"True," returned Sanjurjo with another sigh, "but I dare say the ground at Maribona is rather soft; there has been a good deal of rain the last few days."
"What does that matter?" said Don Mateo. "Now in this summer weather it soon gets dry, as the ground so readily absorbs the damp."
The lawyers looked at each other in dismay.
"Pépe la Esquila told me," he continued, "that the peasant folk have seen hares jumping about in Ladreda."
"Yes, we know," said Sanjurjo. "If it were not for some trifle to-day we should have gone off there," and he gave a sign of intelligence to Don Victor.
"Well, Pépe is going this morning with Fermo; I heard so yesterday evening."
The notaries looked at each other in alarm.
"What did I tell you, Sanjurjo?" exclaimed Don Victor.
"Well, I must confess the rogue has taken me in. Never mind, there will be some left. We will go to-morrow, you and I, Don Victor."
But the news had saddened them, and they preserved an obstinate silence. Excited voices and loud noises were audible in the chamber, while the sharp ting of the president's bell was constantly heard calling to order.