ht and left,
and then drew his head back again. And in their imperturbable,
diabolical serenity the old fellows remained sitting on their perch, as
uncanny as the stone gargoyles on the towers of Notre Dame in Paris.

I was not disposed to let these amiable beasts feast their eyes on me
any longer; so I quickly took my bath, and dressed.

Although this day was still vacation, I made my rounds through the
empty bedrooms and said to the only boy who--because his tuition had
not been paid--had been required to spend the holidays at the boarding
school, that he might as well roll over on his other side; on the
morrow he should have once more to get under the douche at six o'clock
in the morning. He really did not need, in vacation time, to pull the
wool over my eyes, but even today he tried to make me believe he was
fond of bathing. Not to be outdone in courtesy, I pretended to be
convinced of the fact. And so we separated with mutual satisfaction.

Now I stepped up to the housekeeper's chamber door. As yet, the
resounding report--one could hear it all over the house--with which at
evening her bolt was drawn, and in the morning drawn back, had not
announced to us that Donna Leocadia de Silva Soares e Pimentel had
arrayed herself for contact with the hostile sex; therefore I
cautiously approached the door and listened. But when I heard the sound
of footsteps within, going back and forth with a tread appropriate to
the name as well as to the bodily frame of the Senhora, I plucked up
courage, knocked, and, retreating a pace, reported that I should
breakfast in town. At the moment I could have said little that would
have been more agreeable to the lady. Now she was most happily relieved
of the necessity of dressing decently, early this blessed morning,
merely in order to place a cup on the table before me and fill it with
coffee; nevertheless, she assured me in the most touching tones of her
regret that she must dispense with my agreeable company and drink her
coffee alone. I replied that her regret was a source of pride to me,
made a bow to the door, and departed.

In the courtyard I found the five black brethren still perching on the
shed roof; I tried to scare them away by clapping my hands; they did
not refer this action to themselves.

When I passed under the window of Donna Leocadia, it opened with a
crash, and in a white dressing jacket that had been kept out of the
wash for quite too long a time, the overflowing fo