At that moment the carriage reached the top of the hill which it had been climbing up.
Sir Rodrigo the ruler of the province stood in front of his army, as he and his army saluted the king, " Long live the great King Luis!’ Sir Rodrigo bellowed , "Long live the king !" The army echoed him. " I beg you accept our humble gift of two horses . Sir Rodrigo snapped his fingers together and two royal looking servants came forward to help the king out of the carriage along with Sir Andres. They were followed by two more servants bringing with them two beautiful horses, one pure white and one brown. Each horse wore beautiful garments. The king mounted the white horse and Sir Andres mounted the brown . Pleased, the king said to Sir Rodrigo, "Noble creatures." Sir Andres said "Indeed they are."
" I pray that thou will give me the honor of inspecting my army," said Sir Rodrigo.
After inspecting each man quickly the king came back to Sir Rodrigo and nodded his head in approval. "Let us go back to my private quarters for meal." said Sir Rodrigo merrily.
" I beg your pardon, but I ask your highness and thee, Sir Rodrigo, that I may take the liberty of going to see a friend of mine?" Sir Andres said.
"Well, I suppose thou could. Of course, you know that it is a short time I spend with Sir Rodrigo".
Sir Andres rode horseback though the streets reeking with the smell of cooking food and ringing with the sounds of the market. He went though a long alley and came out before a ragged looking part of town. Beggars ran up to him. " Money, Sir Andres, the generous giver! Give to the poor." Sir Andres hastily took out a purse full of coins.
" May fortune live with you all your life", a peasant cried as a scramble broke out. An unhappy, young child stood sadly watching. Sir Andres tossed a coin to him, and the child ran off. Sir Andres finally stopped in front of ragged looking shop which said
"Closed" The store itself was dilapidated. A foul smell issued from it, and a hound dog stood tied up barking. Sir Andres did not have to take the wretched sight in long, because a small gray haired man came out of the store and said, "Hail sir! Wilt thou come in my shop?" The small figure came forward and then suddenly realized it was Sir Andres. "Come in noble friend!" he said.
As soon as he was in the back part of the store which was the small man’s living quarters, and they were seated at the table and were being served by the wife of the small man, Sir Andres began to question him. " Arnold, I’m grieved to see you are going out of business."
Of course you know sir that this town never gets any richer. In fact , it’s even getting poorer , but me and my wife still remain loyal to the king." Arnold said, His wife nodded " There isn’t anybody who can afford pewter utensils. I am thinking about becoming a tailor but I am not likely to find more business. Arnold lowered his voice, "And for thou information, the poor have twice rioted in the tavern.