“La Nochebuena se viene,

La Nochebuena se va.”[1]

For a long time the boy wept and moaned. When at last he raised his head he saw a man standing over him, gazing at the scene in silence.

“Are you her son?” asked the unknown in a low voice.

The boy nodded.

“What do you expect to do?”

“Bury her!”

“In the cemetery?”

“I haven’t any money and, besides, the curate wouldn’t allow it.”

“Then?”