; it melts out the pleasure in your bones. And
the bed,' he continued, carrying over the candle in that direction--'see
what fine sheets--how soft, how smooth, smooth;' and he passed his hand
again and again over their texture, and then laid down his head and
rubbed his cheeks among them with a grossness of content that somehow
offended me. I took the candle from his hand (for I feared he would set
the bed on fire) and walked back to the supper-table, where, perceiving a
measure of wine, I poured out a cup and called to him to come and drink
of it. He started to his feet at once and ran to me with a strong
expression of hope; but when he saw the wine, he visibly shuddered.

'Oh, no,' he said, 'not that; that is for you. I hate it.'

'Very well, Senor,' said I; 'then I will drink to your good health, and
to the prosperity of your house and family. Speaking of which,' I added,
after I had drunk, 'shall I not have the pleasure of laying my
salutations in person at the feet of the Senora, your mother?'

But at these words all the childishness passed out of his face, and was
succeeded by a look of indescribable cunning and secrecy. He backed away
from me at the same time, as though I were an animal about to leap or
some dangerous fellow with a weapon, and when he had got near the door,
glowered at me sullenly with contracted pupils. 'No,' he said at last,
and the next moment was gone noiselessly out of the room; and I heard his
footing die away downstairs as light as rainfall, and silence closed over
the house.

After I had supped I drew up the table nearer to the bed and began to
prepare for rest; but in the new position of the light, I was struck by a
picture on the wall. It represented a woman, still young. To judge by
her costume and the mellow unity which reigned over the canvas, she had
long been dead; to judge by the vivacity of the attitude, the eyes and
the features, I might have been beholding in a mirror the image of life.
Her figure was very slim and strong, and of a just proportion; red
tresses lay like a crown over her brow; her eyes, of a very golden brown,
held mine with a look; and her face, which was perfectly shaped, was yet
marred by a cruel, sullen, and sensual expression. Something in both
face and figure, something exquisitely intangible, like the echo of an
echo, suggested the features and bearing of my guide; and I stood awhile,
unpleasantly attracted and wondering at the oddity of the re