"Explain yourself, my master, I beg, for I confess that I do not understand you the least in the world."
"I thought so," the stranger said, with a toss of his head, "but for all that, I stick to my assertion."
"Very well; but be good enough to explain yourself more clearly."
"Nothing is easier, señor caballero. I come from Jalapa, a town you must know."
"Yes, through the medicinal productions that owe their name to it."
"Very good," the other said, with a laugh; "but that does not prevent Jalapa being a very nice town."
"On the contrary; but go on."
"I will. You will be aware then that we have a proverb at Jalapa."
"May be so; in fact, there is nothing surprising about the fact."
"True again; but you do not know the proverb, eh?"