Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-11-21
A Quetr Sp lnish Merchant.

l eEtered small shop where great
bulging oil ars OF dark shining green,
with deep pro Getting rim and three
curved handles. stood in rows; the walls
were lined with shelves bearing dark
red terra Gotta water cruises. with taper
necks and trefoil lips, others of de-
llcio,S cream-cOlor, covered with a
graceful incised design, and others del
icatcly beaded over with raised pat
tern some had one arm akimbo. or
long, eccentric spout. lost my head
over this display. and recklessly Or
dcred big pieces by the pair and small
er ones by the dozen. NV Imagination
showed me the steps of familiar coun-
try house, thousands of miles away,
flanket with The great green jars hold
ing oleanders "nd pomegranate shrubs,
and an old m lhogany sideboard adorned
with the ivory-tinted water coolers, and
the hearts of aesthetic friends made
glad by small reproductions of the more
exqu.s te shapes The gipsy merchant,
only degree more brown. stately and
silent than the ord nary Andalus an,
betrayed no emotion at my prodigality,
although am persuaded that he had
never made such sale before. for the
bill amounted to several hundred reals.
which reduced to pesetas was Just
twelve dollars. The purchases were to
be sa ely racked in Il strong box, sent
down the river to Cadiz, ard
ship ed for America. The next dav,
doubling his promptness, l male n
second expedit on to the Triana to
see if he :lad been as good as his word
Sure enough. there in little grass
grown yard were three cases, about as
large and rs strong rs common tea
chests. A horr BILE vision of rough
StevedorcS. and custom house officers
not whit less sly and sharp than gyp-
sizes, rose II my mind, and said that
there must be but one box and that
strong one, rs these would hardly hold
together to reach the river. The mas
ter of the shop lighted a cigarita and
began to discuss the matter. his part of
the argument consisting in almost total
silence. Pre- emily his wife joined US;
then an old man who was smoking in
the shop; then an old woman they
called the carpenter. At last there
were seven persons sitting on the::door-
steps or slowly pacing about the pack
ing leases, a' if measuring them for
carpet. Ii was pronounced impossible
to make larger or thicker boxes, and
that if male they could not be lifted by
mortal men. My kind artist friend.
who played interpreter with 4 patience
that aSperated me. represented that
grand pianos AMI coloSs'l statues are
packet in single boxes and sent around
the would; but the Spaniard' paid no
attention to anyth:nr that we said.
MonosylEib;c oh ections, insvcerable OBJ
stacleS expressed in single word, were
their only answers. For three-quar-
tiers of an hour the debate was carried
on until finally broke off negotiations,
declaring the Portland vase itself was
not worth so many words. The Span
lard imperturbably professed himself
ready to refund the money and forfeit
the value of the eases, which were on
the bill. but not to make another box.
| had not brought the bill with me. and
asked him to refer to his books for the
amount. There were no books, no
sla e, no memorandum of anv sort. He
promised to call ut the Fonda de Mad
rid that evening. see the bill, and re-
pay the amount. departed. skeptical.
but rreferring to lose the money rather
than more time; but that evening the
grave shopkee.er presented mself.
the transaction was annulled, and he
repl e to my renewed regrets at Using
the pottery by saying that he must lose
his cases. An English friend. who was
stand M by. said that he would take
the big green jars. which could be
shipped direct to London. Tho shop
keeper answered that to transport those
jars and nothing more the boxes must
be made smaller, which would not be
worth his while; and wishing us good
evening with the utmost courtesy. he
returned contented to his unsold wares.
Some fir ends who have lived long in
Spain witness ID tins scene and found
no:h ng cxtraor mary in it; they said
that mo Span ards woul rather starve
than work and that even the indus
triOus would rather lose much money
than take q little trouble. Atlantic
MOn{hju