The Quest | Page 7

youngsters displayed traits almost absolutely opposite; the
elder, Manuel, was of a frivolous, slothful, indolent disposition, and
would neither study nor go to school. He was fond of romping about
the fields and engaging in bold, dangerous escapades. The
characteristic trait of Juan, the younger brother, was a morbid
sentimentalism that would overflow in tears upon the slightest
provocation.
Manuel recalled that the school master and town organist, an old fellow
who was half dominie and taught the two brothers Latin, had always
prophesied that Juan would make his mark; Manuel he considered as an
adventure-seeking rover who would come to a bad end.
As Manuel dozed in the third-class compartment, a thousand
recollections thronged his imagination: the events of the night before at
his uncle's mingled in his mind with fleeting impressions of Madrid
already half forgotten. One by one the sensations of distinct epochs
intertwined themselves in his memory, without rhyme or reason and
among them, in the phantasmagoria of near and distant images that
rolled past his inner vision, there stood out clearly those sombre towers
glimpsed by night in Almazán by the light of the moon....
When one of his travelling companions announced that they had

already reached Madrid, Manuel was filled with genuine anxiety. A red
dusk flushed the sky, which was streaked with blood like some
monster's eye; the train gradually slackened speed; it glided through
squalid suburbs and past wretched houses; by this time, the electric
lights were gleaming pallidly above the high signal lanterns....
The train rolled on between long lines of coaches, the round-tables
trembled with an iron rumble, and the Estación del Mediodía,
illuminated by arc lamps, came into view.
The travellers got out; Manuel descended with his little bundle of
clothes in his hand, looked in every direction for a glimpse of his
mother and could not make her out anywhere on the wide platform. For
a moment he was confused, then decided to follow the throng that was
hurrying with bundles and bird-cages toward a gate; he was asked for
his ticket, he stopped to go through his pockets, found it and issued into
the street between two rows of porters who were yelling the names of
hotels.
"Manuel! Where are you going?"
There was his mother. Petra had meant to be severe; but at the sight of
her son she forgot her severity and embraced him effusively.
"But--what happened?" Petra asked at once.
"Nothing."
"Then--why have you come?"
"They asked me whether I wanted to stay there or go to Madrid, and I
said I'd rather go to Madrid."
"Nothing more?"
"Nothing more," replied Manuel simply.
"And Juan? Was he studying?"

"Yes. Much more than I was. Is the house far off, Mother?"
"Yes, Why? Are you hungry?"
"I should say. I haven't had a bite all the way."
They left the Station at the Prado; then they walked up Alcalá street. A
dusty mist quivered in the air; the street-lamp shone opaquely in the
turbid atmosphere.... As soon as they reached the house Petra made
supper for Manuel and prepared a bed for him upon the floor, beside
her own. The youth lay down, but so violent was the contrast between
the hamlet's silence and the racket of footsteps, conversations and cries
that resounded through the house, that, despite his weariness, Manuel
could not sleep.
He heard every lodger come in; it was past midnight when the
disturbance quieted down; suddenly a squabble burst out followed by a
crash of laughter which ended in a triply blasphemous imprecation and
a slap that woke the echoes.
"What can that be, Mother?" asked Manuel from his bed.
"That's Doña Violante's daughter whom they've caught with her
sweetheart," Petra answered, half from her sleep. Then it occurred to
her that it was imprudent to tell this to her boy, and she added, gruffly:
"Shut up and go to sleep."
The music-box in the reception-room, set going by the hand of one of
the boarders, commenced to tinkle that sentimental air from La
Mascotte,--the duet between Pippo and Bettina:
_Will you forget me, gentle swain?_
Then all was silent.

CHAPTER III

First Impressions of Madrid--The Boarders--Idyll--Sweet and
Delightful Lessons.
Manuel's mother had a relation, her husband's cousin, who was a
cobbler. Petra had decided, some days previously, to give Manuel into
apprenticeship at the shoe-shop; but she still hoped the boy would be
convinced that it was better for him to study something than to learn a
trade, and this hope had deterred her from the resolution to send the
boy to her relative's house.
Persuading the landlady to permit Manuel to remain in the house cost
Petra no little labour, but at last she succeeded. It was agreed that the
boy would run errands and help to serve meals. Then when