jadraque, to whom they related all Rafaella had told them. The priest said, "It is some days, gentlemen, since the arrival of these vessels has disturbed us, and although it is customary for them to come, yet I have felt uneasy. Come in hither, my children, the church is a good castle, and has strong and good doors, not easily burnt or destroyed." "Ah," said the Jadraque, "if that my eyes may but see, before they close for ever, this land freed from the thorns and the briers that oppress it. Ah! when will the time come, foretold by my grandfather, who was a learned astrologer, when Spain shall see herself entire and firm in the Christian religion, for she alone is the corner of the earth where the true faith is most acknowledged and revered. I am a Moor, sirs, and you hear that I deny it not, but not for this am I the less a Christian, for God gives his grace to all who serve him, and as you know, he makes his sun shine alike upon the good and the bad, and bestows his rain equally on the just and the unjust. I say, then, that this grandfather of mine used to fore-tell that, about this time, there would reign in Spain a king of the house of Austria (Note 7), who would conceive in his soul the difficult resolution of expelling the Moors from the country, as one flings from one's bosom a serpent that is devouring one's entrails, or rather, as one who separates the wild flowers from the wheat, and pulls out the weeds from the growing grain. Come, then, brave youth, and prudent king, and execute this decree of expulsion; let not the fear of rendering this country desert and depopulated, deter thee, nor even the consideration that there are many who have been baptized whom it would not be well to expel; for, although these are fears that deserve to be considered, yet the carrying so great a work into effect would make them not worth thinking of. Soon the land would be re-peopled by Christians, it would again be fertile, and more so than it is now: it would have its lords, and, if not so many or such humble vassals as now, yet they would be good Catholics, under whose protection their roads would be secure, and peace would reign, and riches increase without fear of robbers and highwaymen."