of catching Pinto and bringing him back to his
father all by himself. He even put the saddle on. But the moment he felt
the saddle-girth around him Pinto swelled up like everything, so that
Tonio couldn't buckle it! Tonio pulled and tugged until he was red in
the face, but Pinto just stood still with his ears turned back, and
stayed swelled.

Then Pancho came up. He took hold of the strap, braced his knee against
Pinto's side, and pulled.

Pinto knew it was no use holding his breath any longer, so he let go,
and in a minute Pancho had the strap securely fastened and had vaulted
into the saddle.

[Illustration]

He was just starting away, when Dona Teresa came running out of the hut
with something in her hand. "Here's a bite of lunch for you," she said,
"in case you get hungry in the field. There's beans and chile sauce and
four tortillas."

She had put it all nicely in a little dish with the tortillas fitted in
like a cover over the chile sauce and beans, and it was all tied up in a
clean white cloth.

Pancho took off his sombrero, put the dish carefully on his head, and
clapped his hat down over it. The hat was large, and the dish just
fitted the crown, so it seemed quite safe. Then he galloped off, looking
very grand and gay, with his red serape flying out behind him.

When he was out of sight, Dona Teresa and the Twins had their breakfasts
too, sitting on the stones under the fig tree.

[Illustration]

[7] Pronounced Sahn Rah-mon'.

[8] Brah-say'ro.

[Illustration]

II

THE BLESSING

[Illustration]

II

THE BLESSING

I

When breakfast was over you could tell by the long, long shadow of the
fig tree that it was still very early in the morning. On sunny days Dona
Teresa could tell the time almost exactly by its shadow, but on rainy
days she just had to guess, because there was no clock in her little
cabin.

It was lucky that it was so early, because there were so many things to
be done. The Twins and their mother were not the only busy people about,
however, for there were two hundred other peons beside Pancho who worked
on the hacienda, and each one had a little cabin where he lived with his
family.

There were other vaqueros besides Pancho. There were ploughmen, and
farmers, and water-carriers, and servants for the great white house
where Senor Fernandez lived with his wife and pretty daughter Carmen.
And there was the gatekeeper, Jose,[9] whom the Twins lov