I
Have Already Lost Two Or Three Excellent Situations In Madrid,
Solely Owing To These Gallegan Chambermaids.
We have now come to
the frontier, mon maitre, for such I conceive this village to be."
We entered the village, which stood on the summit of the mountain,
and as our horses and ourselves were by this time much fatigued, we
looked round for a place in which to obtain refreshment. Close by
the gate stood a building which, from the circumstance of a mule or
two and a wretched pony standing before it, we concluded was the
posada, as in effect it proved to be. We entered: several
soldiers were lolling on heaps of coarse hay, with which the place,
which much resembled a stable, was half filled. All were
exceedingly ill-looking fellows, and very dirty. They were
conversing with each other in a strange-sounding dialect, which I
supposed to be Gallegan. Scarcely did they perceive us when two or
three of them, starting from their couch, ran up to Antonio, whom
they welcomed with much affection, calling him companheiro. "How
came you to know these men?" I demanded in French. "Ces messieurs
sont presque tous de ma connoissance," he replied, "et, entre nous,
ce sont des veritables vauriens; they are almost all robbers and
assassins. That fellow, with one eye, who is the corporal, escaped
a little time ago from Madrid, more than suspected of being
concerned in an affair of poisoning; but he is safe enough here in
his own country, and is placed to guard the frontier, as you see;
but we must treat them civilly, mon maitre; we must give them wine,
or they will be offended. I know them, mon maitre - I know them.
Here, hostess, bring an azumbre of wine."
Whilst Antonio was engaged in treating his friends, I led the
horses to the stable; this was through the house, inn, or whatever
it might be called. The stable was a wretched shed, in which the
horses sank to their fetlocks in mud and puddle. On inquiring for
barley, I was told that I was now in Galicia, where barley was not
used for provender, and was very rare. I was offered in lieu of it
Indian corn, which, however, the horses ate without hesitation.
There was no straw to be had; coarse hay, half green, being the
substitute. By trampling about in the mud of the stable my horse
soon lost a shoe, for which I searched in vain. "Is there a
blacksmith in the village?" I demanded of a shock-headed fellow who
officiated as ostler.
Ostler. - Si, Senhor; but I suppose you have brought horse-shoes
with you, or that large beast of yours cannot be shod in this
village.
Myself. - What do you mean? Is the blacksmith unequal to his trade?
Cannot he put on a horse-shoe?
Ostler. - Si, Senhor; he can put on a horse-shoe if you give it him;
but there are no horse-shoes in Galicia, at least in these parts.
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