Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/251

107 MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 107 the frontier, from Almazan to Guadalajara, was de- chapter fended by a line of fortified castles in the hands of the family of Mendoza. ^^ The greatest circum- spection therefore was necessary. The party jour- neyed chiefly in the night ; Ferdinand assumed the disguise of a servant, and, when they halted on the road, took care of the mules, and served his com- panions at table. In this guise, with no other dis- aster except that of leaving at an inn the purse which contained the funds for the expedition, they arrived, late on the second night, at a little place called the Burgo, or Borough, of Osma, which the count of Treviilo, one of the partisans of Isabella, had occupied with a considerable body of men-at- arms. On knocking at the gate, cold and faint with travelling, during which the prince had al- lowed himself to take no repose, they were saluted by a large stone discharged by a sentinel from the battlements, which, glancing near Ferdinand's head, had wellnigh brought his romantic enterprise to a tragical conclusion ; when his voice was recognised by his friends within, and, the trumpets proclaiming his arrival, he was received with great joy and fes- tivity by the count and his followers. The remain- der of his journey, which he commenced before dawn, was performed under the convoy of a numer- ous and well-armed escort ; and on the 9th of Oc- tober he reached Duenas in the kingdom of Leon, where the Castilian nobles and cavaliers of his par- 59 Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. vi. p. 78, Ilust. 2.