The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-08-27
GILL BIAS
BY ALAN RENE LIE SAGE
Condensation by Nathan Haskell Dole

CONDENSATION by N
Gil Bias, the only son of an old SOL
der, had reached the age of seventeen
when his uncle, the village priest, who
had taught him little Latin, Greek
and Logic, sent him off with forty
ducats and bad mule to study Divin.
ity at Salamanca.
His adventures began Immediately.
At his first stop he was cheated out Of
his mule; as he was eating his dinner
willy flatterer invited himself to be
his guest and showed his gratitude by
! the good advice never to be taken in
by praise. He had to pay an exorbitant
reckoning and went on his way, "giv-
Ing to as many devils as there are
SAINTS IN the calendar, the parasite.
the landlord and the inn"
| He soon fell into the hands of
bandits, who made him join them on
their raids. In one of them they cap.
| tured Dona Mencia, wife Of the Mar
| ques de la Guardia, and brought her
to their cavern. Gil Bias pretended to
be i'll and escaped with the grateful
lady. He was arrested as one of the
bandits and as he was wearing clothes
recognized by one of their victims, and
his pockets were full of money he was
| thrown into Jail. After several weeks
imprisonment his innocence was estab-
| lished, but the jailer had robbed him
of everything.
At Burgos he sought out Dona
Mencia who presented him with a
hundred ducats and a costly ring.
| He bought a pretentious outfit for
twice its value and decided that in
stead of becoming a licentiate, che
would make his way in this world
rather than think of the next" A
/ second gift of thousand ducats from
Dona Mencia confirmed him in his
resolve.
He bought two mules and hiring a
servant, set forth for Madrid. His
servant conspired with several rogues
to make a fool of him. One of them,
Camilla, pretending to be related to
Dona Mencia, i1vited him to hired
lodgings as if to her own home and
there he was Toasted and flattered. AS
a mark of special favor she exchanged
her ruby ring, which she declared was
worth 300 pistoles for his, and pro-
cured him an invitation to a great
country seat for hunting and fishing
But when he arose in the morning,
his servant, his two mules, his port
manteau and bona Mencia's pretended
relatives had vanished. The ruby ring
was a cheat.
Fortunately he fell in with boyhood
friend, Fabricio, at Valladolid and by
his advice became a servant to a
clergyman, the canon Sedillo, at whose
house he led an easy life. The canon
soon died, leaving him his worthless
library, and the good fortune of be-
coming assistant to his physician, the
famous DR.. Sangrado. Under him Gil
Bias became particularly proficient in
his method of practice. which consist
ed of nothing but blood-letting and
"drenchings of water" He declared
that he made as many widows and or.
phans as the siege Of Troy; one of his
victims was the betrothed of a giant
Biscayan, who threatened him with
dire vengeance, and he fed to Madrid
where he became valet to mysterious
and wealthy Don Bernardo, his only
duty being to keep the wardrobe
brushed and to tend door. But he hap.
pened to fall in with Rolando, captain
Of the brigands; and Don Bernado,
seeing him in such suspicious COM
pany. dismissed him with six ducats.
From one reason or another he kept
changing employers; he served now a
dissipated hidalgo, then an intriguing
actress, then an aged libertine whose
daughter in gratitude for aiding her to
win back her recreant lover, Don Lula
Pacheco, gave him hundred pistoles,
and, on her fathers death, goc him a
place with still anotherN agc1 roue,
Lon Gonzales, whose dressing Oper-
atiOns, when he arose at noon, re-
minded him of the resurrection OF
Lazarus
Here again he acted as Intern ediary
in love affair, but when he told his
infatuated employer that he was being
~auped, he was turned off, though
given a recommendation to the Mar
quesa de Chaves, reputed the clever
est woman in Madrid, because she was
as solemn as an owl and rarely spoke
Her salon, called "the Fashionable In.
stitution for Literature, Taste and
Science" was the resort for the wits
and notables Of Madrid.
Here again he had easy work, but
getting into trouble about a girl. was
compelled to leave the city. On his
way to Toledo he rescued young
nobleman, named Don Alfonso from
arrest. They became friends and after
Don Alfonso reached his home, he and
his father became Gil Bias patrons
placing him as secretary to their
relative, the Archbishop of Granada
who was inordinateiy vain and as
broad as he was long.
Gil Bias praised his sermons and
was regarded as a young man of ex
cellent Judgment until after the pre-
late's mind was affected by apoplexy
and his homilies became discordant
rawlings. Gil Bias obeyed the Arch
bishops command to tell him if he fell
short in his preaching and was ig.
ANONYMOUSLY packed off. Reduced to
extremities once more, he posed as