"What is your name?"
"Jose Almaida, Senhor."
The stranger dropped his hand-bag. He waited a moment to control his voice before he said: "Jose,—this is your brother Antonio."
The two brothers rushed into each other's arms and kissed each the other on the cheek.
"Accolade!"—Welcome! Jose cried out at last. Antonio, thumping him gently on the shoulders, had drawn back to look into his face.
"Is it truly you, Antonio? You are so changed—so old—so splendidly dressed!"
"It is your brother Antonio. You, too, are so changed, Jose, that I did not know you. Instead of a very small boy I find a tall, grown lad. How are the father and mother, and the sisters? One little sister, Tareja, I have never seen."
Eager talk followed, questions and answers coming close together. The mild-eyed oxen looked around as if to ask the reason why the homeward journey was so long delayed.
"You say the father can never walk again?" Antonio asked sadly.