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Madrid Eyewitness Travel Guides Michael Leapman
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Michael Leapman
ISBN(s): 9780756624392, 0756624398
Edition: Rev Upd
File Details: PDF, 43.81 MB
Year: 2007
Language: english
 e ye witness travel guides

fiesta s
shopping
art
walks
restaurants
The Guides that show you what others only tell you
Madrid Area by Area

AROUND LA CASTELLANA
See pp88–103
Street Finder maps 5, 6

OLD MADRID
See pp40–61
Street Finder maps 3, 4

.
BO
[B
OB
SF
T

Old Madrid

0 kilometres
ilometres
es
e 0.5
0.5

0 miles 0.5
 CENTRAL SPAIN

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4
4FHPWJB

(VBEBMBKBSB
VB MBKBSB

BEYOND MADRID
See pp122–145

."%3*%
" 3*%

"SBOKVF
"SBOKV
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Around
un La C
u Castellana

FURTHER AFIELD
See pp104–119

Bourbon
on Madrid

BOURBON MADRID
See pp62–87
Street Finder maps 7, 8
EYEWITNESS TRAVEL

MADRID
EYEWITNESS TRAVEL

MADRID
Main contributor: michael leapman
 CONTENTS

PROJECT EDITOR Helen Townsend

ART EDITOR Gillian Andrews
EDITORS Elizabeth Atherton, Sophie Warne
DESIGNERS Carolyn Hewitson, Nicola Rodway
MAP CO-ORDINATOR David Pugh
DTP DESIGNER Pamela Shiels
PICTURE RESEARCHER Monica Allende
MAIN CONTRIBUTORS
Adam Hopkins, Mark Little, Edward Owen
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Peter Wilson and Kim Sayer
ILLUSTRATORS
Richard Bonson, Stephen Gyapay, Claire Littlejohn,
Isidoro González-Adalid Cabezas (Acanto, Arquitectura y
Urbanismo S.L.), Maltings Partnership, Chris Orr & Associates Winged Victory on the dome of
the Edificio Metrópolis (see p74)
Reproduced by Colourscan (Singapore)
Printed and bound by South China Printing Co. Limited. (China)
First American Edition, 1999 INTRODUCING
07 08 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
MADRID
Published in the United States by Dorling Kindersley
Publishing, Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York 10014.
FOUR GREAT DAYS
Copyright 1999, 2007 © Dorling Kindersley Limited, London IN MADRID 8
A Penguin Company
PUTTING MADRID
Reprinted with revisions 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, ON THE MAP 10
2005, 2006, 2007
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT
CONVENTIONS. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED, STORED
THE HISTORY OF
IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, MADRID 14
ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING OR OTHERWISE
WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.
MADRID AT
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. A GLANCE 24
A CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION RECORD IS AVAILABLE
FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
MADRID THROUGH
ISSN1542-1554
ISBN 978-0-75662-439-2 THE YEAR 34
FLOORS ARE REFERRED TO THROUGHOUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH EUROPEAN
USAGE I.E., THE “FIRST FLOOR” IS THE FLOOR ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.

Front cover main image: Statue of Felipe III in Plaza Mayor

The information in this

Dorling Kindersley Travel Guide is checked regularly.
Every effort has been made to ensure that this book is as up-to-date
as possible at the time of going to press. Some details, however,
such as telephone numbers, opening hours prices, gallery hanging
arrangements and travel information are liable to change. The
publishers cannot accept responsibility for any consequences arising
from the use of this book, nor for any material on third party
websites, and cannot guarantee that any website address in this
book will be a suitable source of travel information. We value the
views and suggestions of our readers very highly. Please write to:
Publisher, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides,
Madrileños enjoying the May-time
Dorling Kindersley, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL.
Fiesta de San Isidro (see p34)
 MADRID
AREA BY AREA
OLD MADRID 40

BOURBON MADRID
62

AROUND LA
CASTELLANA 88

FURTHER AFIELD 104

THREE GUIDED WALKS

114
The dining room of El Sobrino de Botin (see p47)

BEYOND MADRID
120 SURVIVAL GUIDE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
229
PRACTICAL
INFORMATION PHRASE BOOK
192 231

TRAVEL INFORMATION
200

MADRID
STREET FINDER
206

GENERAL INDEX
The 13th-century church of San
218 Chorizo
Esteban in Segovia (see p132)

TRAVELLERS’
NEEDS
WHERE TO STAY
148

RESTAURANTS, CAFÉ
AND BARS 156

SHOPPING IN MADR
172

ENTERTAINMENT
IN MADRID
180

OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES
186
INTRODUCING
MADRID

FOUR GREAT DAYS IN MADRID 89

PUTTING MADRID ON THE MAP 1013
THE HISTORY OF MADRID 1423
MADRID AT A GLANCE 2433
MADRID THROUGH THE YEAR 3437
8

FOUR GREAT
A DAY
A S IN MADRID
A lthough Madrid has
quadrupled in size
in the last 50 years,
the places of real interest are
still in the centre. The first
you will need transport, but
taxis are plentiful and cheap.
Almost all the places are cross-
referenced so you can check out
more details of each place in this
three suggestions for a day guide before you set out. The
out can all be undertaken Brooch from a prices include cost of travel, food
Madrid boutique and admission fees.
on foot. For the family day

OLD MADRID

• Art treasures and

monasteries
• Tapas on Plaza de Oriente
• The majestic Palacio Real
• Explore Cava Baja

TWO ADULTS allow at least 45 euros

Morning
Start at the Monasterio de las
Descalzas Reales (see p54) to
see the fabulous art treasures
Palm trees in the Real Jardín Botánico collected by Felipe II’s wife,
Juana, and her royal nuns,
by Spain thanks in part to then continue to see more at
HISTORY AND ART the late Baron Thyssen- the Monasterio de la Encar-r
Bornemisza’s Spanish wife. nación (see p55), opened by
• Fabuous art at the Prado There is also a good book- Felipe III’s spouse, Margaret
• Relaxing Real Jardín shop on the premises. Then of Austria. Walk to Plaza de
Botánico head to the Museo del Prado Oriente (see p60) and have a
• Picasso at the Reina Sofía (see pp82–5), whose small size tapass lunch at either the
• Cocktails at the belies the treasures within. Taberna de Alabardero
Westin Palace hotel Make sure you get a plan at (Felipe V 4) or the Café de
the entrance to find your way Oriente (see p169).
TWO ADULTS allow at least 45 euros around and to be able to
enjoy fully the best that Afternoon
Morning Spanish art has to offer. Cross the Plaza de Oriente to
Start at the Museo Thyssen- Among the highlights are visit the Palacio Real (see
Bornemisza (see pp72–7) and works by Goya and El Greco. pp56–9). A visit to the
enjoy the world’s greatest There is also a café near the amazing armoury is essential.
private art collection, acquired far exit, making an ideal After the palace head for the
lunch stop, and it is vast and majestic Plaza Mayor
opposite the entrance (see p46). This was once the
to the Real Jardín
Botánico (see p86), a
lovely oasis in central
Madrid.

Afternoon
Next walk across to
the Centro de Arte
Reina Sofía modern
art museum (see
pp88–91), whose
highlight is Picasso’s
Guernica. Walk back
towards the Thyssen
for a cocktail in the
lovely Westin Palace Allegorical paintings on the Casa
Centro de Arte Reina Sofía hotel (see p71). de la Panadería, Plaza Mayor
 F O U R G R E A T D AY S I N M A D R I D 9

A FAMILY DAY

• Real Madrid stadium

• Dinosaurs at the Natural
History Museum
• Lunch in the park
• Interactive science &
technology

FAMILY OF 4 allow at least 175 euros

Morning
Start at Real Madrid’s Estadio
Santiago Bernabeú (open daily
10:30am–6:30pm) just off the
Paseo de la Castellana (see
Smart boutiques along Calle Serrano p111). Here you can see the
impressive trophy room and
scene of Spanish Inquisition right and the smaller Multi- browse the soccer club’s
trials, as well as bullfights, centro on the left for one- shop. Next visit the Museo
and you can see gory stop retail opportunities. de Ciencias Naturales (see
bullfighting photos in the Then, for a relaxed lunch in p111) with impressive
Torre de Oro bar while you a fashionable wine bar walk displays including the
enjoy a drink. Today it is an a few blocks to Lagasca 74 skeleton of a dinosaur. Take
altogether calmer place. Also and O’Caldino, a traditional a short cab ride to Calle de
don’t miss the murals on the Galicían tapass bar. Alfonso Xll 3 to visit the old
Casa de la Panadería. Observatorio Astronómico
Continue straight on and Afternoon (see p86). Before it closes at
pass Casa Botin (Cuchilleros The area bordered by the 2pm, see the large Foucalt
17), purportedly the world’s Lagasca, Serrano and Goya pendulum and the collection
oldest restaurant, cross to streets is packed with of telescopes.
Cava Baja and explore the fashion boutiques, including
streets of the city’s Old designer names, as well as Afternoon
Quarter off to the right. two branches of the El Corte For lunch you can visit the
Inglés department store (see Parque del Retiro (see p77)
p177). Expensive Serrano with lovely cafés near the
FASHION AND shops continue alongside the lake, and afterwards take a
SHOPPING Plaza de Colón (see p100) turn in one of the rowing
and opposite the excellent boats which can be hired
• Nineteenth-century Museo Arqueológico here. Alternatively, eat in a
mansions Nacional (see pp98–9), which 1930s dining car in the café
• Exclusive boutiques displays a treasure trove of at the Museo del Ferrocarril
• Stop for a wine bar lunch archaeological finds. Finally, (see p110). Here engines and
• Enjoy archaeological finds enjoy gourmet treats for trains are on display at the old
dinner at the Mallorca Delicias station plus detailed
TWO ADULTS allow at least 45 euros restaurant (Calle Serrano 6). model train layouts.

Morning
Before you begin your day’s
shopping, step back in time
and see what stylish people
wore and how they lived at
two private houses, now
museums, dedicated to their
19th-century owners: Joaquín
Sorolla, the painterr (see
p104) and Lázaro Galdiano,
the collector (see pp102–3).
For a quick snack, opposite
the second museum in Calle
Serrano is José Luis, a popular
tapass bar for the well
heeled. Walk a short way
down Calle Serrano to the
ABC shopping centre on the Dinosaur skeleton, Museo de Ciencias Naturales
10 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

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 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D 15

THE HISTORY OF MADRID

A
lthough archeological evidence suggests that humans were
attracted to the area in prehistoric times, the story of Madrid
doesn’t begin until AD852, when the Moors built a fortress near
the Manzanares river. By Spanish standards, the city is a mere adoles-
cent – it was born 21 centuries after the Phoenicians founded Cádiz
and six centuries after the Romans constructed Itálica near Seville.
In the early 8th century, a Mo larger Toledo, which is why
army from North Africa land bothered laying siege to it.
Gibraltar and, within a few ye ther legend has it that the
conquered most of the Iberi hristian attackers subdued the
peninsula. The Moors estab- town after some of the more
lished an independent emirate intrepid soldiers clambered
based in Córdoba, southern up the defence walls.
Spain and, in 852, under Emir Once all the excitement
Mohamed I, they built a was over, the town of Madrid
fortress (alcázar) to protect the settled back into its sleepy
northern approach to Toledo; rural existence. Many of its
it stood on the site of Madrid’s earliest inhabitants were
present-day royal palace. Ornate Moorish monks, encouraged by the
Named Mayrit (later corrupted warrior helmet Spanish rulers to establish
to Magerit, then Madrid), a small com- monasteries there and thus breathe
munity arose around the alcázar. new life into the community. Before
long, Madrid had 13 churches, more
CHRISTIAN CONQUEST than enough to serve the spiritual
Timidly at first, then with gathering needs of its small population.
strength, the Christians to the north Among the first Madrileñoss was San
rallied against the Moorish invaders, Isidro Labrador, a local farmer who
pushing southward in the so-called founded a cofradía (religious broth-
Reconquest. By the middle of the erhood). It is also said he performed
11th century, the kingdom of Castile miracles, but little else is known
had arisen as the major Christian about Madrid’s rustic patron saint.
power, its territory extending as far In the 13th century a dispute arose
south as the Cordillera central moun- over hunting rights on land owned
tain range, within sight of Mayrit. In by the Church. It was agreed that,
1085, the Castilians under Alfonso VI while the Church owned the soil,
mustered for the decisive thrust against Madrileñoss had rights to all that was
T
Toledo. Mayrit stood in the path of the above it, namely, game. Thus Madrid
advancing army. According to one acquired its symbol – a bear (the
story, the troops mistook it for the Church’s emblem) sniffing a tree.

TIMELINE

711 Moors invade 932 Christian king Ramiro II 1109 Moors unsuccessfully
Iberian peninsula temporarily occupies Madrid lay siege to Madrid

AD700 800 900 1000 1100 1200

756 Emir 852 Moors 1085 Madrid

Mohamed I found Mayrit captured by Castile
founds
emirate of Bronze stag from 1202 Madrid granted
Córdoba a Moorish palace the status of town

Tiled mural showing San Isidro Labrador, Madrid’s patron saint, and another farmer tilling the soil
 16 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Isabel and Fernando

visited often, most of the
momentous events of
the age, such as the final
war against the Moors
and Columbus’ encoun-
ter with the queen,
took place elsewhere.
When Isabel died in
1504, her daughter Juana
“la Loca”” (“the Mad”)
Columbus setting foot in the Americas in the late 15th century was deemed unfit to rule.
She and her husband, the
ROYAL HUNTING GROUND Archduke of Austria, who were living in
Madrid’s reputation as a hunting para- Burgundy, returned to Spain to reassert
dise attracted the attention of Castilian their rights. But the archduke soon died,
royals, whose visits became increasingly leaving Juana to
frequent. The city was especially slip further into
favoured by Enrique IV de Trastamara dementia. Fer-
who was, by all accounts, physically nando of Aragón
repellent, politically inept and morally acted as regent
perverted. Enrique was married to until the couple’s
Juana of Portugal, but most people son, Charles of
doubted that their daughter, Juana, Ghent, acceded
was actually the king’s; it was assumed to the throne in
her real father was the queen’s lover, 1517 as Carlos I,
Beltrán de la Cueva, thus earning her the first of the
the sobriquet, La Beltraneja (Beltrán’s Spanish Habs-
little one). On Enrique’s death in 1474, burgs (later Holy
a dynastic struggle ensued between Roman Emperor Carlos I (1516–56)
supporters of La Beltraneja and those Charles V).
of Enrique’s half- Carlos I ruled over a European empire
sister, Isabel, who that included the Low Countries, parts
went down in history of Italy and Germany, and Spain’s
as Isabel la Católica. newly conquered possessions in the
Madrid’s nobility Americas. But he had been brought
threw its support up in France, spoke no Spanish when
behind La Beltraneja, he arrived to claim the throne and,
and the forces of although his reign lasted 40 years, he
Isabel and her hus- spent only 16 of them in Spain. The
band Fernando of European wars and the Counter-
Aragón laid siege, Reformation kept him busy elsewhere.
conquering Madrid Finally, spiritually exhausted and
with the help of plagued with gout, Carlos I retired to
Fernando of Aragón, supporters within the monastery of Yuste in western
the Catholic Monarch the town. Although Spain, where he died at the age of 58.

TIMELINE
1498 Pigs banned from roaming
1309 First royal Cortes 1361 Pogroms sweep freely in Madrid streets
(parliament) held in Madrid through Madrid’s
Jewish quarter 1492 Moorish Granada falls; Columbus reaches
America; Jews are expelled from Spain

1300 1350 1400 1450 1500

1474 Supporters of Queen
1339 Alfonso XI holds Isabel besiege Madrid
Cortes in Madrid
1434 Madrid buffeted by 1478 Start of Spanish Inquisition
rain, hailstorms and floods
for nine weeks Brotherhood of Death
 T H E H I S T O R Y O F M A D R I D 17

A CITY IS BORN Due to its sudden rise to prominence,

Since the beginnings of the kingdom Madrid’s growth was haphazard. Yet
of Castile, its rulers travelled cease- under the Habsburgs the city acquired
lessly from one part of th its most notable construc-
to another, with the entir e best examples were built
tagging along. Fed up wi eigns of Felipe’s successors,
migrant existence, Carlo period when the country
successor, Felipe II, esta enjoyed an age of cultural
lished a permanent capi brilliance (the Siglo de
in Madrid in 1561. It was Oro) just as Spain’s mili-
centrally located in the tary and political strength
Iberian Peninsula and was declining. The Plaza
small enough to lack the Mayor (see p44), the epit-
complex web of loyalties ome of Habsburg Madrid,
and intrigues of larger Felipe V, the first Bourbon king was built during the
cities, such as Toledo. reign of Felipe III. His
Artisans, cooks, poets, soldiers, thieves successor, Felipe IV, built a stylish new
and hangers-on from around the palace at El Retiro. At the same time,
peninsula flocked to the new capital. Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Velázquez,
Within four decades, the population Zurbarán and Murillo (see pp28–9)
swelled from some 20,000 to 85,000. were active in Madrid. Money poured
Unlike his father, Felipe II spent most in from the New World and, although
of his reign in Spain. Under him, the most of it financed Spain’s foreign
Inquisition became a major force, and wars and increasing debt, enough
the unsuccessful Spanish Armada was was left to fuel an artistic boom.
launched against England. The “Black
Legend” has painted a dark picture of THE BOURBON ZENITH
Felipe II, yet whatever his shortcomings, It was too good to last. The inbred Habs-
laziness and dishonesty were not among burg dynasty produced the gentle but
them and, during his reign, Spain’s world dim-witted - Carlos II who died without
power was virtually unchallenged. an heir in 1700, leaving the Spanish
throne in dispute. France
favoured Philippe of Anjou,
the grandson of Louis XIV.
Alarmed at the implications
of a French-Spanish alliance,
England, Austria and Holland
supported the Archduke
Charles of Austria. This dis-
pute led to the 14-year-long
War of Spanish Succession.
At the end of the conflict
Philippe was crowned as
Felipe V – the first Bourbon
king – and Spain was
Bullfighting in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor in the 17th century securely in the French orbit.

1561 Felipe II 1600 Felipe III 1605 Publication of Don Quixote 1701 Felipe V
establishes capital of moves Spanish by Cervantes arrives in Madrid as
Spain in Madrid capital to 1621 Felipe III dies, first Bourbon king
Valladolid succeeded by Felipe IV

1550 1600 1650 1700

1520 Madrid 1563 Work starts 1734 Fire
joins Comunero on El Escorial 1632 Real Sitio destroys Madrid’s
rebellion of (see pp126–9) 1606 Madrid del Buen Retiro Moorish alcázar
Castilian towns reinstated as palace (see p77)
against Carlos I 1588 Spanish Armada capital is completed 1746 Fernando
fails to reach Britain Felipe III VI becomes king
 18 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

The Bourbons were able administrators, On his death in 1788, Carlos was suc-
availing themselves of French and ceeded by his vacillating son, Carlos IV,
Italian advisers who introduced mod- who ushered in the decline of the
ern improvements to Spain. Felipe V monarchy. The real power sat with his
spoke little Spanish and his domineering wife, María
main concern was making Luisa of Parma, and chief
Madrid look as French as minister, Manuel Godoy.
possible. When the alcázar
burned down in 1734, he A CITY IN ARMS
ordered the construction of Godoy struck a deal with
a royal palace (see pp54–7) the France of Napoleon
modelled on Versailles, but (who had declared himself
died before it was com- emperor in 1804) to allow
pleted. The first occupant French troops to cross
was Carlos III, under whose Spain to conquer Portugal.
rule the Bourbon dynasty, In the end, however, the
and Madrid, reached their French occupied Spain
greatest splendour. At this itself. Madrileñoss blamed
time the centre of the city the royals and their hated
shifted from the old Plaza Carlos III counsellor, Godoy, and
Mayor to the new Paseo riots broke out in March
del Prado, and many new buildings 1808. The king was forced to abdicate
were constructed. Such was Carlos’s in favour of his son, Fernando VII,
urbanistic zeal that he is still cited as though with the French occupying
the best “mayor” Madrid ever had. Madrid he ruled in name only.
The presence of foreign advisers did On 2 May, Madrileñoss turned on the
not sit well with Madrileños, however, occupying troops in front of the Palacio
and the Church encouraged sentiment Real. This popular uprising was met
against interloping outsiders. The most with bloody reprisals by the French
famous incident was the 1766
Esquilache affair in which
the Marqués de Esquilache,
adviser to the king, banned
the traditional broad-brimmed
hat and long cape, as they
enabled weapons to be con-
cealed. His men roamed the
streets armed with scissors
to trim the offending garb.
The people took this as an
attempt to make them con-
form to foreign fashions, and
fierce riots ensued. T
The Jesuits
were thought to be behind the
disturbances, and the order
was expelled from Spain. Goya’s The 3rd of May
y (1814) with the French executing Spanish patriots

TIMELINE
1764 Palacio Real 1769 Work 1790 Plaza 1805 Nelson defeats 1808 French soldiers 1835
is completed on Puerta de Mayor severely combined Spanish- occupy Spain; riots in Church
Alcalá (see damaged by fire French fleet at Trafalgar
T Madrid; Joseph property
6 starts
p66) Bonaparte becomes king seized

1750 1770 1790 1810 1830

1759 Carlos III 1788 Carlos III 1820 Liberal

becomes king dies, succeeded coupp led by
1767 by Carlos IV General Riego
Jesuits 1812
1763 Birth of Spanish expelled Joseph Wellington 1813 Fernando VII
National Lottery from Spain Bonaparte enters Madrid becomes king
 T H E H I S T O R Y O F M A D R I D 19

After the May riots Napoleon, increas- Against this background of instability,
ingly impatient with events in Spain, Madrid was slowly becoming a modern
installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte European capital with a growing mid-
(José I) on the Spanish throne. Spanish dle class. It was expanding relentlessly
sentiment against the occupying French with the Ensanchee (widening), with
could not be stopped, however, and fashionable residential areas replacing
the country rose up in arms. In the face overcrowded working-class districts.
of organized, well-armed French troops, In 1868 liberals joined forces with
Spaniards resorted to terrorist tactics, disgruntled military to oust Isabel II
with small bands mounting surprise under the pretext of her corrupt and
attacks on the enemy before vanishing lascivious behaviour. But Spaniards
into mountain hiding places. still favoured a monarchy, and placed
In 1810, the army of the British Duke Amadeo of Savoy, son of Italy’s King
of Wellington landed in Portugal and Victor Emmanuel, on the throne. The
started the two-year campaign to drive king received the cold shoulder from
the French from the Iberian Peninsula. Madrileños, however, and abdicated
after two years, at which point the
LIBERALS VERSUS CONSERVAT tes (parliament) proclaimed a
A century of close contact wi ublic. The First Republic lasted
French left its mark on Spain. Li y 11 months. In 1874, General
ideas found fertile soil among anuel Pavia ended it all by
Spanish enlightened classes a ding up the steps of the Cortes,
while the war was at its pe eclaring support for Isabel II’s
delegates in Cádiz drafted Spain on, Alfonso. Under Alfonso
first constitution. Yet when XII (1875–85) and, later, the
Fernando VII was restored to regency of his wife, María
the throne in 1813, he rejected Cristina, who reigned on
the Cádiz document and ruled behalf of her son A
Alfonso XIII
as an absolute monarch. Isabel II until 1902, Madrid enjoyed
This rift between reactionary a period of prosperity and
and progressive sides would plague the unstoppable growth, culminating
country for the next century and a half. with the inauguration of the Gran Vía
When an army uprising headed by the (see p48) by Alfonso XIII in 1908.
liberal Rafael de Riego in 1820 forced
the king to accept the constitution, the THE BATTLE OF MADRID
exercise ended with Riego’s execution. A Alfonso XIII felt it his duty to meddle in
After Fernando VII’s death in 1833, political affairs. Ministers were sacked
Spanish politics became a complicated by the dozen, and there were 33 govern-
succession of coups d’étatt and uprisings. ments between 1902 and 1923. Finally,
To make matters worse, the choice of the king resorted to General Miguel
his young daughter Isabel II as suc- Primo de Rivera, who installed a dic-
cessor angered supporters of his brother tatorship. It was relatively benign and
Carlos, leading to a civil war in which had support among much of the work-
140,000 died. During Isabel’s 38-year ing class. Spain underwent a flurry of
reign, Spanish politics were dominated public works, but Primo de Rivera was
by military brass, conservative or liberal. a disaster when it came to economics.

1840 Radical 1868 Coupp by General Prim 1876 New 1885 Alfonso 1906 Ritz 1908 Work
coupp by ends reign of Isabel II; Spanish XII dies hotel opens starts on
General the peseta becomes the constitution Gran Vía
Espartero Spanish monetary unit

1850 1870 1890 1910

1850 Inauguration of 1873 First 1897 Prime minister Cánovas
Cortes building and Spanish del Castillo assassinated by
Teatro Real (see p58) Republic Alfonso XII Italian anarchist
1843 Conservative coup 1875 Bourbon monarchy
by General Narváez restored under Alfonso XII
 20 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

increasing territory, and by November

1936 the Nationalists had reached the
outskirts of Madrid. The city was to be
on the front line for the duration of the
Civil War, suffering severe bombard-
ment, until it finally fell in March 1939.
General Franco, who had manoeuvred
himself into position as the uprising’s
generalísimo, was installed as dictator.
Although Spain had remained nominally
A
neutral during World War II, Franco’s
sympathies for Hitler and Mussolini
were not forgotten, and for more than
a decade the country was ostracized
from the community of nations.
Farms suffered a devasta
drought, the black mar
thrived and Franco taugh
“autarchy” – his extreme
form of isolationism and
self-
f sufficiency. Yet the
Poster for the Nationalist cause in the Civil War nation was starving, and
millions were forced to
Within six years the country was bank- emigrate to work in facto
rupt. A
After the dictator stepped down in ries in France and German
1930, Republicans forced Alfonso XIII By the 1950s geopoli
to call elections. The vote went over- came to the rescue. The
whelmingly to the Republicans, and forgave Franco’s past sins
the king headed for exile after an angry return for support in th
Madrid crowd demanded his abdication. Cold War against the Sovi
During the brief Second Republic, the Union, in the form of US General Francisco
bourgeoisie, landowners and military military bases in Spain. Franco

were increasingly alarmed by the spread The door was open to

of left-wing ideas. The assassination of foreign aid and investment. The first
conservative member of parliament, José adventurous travellers soon followed.
Calvo Sotelo, in July 1936 precipitated
events. On 18 July news reached Madrid DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY
that a military uprising had taken sev- Franco’s twilight years were devoted to
eral Andalusian cities, including Seville. securing the continuity of his regime.
Madrileñoss flocked to the army bar- Alfonso XIII’s grandson Juan Carlos
racks, demanding arms to defend the was groomed as his nominal successor,
Republic, and within a day the working- while the real power was to be wielded
class militia controlled the city. But, by the hard-line prime minister, Admiral
with much of the Spanish army’s troops Luis Carrero Blanco. But in 1973, the
and weapons in the hands of insurgent militant wing of the Basque separatist
Nationalists, the rebellion gathered group ETAA assassinated Carrero Blanco.

TIMELINE
1929 Telefónica building (see p49) completed 1955 Spain joins
United Nations
1921 Madrid 1931 Second Republic established;
Metro opens Alfonso XIII goes into exile

1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

1923 Primo de 1936 Civil War starts;
Rivera establishes Nationalists lay siege
dictatorship to Madrid 1953 Spain agrees to allow
building of US bases on its
1939 Franco’s troops enter soil; Edificio de España
Primo de Rivera Madrid; Civil War ends ((see p53) inaugurated
 T H E H I S T O R Y O F M A D R I D 21

ferment, especially in
Madrid. Under mayor
Enrique Tierno Galván,
the arts experienced a
flurry of creativity, and
the city revelled in a
spirit of optimism and
confidence, known as
La Movida (see p102).
The party couldn’t
last forever. Creative
verve can only go so
far, and a series of scan-
dals involving some
people serving in high
The Cortes being held at gunpoint in the coup d’étatt on 23 February 1981 offices chipped away
at the public’s faith in
When Franco died in November 1975, the governing powers, ultimately cost-
all eyes turned on his heir apparent, who ing the PSOE the 1996 elections.
was sworn in as king. Juan Carlos had Like their counterparts in other Euro-
been planning for Spain’s reunion with pean capitals, Madrileñoss complain
the modern world while lending lip about traffic, never-ending public
service to the Franco regime, and in a works and pollution. Yet despite this
series of bold moves, he manoeuvred they retain a fiercely individualistic
the country into its first post-Franco spirit, a refusal to conform to European
democratic elections in 1977. When hours and, above all, a sardonic sense
die-hard supporters of the old regime of humour that sets them apart from
seized the Cortes in 1981, the coupp failed other Spaniards. They are living in one
largely due to Juan Carlos’s intervention. of the world’s most lively and attrac-
The next year the government passed tive cities… and they know it.
bloodlessly from the
centrists to the social
democratic PSOE, under
long-serving prime min-
ister Felipe González.
The first half of his tenure
coincided with a period
of economic buoyancy,
crowned in 1992 with
the Olympic Games in
Barcelona, a world fair
in Seville and Madrid’s
stint as the “European
Capital of Culture”. The
1980s were a time of
euphoria and cultural Aerial image of present-day Madrid, a thriving metropolis

1966 Real 1975 Franco dies; 1976 El Paíss newspaper founded in Madrid 1996 Conservative Partido
Madrid soccer Juan Carlos I Popular wins relative majority
club wins its 6th becomes king; Third 1977 General elections held; centrist UCD in general elections
European Cup Bourbon Restoration (Unión de Centro Democrático) party wins

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

1973 Carrero 1986 Spain joins EC and NATO
Blanco assassin- 2002 Real 2004 PSOE
1965 Madrid ated by ETA 1982 Felipe González’s PSOE
wins general elections Madrid makes (Spanish
university closed soccer history Socialist Party)
following student 1981 Right-wing coup
p fails; Picasso’s winning its 9th wins General
demonstrations El País newspaper Guernica (see p85) returns to Spain European Cup Election
22 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Rulers of Spain
Spain became a nation-state under Isabel and Fernando, 00
whose marriage eventually united Castile and Aragón. II
With their daughter Juana’s marriage, the kingdom was
delivered into Habsburg hands. Carlos I and Felipe II were
both capable rulers, but in 1700 Carlos II died without
leaving an heir. After the War of the Spanish Succession,
Spain came under the French Bourbons, who have ruled
ever since – apart from an interregnum, two republics and
Franco’s dictatorship. The current Bourbon king, Juan
l I, a constitutional monarch, is
ed for his support of democracy.

1479–1516
Fernando, King
of Aragón

1516–56 Carlos I of 1598–1621 Felipe III

1474–1504 Isabel, Spain (Holy Roman
Queen of Castile Emperor Charles V)

1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650

INDEPENDENT KINGDOMS HABSBURG DYNASTY
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650

1469 Marriage of 1504–16 Juana la

Isabel and Fernando Loca (with Fernando
leads to unification as regent)
of Spain

65 Felipe IV

Fernando and Isabel, the Catholic Monarchs

UNIFICATION OF SPAIN
In the late 15th century the two largest king-
doms in developing Christian Spain – Castile,
with its military might, and Aragón (including
Barcelona and a Mediterranean empire) –
were united. The marriage of Isabel of Castile
and Fernando of Aragón in 1469 joined these
powerful kingdoms. Together the so-called
Catholic Monarchs defeated the Nasrid
Kingdom of Granada, the last stronghold of
the Moors (see p16). With the addition of
Navarra in 1512, Spain was finally unified. 1556–98
Felipe II
 T H E H I S T O R Y O F M A D R I D 23

1843–68 Isabel II reigns following

the regency of her mother María
Cristina (1833–41) and General
Espartero (1841–3)

1871–3 Break in
following French Bourbon rule –
rule – Fernando VII Amadeo I of Savoy
1724 Luis I 1939 75
reigns after 1931–9 General Franco
Felipe V’s Second Republic Head of State
abdication,
but dies
within a 1759–88 Carlos III 1875–85
year Second Bourbon
restoration –
Alfonso XII

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950

BOURBON DYNASTY BOURBON BOURBON
1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950

1808–13 Break in
Bourbon rule –
1746–59 Napoleon’s brother,
Fernando VI Joseph Bonaparte,
rules as José I

17
1724–46 Felipe V Ca
reinstated as king
upon the death of
his son, Luis I

1902–31 Alfonso XIII

1886–1902 María Cristina of

Habsburg-Lorraine as regent
for Alfonso X

1873–4
First Republic

1868–70 The
Septembrina Revolution

1975 Third Bourbon

restoration – Juan Carlos I
 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D 25

MADRID AT A GLANCE
O ver 100 places of interest are
described in the Madrid Area
by Area and Beyond Madrid
sections of this book. The detailed
catalogue of significant buildings and
Isidro (see p46). From here, it follows
the development of Madrid from the
Bourbon city of the 18th century with
its Parque del Retiro and Plaza de
Cibeles (see p67), to the upmarket
monuments traces the history of the 19th-century Barrio de Salamanca and
city – beginning with the 16th- and the modern skyscrapers in the Azca
17th-century Habsburg Madrid area. The list also includes recre-
(“Madrid de los Austrias”), as exem- ational sights, such as Casa de Campo
plified by the medieval Plaza de la Villa (see p112). Pictured below are some
(see p45) and the Colegiata de San attractions no visitor should miss.
MADRID’S TOP TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Plaza Mayor Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas

See p44. See p108.

Parque del Retiro

See p77

Museo Thyssen-
Bornemisza
Museo Lázaro See pp70–73.
Galdiano
See pp98–9.

Museo Arqueológico Nacional

See pp94–5.

Centro de Arte
Reina Sofía Palacio Real Museo del Prado
See pp84–7. See pp54–7. See pp78–81.

The Edificio Metrópolis building on the corner of Calle de Alcalá and the Gran Via
26 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Madrid’s Best: Museums and Galleries

For
exc
mu
are
coll
Bor
men
and
disp
man
too
Gal
tuo
and
that
Mo

M
Ent
ce

ar

s
an
of s
ti
enc
lif
the t
cen

Rea
Goy
of m
scul
cen
arts academyy ( p 7) ( pp7 73)
 M A D R I D A T A G L A N C E 27

Museo Lázaro Galdiano

o
al
he
al,
n
ts
m
th
).

f
28 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Famous People of Madrid

Ever since Felipe II made Madrid the capital of
Spain in 1561 (see p17), the city has attracted the
best artistic and literary talent in the country. Painters,
writers, composers and architects in search of fame
and fortune left behind their rural dwellings and
migrated to Madrid, where they could take advantage
of royal sponsorships and subsidies, publish their
works and sell their wares to the city’s ever-growing
population. Thus Madrid became the cultural centre
of Spain, a distinction that grew in times of political
and economic stability, and flourished – as great art
usually does – following times of turmoil and strife.

y Villegas (1580–1645) and

dramatist Pedro Calderón de
la Barca (1600–81).
In the following centuries,
this small area of Madrid
continued to be the haunt of Novelist Camilo José Cela (1916–
famous writers. The 18th- 2001), painted by Alvaro Delgado
century Madrid native Leandro
Fernández de Moratín was everyday life in hungry,
influenced by the French postwar Madrid. And while
Enlightenment, as evidenced 20th-century American writer
by his popular comedy El Sí Ernest Hemingway could not
de las Niñas. José Zorrilla y be mistaken for a Madrileño,
Moral (1817–93) was raised his novels helped the world
in the Huertas area, and his fall in love with Spain, and
The prolific Golden Age dramatist, world-famous Romantic play, his antics in the city after
Félix Lope de Vega (1562–1635) Don Juan Tenorio (1844), long nights of sipping gin at
had its first showing in the Ritz hotel (see p68) made
Madrid. In the same century, him a local favourite. Today
WRITERS Madrid’s most beloved it is difficult to walk through
writer, Benito Pérez Galdós Madrid’s Plaza Mayor without
Spanish writers were the (1843–1920), wrote his imagining the writer swag-
first to make their mark in famous novel, Miau – a gering down the narrow steps
Madrid, and throughout the literary masterpiece that of the Arco de Cuchilleros
17th century the city acted as takes the reader on a journey on his way to a roast suck-
a magnet for the country’s through the streets and society ling pig dinner at El Sobrino
most famous scribes. The of the Spanish capital during del Botín (see p30).
Barrio de los Literatos the city’s most vibrant years.
(Writers’ Quarter), or Madrid was at the
Huertas district, was centre of the PAINTERS
where Spain’s “Generation of
greatest literary [19]27” writers All of Spain’s most famous
figure, Miguel that included artists had an impact, one
de Cervantes poet and way or another, on Madrid.
Saavedra playwright But it was 17th-century artist
(1547–1616), Federico Diego de Velázquez (1599–
produced his García Lorca 1660) and 18th-century
comic master- (1899–1936) painter Francisco de Goya
piece, Don who, during his (1746–1828) who actually
Quixote. In the student years in formed part of the city’s
local taverns he Madrid, found history. Both were Spanish
would argue with José Zorrilla (1817–93) inspiration as well court painters whose works
his rival, Félix Lope as the theatres he were inspired by their sur-
de Vega (1562–1635), Spain’s needed to showcase his roundings in the capital.
most prolific dramatist. The creations. The 20th century Each weekend Madrileños
Huertas area was also home also produced Nobel Prize- brave traffic jams to escape
to Cervantes’ and Lope’s winning novelist Camilo José the grey city in search of the
17th-century contemporaries, Cela (1916–2001), whose blue skies made famous by
writer Francisco de Quevedo novel La Colmena depicted Velázquez, whose complete
 M A D R I D A T A G L A N C E 29

collection of works has on the design of the upmarket

been brought together Barrio de Salamanca (see
by Madrid’s Museo del p97). When investors shied
Prado (see pp78–81). away from much-needed
There you can see his expansion plans in the 1860s,
1656 masterpiece, Las the Marqués stepped in and
Meninas. Goya began began work on what is today
his stint at the Spanish a fashionable line of housing
court in 1763 at the age blocks along Calle de Serrano.
of 17, and stayed on
until 1826, two years
before his death. He Velázquez Bosco’s Palacio de Cristal POLITICIANS
depicted life during
one of the city’s most violent completed in 1619. Mora Since Madrid is the Spanish
times and was the painter of learned his trade from the capital, there is a tendency
four kings – Carlos III, Carlos masterful Juan de Herrera, here to claim or disclaim
IV, José I (Joseph Bonaparte) the designer of Felipe II’s national figures as the city’s
and Fernando VII. While his monasterial palace El Escorial own. Kings, dictators and
works can be seen at several (see pp126–9). In the 1640s, prime ministers, while ruling
museums in Madrid, his Mora designed the Monasterio from Madrid, did not always
masterpieces The 3rd of May, de la Encarnación (see p53) have a popular impact on the
Saturn Devouring One of his and the Ayuntamiento (town city. Felipe II (see p17), for
Sonss and Naked Maja are all hall) in the Plaza de la Villa. example, made Madrid the
displayed at the Prado. A balcony was added to the capital but then promptly left
town hall by Juan for his palace at El Escorial.
de Villanueva, the One of the best-loved
archictect of the political figures was the 18th-
Prado museum. In century rey-alcaldee (king-
1781 Villanueva, mayor) Carlos III (see p18).
along with botanist He took a personal interest
Gómez Ortega, in the city and set out to
designed the Real improve it with monuments,
Jardín Botánico, fountains, arches, street
or Royal Botanical lighting and sewers. Another
Gardens (see p82). favourite politician was 20th-
In the Parque del century (civilian) Socialist
Retiro (see p77) Mayor Enrique Tierno Galván,
there are two who became mayor in 1979,
beautiful palaces and died in 1986. He helped
built by architect bring Madrid out of the grey
Velázquez Bosco dictatorial years by throwing
in 1887: the Neo- his full support behind cultur-
Classical Palacio al events and progressive
de Velázquez and causes. He was instrumental
the Palacio de in making Madrid’s San Isidro
Las Meninas (1656) by Diego de Velázquez Cristal, constructed festival (see p34) the popular
of glass and iron. cultural event it is today.
Noteworthy contemporary
ARCHITECTS architects include Rafael
Moneo Valles, who designed
Architecture is an art form the extension to the Museo
of which Madrileñoss are del Prado (see pp78–81) and
especially proud. Some of the redesigned the 18th-century
best architects in the world Palacio de Villahermosa,
have contributed to turning home to the Museo Thyssen-
the capital into the “City of a Bornemisza (see pp70–73).
Thousand Faces”. Francesco Also notable are Luis Gutiérrez
A
Sabatini designed the Palacio Soto for the Ministerio del
Real (see pp54–7), the grand Aire in the Plaza de la
Puerta de Alcalá (see p66) and Moncloa and Antonio Lamela
the 18th-century extension for the Torres de Colón in
wing to the Palacio de El the Plaza de Colón (see p96).
Pardo (see p138). Juan Gómez Although not an architect,
de la Mora was the architect the Marqués de Salamanca, a
responsible for the Plaza flamboyant banker and specu- Enrique Tierno Galván, mayor of
Mayorr (see p44), which was lator, had a profound effect Madrid in the post-Franco era
30 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Madrid’s Best: Tabernas

It coul
establi
(tavern
Plaza M
over 5
numbe
tabern
19th c
Althou
feature
over a
and w
throug
tend to
line th
about
popula

This
red
founde
years
beau
woo
sinc
been
of
cocid

El Sob
Establi
of the c
is cons
of Mad
serves
includ
and w
by the

0
emulated its decor.
M A D R I D A T A G L A N C E 31

Casa Carmencita
This mid 19th century taberna was

s
ng

t
o
ls
m-
os
es
he

ers.

oth
en

the

akes
an-

p
prawns cooked in four different ways.
32 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

Madrid’s Best: Architecture

Mad
sand
arch
high
cen
May
in E
Feli
seve
the
intr
ture
Car
bec
war
Tod
with

Hab
Sinc
Mon
p52
tere

0 kilo

0 miles 0.5 by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes in 1774.

 M A D R I D A T A G L A N C E 33

Art Nouveau

nch
rand
see
y
f
e
e
he
rom
the

sical
85 by
a, the
(see
s the
move
and
esses
architect, Juan de Herrera. of Baroque architecture.
34 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

MADRID THROUGH THE YEAR

A wide selection of fies
sports competitions
and cultural events
crowds the calendar in
Madrid. Every neighbourin
e world. There are vibrant
st r e e t processions to
celebrate Christmas and
Easter, and at other times
the capital’s roads are
district, town and village also Matador with a completely taken over by
has its own fiestas, especially cape playing a bull bicycles, marathon runners and
during the summer, with hair- even sheep. Check with the
raising bull runs, music and dancing tourist information office to see if your
until the early hours and spectacular visit coincides with any public
fireworks which rank among the best holidays, local festivals or special fairs.
APRIL Lavapiés districtt (see p61). Each
street elects a May Queen
Semana Santa (Easter week). (maya) who sits in her best
On Holy Thursday and Good clothes surrounded by flowers
Friday evening processions in a spring fertility ritual.
are held in Toledo
T (see pp140– La Maya (2 May), Colmenar
45) and all over Madrid. On Viejo. Similar fiesta to above.
Easter Saturday there are Día de la Comunidad (2
church services and a passion May). Public holiday in Madrid
play in Chinchón (see p139). with a military parade in the
Easter Sunday is marked in Puerta del Sol, a festival in
Colourful tulips in a park, Tiermes by the symbolic burn- Malasaña’s Plaza del Dos de
signalling the start of spring ing of a tree and an effigy of Mayo (see p101)) and Móstoles.
Judas at noon. Fiestas de San Isidro (15
Artisans & Ceramic Fair May). Public holiday in Madrid
SPRING (Easter week), Plaza de las and the feast of the region’s
Comendadoras. patron saint. For a week either
In late March the boulevards El Día de Cervantes (23 side of 15 May, the city vibrates
of the capital are lined with April), Alcalá de Henares. with fiestas, music and dance,
tulips, and on the first warm Commemorates the death of including the chotis. Bands
day in April the cafés open Cervantes with a book fair play nightly in the Jardines de
up their terraces. But the and literary discussions. las Vistillas, Calle de Bailén.
weather is changeable, and it Madrid Marathon (last Sun). San Isidro Corridas
may be warm one day and (15 May–end JJun). Daily
snowing the next. May’s San MAY bullfight fiesta at Plaza de
Isidro fiestas, which herald Toros de Las Ventas (see p108).
T
the start of the bullfighting Labour Day (1 May). Public Corpus Christi (end May).
season, are often marred holiday and rally held in the Religious holiday with proces-
by rain, but the countryside Puerta del Sol (see p44). sions in Madrid and Toledo.
also looks its best at this time. Fiestas de Mayo (1 May), Romería Alpina (last Sun),
Many Madrileñoss leave A
Ajalvir, Casarrubuelos, Fresno Lozoya. Country procession
town for the Easter Semana de Torote and Torrelaguna. with La Virgen de la Fuensanta.
Santa holiday, and the half- f Local fiestas celebrating May. Feria del Libro (end May–
deserted streets of Madrid Las Mayas (first Sun), around mid-Jun), Parque del Retiro
resound with solemn Iglesia de San Lorenzo in the (see p77). Book fair.
religious processions.

MARCH

Cristo de Medinaceli (first

Fri), Iglesia de Medinaceli,
Calle del Duque de Medinaceli.
Thousands of people come to
this church to make three
wishes before the image of
Christ, one of which will
hopefully come true.
Expo/Ocio, Feria del Tiempo
Libre (second or third week),
Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I.
This annual exhibition is dedi-
cated to sports and hobbies. Semana Santa (Easter Week) observed with solemn religious processions
 M A D R I D T H R O U G H T H E Y E A R 35

Sunshine Chart
AVERAGE DA
Madrid is a sunny place
Hours and, even in the depths
of winter when tempera-
12
tures plummet, there are
usually a few hours of
9 sunshine to brighten the
skies. At the height of the
6 Madrid summer you can
expect an average of 12
hours of blistering sun a
3
day, so come prepared
with a hat and a high-
0 Jan F Nov Dec
factor sun cream, and
avoid the midday sun.

SUMMER

Madrid’s outdoor swimming

pools and aqua parks open in
June (see p188). By August,
the fierce dry heat settles in
and entire families escape to
the cool of the mountains, the
coast or outlying villages to
visit relatives. Most offices
work intensively from 8am to
3pm. Many bars and restau-
rants close in August, but
those that stay open are
thronged until the early hours.
With a fraction of the usual Madrileños in traditional castizo costume at the Fiesta de San Isidro
traffic on the roads, it is a
pleasant month in Madrid. Fiestas de Santiago Apóstol Fiestas de San Bartolomé
(25 Jul). Public holiday for u , Alcalá de Henares.
(24 Aug)
Spain’s patron saint. Fiestas with giants, classical
Romería Celestial (26 Jul), theatre and bullfights.
Alameda del Valle, Lozoya. Encierros (last week), Cuellar,
Procession climbs 3 km (2 Segovia. Spain’s oldest known
miles) to La Ermita de Santa bull run, dating back to 1546.
Ana. Bring your own picnic. El Motín de Aranjuez (end
Aug or early Sep), Aranjuez.
AUGUST Carlos IV’s abdication (1808),
commemorated with
Madrid’s terrace bars, great for Castizo Fiestas (6–15 Aug). bullfights, outdoor concerts
cooling down in the summer heat T
Traditional castizo (see p103) and fireworks.
fiestas in La Latina and
JUNE Lavapiés. Traditional
T
Madrileño fiestas of
Fiesta de San Antonio de la San Cayetano (3 Aug),
Florida (13 Jun), Ermita de San Lorenzo (5 Aug)
San Antonio, Paseo de la and La Virgen de la
Florida. Señoritass throw pins Paloma (15 Aug).
in a font, dip in their hands Fiesta de San
and ask St Anthony for a boy- Lorenzo (10 Aug), El
friend. If any pins stick to their Escorial (see pp126-9).
hands they will have that many Fiesta de San Roque,
boyfriends in the year ahead. (12–18 Aug), Chin-
chón. A bullfight in
JULY Plaza Mayor and anís
tastings.
Fiestas de la Virgen del Asunción (15 Aug).
Carmen (around 16 Jul). Assumption Day
District fiestas in Chamberí. national holiday.
Concierto de las Velas (9 Jul), Encierros (end Aug).
Pedraza, Segovia. Candlelit Bull runs in San
fiesta with music. Sebastián de los Reyes. Decorations for La Virgen de la Paloma fiesta
36 I N T R O D U C I N G M A D R I D

A
AVE
Rainfall Chart
mm es Madrid has two main
60 4 rainy periods – one from
March to May, and the
45 8 other from October to
December. During the
30 2
autumn, the skies tend to
open in short thundery
bursts, bringing the
15 6
year’s highest rainfall.
Summers are dry and
0 0 hot, and you are very
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
unlikely to see much rain
from June to September.

Virgen de la Fuencisla
(27 Sep). Segovia fiesta.
Procesión de San Andrés
(30 Sep), Rascafría. Procession
in honour of the local saint.

OCTOBER

Festival Taurino (around 12

Oct), Chinchón. Bullfights.
Día de la Hispanidad (12 Oct).
Spanish National Day.
Virgen de Pilar (around 12
Oct), Plaza Dalí, Salamanca.
Various district fiestas are held.
Festival de Otoño (mid-Oct to
mid-Nov). Annual drama,
ballet and opera festival.

View of the Plaza de España (see p53) in autumn NOVEMBER

Procesión de la Virgen de Todos los Santos (1 Nov).

AUTUMN la Cigüeña (6 Sep), Fuente de On All Saints’ Day flowers are
Saz de Jarama. Procession taken to graves of relatives for
With the onset of autumn, the honouring the Virgin of the 2 November, the Day of the
first rains for months relieve Stork amid burning scrub. Dead. Bakeries sell Huesos de
the parched countryside and Romería Panorámica Santo (Saints’ Bones).
begin to replenish depleted ((second Sunn), San Lorenzo de La Almudena (9 Nov). Old
reservoirs. El Escorial. Procession with La Madrid honours its patron saint
drileñoss love Virgen de la Gracia (Grace) to La Virgen de la Almudena.
foraging in a picnic in La Herrería woods. Romería de San Eugenio (14
pine forests Romería de la Virgen de los Nov). Castizo procession in
for the wild Hontanares (10 Sep), Riaza, open carriages to El Monte de
mushrooms Segovia. Local pilgrimage and El Pardo for picnics, collecting
roduced by fiesta of the Virgin of Springs. acorns, singing and dancing.
amp nights.
he hunting
mushrooms season begins
in October, and
wild níscaloss (fungi), boar,
partridge and pheasant begin
to appear on restaurant menus.

SEPTEMBER

Encierros (first 12 days),

Torrelaguna. Exciting bull
runs and local celebrations.
Procesión Marítima (first
Sun), Fuentidueña de Tajo.
Maritime procession with
illuminated barges. Celebration of Mass in Plaza Mayor to honour La Virgen de la Almudena
 M A D R I D T H R O U G H T H E Y E A R 37

A
AVER
Temperature Chart
C° F° Scorching hot summers
40 104 and freezing winters
make Madrid a place of
30 86 extremes, with averages
giving scant indication
20 68
of the heights and depths
of temperature the city
can achieve. For many
10 50
people, the most comfort-
t
able months to visit
0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 32 Madrid, in terms of
milder temperatures,
are June and October.

WINTER

The first snow usually falls in

the Sierra de Guadarrama (see
p130), heralding the start of
the skiing season, and traffic
jams form on the way up to
its small resorts. Madrid, and
the higher parts of central
Spain, can become very cold.
Christmas is a special time of
celebration – an occasion for
families to reunite, share food
and attend religious services.
On New Y Year’s Eve, crowds Skiers in the Sierra de Guadarrama, north of Madrid (see p126)
gather in the Puerta del Sol.
Cabalgata de Cercedilla (19 Entierro de la Sardina
DECEMBER Jan), Cercedilla. Winter proces- (Shrove Tue)e , Casa de Campo.
sion with horse-drawn sleighs. “Burial of the Sardine” parade
Día de la Constitución (6 Vaquillas (20 Jan), Pedrezuela to mark the changeover from
Dec). Constitution Day. and Fresnedillas. Fiesta in Carnavall to Lent.
Inmaculada Concepción (8 which youths dress up as bulls.
Dec). Immaculate Conception. San Sebastián (20 Jan),
NATIONAL PUBLIC
Christmas Fair (mid-Dec– Villaviciosa de Odón. Proces-
5 Jan), Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. sion, fiestas and dancing. HOLIDAYA S
Noche Buena (24 Dec). FITUR Tourist Fair (end Jan), Año Nuevo (New Year’s
Christmas Eve – an important Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I. Day) (1 Jan)
night of family celebrations. Los Reyes Magos
Día de Navidad (25 Dec). FEBRUARY (Epiphany)
i (6 Jan)
Christmas Day celebration. Jueves Santo (Maundy
Belén Viviente (last eves Dec), La Vaquilla Premiada (2 Feb), Thursday) (Mar/A/ pr)
Buitrago del Lozoya. Nativity Colmenar Viejo. Amateur bull- Viernes Santo (Good
play on horseback. fighting contest and fiesta. Friday) (Mar/A
/ pr)
Noche Vieja (31 Dec). New La Romería de San Blas (3 Domingo de Pascua (Easter
Year’s Eve. Crowds in Puerta
Y Feb), Madrid and Miraflores. Sunday) (Mar/A/ pr)
del Sol eat a grape and make Costumed celebrations. Día del Trabajo (Labour
a wish at each midnight chime. Alcadesas de Zamarramala Day) (1 May)
(around first Sun), Segovia. Asunción (Assumption
JANUARY For a week village women Day) (15 Aug)
boss their men around. Día de la Hispanidad
Cabalgata de Reyes (5 Jan). Semana Internacional de la (National Day) (12 Oct)
Evening (6pm) procession from Moda (mid-Feb), Parque Todos los Santos (All
Parque del Retiro (see p77) to Ferial Juan Carlos I. Interna- a (1 Nov)
Saints’ Day)
the Plaza Mayorr (see p44) with tional fashion week. Día de la Constitución
floats, animals and celebrities. ARCO (mid-Feb)
d , Parque Ferial (Constitution Day) (6 Dec)
Los Reyes Magos (6 Jan). Juan Carlos I. International Inmaculada Concepción
Epiphany is celebrated with contemporary art fair. (Immaculate Conception)
the giving of gifts. Carnaval (run up to Lent). (8 Dec)
San Antón (17 Jan), Calle de Fancy-dress parties; parade Navidad (Christmas Day)
Hortaleza 63, Madrid. Animals from Plaza de Colón (see p96) (25 Dec)
blessed at Iglesia de San Antón. to Plaza de Cibeles (see p67).
 BY AREA

OLD MADRID 4061

BOURBON MADRID 6287
AROUND LA CASTELLANA 88103
FURTHER AFIELD 104113
THREE GUIDED WALKS 114119
 41

OLD MADRID

W hen Felipe II chose Madrid as

his capital in 1561, it was a
small Castilian town with a
population of barely 20,000. In the
following years, it was to grow into
day Bourbon palace, the Palacio Real.
By the end of the century the popula-
tion had more than trebled.
The 16th-century city is known as
the “Madrid de los Austrias”, after the
the nerve centre of a mighty empire. Habsburg dynasty. At this time, monas-
Narrow streets with houses and medi- teries were endowed and churches
eval churches began to grow up behind and palaces were built. In the 17th cen-
the old Moorish fortress (see p15), tury, the Plaza Mayor was added and
which was later replaced by a Gothic the Puerta del Sol became the spirit-
palace and eventually by the present- ual and geographical heart of Spain.
SIGHTS AT A GLANCE
Historic Buildings Monasterio de las Plaza Mayor 2
Edificio Grassy q Descalzas Reales r Puerta del Sol 1
Muralla Arabe h San Francisco
Markets
Palacio de Santa Cruz 7 el Grande j
Palacio del Senado i El Rastro z
Streets, Squares, Parks Mercado de San Miguel 3
Palacio Reall pp54–7 p
Teatro Real s and Districts
GETTING THERE
Telefónica w Calle de Preciados t
Line 1 on the Metro goes to
Campo del Moro g Gran Vía and Sol, while 2, 3,
Museums and Galleries Gran Vía 0 5 and 10 are good for getting
Museo Cerralbo y La Latina l to the main sights. Useful
Real Academia de Plaza de España u buses include the 51, 52, 150
Bellas Artes 9 Plaza de la Paja k and 153 to the Puerta del Sol.
Plaza de la Villa 4
Churches and Convents Plaza de Oriente a KEY
Basílica Pontificia de Plaza de Santa Ana 8
San Miguel 5 Street-by-Street map
Plaza del Callao e pp42–3
Catedral de la
 Metro station
Almudena f
Colegiata de San Isidro 6 @ Main bus stop
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Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 There was something so encouraging in his eyes and voice, so
reassuring in his confidence, that her fears slipped from her.
“Of course it is interesting,” she said, “and thank you for the
invitation, sir. I shall be very glad to go.”
“And how about you, Mr. Bayliss?” asked Lambert.
“Why, yes; I should like to go, too. I’ve been through the mine
three or four times, but it has a great fascination for me.”
“That’s good. Suppose we say Saturday morning. Will that suit
you, Miss Bessie?”
“It will suit me very well, sir,” answered the girl, a little faintly,
remembering that Saturday was only two days away.
“All right; Mr. Bayliss and I will stop for you. And say—there’s one
thing; you want to wear the oldest dress you’ve got—a short skirt,
you know.”
“Very well,” she smiled. “I think I have a gown that will answer.”
Whatever misgivings she may have experienced in the meantime,
they were not apparent on her face when she came out to meet the
two men bright and early that Saturday morning.
“That’s the stuff!” said Lambert, looking approvingly at her natty
costume of waterproof. “That’s just the thing.”
“Yes; I think this will defy even a coalmine,” she answered,
laughing. “It has withstood a good many mountain storms, I know.”
“Well, if you’re ready we are,” said Lambert, and set off along the
railroad track that led to the big tipple.
“And you’re going to tell me everything about it?” she asked.
“Of course; that’s what I’m for. Mr. Bayliss maybe’ll help me a little
if I get hoarse,” he added slyly.
“Not I!” cried that gentleman. “In the science of coal-mining I am
still in the infant class. I’ll let you do the talking, Mr. Lambert, and
will be very glad to listen myself.”
Lambert strode on, chuckling to himself. He was certainly
qualified, if any one was, to tell her “everything.” He had made the
mine a study and life-work, and regarded it with pride and affection.
Every foot of its many passages was as familiar to him as those of
his own home. The men knew that with him in charge the mine was
as safe as skill and care could make it; in hours of trouble, which
were certain to come at times, his clear eyes and cheery voice, his
quick wit and indomitable will, were mighty rocks of refuge to cling
to and lean against until the storm was past. As he walked along
beside them this bright morning, alert, head erect, his two
companions glanced admiringly at him more than once, knowing him
for a man who did things worth doing.
“Well,” he said at last, as they reached the great wooden structure
stretching above the track, “here we are at the tipple, and we might
as well begin here, though it’s sort of beginning at the wrong end.
Let’s go up to the top first, though,” and he led the way up a steep
little stair. “Now, Miss Bessie, we have come to the first lesson in the
book. The coal is let down from the mine on that inclined railway to
this big building, which is built out over the railroad track so the coal
can be dumped right into the cars without any extra handling. The
coal, as it comes down, is in all sizes, called ‘run of mine’—big lumps
and little, and a lot of dirt. So it is dumped out here on this screen,—
the bars are an inch and a half apart, you see,—and all the coal that
passes over it to that bin yonder is called ‘lump.’ The coal that goes
through falls on that other screen down there, with bars three
quarters of an inch apart, and all that passes over it is called ‘nut.’ All
that falls through is called ‘slack,’ and is hauled away to those big
piles you see all around here. Understand all that?”
“Oh, yes; that’s as clear as it can be.”
“That’s good. Now we’ll go up to the mine. Let’s get into this
empty car. It’s not as clean as a Pullman, nor as big, but it’s the only
kind we run on this road.”
They helped her in, and one sat on either side to steady her, as
the tipple-hands coupled it to the cable and the trip up the steep
grade began.
“You see, the loaded cars going down pull up the empty ones,” he
said. “We make gravitation do all the work. It’s a simple way, and
mighty convenient.”
 The loaded car, heaped high with coal, passed them midway, and
in a moment they were at the mouth of the mine. To her surprise,
she saw that there were two openings, one much smaller than the
other.
“That smaller one’s the airway,” said Lambert. “Just inside there’s
a big wheel, or fan, made very much like the wheel of a windmill,
going around about a hundred times a minute, and blowing about a
thousand cubic feet of air out of the mine at every revolution.”
“Out of the mine!” exclaimed Miss Andrews.
“Yes. The airway is connected with the gangway there, away back
at the farthest limit of the mine. So what happens?”
He was smiling down at her, relishing intensely this novel chance
to test the wits of the school-teacher.
“Why,” she began slowly, “if so much air is pumped out, just so
much more must rush in to take its place through the other
opening.”
“The gangway—yes. And since the only open break-through
between them is away at the other end of the mine?”
“The fresh air must go clear through the mine before it can start
out again.”
“That’s it—that’s it exactly!” and Lambert slapped his thigh with
pleasure at her quickness. “That’s the whole secret, Miss Bessie, of
ventilating coal-mines: get your fresh air, and plenty of it, clear back
to the end, through every chamber, before it starts out again. So
long as you do that, there’s mighty little danger from fire-damp and
choke-damp, or any of the other gases the coal is always throwing
off.”
“But it isn’t always so simple as this, is it?”
“No. You see, there are three ways of opening a coal-mine, Miss
Bessie, of which this is the very simplest. The river, there, has cut
down through the seams of coal and left them exposed, so all we
have to do is to hunt up those most favorably located and work right
back into them. That sort of entrance is called a drift, and is the
cheapest as well as simplest, because every blow of the pick brings
down so much coal. That’s the great advantage of all the mines
along this river—along almost any river, for that matter. Sometimes
the seams don’t come to the surface, and then we have to tunnel in
horizontally through earth and rock to reach them; that’s the second
way. The third way is where the coal is buried deep in the earth, and
a vertical opening called a shaft has to be sunk to it, and the
gangways started out horizontally from the shaft-foot. That is the
most expensive way of all, and the most difficult. This main entrance
is called the gangway or entry, and the side workings from it are
called butt entries. Well, let’s go in.”
Just inside the entrance a boy supplied them with little smoking
tin lamps with hooks to hold them to their hats, and then the trip
into the mine began. The darkness that fell upon them almost
instantly appalled the girl for a moment. She felt that every step
forward must carry her down into a bottomless abyss. She clutched
nervously at her companions; but the feeling passed, and soon she
was able to advance with greater confidence. The gangway seemed
quite level, though Lambert told her it sloped upward slightly so as
to throw out all the water that gathered in the mine, and along
either side of it ran a narrow wooden track. On one track the loaded
cars were brought out of the mine, and on the other the empty cars
were taken back again. Mules furnished the motive power, and each
of them was driven by a grimy boy. The sight of them going
ceaselessly back and forth aroused the old bitterness in her.
“I think it is such a terrible thing,” she said, “that children have to
work in the mines!”
“It’s not pleasant,” assented her guide, grimly, “but it’s a case of
bread and butter—and mighty little butter. They’re not in any danger,
though,” he added, “except from being kicked or bitten by the
mules. Some of them are vicious brutes, but the boys soon learn
how to handle ’em.”
The rattle of an approaching “trip” of cars drowned his voice, and
they stepped aside to let it pass. For a moment they could see
nothing; then the mule flashed into view, with a boy lying flat on its
back to escape the roof, the flame of his lamp streaming thinly out
behind; then four loaded cars, rocking and swaying on the narrow
track.
“You see, the slope of the gangway helps get the loaded cars to
daylight,” observed Lambert, “as well as throw out the water—and
there’s lots of water in a mine.”
That was evident enough. Everywhere about them the black walls
were dripping with moisture, and every angle shone bright in the
rays of their lamps. From low roof and sides alike gleamed
thousands of scintillating points, until it seemed almost that they
must be in a mine of diamonds. Along the center of the gangway a
row of heavy props had been placed to support the roof and render
it quite safe. As they went on, Bessie Andrews began to think it all
some dreadful illusion. Mules loomed up suddenly before her;
swarthy faces, with no apparent bodies, gleamed for an instant out
of the darkness; a constant rumble of cars was in her ears; the
lamps sputtered and flared in the strong air-current, and seemed
each instant about to go out and leave them in darkness—such a
darkness as exists nowhere else. On they went,—miles, as it seemed
to her, but really only a few hundred yards,—and came at last to a
door, beside which a small boy sat. He jumped up and opened it for
them, and they passed through. For a moment they walked on
between two narrow walls which opened suddenly before them.
“Now we are in a chamber,” said her guide. “Here we will see the
miners at work.”
Far ahead she could see dimly four lights bobbing about in a
seemingly senseless way. Suddenly three of them came toward her;
she heard somewhere in the distance the cry of “Fire!” repeated over
and over. The three lights disappeared; the fourth drew rapidly near,
then disappeared also. She felt Lambert catch her by the arm to
steady her; there was a sudden beating of the air against her face,
the dull rumble of an explosion, the crash of falling coal, and then a
moment’s breathless silence.
 CHAPTER VII
THE GOOD WORLD!

“It was only a blast,” said Lambert, smiling down into the white
face his flickering lamp disclosed to him. “Let us go up to the face of
the room and see it.”
The four lights ahead had reappeared again and were bobbing
about distractedly, and as they went forward toward them through a
cloud of acrid smoke, she saw two men rapidly filling a mine car,
while the other two were busy setting a new prop under the roof.
These last two were the master-miners, her guide told her, and she
watched them with interest while they set a post of hard wood
upright and secured it in place by driving a broad wedge between it
and the roof.
“That big wedge gives the post more purchase on the roof, you
know,” Lambert explained. “See, the car is full; it holds a little over a
ton.”
The two laborers pushed it down the track to the foot of the
chamber, where a driver-boy would pick it up on his next trip out.
“Every car has a tag on it to show which room it comes from,”
went on the superintendent, “and when it gets outside, the coal is
weighed and credited to the men who mined it. The men usually
work in pairs,—butties, they call them,—and each man has a helper
whom he has to pay out of his earnings. That’s the reason so many
of the men make their boys work for them.”
The props needed to support the roof were set, the coal brought
down by the blast cleared out of the way, the dirt and debris scraped
to one side, and the two miners looked carefully over the wall of coal
before them and held a little consultation. Then one of them
removed his lamp from his cap and lay down on his side, and with a
sharp pick began to cut in the coal a deep horizontal groove about a
foot above the floor. The other miner lighted him at his work, and
when he grew tired, as he soon did because of the strained position,
changed places with him.
“We might as well go,” said Lambert, at last. “There won’t be
anything more to see here for a good while. They’ve got to cut that
groove about two feet deep all the way across the face before they
can begin blasting again. You see, the bottom layer of coal is slaty,
and the powder needed to blast it out would break the good coal
above it into little bits. So they take out the good coal first. That’s
just one of the tricks of the trade—there’s a thousand more.”
He was busy guiding her safely down the chamber, and Mr.
Bayliss, left to his own devices, suddenly found himself stumbling
wildly over the high caps in which the wooden rails of the track were
laid. Lambert rescued him, laughing, and they reached the foot of
the room just in time to see a driver-boy bring in his mule, hitch it to
the loaded car, pull it out to the main track, and attach it to his trip.
The door closed behind them instantly as they went out.
“What is the door for?” asked Miss Andrews.
“To keep the air-current from going along that entry. If it wasn’t
closed, the current would take a shortcut through there back to the
airway, and the rooms farther on wouldn’t get any. The door shuts
off the in-current, and so the air doesn’t get to those rooms over
there till it’s on its way out.”
“And how many of these rooms are there?”
“We’re working about thirty now.”
“With four men in each one?”
“Yes; there’s nearly a hundred and fifty men and boys at work.
We’ve worked out about a hundred rooms to the right, here, drawn
back the ribs, and closed them up.”
“‘Drawn back the ribs’?”
“Yes; you see, when the rooms are first opened we have to leave
pillars about twelve feet thick between them to hold up the roof.
Well, when the seam has been worked out to the limit, or as far as
we can go profitably from the main entry, we take out these pillars,
too, before we close up the working. That’s called ‘drawing back the
ribs.’”
“But you said the pillars were needed to hold up the roof.”
“They are.”
“Then when you take them out doesn’t the roof fall?”
“It does sometimes,” said Lambert, grimly, “but we do the work as
quickly and carefully as we can, and put in a lot of extra posts. It’s
dangerous, I admit, but it has to be done, or there wouldn’t be
much profit in coal-mining. You see, Miss Bessie, our rooms are only
twenty-one feet wide—that’s as wide as it’s safe to make them. Well,
if we leave walls twelve feet thick between them, we lose over one
third of the coal in the mine. And remember that every ton of this
last third can be got out without any additional initial expense—for
gangways, tracks, tipple, and so on, you know. We can’t afford to
waste all that; if we did, we’d lose our profit and would have to shut
up shop.”
She did not answer, but walked along beside him, deep in
thought. It seemed such a savage irony that men must risk their
lives in order to render the business profitable!
“There is the opening into the old part of the mine,” said Lambert,
pointing to a tight door upon which had been painted in great
flaming letters.

FIRE!
“Does that mean there’s a fire in there?” she asked.
“Well,” said her guide, “there isn’t any fire there now, but there
probably would be—and a big explosion, too—if anybody went
through there with a lighted lamp. We blow the place out every once
in a while,—the law compels us to,—but in those old workings the
fire-damp collects pretty fast.”
“I’ve heard stories about fire-damp ever since I’ve been old
enough to read the newspapers,” she said. “What is it, Mr. Lambert?”
 “The chemists call it light carbureted hydrogen; most people know
it as ‘marsh-gas,’ because you can see it bubbling up whenever you
stir the water of a marsh; but the miner calls it ‘fire-damp.’ There’s a
lot of it in coal, especially soft coal, and after every blast more or
less of it is released. If the air-current is good, this is blown away
before it can do any harm. If the ventilation is bad, the gas collects
gradually at the top of a room. Pretty soon it will get low enough to
touch the flame in one of the lamps, and then usually there is a big
explosion which wrecks all that part of the mine. If there isn’t
enough of it to explode, it catches fire and rolls back and forth
across the roof, and if the miners aren’t burnt to death, they’re
pretty likely to be suffocated by the after-damp.”
“That’s another word.”
“Yes; after-damp or choke-damp is only the miner’s word for the
carbonic-acid gas generated by the combustion of fire-damp. It is
heavier than atmospheric air, and so settles at once to the floor of
the room. Two breaths of it will cause death, and the miner who has
thrown himself on the floor to protect himself from the fire hasn’t
much chance unless he gets up and out pretty quickly.”
Miss Andrews drew a long breath of dismay.
“And is that all?” she asked at last.
“Oh, no”; and the superintendent laughed at her tone. “There are
other kinds. There is white-damp, more deadly than either of the
others, but much less common; and even coal-dust itself forms a
very violent explosive under certain conditions. The one great
protection against them all is perfect ventilation—only mighty few
things are perfect in this world, and mine ventilation isn’t one of
them. But here I’m yawping away like a man on a lecture platform;
aren’t you getting tired of listening?”
“No, indeed!” she answered warmly, and they went on along other
entries, into other rooms. Everywhere the same nerve-straining,
muscle-tearing toil was in progress; blast followed blast; the coal
was carried away, out to daylight—the first daylight it had ever seen;
everywhere was the rumble of the cars, the shouts of the driver-
boys.
 “So you have been through a coalmine,” said her guide, when he
had brought them at last back to the entrance. “There’s not many
women in this great country can say as much. And now I’ll have to
leave you—Mr. Bayliss is a pretty fair guide for the open air. Will you
ride down?”
“No, thank you,” she said. “We’d prefer to walk, I think. And
sometime I’ll thank you properly for your kindness; just now I’m too
dazed, too astonished by it all, to think clearly.”
“That’s all right,” he said, laughing. “I’ll bet I enjoyed it more than
you did”; and waving his hand to them, he turned back into the
mine.
They went slowly down the path along the mountain-side,
breathing in deep drafts of the pure, sweet air, looking about with
new delight on the beauties of hill and valley.
“Oh, Mr. Bayliss,” she burst out at last, “I never before quite
realized what a good, beautiful world it is!”
“No,” he answered, smiling at her emotion and understanding it;
“I think it would do most of us good to spend an hour in a coal-mine
now and then, if only for the joy of coming out.”
“But to stay there!” she said, with a little shudder. “To labor there
day after day—it is too horrible!”
“It is horrible,” he assented, quite grave now. “Yet it is difficult to
see how it can be avoided. The world needs coal, just as it needs
iron and lead and silver and many other things which must be dug
up out of its depths.”
“But the world is so selfish!”
“Yes; it certainly rewards very poorly the men who do this labor
for it. Yet I think that in a few more years mining will be no more
dangerous than any other manual labor. Every year, almost, some
new step is taken to lessen its dangers, and I believe I shall live to
see the time when every mine will be lighted from end to end with
electricity, and the hardest part of the work will be done by steam,
or compressed air, or some other power.”
“Let us hope so, at least,” she said fervently, “and in the
meantime—”
 “Yes?”
“And in the meantime do all that we can to make up for the
world’s selfishness.”
“Yes—by being patient and helpful; that is just what you have
been here. I have seen it and rejoiced in it, Miss Andrews.”
She looked away from him with a little gesture of protest, but he
did not heed her.
“And I know,” he went on, “that you can understand something of
the feeling and purpose that kept me here for those four years
before you came; you know I had practically no success at all till
then.”
“Oh, yes, you had!” she cried. “You had done so much! I think the
field was ready.”
“For instance,” he went on quietly, “I should never have found
Tommy Remington.”
“I did not find him—he came to me of his own accord.”
“I had been here four years, but he never thought of coming to
me. And no doubt there are many others who will come, as time
goes on—though, I fancy, few quite like him. I have great hopes for
him.”
“Yes—I know; and so have I. And I am sure we are not going to
be disappointed—”
“Since Jabez Smith has made the way so smooth for us.”
“What a splendid man he is!” she cried. “Who would have thought
that here—in this place—”
She looked about her at the sordid details of the scene,—the
grimy cabins, the piles of slack,—and left the sentence uncompleted.
But she had proved for herself one great and hopeful truth—that no
corner of the world is so small or mean but that love and helpfulness
may be found there.
 CHAPTER VIII
GOOD-BY TO NEW RIVER VALLEY

The passing days dulled somewhat her memory of the terrors of

the mine, and brought her to a truer view of it than had been
possible in those first moments. After all, she reflected, there is none
of the great, strenuous occupations of life which has not its peculiar
dangers. The sailor, the engineer, the builder, the fireman—each
must look death boldly in the face at times, and each, no doubt,
comes strengthened out of the hour of trial. To the miner that daily
journey into the darkness becomes one of life’s commonplaces, and
is in no way nerve-disturbing—just as the master-builder will walk
calmly and unhesitatingly across a narrow beam high in air, where
another man would falter and grow sick.
And then the work, warm under her hand, was growing ever more
absorbing, for the task of building up Tommy’s education had begun
in earnest. In this she found the minister a devoted helper. How
carefully the boy’s studies were mapped out between them! They
did not tell him the whole plan, but only so much of it as would
serve to give him ambition to get on, without appalling him at the
work which lay before him. It was not an easy thing to compress
into one year the studies which ordinarily must have taken four or
five, but the boy developed a great willingness and capacity for
work, and if there were times when his teachers despaired, there
were others when the way seemed bright before them. I think they
both took pleasure in watching his growth and development from
week to week,—almost, indeed, from day to day,—in noting the birth
of new thoughts and the power of grasping new ideas. To cultured
minds there is no occupation more delightful, so the devoted labor
of this man and woman was not wholly without reward. But at last
such progress had been made that Mr. Remington’s consent must be
obtained before they could venture on further steps.
Mr. Bayliss went about the task one Sunday afternoon, as the only
time he could find the boy’s father at home and not wholly worn out
with fatigue. He approached the cabin with great inward misgiving,
but with determination to win if it were possible to do so. He found
the family, as he had found it once before, listening to Tommy’s
reading, only this time the reader proceeded with much greater
fluency. He stopped as Mr. Bayliss knocked, and welcoming him
warmly, placed a chair for him. The minister greeted the other
members of the family, and plunged at once into his business, before
his courage should fail him.
“You enjoy your son’s reading a great deal, do you not?” he
asked.
“Ya-as,” assented the miner, slowly. “It’s a great thing. I hed no
idee there was such books in th’ world.”
“There are thousands of them.” And the minister smiled. “Not all,
perhaps, quite so good and worthy as the ones you have been
reading, but many of more direct value. There are books that tell
about the sciences—about the stars and the earth and the flowers,
and about animals and man. There are books that tell about the
different countries of the earth, written by men who have traveled
through all these countries. There are others that tell the history of
the earth and of all the peoples that have ever lived on it, so far as it
is known. There are hundreds which tell of the lives of great men—
of kings and emperors and great generals and statesmen; yes, and
of the men who have written the great books. Many of these are
written in the English language, but there are many, too, in Latin
and Greek, and French, and Italian, and German, and Spanish,
which are no less valuable.”
The miner and his wife sat staring with starting eyes at the
speaker.
“But—but nobody ever read ’em all!” gasped the latter.
“Certainly no one man ever read them all.” And the minister
smiled again. “But any man may read and understand a great part of
the best of them. Tommy might, if he had the chance.”
Tommy sat suddenly bolt upright in his chair, and the blood flew
to his face.
“Th’ chance?” repeated his mother, slowly. “What d’ you mean by
th’ chance, Mr. Bayliss?”
“I mean that after he had learned all that Miss Andrews and I
could teach him, he would have to go away for a time to study—to
Princeton, say, where I went, where there are men who devote their
whole lives to teaching.”
Mr. Remington stirred impatiently in his chair.
“What fer?” he demanded. “S’pose he could read all th’ books in
th’ world, what good ’d it do him?”
The minister perceived that there was only one argument which
would be understood—the utilitarian one, the one of dollars and
cents, of earning a living.
“When a man has learned certain things,” he explained, “he can
teach them to others. A man who can teach things well can always
command a good position. It would rescue your son from the mines,
and, I believe, would make him better and happier.”
The miner sat for a moment, turning this over in his mind.
“Mebbe ’twould, an’ then ag’in mebbe ’twouldn’t,” he said at last.
“Anyway,” he added, with an air of finality, “it ain’t t’ be thort of. How
kin I pay fer him t’ go away t’ school? It must cost a heap o’ money.
Why, I can’t hardly keep my fambly in bread an’ meat an’ clothes.”
It was the objection the minister had been waiting for, and he
seized upon it eagerly.
“We’ll provide for all that, Mr. Remington,” he said. “It sha’n’t cost
you a cent. Of course I know the struggle you have to get along—
that every miner has. But every big college has hundreds of
scholarships for deserving young men, and there are many ways in
which the students can make money enough to pay all their
expenses.”
He glanced at Tommy, and saw that his lips were trembling. Mrs.
Remington was nervously clasping and unclasping her hands. Even
her husband was more moved than he cared to show.
 “I’m not going to press you for a decision now,” added the
minister. “It’s too grave a question to decide hastily. Yet, if you
consider your son’s welfare, I don’t see how you can decide against
him. Send him to me to-morrow with your decision. It will be a great
thing for him if he can go,” he concluded, and took his leave.
There was silence for a few minutes in the little room. Mrs.
Remington continued knitting her fingers together, while her
husband stared moodily through the window at the visitor’s
retreating form. Tommy sat glued to his chair, hopeful and
despairing by turns, not daring to speak. No such momentous crisis
had ever before appeared in his life.
“Well, Silas,” said his mother, at last, “it’s like th’ preacher says.
It’s a great chance fer th’ boy. He wouldn’t be a-takin’ all this trouble
ef he didn’t think th’ boy was worth it.”
The miner turned slowly away from the window and glanced at
her and then at their son.
“Would y’ like t’ go, Tommy?” he asked.
There was a tone in his voice which told that the battle was
already won. The boy recognized its meaning in an instant.
“Oh, father!” he cried, and his arms were about his neck.
“All right, Tommy,” he said, in a voice not very steady. “I’m not th’
man t’ stand in my boy’s light. Mebbe ef I’d hed a chance like this
when I was a boy, I could ’a’ give you a show myself. But I can’t.”
The mother hastily brushed away a tear that was trickling down
her wrinkled cheek.
“Come here, Tommy,” she said, and when she had him in her
arms: “Your pa ain’t hed much chance, thet’s so,” she said, “but he’s
done th’ best he could, an’ he’s been a good man t’ me. Don’t y’
fergit thet, an’ don’t y’ ever be ashamed o’ your pa.”
“You hush, mother,” protested her husband; but there was a
tenderness in his voice which made the command almost a caress.
After all, not even the slavery of the mines can kill love in the heart,
so it be pure and honest, and that little mountain cabin was a shrine
that afternoon.
 Bright and early the next morning, Tommy, with shining face, took
the good news to the minister, and together they rejoiced at it, as
did Miss Andrews when she heard. Then work began with new
earnestness. Both of them recognized the fact that no education
could be sound which was not firmly grounded on the rudiments, the
“three R’s,” so they confined themselves to these foundation-stones,
and budded them as strongly as they could. There was no more
question of working in the mine in the afternoon. His father labored
there without a helper, doing two men’s work, blasting down the coal
and then loading it on the cars—at what a sacrifice no one
unacquainted with the mines can understand. For there is a great
social gulf between the miner and the laborer: each has his certain
work to do, and does only that. But the father conquered his pride
and dared to step down for a time to the lower scale; not without
qualm and hesitation and moments of vexation; but there was
another light with him besides the smoking oil one that flickered in
his cap—a light which came from the heart and made the wearing
labor almost easy.
It was not proposed to send Tommy to the preparatory school
until mid-September, so there were ten months remaining for work
at home. And it was astonishing what progress they made. He had
grown through his early boyhood, his mind like a great blank sheet
of paper, ready to show and to retain the slightest touch. The
beginning had been good,—there had been no false start, no waste
of energy, no storing the precious chamber of the mind with useless
lumber,—and the progress was still better. Long and anxiously did his
two teachers consult together over the best methods to pursue in
this unusual case, and his progress proved the wisdom of their
decisions.
So the months passed. Spring came, and summer, and at last it
was time for Miss Andrews to close her school and return to her
home. She was almost sorry to go, her work had grown so
fascinating, her life so full and useful. She had come to look upon
the world about her from a view-point altogether changed; she
thought no longer of how it might affect her, but of how she might
affect it. In a word, she had grown to a true woman’s stature, in
mind as well as body. But Tommy’s studies were arranged for the
summer, and she would be back again before he left for the East. He
and the minister waved her good-by from the platform of the little
yellow frame station, and turned back to their work. Those summer
months were the hardest of them all, for his tutor was determined
that the boy should make a good showing at the school, and so kept
him close at work, watching carefully, however, to see he was not
driven beyond his capacity and the edge taken from his eagerness
for knowledge. But, despite the long hours of study, Tommy kept
health and strength and freshness. All his life he had used his body
only; now he was using his brain, with all the unspent energy of
those boyish years stored up in it. And when his other teacher came
back to her school she was astonished at his progress.
Mr. Bayliss had good news for her, too, of another sort.
“I have secured him a scholarship,” he said. “I knew I could count
on the help of the head-master. It is an unusual concession, too, for
the scholarships are rarely granted until the end of the first term.
But they have never before had a case like this, and it appealed to
them, as I knew it would. So three hundred dollars a year will see
him through.”
“That is fine!” she cried. “I will see about the money at once.”
It was the evening after her return from Richmond that she
sought out Jabez Smith in his accustomed seat on the back porch.
He glanced at her wonderingly as she resolutely brought the low
rocker forward, planted it near his chair, and sat down.
“Nice evenin’, ain’t it?” he observed, hitching one leg over the
other and puffing his pipe uneasily, for he had developed a great
shyness of her.
“Yes, it is a nice evening,” she assented, laughing to herself, for
she felt that she knew this man through and through. “I’ve come to
make my report, Mr. Smith.”
“Report?” he repeated.
“Yes—about Tommy Remington. He’s been working hard for
almost a year, and has made wonderful progress. You wanted us to
find out if he had the making of a scholar in him. Well, he has. He is
fine enough to take almost any polish.”
Jabez grunted and looked out at the hillside.
“His father has consented, too,” she continued resolutely, “and Mr.
Bayliss has secured him a scholarship, so you see we’ve performed
our part of the bargain.”
“An’ now y’ want me t’ do mine,” he said. “Well, Jabez Smith
never went back on a barg’in, an’ he ain’t a-goin’ t’ break thet record
now.”
He took a great wallet from an inside pocket and slowly counted
out a pile of bills.
“I was ready fer y’,” he said, and handed her the money. “I
guessed you’d be a-comin’ after me afore long. There’s three
hunderd dollars. An’ here’s th’ note; now don’t y’ fergit this is
business—not a bit o’ sentiment about it. You git him t’ sign his
name t’ th’ note, an’ then bring it back t’ me.”
She took the money and the paper with trembling hands.
“Well, ain’t thet all?” he asked, seeing that she still lingered.
“No, it is not all,” she cried impulsively. “I want to tell you
something of the great good you’re doing—of how I feel about it.”
“Not a word,” he said sternly. “It’s business, I tell y’.”
“Business!” she echoed. “I suppose all the rest was business, too
—the food for the miners’ families when they were starving, the—”
“Stop!” he interrupted fiercely. “D’ y’ want t’ spile my smoke?”
“I see through you!” she cried. “I know you! Be just as cross as
you like; I can see the soft, warm heart beating under it all.”
He sprang from his chair as though to run away; but she caught
him by the shoulders, pressed him back into it, printed a swift kiss
on his forehead, and fled, leaving him staring bewilderedly at the
hillside.
She gave Tommy the note next morning and asked him to sign it,
telling him, too, of Jabez Smith’s kindness, and that he must make
no effort at present to show his gratitude—that could come later.
What his thoughts were she could only guess, for after he had
signed, he sat for a long time, looking straight before him with eyes
that saw nothing, and with lips held tight together to keep them
from trembling.
Every period of waiting must have an end, and the day of
departure came at last. Word of this new and wonderful venture into
the unknown world had got about among the cabins, and quite a
crowd gathered at the station to see him off. Opinion was divided as
to the wisdom of the enterprise. Some thought it foolish. Others
regarded it with a kind of awe. But all looked with interest at the
little procession which presently emerged from the Remington cabin
and came slowly down the path.
Tommy they hardly knew. His father, by working overtime and
practising biting economy, had saved enough money to buy him a
new suit of clothes, a new hat, and a new pair of shoes. The
remainder of his wardrobe, prepared by his mother with loving
fingers, disputed the possession of a small square trunk with the
books which the minister had given him and which he would need at
Lawrenceville. It was not a gay procession. To father and mother
alike, this journey of five hundred miles seemed a tempting of
Providence, and Tommy himself was awed at the trip before him. So
little was said as they stood on the platform and waited for the train.
Miss Andrews and the minister kept up a desultory talk, but the
gloom extended even to them. It is always a venturesome thing to
take a boy from the sphere in which he is born and the environment
in which he has grown up, and attempt to launch him upon some
other plane of life. The responsibility of those who try to shape the
lives of others is no little one, nor is it to be undertaken lightly.
These two, who fancied they saw in this boy a capability for greater
things than mere labor in the mines, fully understood all this, and for
the moment it weighed upon them and was not to be shaken off.
At last, away down the track, sounded the whistle of the
approaching train, and in a moment it whirled into sight. Mrs.
Remington caught her boy in her arms and kissed him.
“Good-by, Tommy,” she said, and pressed him convulsively to her
breast. “Be a good boy.”
 All pretense of composure dropped from Tommy, and he turned to
his father with streaming eyes.
“Good-by, father,” he sobbed.
His father hugged him close.
“Good-by, son,” he said with trembling voice. “Y’ must write to
your ma an’ me. The preacher’ll read us th’ letters, an’ we’ll like t’ git
’em.”
“I will, oh, I will!” sobbed Tommy.
The train stopped at the platform with shrieking wheels.
“All aboard!” shouted the conductor. “Hurry up, there.”
Tommy shook hands tremulously with Miss Andrews and the
minister. He caught a glimpse of Jabez Smith coming to get the mail,
and started toward him with a vague intention of thanking him; but
some one caught Tommy by the arm and pushed him up the steps
and into the coach. The train was off. Through the window he
caught one more glimpse of the little group on the platform, and
then the train whirled him away into the great unknown.
 CHAPTER IX
A GLIMPSE OF A NEW WORLD

But Tommy’s sorrow did not endure long. How could it in face of
the wonders to be seen every minute through the window? For a
time the old familiar mountains closed in the view, but they assumed
strange and unaccustomed shapes as they whirled backward past
him, with the foreground all blurred and the more distant peaks
turning in stately line, like mammoth soldiers. A hand on his
shoulder brought him from the window.
“Let’s have your ticket, sonny,” said the conductor.
Tommy produced it from the inside pocket of his coat. The
conductor took it, unfolded it, and then glanced in surprise from it to
the boyish face.
“You’re going a good ways, ain’t you?” he remarked pleasantly.
“You’ll have to change cars at Washington. We get there at three
thirty-nine this afternoon. I’ll get somebody there to look out after
you.”
“Thank you, sir,” answered Tommy. It was good to find that
friendly and helpful people lived out in the big world.
“That’s all right,” and the conductor punched his ticket and
handed it back to him. “You haven’t got a thing to do now but to sit
here and look out the window. Got anything to eat?”
“Yes, sir,” said Tommy, and pointed to a box which his mother had
filled for him.
“All right. You’ll find drinking water up there at the end of the car.
Mind you don’t try to leave the car or get off when we stop, or you’ll
be left.” And with this final warning, he passed on to his other
duties.
But Tommy had no desire whatever to move from his seat. The
train flew on past miners’ cabins and scattered hamlets, till at last
the mines were left behind, and the mountains began to fall back
from the river which they had crowded so closely. The great white
inn at Clifton Forge, with its stately court and playing fountains, gave
him a glimpse of fairyland. Soon he was looking out miles and miles
across a wide valley, dotted like a great chess-board with fields of
corn and barley, and with the white farm-houses here and there
peeping through their sheltering groves of oaks and chestnuts. It
seemed a peaceful, happy, contented country, and Tommy’s eyes
dwelt upon it wistfully. Wide, level fields were something new to his
experience, and he longed to have a good run across them. The
mountains fell farther and farther away, until at last not one
remained to mar the line where the sky stooped to the horizon.
At Charlottesville Tommy caught his first glimpse of what a great
city may be. Now Charlottesville is not by any means a great city,
but the crowds which thronged the long platform and eddied away
into the streets drew from him a gasp of astonishment. And then the
houses, built one against another in long rows that seemed to have
no end! He had not thought that people could live so close together.
The train hurried on over historic ground, if Tommy had only
known it,—Gordonsville, Culpeper, Manassas,—where thirty-five
years before every house and fence and clump of trees had been
contested stubbornly and bloodily by blue and gray. Another historic
place they touched, Alexandria, where the church George
Washington attended and the very pew he sat in still remain. Then
along the bank of the Potomac, whose two miles or more of width
made the boy gasp again, across a long bridge, and in a moment
Tommy found himself looking out at a tall, massive shaft of stone
that resembled nothing so much as a gigantic chimney, and beyond
it great buildings, and still other great buildings, as far as the eye
could reach.
“Washington!” yelled the brakeman, slamming back the door. “All
out fo’ Washington!”
Tommy grasped his box convulsively,—it was the only part of his
baggage that had been left to his care, for his trunk was ahead in
the baggage-car,—and looked anxiously around for his friend the
conductor. That blue-coated official had not forgotten him, and in a
moment Tommy saw him coming.
“Now you stay right where you are,” he said, “till I get all the
other passengers off, and then I’ll come back after you.”
“All right, sir,” answered Tommy, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ll be
right here, sir.”
The crowds at Charlottesville were nothing to those that hurried
past him now, and he sat watching them, fascinated, until he heard
the conductor calling from the door.
“Step lively, sonny,” he called, and as they jumped down together
to the platform, he saw that Tommy was carrying the unopened box
in which his dinner was. “Why, look here,” he said, “didn’t you eat
anything?”
Tommy looked down at the box, and hesitated a moment in the
effort at recollection.
“I don’t believe I did,” he said at last. “I forgot about it. I wasn’t
hungry.”
“I’ll bet it’s the first time you ever forgot your dinner,” chuckled
the conductor. “Here, now,” he added, as they entered the great
waiting-room, “you sit down in this seat and wait for me. I have to
go and make my report, but it won’t take me long.”
Tommy sat down obediently, and watched the crowds surging
back and forth through the station and out upon the long stone
platforms. It seemed to him that all the residents of Washington
must be either leaving the trains or crowding into them. He
wondered why so many people should have to travel, but before he
could make any progress toward solving the question, the conductor
was back again, bringing another official with him.
“This is the boy, Jim,” he said. “By the way, what’s your name,
sonny?”
“Tommy—Tommy Remington.”
“Well, Tommy, Jim here is one of the callers. He’ll have to take the
four-fifty for Trenton, Jim. Don’t let him miss it.”
“I won’t. I’ll look out for him.”
 “All right. Good-by, Tommy.”
“Good-by, sir,” and Tommy placed his hand in the great paw that
the good-natured official held out to him. “And thank you again, sir.”
“You’re welcome”; and he gave Tommy’s hand a squeeze that
made him wince. “Wait a minute,” he added suddenly, turning to
Jim. “An hour and a half is a long time for the boy to wait. Can’t he
see some of the sights?”
“We might put him on the street-car,” said Jim, “and let him ride
out to Georgetown and back. That’ll give him enough to think about
for a week.”
“All right.” And the conductor slipped a dime into the other’s hand.
“Here, you pay the car conductor and tell him to look out after the
boy. I’ve sort o’ taken a liking to him,” he added shamefacedly, and
hurried away toward the home where his wife and another little
chap, not half so large as Tommy, were waiting to welcome him.
Jim went back to Tommy.
“Come on,” he said. “You’re going to take a street-car ride along
the most famous street in the country. Here, give me the box. I’ll
take care of it till you get back.”
Tommy handed over the box, and followed him to the entrance,
where queer open cars, such as he had never seen before, were
dashing up and departing every minute. Jim said a few words to the
conductor of one of these, and gave him the dime.
“Jump up there on the front seat,” he said to Tommy, “and don’t
get off the car till you get back here.”
Tommy scrambled up beside the motorman, who had been
watching the proceeding with kindly interest, and in a moment the
car turned out into Pennsylvania Avenue.
To those who visit Washington straight from the stately
thoroughfares of Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, this famous
street may at first prove something of a disappointment, although its
beauty improves on closer acquaintance; but to this boy, coming
straight from the West Virginia mountains, it seemed a very vision of
loveliness, and he gazed at it with dazzled eyes. The broad avenue,
thronged with handsome equipages and hurrying people, stretched
straight before him, bathed in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.
“That’s the Post-office,” remarked the motorman, as they whirled
past a great structure of gray granite. “This big building right ahead
here is the United States Treasury. That’s where they keep all the
money.”
Tommy gazed at it with respectful eyes as the car turned the
corner and continued on past the building to the next block. There
was another sharp turn, and in a moment they were passing what
seemed to Tommy a great flower-garden, with a beautiful white
mansion showing through the trees.
“That’s the White House,” said the motorman. “That’s where the
President lives.”
As they passed in front of it, the trees opened into a wide vista,
and the boy saw the stately portico with the wings on either side.
Beyond the west wing extended a long glass structure which seemed
crowded with flowers and whose use Tommy could not imagine. He
had read somewhere that people who live in glass houses should not
throw stones, but he had very much doubted if any one really lived
in a glass house. Yet here was unmistakably a glass house, so
perhaps people did live in them, after all. But they were past before
he could reason this out any farther, and another tremendous stone
building loomed ahead.
“That’s the War Department and the Navy,” said the motorman.
“It’s the largest office building in the world.”
Tommy looked, and with beating heart saw two cannon frowning
at him. But he had only a glimpse of them and the car had whirled
by. There were no more great buildings after this, but the avenue
grew lovelier, with its lines of graceful shade-trees, and behind them
the beautiful residences nestling amid broad lawns. They circled
about a little park with a statue in the center, a man on horseback,—
Washington, the motorman said,—and then on down the street
again. The car crossed a little creek which marked the boundary
between Washington and Georgetown, and at the end of a few
minutes ran into a building where several other cars were waiting
their turn to be sent back over the line.
Five minutes later they started back again, over the same route
by which they had come. Tommy was careful this time to get a
better look at the cannon and the big anchor in front of the War and
Navy Building, and at the White House through the vista of trees
that stretched in front of it. As the car swung around the corner of
the Treasury Building, he saw for the first time the full sweep of the
avenue. Away at the end, high up against the sky, stood a fairy
dome, gilded by the last rays of the declining sun. He had no need
to ask what it was, for he had seen it pictured too often. It was the
dome of the Capitol. He kept his eyes fixed on it until the car turned
into the side street and stopped again at the station.
Jim was on the lookout for him, and led him back into the waiting-
room.
“Well,” he asked, “what do you think of Washington?”
Tommy looked up at him, his eyes dark with excitement.
“Oh,” he began, “oh!” and sank speechless into a seat.
“Kind o’ knocked you out, hey?” And Jim laughed. “Well, I don’t
wonder. Here’s your box. Your train will be ready pretty soon. You
wait here till I come for you.”
For the first time that day, Tommy felt the pangs of hunger,—his
body demanded sustenance after all this excitement,—and he
opened his box and did full justice to the chicken sandwiches and
cakes and cheese he found within. He was wrapping up the remains
of the lunch when Jim called him.
“Come on, Tommy; here’s your train,” he said, and Tommy hurried
out upon the platform, where a long train stood ready for its trip to
New York. He entered the coach, bade Jim good-by, and sat down in
one of the seats. Through the window he could see the crowd
hurrying to and fro along the platform. A train puffed in on the
adjoining track and disgorged its living freight. Great trucks, piled
high with baggage, were wheeled by. Then came the far-away voice
of the conductor, a scurrying of belated passengers, and the train
glided slowly out of the station. Evening had come, and along the
streets the electric lamps sprang suddenly alight. Great crowds of
men and women were leaving the government buildings, with one
more day’s labor accomplished. It was all new and strange; but even
as he looked, a great weariness crept upon him,—the weariness
which follows unaccustomed excitement,—his head fell back against
the seat, and he was sound asleep. He was vaguely conscious of the
conductor getting his ticket from him, but he knew no more until he
felt some one roughly shaking him.
“Wake up, youngster,” called a voice in his ear. “We’ll be at
Trenton in a minute. You have to get off there.”
Tommy sat up and rubbed his eyes. The bright lights in the coach
dazzled him, but he was pulled to his feet and led toward the door.
“Wait a minute, now,” said the voice.
Then came the little shock that told that the brakes had been
applied, and the train stopped.
“Now mind the steps,” said the voice, and Tommy was hustled
down to the platform. “There you are.” And before he quite realized
it, the train was speeding away again through the darkness. He
looked about him. Back of him extended what seemed to be a long
shed. The station was on the other side of the tracks, as he could
see by the gleaming lights, but there seemed no way to get to it, for
two high fences had been built to prevent passengers crossing.
“Where are you bound for, youngster?” asked a voice.
“Lawrenceville,” answered Tommy; and rubbing his eyes
desperately, he finally managed to make out another man in blue
uniform.
“This your baggage?” and the man picked up Tommy’s little trunk
and threw it on his shoulder.
“Yes, sir; that’s mine.”
“All right. You’ve got to take the stage over here; it’s a six-mile
drive. Come on.” And the man led the way down a steep flight of
stone steps, along a tunnel which ran under the tracks, and up
another flight of steps on the other side. “Here, Bill,” he called to a
man who, whip in hand, was standing on the platform; “here’s a
passenger fer you.”
 The man with the whip hurried toward them.
“Is your name Thomas Remington?” he asked the boy.
“Yes, sir.”
“All right, then. They told me t’ look out fer you. Here’s th’ stage,
out here.”
He led the way through the waiting-room to the street beyond,
where the stage stood, the horses hitched to a convenient lamp-
post. Tommy clambered sleepily aboard.
“Where’s your trunk-check?” asked the driver.
Tommy fumbled in his pocket and finally produced it.
The driver took it and went back into the station. Presently the
boy saw him come out again, bearing the trunk on his shoulder. He
placed it in the back part of the stage, unhitched his horses, and
climbed up beside his passenger.
“Now we’re all right,” he said cheerily, and clucked to his horses.
“What time is it?” asked Tommy, for it seemed to him that he
must have been traveling all night, and that the dawn could not be
far distant.
“Nearly ten o’clock,” said the driver. “You’ll be at Lawrenceville in
half an hour.”
By a supreme effort, Tommy kept his eyes open until they had left
the town behind and were rumbling briskly along a wide, level road.
Then his head fell back again, and he wakened only at the journey’s
end.
“The boy’s been traveling all day,” said some one, “and is nearly
dead for sleep. Take him up to twenty-one, Mr. Dean.” And he was
led tottering away to bed.
 CHAPTER X
AN EFFORT IN SELF-DENIAL

When Tommy opened his eyes the next morning, awakened by

the ringing of a bell, he found himself lying in an iron bed, between
the whitest of white sheets. It was a most comfortable bed, and he
stretched himself luxuriously as he looked about the pleasant room.
In an instant he found himself gazing straight into another pair of
eyes, whose owner was sitting up in a bed just opposite his own.
“I say,” said the stranger, “where did you come from?”
“Wentworth, West Virginia,” answered Tommy, promptly.
“Never heard of it. What’s your name?”
“Tommy Remington. What’s yours?”
“I’m Jack Sexton. But, I say, I wouldn’t let myself be called
‘Tommy.’ That’s a kid’s name. Make ’em call you Tom.”
Tommy lay for a moment without replying. He had not thought of
it before, but the stranger was right. “Tommy” was unquestionably a
baby-name. Just then another bell rang.
“Hullo, there goes the second bell!” exclaimed Jack. “We’ve got to
hustle if we want to get any breakfast.”
He sprang out of bed, and Tommy followed him. He picked up a
great, soft towel, and vanished through a door at the farther end of
the room. In a moment Tommy heard a prodigious splashing of
water.
“Hurry up,” called Jack. “Bring your towel and come in here, or
you’ll be late.”
Tommy picked up his towel and hurried into the other room. He
paused an instant at the door in amazement. Jack stood under a
wide stream of water, dancing fiendishly and rubbing his face and
head.
 “Come on in,” he sputtered. “It’s great fun.”
Tommy threw off his night-clothes, and in an instant was also
under the stream. The water made him shiver when it first touched
him, but his healthy vitality asserted itself, and that first shower-bath
was enjoyed to the uttermost. Then out again, with the great towels
around them, rubbing the skin until it glowed.
“Gee-crickety!” exclaimed Jack, casting an admiring glance at
Tommy’s neck and shoulders. “You’re a good un. Let’s feel your
arm.”
Tommy obligingly held out his arm and made the biceps swell.
“Hard as a rock,” said Jack, fingering it with great respect. “You
must have been in training all your life.”
“In training?” repeated Tommy. “I don’t know. I’ve been digging
coal pretty near all my life.”
Jack gave a low whistle of astonishment.
“Digging coal? In a mine? Well, I’d dig coal for a year if I could
get a pair of shoulders like yours. You’re just the man we need for
guard.”
“For guard?” And Tommy remembered the three men with
Winchester rifles who watched the company’s safe at Wentworth on
pay-days.
“Yes, for guard. You’re too big to play back of the line, you know.
Come on. I’ll introduce you to the captain.”
Tommy followed him, wondering bewilderedly what it was he was
expected to guard. Down the stairs they went, and into the cool, airy
dining-room, where some twenty boys were gathered, under
supervision of the house-master, Mr. Prime. Sexton introduced
Tommy to the other boys, and though he felt somewhat shy at first,
this wore off as the meal progressed. And such a meal it seemed to
him!—the spotless napery, the shining table-service, the abundant,
well-cooked food,—small wonder these boys seemed happy and
brimming over with animal spirits!
It was not until after the simple little service in Edith Chapel,
where the whole school gathered every morning to open the day’s
work, that he met Captain Blake; for Blake, being in the fourth form,
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