Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/102

88 Whereupon his father gave him his patrimony, and assigned him a servant and a horse for the journey.

The boy set out on his roaming expedition, and by sea and by land he courted occasions where he could display his courage. But after passing through many towns and villages, meeting with surprising incidents, and everywhere giving proofs of his fearlessness, our valiant hero arrived at a place where a new trial of his nerve awaited him. On arriving at this place he made inquiries where he could find quarters for himself, servant, and horse, and was informed that every room in the town was occupied, but that there was an empty house in the neighbourhood belonging to a rich family, who had left it because it was haunted by a demon, and no one had dared to live in it since. On hearing this, our hero sought the owner of the house, who happened to be a lady, and at once obtained leave to occupy the premises so long as he should remain in the place; this permission she gladly granted, as she had been unable to find any one to live in it, even for a single day. He at once took possession of the house, and that same night slept in it with his servant; by which he showed that he had sufficient courage to encounter even an enemy from the other world, and venture to inhabit a spot which was deemed accursed.

In the dead of night, when the town was perfectly still, and our valiant hero was fast asleep, he was