CHAPTER XVIII
THE PULQUERIA.
The same day on which we resume our narrative, on the firing of thecannon from the fort that commands the entrance to the port ofGalveston, to announce the setting of the sun, whose glowing disk hadjust disappeared in the sea, colouring the horizon with a ruddy hue fora long distance, the town, which had, during the day, been plunged intoa mournful torpor owing to the heat, woke up all at once with lengthenedand joyous clamour.
The streets, hitherto solitary, were peopled as if by enchantment by animmense crowd, which emerged in disorder from all the houses, so eagerwere they to breathe the fresh air of evening which the sea breezebrought up on its humid wing; the shops were opened, and lit up with aninfinite number of coloured paper lamps. Ere long there was in thistown, where, scarce an hour earlier, such silence and solitudeprevailed, a medley of individuals of all classes andcountries--English, Spaniards, Americans, Mexicans, French, Russians,Chinese--all dressed in their national costume: women, coquettishlywrapped in their rebozos, darting to the right and left provocativeglances; perambulating tradesmen vaunting their merchandise, andserenos, armed to the teeth, trying to maintain good order. And all thiscrowd came and went, and stopped,--pushing and elbowing and laughing,singing, shouting, and quarrelling, making the dogs bark and thechildren cry.
Two young gentlemen, dressed in the simple but graceful uniform ofofficers of the United States Navy, who were coming from the interior ofthe town, forced their way with some difficulty through the crowd thatimpeded their every step on the port, as they proceeded toward the pier,where a large number of boats of all shapes and sizes were tied up. Theyhad scarce reached the landing place ere they were surrounded by sometwenty boatmen, who offered their services, while exaggerating in theirpraiseworthy fashion the surprising qualities and unparalleled speed oftheir boats, doing so in the bastard patois which belongs to nolanguage, but is formed of words culled haphazard from all, and by meansof which, in every seaport, the people of the country and strangerscontrive to understand each other, and which is called in the Scales ofthe Levant the linguafranca.
After giving a careless glance at the numerous skiffs dancing beforethem, the officers abruptly dismissed the boatmen by peremptorilydeclining their services; but they did not get rid of them till they hadtold them they had a boat of their own, and scattered some small changeamong them. The boatmen withdrew, half vexed, half satisfied, and theofficers were at length left alone on the jetty.
We have said that the sun had set for some time, and hence the night wasgloomy. Still, the two officers, in order, doubtless, to assurethemselves that the darkness concealed no spy, walked several times upand down the jetty, while conversing together in a low voice, andexamining with the most scrupulous attention those spots which mighthave afforded shelter to anyone. They were certainly alone. One of themthen drew from his breast one of those silver whistles, such asboatswains employ on board ships, and then produced a soft and prolongednote thrice repeated. A few moments passed, and nothing proved to theofficers that their signal had been heard. At last, a soft whistletraversed the air and expired on the ears of the two men who werelistening, with bodies bent forward and faces turned to the sea.
"They are coming," said one.
"We will wait," his comrade answered laconically.
They carefully wrapped themselves in their cloaks to guard themselvesagainst the damp sea breeze; they leant against an old gun that servedto tie boats up, and remained motionless as statues, without exchanginga syllable. A few minutes passed thus; the darkness grew graduallydenser; the noises of the town insensibly died out, and the promenaders,driven away by the coolness of the night, quitted the seashore for theinterior of the town. The beach was soon completely deserted--the twoofficers alone remained leaning against the gun.
At length a remote sound, scarcely perceptible, but which practised earscould recognise, rose from the sea. This sound became gradually more andmore distinct; and it was easy, especially for sailors, to recognise thesharp and cadenced sound of oars striking against the tholes and dippinginto the sea; although these oars, judging from the sound, were muffled,and employed with the utmost caution.
In fact, the boat itself ere long became visible. Its long black outlinestood out in the luminous line traced by the moon on the waves, as itapproached the jetty at great speed. The two officers had bent forwardcuriously, but did not leave the post of observation they had selected.On coming within pistol-shot, the boat stopped. Suddenly, a rough voice,lowered prudently, however, rose in the silence, singing the first verseof a song well known in these parts:
?Qu? rumor Lejos suena, Qu? el silencio En la serena Negra noche interrumpi??[1]
The man who was singing had scarce finished these five lines ere one ofthe officers took up the song in a sonorous voice; doubtless, replyingto the signal made him by the steerer of the boat:
?Es del caballo la veloz carrera, Tendido en el escape volador, O el aspero rugir de hambrienta fiera, O el silbido tal vez del aquilon?[2]
There was a delay of a few seconds, during which no other sound wasaudible save the monotonous break of the waves as they died away on thebeach, or the distant twanging of some jarab?s or vihuelas, playingthose seguedillas and tyranas so dear to all peoples of the Spanishrace. At length, the voice which first struck up the song continued, butthis time with an intonation approaching to a threat, although the manwho spoke did not appear to be addressing anyone in particular.
"The night is dark, it is imprudent to wander haphazard on theseashore."
"Yes, when a man is alone, and feels his heart die out in his bosom,"the officer who had sung answered immediately.
"Who can flatter himself with possessing a firm heart?" the voice wenton.
"The man whose arm is ever ready to support his words for the defence ofa good cause," the other at once replied.
"Come, come," the sailor exclaimed, gaily, addressing his companionsthis time; "lay on your oars, lads, the Jaguars are out hunting."
"Take care of the coyotes," the officer said again.
The boat pulled up alongside the jetty; the officers had by this timeleft their place of shelter, and hurried to the end of the jetty. Therea man, dressed in sailor's garb, with an oilskin souwester, whose largebrim concealed his features, was standing motionless, with a pistol ineither hand.
"Patria!" he said, sharply, when the officers were only two paces fromhim.
"Libertad!" they answered, without hesitation.
"Viva Dios!" the sailor said, as he returned his pistols to the leatherbelt that passed round his hips; "It is a good wind that brings you, DonSerapio, and you too, Don Cristoval."
"All the better, Ramirez," said the officer addressed as Serapio.
"Have you any news, then?" his comrade asked, curiously.
"Excellent, Don Cristoval, excellent," Ramirez answered, as he rubbedhis hands gleefully.
"Oh, oh!" the two officers muttered, as they exchanged a glance ofsatisfaction; "Tell us it, then, Ramirez."
The latter took a suspicious glance around.
"I should like to do so," he said, "but the place where we are does notseem at all propitious for a conversation of the nature of the one wehave before us."
"That is true," said Don Serapio; "but what prevents us getting intoyour boat? There we can talk at ease."
But Ramirez shook his head.
"Yes," he said; "but then we should have to push off; and I am no moreanxious than I presume you to be, to be discovered and hailed by someguard boat."
"That is true," Don Cristoval objected; "we must find other and lessperilous means for conversing, without fear of indiscreet ears."
"What o'clock is it?" Ramirez asked.
Don Serapio struck his repeater.
"Just ten," he answered.
"Good: in that case we have time, since the affair does not come offtill midnight. Follow me. I know a pulqueria where we shall be as safeas on the top of the Co
ffre de Perote."
"But the boat?" Don Cristoval objected.
"Be at your ease--it is commanded by Lucas. However clever the Mexicansmay be, he is the man to play at hide and seek with them for the entirenight; besides, he has my instructions."
The officers bowed, but made no further remark. The three men then setout, Ramirez walking a few paces in advance of his companions. Althoughthe night was so dark that it was impossible to distinguish objects tenpaces off, the sailor proceeded through the narrow and winding streetsof the town with as much certainty and ease as if traversing it in broaddaylight, in the bright sunshine.
Close to the Cabildo, at the corner of the Plaza Mayor, stood a speciesof cabin, built of ships' planks, clumsily nailed together, whichoffered, in the stifling midday hours, a precarious shelter to theleperos and idlers of all sorts, who collected there to smoke, drinkmezcal, or play at monte, that game so beloved by Spanish-Americans ofall classes.
The interior of this suspicious rancho, honoured with the name ofpulqueria, corresponded perfectly with the miserable aspect of theexterior. In a large room, only lighted by the dubious gleam of a smokycandle, a number of individuals, with ferocious countenances, dressed infilthy rags, and armed to the teeth, were collected round a few plankslaid across empty barrels, and serving as a table. These men weredrinking, and playing with that Mexican coolness which no event, howeverserious it may be, succeeds in disturbing, and staking piles of gold,which they drew from their patched calzoneras.
It was in front of this unclean pothouse, from the broken door of whichescaped a reddish steam, laden with pestilential emanations, thatRamirez stopped.
"Where the deuce are you taking us?" Don Serapio asked him, with anexpression of disgust he could not master at the repulsive appearance ofthis den.
The sailor laid a finger on his lip.
"Silence!" he said, "You shall know. Wait for me here an instant, but becareful to keep in the shade, so as not to be seen; the customers ofthis honest establishment have such numerous reasons to distrust spies,that if they saw you suddenly appear among them, they might be capableof playing you a trick."
"Why enter such a den as this?"
Ramirez smiled craftily.
"Do you fancy, then," he said, "that if I had only some news to tellyou, I should have brought you here?"
"Why else, then?"
"You will soon know; but I can tell you nothing at this moment."
"Go on, then, as it is so; still, I beg you not to keep us too long atthe door of this disgusting house."
"All right, I will only go in and come out again."
Then, after again recommending the officers to be prudent, he pushed thedoor of the pulqueria, which at once opened, and he went in. In thedarkest corner of the room two men, almost completely hidden by thedense cloud of smoke that rose over the heads of the gamblers, carefullywrapped in their zarap?s of Indian manufacture, with the brim of theirhats pulled down over their eyes (a very needless precaution in thedarkness where they were), and leaning on their long rifles, whose buttsrested on the floor of the room, were whispering in each other's ear,while taking, at intervals, anxious glances at the leperos assembled afew paces from them.
The gamblers, fully engaged, did not dream of watching the strangers,who, however, from their martial demeanour, and the cleanliness of theirattire, formed a striking contrast to them, and evidently did not belongto the company that usually assembled at this rancho; hence thestrangers had very unnecessarily taken their precautions to escape frominquisitive looks, supposing such were their object.
Eleven o'clock struck from the Cabildo; at the same moment a formappeared in the doorway. This man stopped, took a sharp glance round theroom, and then, after a slight hesitation, doubtless caused by thedifficulty of recognizing in the crowd the persons he wished to see, heentered the rancho, and walked hastily toward the strangers. The latterturned at the sound of his footsteps, and gave a start of joy onrecognizing him. We need hardly say that it was Ramirez. The three menshook hands with an expression of pleasure which proved that with themit was not a mere act of politeness, such as are so greatly abused inwhat is called the civilized life of towns.
"Well," Ramirez asked, "what have you done?"
"Nothing," one of the men answered, "we were waiting for you."
"And those scoundrels?"
"Are already more than three parts ruined,"
"All the better; they will march with greater impetuosity."
"They must soon see the bottom of their purses."
"Do you think so?"
"I am sure of it; they have been playing since eight in the morning, sothe pulquero says."
"Without leaving off?" the sailor said, in surprise.
"They have not ceased for an instant."
"All the better."
"By the bye," one of the strangers remarked, "have you come alone? Whereare the men you promised to bring?"
"They are here, and you will see them in a moment."
"Very good. Then it is still for this night?"
"You must know that better than I."
"On my honour, no."
"Then you have not seen him?"
"Seen who?"
"Why, _him._"
"No."
"Hang it all! That is annoying,"
"I did not require to see him,"
"But it is different with me."
"Why so?"
"Because I have executed his orders, as they are with me."
"That is true."
"Viva Dios! I was obliged to employ stratagem to induce them to followme here."
"Why did you not bring them in at once?"
"I should be very sorry to do so, at least for the present. They arecool and steady naval officers, whose smile, under all circumstances,resembles a grimace, so close do they keep their lips. The free-and-easymanner of our worthy associates," he added, "might possibly displeasethem."
"But when the master arrives?"
"Oh, then the affair will rest with him alone."
At the same moment a sharp whistle was heard outside, and the gamblerssprang up as if they had received an electric shock. Ramirez bent downto the two men.
"Here he is," he said; "I shall be back directly."
"Where are you going?" one of the strangers asked, sharply.
"To join those who are waiting for me."
And winding through the groups, the sailor left the pulqueria unnoticed.Ramirez had hardly left the room, ere the door was burst open by aviolent blow, and a man rushed in. All present took off their hats, asif by common agreement, and bowed respectfully.
We will give, in a few words, a portrait of this new personage, who isdestined to play a most important part in this narrative. The strangerseemed to be twenty, or two-and-twenty at the most, though he wasprobably older; he was slim and delicate, but perfectly proportioned,and all his movements were marked by indescribable grace and nobility.His beardless face was surrounded by magnificent black ringlets, whichescaped in profusion from under his hat, and fell in large clusters onhis shoulders.
This man had a lofty and wide forehead, intelligent and pensive, and adeep and well-opened eye, an aquiline nose with flexible nostrils, and adisdainful and mocking lip. All his features made up a strange, butcommanding countenance. He might be loved, but he must be feared. Hisfeet and hands were small, and evidenced good breeding. Dressed in thepicturesque costume of Mexican campesinos, he wore his rich clothes withinimitable grace and ease.
Who was he?
His best friends, and he counted many such among the men in whose midsthe had suddenly appeared, could not say.
In America, especially at the period when our story is laid, it was theeasiest thing in the world to conceal one's private existence: anintelligent man suddenly revealed himself, no one caring, whence he cameor whither he went--a brilliant meteor, he traced a luminous line on thechaos of the revolutionary struggle, which he illumined by the strangeflashes of his extraordinary deeds. Then this m
an--this unknown herodisappeared as suddenly as he had arisen: night closed in round him, thedarkness grew denser and denser, and an impenetrable mystery broodedover his birth and his grave.
The stranger was one of these men. He and the Jaguar were thus placed inan identical situation in the eyes of their partisans; but men live soquickly when the hour for the supreme struggle has struck, that no oneattempted to pierce the gloom, and obtain the secret of these two youngChieftains.
The man with whom we are now engaged was commonly called El Alferez byhis friends and enemies. This word, which in Spanish literally signifiessub-lieutenant, had become the name of this singular person, which hehad accepted, and to which he answered.
Why had this strangely selected title been given him? This question, orany other, it is impossible for us to answer--at any rate, for thepresent.
After taking a haughty and assured glance at the persons collected indisorderly groups around him, the young man leant against a barrel, and,with affected carelessness, said to the individuals who surroundedhim--"Well, my scamps, have you amused yourselves properly?"
A murmur of general satisfaction ran along the ranks.
"Good, my coyotes," he continued, with the same mocking tone; "now, Isuppose, you would like to smell a little blood?"
"Yes," these sinister persons answered unanimously.
"Well, console yourselves; I will let you smell it ere long, and in asatisfactory manner. But I do not see Ramirez among you; can he havebeen so awkward as to get himself hung? Although he has deserved it along time. I do not think him such a fool as to let himself beapprehended by the spies of the Mexican Government."
These words were uttered in a soft voice, harmoniously modulated, but atthe same time sharp and rather shrill.
"I heard my name," said Ramirez, as he appeared in the doorway.
"Yes, I mentioned it. Well, are you alone?"
"No."
"Are they both here?"
"Both."
"That is excellent. Now, if the Jaguar be as true to his word as I am tomine, I answer for success."
"I hold your promise, Se?or Alferez," said a man who had entered theroom some moments previously.
"Rayo de Dios! You and your comrades are welcome; for, of course, youare not alone."
"I have twenty men, worth a hundred."
"Bravo! I recognise the Jaguar in that."
The latter began laughing.
"They only await a signal from me to come in."
"Let them come, let them come; time is precious, so let us not waste itin trifling."
The Jaguar walked to the door, and threw away the lighted cigarette heheld in his hand. The twenty conspirators entered, and ranged themselvessilently behind their Chief. Ramirez came in immediately after, followedby the two naval officers.
"All is clearly understood between us, Jaguar?"
"All."
"We act toward each other with all frankness and honesty of purpose?"
"Yes."
"You swear it?"
"Without hesitation, I swear it."
"Thanks, my friend. On my side I swear to be a faithful comrade."
"How many men have you?"
"As you see, thirty."
"Who, added to the twenty I bring, give the respectable amount of fiftymen; if the affair be properly managed, they are more than we require."
"Now, let us divide our parts."
"Nothing is changed, I think; I will surprise the fort, while you boardthe corvette."
"Agreed; where are the guides?"
"Here," the two men said, with whom Ramirez conversed when he enteredthe pulqueria the first time. El Alferez examined them attentively forsome minutes, and then turned to the Jaguar.
"You can start, I fancy."
"How many men do you keep with you?"
"Take them all; I will only keep Ramirez and the two persons to whom hehas to introduce me."
"That is true," said the sailor.
"Come, my coyotes," El Alferez continued, "follow your new Chief. Iplace you temporarily under the orders of the Jaguar, to whom Isurrender all my claims upon you."
The men bowed, but made no reply.
"And now, brothers," the young man continued, "remember that you areabout to fight for the liberty of your country, and that the man whocommands you will not grudge his life for the success of the daringstroke he is about to attempt with your aid; that ought to render youinvincible. Go."
"Do not forget the signal--one rocket, if we fail."
"Three, if we succeed; and we shall do so, brother."
"May Heaven grant it."
"Till we meet again."
The two men shook hands, and the Jaguar quitted the pulqueria, followedby these savage men, who marched silently behind him, like wild beastsgoing in quest of prey. Ere long, none remained in the room but the twonaval officers, Ramirez, and the pulquero, who, with eyes dilated byterror, looked at and listened to all this, without understandinganything. El Alferez remained motionless, with his body bent forward, solong as it was possible for him to hear the slightest sound of retiringfootsteps; when all had become silent again, he drew himself up, andturned to his comrades, who were as attentive as himself.
"May Heaven favour us!" he said, as he piously crossed himself. "Now,Caballeros, it is our turn."
"We are ready," the three men answered.
El Alferez took a rapid glance round the room. The pulquero, eitherthrough curiosity, want of occupation, or some other cause, was standingmotionless in a distant corner of the room, following with an attentiveglance the movements of his singular customers.
"Hilloh!" El Alferez said to him, "come hither."
The pulquero obsequiously doffed his straw hat, and hastened to obeythis injunction, which admitted of no reply.
"What do you desire, Excellency?" he asked.
"To ask you a question."
"Pray do so."
"Are you fond of money?
"Well, tolerably so, Excellency," he replied, with a crafty grimace,which doubtless had pretensions to be a smile.
"Very good, here is an onza: when we go away, we will give you a second;but bear in mind that you must be deaf and blind."
"That is easy," he replied, as he pocketed the gold coin, and drewaside.
Since the Jaguar's departure, the two officers had been suffering froman anxiety they did not attempt to conceal, but which El Alferez did notappear to notice, for his face was quite radiant. In fact, theexpedition they were going to attempt in the company of the daringpartisan seemed to them not only rash but mad, especially since ElAlferez had so cavalierly given up to the Jaguar the thirty resolutemen, whose support they considered indispensable.
"Come, come, Se?ors," the young man said, with a smile, afterattentively watching them for some moments, "regain your courage; hangit all, you look as if you had been buried and dug up again; and we arenot dead yet, I suppose."
"That is true; but we are not much better," Don Serapio saidsignificantly.
El Alferez frowned. "Can you be frightened?" he said, haughtily.
"We are not afraid of dying, but only of failing."
"That is my business: I answer for success on my head."
"We are perfectly aware of what you are capable, Se?or; but we are onlyfour men, and after all----"
"And the boat's crew?"
"That is true; but they are only sixteen men."
"They will be enough."
"I wish it, but can hardly reckon on it."
"Well, say whether you are resolved to obey me at all hazards?"
"We have made the sacrifice of our lives."
"Then, whatever happens, you will act?"
"Whatever happens."
"It is well--"
El Alferez appeared to reflect for a moment, and then addressed thepulquero, who was standing anxiously near him--"Has anything been leftwith you for me?" he asked him.
"Yes, Excellency; this evening at Oraci?n a man brought a trunk on hisshoulders.
"
"Where is it?"
"As the man assured me that it contained articles of considerable value,I had the chest placed in my bedroom, in order that it might be insafety."
"Lead me to your room."
"Whenever you please, Excellency."
"Se?ors," El Alferez said, addressing the two naval officers andRamirez, "wait for me in this room; in ten minutes I will join youagain."
And without awaiting a reply, he made a sign to the pulquero to lead theway, and left the room with a rapid step. There was a momentary silencewith the three men; they seemed to be engaged in sad thoughts, andlooked anxiously around them. Time, which never stands still, hadrapidly advanced during the course of the events we have narrated.Nearly the whole night had passed away, the first gleams of dawn werebeginning to whiten the smoky walls of the pulqueria, and already someinhabitants, who had risen earlier than the others, were venturing intothe streets; ere long the sun would make its appearance.
"Day will soon be here," Don Serapio remarked, as he shook his headanxiously.
"What matter?" Ramirez answered.
"What matter, do you say?" Don Serapio replied in amazement; "but itseems to me that one of the most important conditions for the enterprisewe are about to attempt, is darkness."
"Certainly," Don Cristoval supported him, "if we wait till the sun hasrisen, any surprise will be impossible."
Ramirez shrugged his shoulders.
"You do not know the man under whose orders you have voluntarily placedyourselves," he answered; "impossible things are those he prefersattempting."
"You know him better than we do then, as you speak thus of him?"
"Better than you or anyone," the sailor said with considerableanimation; "I have the greatest faith in him; for ten years I have livedby his side, and have many times been able to appreciate all thenobility and generosity that exist in his heart."
"Ah," the two officers said, walking quickly up to him, "who is he,then?"
An ironical smile curled Ramirez's delicate lip.
"You know as well as I do: a warm patriot, and one of the most renownedChiefs of the revolutionary movement."
"Hum!" Don Sandoval remarked, "that is not what we want to know."
"What then?" he asked with almost imperceptible irony.
"Hang it, you say that you have lived ten years with this man," DonSerapio went on; "you must know certain peculiarities about him which noone else is acquainted with, and which we should not be sorry to know."
"That is possible; unfortunately, I am utterly unable to satisfy yourcuriosity on that point; if El Alferez has not thought proper to giveyou certain intimate details about his private life, it is not my placeto reveal them to you."
Don Serapio was about to reply rather sharply to the sailor, when thedoor opened through which Don Alferez had gone out, and the pulqueroentered, followed by a lady. The two officers could scarce refrain froma cry of surprise on recognising beneath this dress El Alferez himself.The young Chief wore feminine attire with considerable grace andreality; he walked with such ease, and appeared so accustomed to thethousand knick-nacks of a lady's dress--in a word, the metamorphosis wasso complete, that, had it not been for the eye whose strange lustre theyoung man had not quite succeeded in subduing, the three men could havesworn that this singular being was really a woman.
The costume of El Alferez, though not rich, was elegant, and in goodtaste; his face, half concealed beneath the silken folds of his rebozo,partly hid his haughty expression; in his right hand he held a prettysandalwood fan, with which he played with that graceful nonchalance sofull of skill which is only possessed by Spanish women and theirAmerican daughters.
"Well, Caballeros," the young man said mincingly, in a sweet andharmonious voice; "do you not recognize me? I am the daughter of yourfriend Do?a Leonora Salcedo, Do?a Mencia."
The three men bowed respectfully.
"Pardon me, Se?orita," Don Serapio replied as he gravely kissed the tipsof El Alferez's fingers; "we know you perfectly well, but were so farfrom anticipating the happiness of meeting you here, that----"
"Even at this moment, after hearing you speak, we dare not yet believein the reality of what we see."
The pulquero looked in alarm from one to the other. The worthy manunderstood nothing of what was going on, and he asked himselfconfidentially were he asleep or awake. In fact, he was not far frombelieving himself under a spell.
"I do not understand your surprise, Caballeros," the feigned Do?a Menciasaid with a stress on her words; "was it not arranged some days backbetween yourselves, my mother, and my husband, that we should go thismorning and breakfast with Commandant Rodriguez, on board the _Libertad_corvette?"
"Of course," Don Serapio quickly exclaimed; "excuse me, Se?orita, but Ireally do not know where my head is. How could I have forgotten that?"
"I will excuse you," El Alferez replied with a smile, "but on conditionthat you repair your inexplicable forgetfulness, and rather ungallantbehaviour, by offering me your arm to go on board the corvette at once."
"The more so," Don Cristoval added, "as we have rather a long distanceto go, and I have no doubt the Commandant is expecting us."
"Canarios! I should think he was," Ramirez ejaculated; "why, Se?or, hesent me with a boat to take you aboard."
"Since that is the case, I think we shall do well by starting withoutfurther delay."
"We are at your orders, Se?orita."
"Stay, my good man," El Alferez added in a soft voice, and addressingthe pulquero, "take this in recollection of me."
The good man, half stunned by what he saw, mechanically held out hisright hand, into which the mysterious adventurer carelessly let a goldonza fall; then, taking Don Serapio's arm, he went out, preceded by DonCristoval and Ramirez, who hurried to get the boat ready. The pulquerostood in his doorway, and looked after the strange visitors who hadspent the whole night in his house, as long as he could see them; thenhe went in again, shaking his head thoughtfully, and muttering, as hejingled the coin he had received--"All this is not clear; a man who is awoman, friends who do not recognize each other after two hours'conversation, that is preciously queer; I am certain something is goingto happen. But hang me if I mix myself up in it; it is well, in certaincircumstances, to know how to hold one's tongue; besides, it is nobusiness of mine; the money they gave me is good, and I have no right tolook further."
Strengthened by this philosophic reasoning, and filled with prudence,the pulquero closed his door, and went to bed in order to fetch up byday the sleep his singular curiosities had made him lose during thenight.
[1] What rumour resounds in the distance which interrupts the placidsilence of the dark night?
[2] Can it be the rapid gallop of a horse urged along a narrow road--orthe ferocious howling of a starving beast of prey--or, perchance, thewhistling of the north-west wind?