"You are longing for the sea again. I have gone through just the same. I used to leap ashore after any voyage, and then I was seized with a fit of depression and a strong desire to return to the ship! This lasted two or three days, until I got accustomed to it. The fact is, I longed to get into port, but once there, I wished to be on board again. I don't know what there is so attractive in the sea, eh? That air so pure! The motion! The freedom! I know you are longing to return to the ship, eh?" he concluded, with a mischievous smile, to show his perspicacity.
"Bother it all! what I am longing for, uncle, is to go and see my sweetheart."
Don Melchor was dumfounded.
"Is that true?"
"Of course it is."
The Señor de las Cuevas reflected a minute, and then said:
"All right; perhaps you would like to go and meet her at the theatre? In the meanwhile I will go and see if Domingo has improved."
"How can he improve? He is a first-rate fellow," returned the youth, smiling.
The uncle, oblivious of the irony, looked at him with scorn.