, and contented himself with
pacing from one end of the sala to the other like a wild animal in
its cage.

"Go and cool your head!" continued the woman in mockery. She seemed
to have concluded her preparations for defense.

"I swear that when I catch you, no one--not even God--will see you
again! I'll smash you so fine."

"Yes! Now you can say what you wish. You would not let me go to
mass. You would not let me fulfill my duty to God!" she said with
such sarcasm as she alone knew how to use.

The alferez took his helmet, straightened out his clothes, and walked
away several paces. But, at the end of several minutes, he returned
without making the slightest noise, for he had taken off his boots. The
servants, accustomed to these spectacles, paid no attention to them,
but the novelty of this move with the boots attracted their notice
and they gave each other the wink.

The alferez sat down on a chair next to the door and had the patience
to wait more than half an hour.

"Have you really gone out or are you there, you he-goat?" asked a
voice from time to time, changing the epithets but raising the tone.

Finally, she commenced to take away the furniture from her
barricade. He heard the noise and smiled.

"Orderly! Has the senor gone out?" cried Dona Consolacion.

The orderly at a signal from the alferez, replied: "Yes, senora,
he has gone out!"

He could hear her laugh triumphantly. She drew back the bolt. The
husband arose to his feet slowly; the door was opened.

A cry, the noise of a body falling, oaths, howling, swearing, blows,
hoarse voices. Who can describe what took place in the darkness of
the bedroom?

The orderly, going out to the kitchen, made a very expressive gesture
to the cook.

"And now you'll catch it!" said the latter.

"I? No, sir. The town will, not I. She asked me if he had gone out,
not if he had returned."

CHAPTER XXII

MIGHT AND RIGHT.

It was about ten o'clock at night. The last rockets lazily soared
into the dark sky, where paper balloons shone like new stars. Some of
the fireworks had set fire to houses and were threatening them with
destruction; for this reason men could be seen on the ridges of the
roofs carrying buckets of water and long bamboo poles with cloths tied
on the ends. Their dark shadows seemed descended from ethereal space
to be present at the rejoicings of human beings. An enormous number of
wheels had been burned, also castles, bulls, caraboa