Part 25 (1/2)
”Now you talk like a wisemy hand, she led me to the tree and sat down by my side on the _poncho_
”And how old are you, little one?” I asked
”Fourteen--is that very old? Ah, fool, to tell e truly--no woman does that Why did I not say thirteen? And I have been reen, blue, yellow, grey hairs co out all over my head by this time And what about my hair, sir, you never spoke of that? Did I not let it down for you? Is it not soft and beautiful? Tell me, sir, what about my hair?”
”In truth it is soft and beautiful, Cleta, and covers you like a dark cloud”
”Does it not! Look, I will cover my face with it Now I am hidden like the ain! I have a great respect for the moon Say, holy friar, am I like the moon?”
”Say, little sweet lips, why do you call me holy friar?”
”Say first, holy friar, am I like the h you are both married women; you are married to Antonio--”
”Poor me!”
”And the moon is married to the sun”
”Happy moon, to be so far from him!”
”The moon is a quiet wife, but you chatter like a paroquet”
”And am I not able to be quiet also, monk? Look, I will be quiet as the moon--not a word, not a breath” Then she threw herself back on the poncho, feigning sleep, her arms above her head, her hair scattered everywhere, only a tress or two half shading her flushed face and round, heaving boso s eyes under her drooping lashes, for she could not help watching my face for ad little witch ht have made the tepid blood of an ascetic boil
Two or three hours thus fleiftly by while I listened to her lively prattle, which, like the lark's singing, had scarcely a pause in it, her atte ended in a perfect fiasco
At length, pouting her pretty lips and coo back to her prison; but all the ti back the bolt into its place she chattered without ceasing ”Adieu, Sun, husband of the moon,” she said ”Adieu, sweet, sweet friend, buyer of side-saddles! They were all lies you told--I know, I know You want a horse and sidesaddle to carry off soht Happy she! Now I must sit in the dark alone, alone, alone, till Antonio, the atrocious, comes to liberateback underthe side-saddle in triu in to release his wife he came out and invited ood horse; he was only too willing to sell, and in a few minutes his horses were driven up for inspection The black piebald was first offered, a very handso animal, apparently quite sound The crea-bodied brute, with sleepy eyes and a ewe neck Could it be that the little double-dealing witch had intended to deceive me? But in a moment I dismissed such a suspicion with the scorn it merited Let a woman be as false as she can, and able to fool her husband to the top of her bent, she is, compared with the man ishes to sell you a horse, openness and truth itself I exa him round; looked into his azed with fixed attention into his eyes and dealt him a sudden brisk blow on the shoulder
”No weak spot will you find, senor,” said Antonio the reatest of the three sinners ether in that place ”He is entle as a lamb, sound as a bell Sure-footed, senor, like no other horse; and with such an easy pace you can ride hiallop with a tuive hienerous about the side-saddle, and I am anxious to serve you well”
”Thank you, my friend,” I said ”Your piebald is fifteen years old, lame in the shoulders, broken in his wind, and has more vices than any seven horses in the Banda Oriental I would not alloife to ride such a dangerous brute, for, as I told you, I have not been long married”
Antonio franant; then with the point of his knife he scratched the figure of a cross on the ground, and was about to swear soleiously asus, at least, when I interfered to stop him ”Tell as many lies as you like,” I said, ”and I will listen to theure of the cross to what is false, for then the four or five or six dollars profit you have made on the side-saddle will scarcely be sufficient to buy you absolution for such a sin”
He shrugged his shoulders and restored the sacrilegious knife to its sheath ”There are my horses,” he said in an injured tone ”They are a kind of anireat deal about; select one and deceive yourself I have endeavoured to serve you; but there are some people who do not know a friend when they see one”
I then minutely examined all the other horses, and finally finished the farce by leading out the roan cream-nose, and was pleased to notice the crestfallen expression of ood shepherd