There Were Many Females In His Company, Who, I Was
Told, Were His Illegitimate Daughters - For He Bore An Infamous
Moral Character, And Was Represented To Me As A Staunch Friend Of
Don Miguel.
It was not long before he came up to me and my new
acquaintance, as we sat by the kitchen fire:
He was a tall man of
about sixty, but stooped much. His countenance was by no means
pleasing: he had a long hooked nose, small twinkling cunning eyes,
and, what I liked worst of all, a continual sneering smile, which I
firmly believe to be the index of a treacherous and malignant
heart. He addressed me in Spanish, which, as he resided not far
from the frontier, he spoke with fluency, but contrary to my usual
practice, I was reserved and silent.
On the following morning I rose at seven, and found that the party
from Estremoz had started several hours previously. I breakfasted
with my acquaintance of the preceding night, and we set out to
accomplish what remained of our journey. The sun had now arisen;
and all his fears had left him - he breathed defiance against all
the robbers of the Alemtejo. When we had advanced about a league,
the boy who attended us said he saw heads of men amongst the
brushwood. Our cavalier instantly seized his gun, and causing his
horse to make two or three lofty bounds, held it in one hand, the
muzzle pointed in the direction indicated, but the heads did not
again make their appearance, and it was probably but a false alarm.
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