ruction--he turned and addressed those who had dared to return
after the storm: "I wish I had here before me now all those who do not
or will not believe how useful knights errant are in the world. Just
think, if I had not been here present, what would have become of the
brave Don Gaiferos and the fair Melisendra!"

But Master Pedro was lamenting the loss of all his emperors and kings
and knights and horses, and Sancho was so touched by what he said it
would cost him to buy a new show, that he pleaded with his master to
make restitution; and, although Don Quixote could not see that he had
done any wrong, he generously ordered his squire to pay Master Pedro
the sum of forty reals and three quarters, the landlord having duly
functioned as arbiter and agreed that that was a fair price for the
damage done to the figures. Besides this amount, Master Pedro was
allotted two reals for his trouble in catching the ape.

While they were summing up, Don Quixote, however, had only one thought
in his mind. He was wondering whether Melisendra and her husband had
reached safety by this time: so possessed was he of his infernal
imagination. Master Pedro promised him that as soon as he had caught
his ape, he would put the question to him; and the showman began to
worry about his African companion, hoping that he would soon be
hungry, for then he would know whether he was still alive.

The rest of the evening was passed in peace, and drinking at Don
Quixote's expense, and soon it was morning, and the man with the
halberds took his departure. The scholar and the page left, too, and
Don Quixote generously gave the page twelve reals. But the first one
to depart was the showman: he was afraid that the knight might have
another outbreak, and he had no desire to experience it twice, and
perhaps lose his ape, which he had now caught.

The landlord was extremely pleased with Don Quixote's generosity, and
was sorry to see him depart; but his madness he could make neither
head nor tail of, for he had never seen any one thus afflicted.

CHAPTER XXVII

WHEREIN IT IS SHOWN WHO MASTER PEDRO AND HIS APE WERE,
TOGETHER WITH THE MISHAP DON QUIXOTE HAD IN THE BRAYING
ADVENTURE, WHICH HE DID NOT CONCLUDE AS HE WOULD HAVE LIKED
OR AS HE HAD EXPECTED

It was no doubt a good thing for Master Pedro of the puppet-show that
neither Sancho nor Don Quixote recognized in him the thief who stole
the squire's donkey, when he was asleep; for he it was.