l! But I cannot bear the town-folk. What thieves and liars!'

'Town-folk should stick to the towns,' muttered the old woman, looking
at me somewhat pointedly.

The remark drew the farmer's attention more closely to me.

'And what are you doing here?' he asked.

'Riding to Ecija.'

'Ah, you're a commercial traveller,' he cried, with fine scorn. 'You
foreigners bleed the country of all its money. You and the government!'

'Rogues and vagabonds!' muttered the old woman.

Notwithstanding, the farmer with much condescension accepted one of my
cigars, and made me drink with him a glass of _aguardiente_.

We went off together. The mare he rode was really magnificent, rather
large, holding her head beautifully, with a tail that almost swept the
ground. She carried as if it were nothing the heavy Spanish saddle,
covered with a white sheep-skin, its high triangular pommel of polished
wood. Our ways, however, quickly diverged. I inquired again how far it
was to the nearest village.

'Eh!' said the farmer, with a vague gesture. 'Two leagues. Three
leagues. _Quien sabe?_ Who knows? _Adios!_'

He put the spurs to his mare and galloped down a bridle-track. I, whom
no fair maiden awaited, trotted on soberly.

XXVIII

[Sidenote: By the Road--II]

The endless desert grew rocky and less sandy, the colours duller. Even
the palmetto found scanty sustenance, and huge boulders, strewn as
though some vast torrent had passed through the plain, alone broke the
desolate flatness. The dusty road pursued its way, invariably straight,
neither turning to one side nor to the other, but continually in front
of me, a long white line.

Finally in the distance I saw a group of white buildings and a cluster
of trees. I thought it was Luisiana, but Luisiana, they had said, was a
populous hamlet, and here were only two or three houses and not a soul.
I rode up and found among the trees a tall white church, and a pool of
murky water, further back a low, new edifice, which was evidently a
monastery, and a _posada_. Presently a Franciscan monk in his brown cowl
came out of the church, and he told me that Luisiana was a full league
off, but that food could be obtained at the neighbouring inn.

The _posada_ was merely a long barn, with an open roof of wood, on one
side of which were half a dozen mangers and in a corner two mules.
Against another wall were rough benches for travellers to sleep on. I
dismounted and walked to the huge firep