"Oh si—but thees is a land that I have a quaintance with: I know thees land—thees art."
"Have you ever been here before?"
"Si—yes. I lif here once when a child."
"Oh, you lived here," said Katie. "Well, now, do you know, I call that awfully funny."
"My padre—he lif here in thees castello. I lif here one time—one anno—one year, in thees castello."
"What! here in this castle?"
"Yes, here. The padre—he had grand flocks of the merino sheeps—to cultivate—to feed them in the pasturas—the sheep—one—ten—twenty thousand—the sheep. And he had thousand men shepherds—and he lif here in thees castello to see over the flocks. But he was away among the flocks alia the times. And me, and the madre, and the domesticos, we all did lif here, and it seems to me like homes."
"But that must have been long ago?"
"Oh, long, long ago. I was vara leetl—a child; and it was long ago. Then the padre went to Cuba."
"Cuba! What! have you been there?"