They waited till the day was far advanced, and the ships began to disappear in the distance, and the coast guardians had taken measures to protect the coast, then they descended from the tower, and opened the church, which Rafaella entered with her face bathed in joyful tears, and her beauty heightened by her emotion. She knelt and offered her prayers to the images, and then embraced her uncle, first having kissed the hands of the good priest. The notary neither said a prayer nor kissed the hand of anybody, for his whole soul was occupied with the thoughts of his lost property. The first alarm having subsided, the fugitives recovered their spirits, and the Jadraque recovering breath, began afresh to think about his grandfather's prophecy as being undoubtedly inspired from above.--"Ah! noble youth! ah! invincible king, trample down and destroy all impediments, and make Spain clear and free from my bad race, which now infests and injures her. Ah! prince, as wise as thou art illustrious, thou new Atlantis, who supportest the weight of this kingdom, aid, and make easy with thy wisdom this necessary expulsion; fill the seas with thy galleys laden with the useless crowd of the Hagarene generation; cast upon the opposite shores the brambles, weeds, and thorns that hinder the growth and abundance of a Christian population; for, if the few Hebrews who went over into Egypt multiplied so exceedingly, that, when they went away, they were in number more than seven hundred families, what is not to be feared from those who are more numerous and live more idly? Religion does not gather any under her wing, none are cut down by the Indies; war does not diminish their numbers; all marry, all, or most, have children; hence it is to be inferred that they must increase and multiply innumerably. Again, I say, arise, O king! arise, and set to work, and leave the history of thy reign bright as the sun, and clear as the blue sky above us." Two days more the pilgrims stayed in this place. They provided themselves with all they wanted; Bartholomew got a new baggage mule; they thanked the priest for his kindness, and praised the Jadraque for his right way of thinking, and, embracing Rafaella, took their leave of all, and went on their way. FOOTNOTES: [Q] Cosas de Argel. [R] I can nowhere find the meaning of Jadraque. [Illustration] CHAPTER XII. As they travelled, they amused themselves by talking over the past dangers, the good feeling of the Jadraque, the gallant conduct of the Priest, the zeal of Rafaella, whom they had forgotten to question as to how she had escaped from the power of the Turks when the assault was made. However they guessed that she must have concealed herself somewhere in order to gain her desire of living and dying a Christian.