“No; no, indeed.”
“Then I am a bringer of news. When I read it, I thought, this, if genuine, will be a landmark in our story. I must have copies of this; so must Donna Emilia; therefore I procured copies from the bill-stickers.
“You know that I am a collector of documents, which will go to my nephew; all things, especially documents, if old enough, have romance; this will have much more than romance, being the cause, if I am not much mistaken, of great events in the near future. We live in stirring times, Miss Rosa. You, Mr. Ridden, will see great events, really great events, as the Blanco party reasserts its ideals. Wait, now; for this big document; I will display my wares upon this chair.”
He pulled a chair towards him so that he could spread the paper upon the back: it was a yellow paper, printed in blunt, black type with a tall red heading:
“PROCLAMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT.”
He glanced at the faces of his audience for some expression, which he did not find.
“What,” he said, “no comment?”
“None,” Rosa said. “Mother and I cannot read well without our glasses.”
“And I,” Hi said, “cannot read Spanish very fluently yet. In fact, I can only get as far as ‘Government.’ ”
“Perhaps, Inocencio,” Donna Emilia said, “you will be so kind as to read it for us.”