, 1888-12-27
TIE NAN OF ALMONACID.

lcqri OF him l took him for q sw!ndler.
NhrEI heard mat Toledo had been his home
or zen whole mUuths-TOledO, which lives
onIy by moonlight, and is the mere corpse Of
| CIV IN the sunshiue-when | heard Of
ncfesty so very retiring, and remembered
hat England had no extTaditiOn treaty with
gain, my only wonder was as to the sum Of
lis spuils. Was he a defaulter for thirty
h9usand pounds, or a petty rogue Of all
york
t Ten months! That is long time ~ I
said 10 Donna Mercedes, my informant, and
lie elder of the two old maids who kept the
rasa &c HucsPedes, in which found that
. iad this stranger for neighbor. Zone
night see the antiquities even OF Toledo in
nat time"
( Truly" she answered; "but then, Don
i laSo Is a painter"
/ "Ah, now l understand!7 1 replied, with
f great increase of cheerfulness. lone might
/ oaint Toledo for ten years and not have done.
/ l. too, am q painter"
! "And no doubt said the old dame, beam
/ ng upon me through her round trimmed spec
| iacles, Don Iago will be known to your
1 took up the visitors BOOK, i'll which the
and had not yet dried my autograph
James Client" said reading the name to
shich she pointed. No, do not know him"
Dona Mercedes was puzzled, being scarcely
able TO understand that two Englishmen,
sven two English artists might be strangers
20 one another. But presently she crossed
herself. Don Iago is an old Christian - she
said softly, and SO went Off with her book,
benevolent still, but conscious, fear, Of
'erpent in her Eden.
Eden was our boarding house. From
paved alley, the Gale del Arzobispo, YOU
turned into an archway and CROPPED for
l., tbo a.
Then you pulled weight which hung there
and by and by the iron studded door opened
as of itself and lol a tiny courtyard, in
which four orange trees in tubs produced an
effect of somber gayety. Round this patio,
at the level of first floor, ran veranda,
reached by an uncovered staircase. All the
rooms opened on to this veranda On the
right hand side were four littla bedrooms.
On the side which faced the entrance was
the common parlor and on the left tho
kitchen and the old ladies' room, at a window
Of which one was always sitting ready to
open the outer door with cord whenever
the bell tangled
It was all very plain and primitive, but
clean, and looking round my bedroom, which
had Whitewashed walls, and matted floor,
and for furniture bed, a stool, a basin aAd
q brasero, found 10 cause to regret the
dingy hotel had left
When passed No l, on my way to din
ner, the door was ajar, and Dona Mercedes
was inside with Il lamp III her hand. |
paused before the door, and she, looking up,
saw me- 'Ahn she said proudly, 'did not
tell YOU that Don Iago was a painterl See
hereln And she threw her light upon q
picture which was resting on an easel before
tho window.
saw at once that it was not badly painted
There was show OF facility about it And
yet it was mediocre, surprising me less by
its execution than its subject. Here in To
ielia, the grand and bizarre, in tho midst Of
such architectural beauty and grotesqueness
as fairly bewildered an artists eye, my
neighbor had not painted & street scene,
Moorish gateway, or ieefy eloister: BE bad
commonplace as it was dreary; gray house
and gray, sloping olive grove, and round
them bleak, wind swept uplands. / was
scarcely more astonished to find that knew
the place. / had passed it the day. before
In my walk from Torrijos-walking Is
whim of mine and Is was fully seven miles
from Toledo.
At the time I said something pretty to
Dona Mercedes, and went on TO the parlor.
My neighbor was late. had nearly finished
when ne entered. He was a man of 35, per-
haps, with a thin, careworn face and lines be-
loIsthe temples. He was about my height,
wearing his hair and mustache cut short-a
blonde, and English looking. He had proba-
bly, heard of my arrival, yet he seemed put
out at sight of me-perhaps merely because
he was late.
81 have left the head of the table for you,"
said, half rising, politely. "You have been
here some time, understand"
He was breaking his bread into morsels and
eating with worried air.
/,
rather curtly.
"Yet you like to hear the lark sing as well
Us the mouse squeak" I replied, smiling. His
toas was not encouraging, but ] wished TO ts
agreeable "If am not mistaken, I met yos
yesterday"
''Not that am aware Of" he said, with
hnsty glance at me, and then devoted him.
self 20 his soup with renewed zest.
mo! On the pathway cannot call it a
road-from Torrijosl About o'clockEn
He shook his head. "You are mistaken
he answered. Il was not outside the town
Yesterday
'Then saw man very like you'll" re-
joined, nettled by his manner "There is q
ruined castle, called Almonacid, believe
about mile this side OF Torrijos. As was
passing il saw an Englishman, and an art
ist also, if portfolio makes an artist, leavs
it and make quickly for the village before
me. Somehow / missed him amoug the
houses, and was too far from him at any
tine to see his features distinctly. But be
was wearing clothes like yours"
"And like yours, too, presume" he re-
| joined sharply. He had way OF waiting
for you, and taking you up suddenly, OF
which this was my first experience.
Just son l said, for he was right; we
were dressed alike But l am not aware
! that the mirage occurs in Spain. Perhaps
you know Almonacidp'
NO" he replied, more equally, rs if he
were ashamed of his show of temper II
have heard of it. But it is too far for my
legs, and cannot afford horse hire 1 some
times walk out in that direction, but not
half as far"
/ made n hasty calculation. Almonacid
was nine miles from Toledo. The gray house
and solitary olive grove were at least seven.
So that when my friend said that he had not
been half as far as Almonacid, he was not
quite truthful, since he must have been to
the scene of his picture. But it was no busi-
ness of mine He was good looking man,
and that which took him to the dreary farm
house might well be a love intrigue-a thing
dangerous to enter upon in Spain, moro dan
gerous still to meddle with l changed the
subject
had had q difficulty about my letters.
| The postmaster had refused to give them to
me because had not my passport with me.
Laterthe office had been elosed told Client
this, and he listened, but his thoughts seemed
far Away, and when l had done he said,
''No doubt you Will get them tomorrow in
peltunctory way, with scarcely show of
sympathy.
| - hoIie shall, | answered, ANNOYED that
| he made so little OF It. Il do not know what
4 shall do if I fail To cal ti.ssn -
| ''Oh, you will get them," he repeated care
J lesaly.
He was wrong, rs it turned out But SO
! was l when l went to bed, vowing hated
h him did not take into account the change
(which twenty-fou. hOu-S may make in our
feelings. Just one day later could not have
/ identified the surly man l have described
| with my friend James Clent-James Client,
| who had by that time rescued me from
IL. -.....n.n.o,,+ r,l,sitin,1 and nrnvnsi fI,i.