an
awkward bow, clasping the iron railing in order not to fall. Cupido
jumped into the house and was followed by the young man, who took pains
to make the climb gracefully and sprightly.

He was not sure how well he succeeded. That had been too much excitement
for a single night: first the wild trip through the gorges near the
city; then those hours of desperate aimless rowing over the winding
lanes of the flooded countryside; and now, all at once, a solid floor
under his feet, a roof over his head, warmth, and the society of that
madly beautiful woman, who seemed to intoxicate him with her perfume,
and whose eyes he did not dare meet with his own for fear of fainting
from embarrassment.

"Come right in, _caballero_," she said to him. "You surely need
something after this escapade of yours. You are sopping wet, both of
you.... Poor boys! Just look at them!... Beppa!... Auntie! But do come
in, sir!"

And she fairly pushed Rafael forward with a sort of maternal
authoritativeness, much as a kindly woman might take her child in hand
after he has done some naughty prank of which she is secretly proud.

The rooms were in disorder. Clothes everywhere and heaps of rustic
furniture that contrasted with the other pieces arranged along the
walls! The household belongings of the gardener had been brought
upstairs as soon as the flood started. An old farmer, his wife--who was
beside herself with fear--and several children, who were slinking in the
corners, had taken refuge in the upper story with the ladies, as soon as
the water began seeping into their humble home.

Rafael entered the dining-room, and there sat dona Pepita, poor old
woman, heaped in an armchair, the wrinkles of her features moistened
with tears and her two hands clutching a rosary. Cupido was trying
vainly to cheer her with jokes about the inundation.

"Look, auntie! This gentleman is the son of your friend, dona Bernarda.
He came over here in a boat to help us out. It was very nice of him,
wasn't it?"

The old woman seemed quite to have lost her mind from terror. She looked
vacantly at the new arrivals, as if they had been there all their lives.
At last she seemed to realize what they were saying.

"Why, it's Rafael!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Rafaelito.... And you
came to see us in such weather! Suppose you get drowned? What will your
mother say?... Lord, how crazy of you! Lord!"

But it was not madness, and even if it were, it was very sweet of him