I forbid
you to do such a thing! do you hear me? Rather than let you deny
yourself what you needed to eat, I would go and break stones in the
street, or beg! You know that I would!"

"Don't scold me, Miguel, for Heaven's sake! It was because I did not
care for chocolate these days."

"Then you ought to have taken something else."

"I did not want anything."

"Come, come, Maximina, quit such foolishness.... And don't let it happen
again."

Though the little wife tried to keep her feet hidden in his presence, he
found another time that her shoes were worn through.

"What does this mean?" he demanded. "Why don't you buy another pair of
shoes?"

"I will some time."

"You must buy them this very day. Yours are badly worn."

"All right. I will send for them to-day." And she managed to attract his
attention to something else.

After five or six days had passed, he found that she was wearing the
same ones.

"What a girl you are!" he exclaimed, in vexation.

"Don't scold me, Miguel! don't scold me!" the little wife hastened to
say, throwing her arms around him, and smiling in mortification. A harsh
word from Miguel was for her the severest of misfortunes.

"How can I help scolding you if you do not obey me?"

"Forgive me!"

"I am going to take your measure, and this very day bring you a pair of
shoes."

"Oh no!" she said hurriedly. "Don't trouble yourself; I will send right
out for some."

The reason for this was that she was afraid that her husband might buy
more expensive ones than she wanted.

Miguel, on his side, likewise practised some personal economies, though
he did not go to such lengths. But Maximina could not endure this. When
she saw him put on a _hongo_ and a silk handkerchief around his neck, so
as to save his silk hat and the good clothes that he had, she grew
vexed.

"How you _do_ look; I don't like you so, Miguel!"

"It's because I don't care to dress up. I am only going on an errand,
and shall be right back."

If at the end of any given time she found the same money in his vest,
she would say sadly:--

"You don't spend anything, Miguel. Don't you lunch at the cafe? Why
don't you go to the theatre?"

"Because I am very busy now. I will go as soon as the examinations are
over. Besides, we must be a little economical for the present."

"How bad it makes me feel not to have you spend as you used to do!" she
exclaimed, giving him a hug. "You are making this sacrifice for my sake!