“Then to the next village,” continued Antonio.

“I am a vecino of the next village, which is on the way to Rivadeo,” said another voice, “and I will lead you thither, if you will give me fair words, and, what is better, fair money.”

A man now came forth, holding in his hand a large stick.  He strode sturdily before us, and in less than half an hour led us out of the wood.  In another half hour he brought us to a group of cabins situated near the sea; he pointed to one of these, and having received a peseta, bade us farewell.

The people of the cottage willingly consented to receive us for the night:  it was much more cleanly and commodious than the wretched huts of the Gallegan peasantry in general.  The ground floor consisted of a keeping room and stable, whilst above was a long loft, in which were some neat and comfortable flock beds.  I observed several masts and sails of boats.  The family consisted of two brothers with their wives and families; one was a fisherman, but the other, who appeared to be the principal person, informed me that he had resided for many years in service at Madrid, and having amassed a small sum, he had at length returned to his native village, where he had purchased some land which he farmed.  All the family used the Castilian language in their common discourse, and on inquiry I learned that the Gallegan was not much spoken in that neighbourhood.  I have forgotten the name of this village, which is situated on the estuary of the Foz, which rolls down from Mondonedo.  In the morning we crossed this estuary in a large boat with our horses, and about noon arrived at Rivadeo.

“Now, your worship,” said the guide who had accompanied us from Ferrol, “I have brought you as far as I bargained, and a hard journey it has been; I therefore hope you will suffer Perico and myself to remain here to-night at your expense, and to-morrow we will go back; at present we are both sorely tired.”

“I never mounted a better pony than Perico,” said I, “and never met with a worse guide than yourself.  You appear to be perfectly ignorant of the country, and have done nothing but bring us into difficulties.  You may, however, stay here for the night, as you say you are tired, and to-morrow you may return to Ferrol, where I counsel you to adopt some other trade.”  This was said at the door of the posada of Rivadeo.

“Shall I lead the horses to a stable?” said the fellow.

“As you please,” said I.

Antonio looked after him for a moment, as he was leading the animals away, and then shaking his head followed slowly after.  In about a quarter of an hour he returned, laden with the furniture of our own horse, and with a smile upon his countenance:  “Mon maitre,” said he, “I have throughout the journey had a bad opinion of this fellow, and now I have detected him:  his motive in requesting permission to stay, was a desire to purloin something from us.  He was very officious in the stable about our horse, and I now miss the new leathern girth which secured the saddle, and which I observed him looking at frequently on the road.  He has by this time doubtless hid it somewhere; we are quite secure of him, however, for he has not yet received the hire for the pony, nor the gratuity for himself.”