The Guide of the Desert

by Gustave Aimard

"Yes, much more than you doubtless think."

"Then render me a service."

"What? Speak. I shall be glad to acquit myself of what I owe you."

"Bah! That is nothing; do not let us speak of it."

"On the contrary, let us talk about it."

"No, no, I beg you; rather render me the service which I ask of you."

"What?"

"Then procure me, this very evening, a respectable escort, so that I may without danger reach Buenos Aires."

"What do you wish to do at Buenos Aires?"

"To embark by the first ship which sets sail, in order to fly as soon as possible from this frightful country, where they only talk politics, and where life has so many tragic elements that it becomes insupportable to any man who, like me, lives only for art."