of the walls, and the shabbiness of the furniture.  Margarita had prepared for her master’s supper a rather small dish of olla-podriga, which consisted, to say the truth, of the remains of the dinner, seasoned and disguised with great skill, and with the addition of some sauce, and a name.  As she placed the savoury dish upon the table, the priest said:  ’We should thank God for this good supper, Margarita; this olla-podriga makes one’s mouth water.  My friend, you ought to be grateful for finding so good a supper at the house of your host!’ At the word host, Margarita raised her eyes, and saw a stranger, who had followed her master.  Her countenance changed, and she looked annoyed.  She glanced indignantly first at the unknown, and then at the priest, who, looking down, said in a low voice, and with the timidity of a child:  ’What is enough for two, is always enough for three; and surely you would not wish that I should allow a Christian to die of hunger?  He has not tasted food for two days.’

‘A Christian!  He is more like a brigand!’ and Margarita left the room murmuring loudly enough to be heard.

Meanwhile, the unwelcome guest had remained standing at the door.  He was a man of great height, half-dressed in rags, and covered with mud; while his black hair, piercing eyes, and carbine, gave him an appearance which, though hardly prepossessing, was certainly interesting.  ‘Must I go?’ said he.

The priest replied with an emphatic gesture:  ’Those whom I bring under my roof are never driven forth, and are never unwelcome.  Put down your carbine.  Let us say grace, and go to table.’

’I never leave my carbine, for, as the Castilian proverb says, “Two friends are one.”  My carbine is my best friend; and I always keep it beside me.  Although you allow me to come into your house, and do not oblige me to leave it until I wish to do so, there are others who would think nothing of hauling me out, and, perhaps, with my feet foremost.  Come—­to your good health, mine host, and let us to supper.’

The priest possessed an extremely good appetite, but the voracity of the stranger soon obliged him to give up, for, not contented with eating, or rather devouring, nearly the whole of the olla-podriga, the guest finished a large loaf of bread, without leaving a crumb.  While he ate, he kept continually looking round with an expression of inquietude:  he started at the slightest sound; and once, when a violent gust of wind made the door bang, he sprang to his feet, and seized his carbine, with an air which shewed that, if necessary, he would sell his life dearly.  Discovering the cause of the alarm, he reseated himself at table, and finished his repast.

‘Now,’ said he, ’I have one thing more to ask.  I have been wounded, and for eight days my wound has not been dressed.  Give me a few old rags, and you shall be no longer burdened with my presence.’

‘I am in no haste for you to go,’ replied the priest, whose guest, notwithstanding his constant watchfulness, had conversed very entertainingly.  ’I know something of surgery, and will dress your wound.’