"A roasted galina, dressed with a few beans," said the patrona.
"And a glass of good aquadiente," added the host; "our Tierno has soured in the wine-skins."
"'T is poor fare this, for hungry men. I have said that I expect my friend's arrival momently."
The host gave a cold smile, and said, "We have had nothing ourselves, for a week past, but Indian corn and boiled garbanzos (beans); but the best we have is at the disposal of the señor caballero."
The inn was old and crazy; the wind came in at one cranny, and whistled out by another. The roof, walls, and floor of the large apartment in which we three were seated, consisted of a multitude of beams and boards, placed horizontally and diagonally, without skill and without regard to design or appearance. There was but one candle in the house (as the host assured me), and it was rapidly guttering down in the currents of air. The patrona transferred it from the lantern to an iron holder, and it was placed on the table to light the room and my supper.
An ostler, or nondescript servant, wearing fustian knee-breeches, without braces, with a muleteer's embroidered shirt, and having a yellow handkerchief tied round his head, spread a (not over-clean) cloth on the table; knives, forks, and covers were laid for two, with a cold fowl, a loaf of white bread, a dish of beans, garlic, and a bottle of aquadiente.
I observed this wild-looking waiter frequently glancing at my rifle, and the jewelled dirk that dangled at my waist-belt; I became suspicious of everything.
"You are well armed, señor," said he.
"It is natural; for arms are my profession," said I.
I looked at my watch: the hands indicated eleven o'clock! Two hours had elapsed since Hall and I had separated; still there was no appearance of him. Twenty times I opened the shutters of the unglazed windows, and listened intently; but the night wind that swept down the dark ravine in the Sierra, brought neither shout nor footstep; so I resolved to sup, go to bed, and trust to daylight for discovering Jack, if he did not arrive at the posada before morning.