I dined
sumptuously, drank bravely, and, encouraged by the good food, made up my
mind to remain in the village. I talked with the other doctor and with
the alcalde, and soon everything was arranged that had to be arranged.
As night was coming on, the priest and the doctor recommended that I go
to board at the house of the Sacristana, as she had a room vacant, which
had formerly been occupied by a notary.
DOLORES, LA SACRISTANA
Dolores, my landlady and mistress of the Sacristy, was an agreeable,
exceedingly energetic, exceedingly hard-working woman, who was a
pronounced conservative.
I have met few women as good as she. In spite of the fact that she soon
discovered that I was not at all religious, she did not hold it against
me, nor did I harbour any resentment against her.
I often read her the _Analejo_, or church calendar, which is known
as the _Gallofa_, or beggars' mite, in the northern provinces, in
allusion to the ancient custom of making pilgrimages to Santiago, and I
cooked sugar wafers over the fire with her on the eve of feast days, at
which times her work was especially severe.
I realized in Cestona my childish ambitions of having a house of my own,
and a dog, which had lain in my mind ever since reading _Robinson
Crusoe_ and _The Mysterious Island_.
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