bajosa, managing herself her
vast estates, while he faced the formidable pressure of the creditors in
Madrid. Little by little the house freed itself from the enormous burden
of its debts, for the excellent Don Juan Rey, who had the best way
in the world for managing such matters, pleaded in the court, made
settlements with the principal creditors and arranged to pay them by
instalments, the result of this skilful management being that the rich
patrimony of Polentinos was saved from ruin and might continue, for many
years to come, to bestow splendor and glory on that illustrious family.

Perfecta's gratitude was so profound that in writing to her brother from
Orbajosa, where she determined to reside until her daughter should be
grown up, she said to him, among other affectionate things: "You have
been more than a brother to me, more than a father to my daughter.
How can either of us ever repay you for services so great? Ah, my dear
brother? from the moment in which my daughter can reason and pronounce a
name I will teach her to bless yours. My gratitude will end only with my
life. Your unworthy sister regrets only that she can find no opportunity
of showing you how much she loves you and of recompensing you in a
manner suited to the greatness of your soul and the boundless goodness
of your heart."

At the same time when these words were written Rosarito was two years
old. Pepe Rey, shut up in a school in Seville, was making lines on
paper, occupied in proving that "the sum of all the interior angles of
any polygon is equal to twice as many right angles, wanting four, as the
figure has sides." These vexatious commonplaces of the school kept him
very busy. Year after year passed. The boy grew up, still continuing
to make lines. At last, he made one which is called "From Tarragona to
Montblanch." His first serious toy was the bridge, 120 metres in length,
over the River Francoli.

During all this time Dona Perfecta continued to live in Orbajosa. As her
brother never left Seville, several years passed without their seeing
each other. A quarterly letter, as punctually written as it was
punctually answered, kept in communication these two hearts, whose
affection neither time nor distance could cool. In 1870, when Don Juan
Rey, satisfied with having fulfilled his mission in society, retired
from it and went to live in his fine house in Puerto Real, Pepe, who had
been employed for several years in the works of various rich bu