“Yes, the Iberian type,” said Cæsar, “that is how it struck me too. Tall, supple, dolichocephalic... It seems to me one can try to put something through in this town...”

[ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]

III. CÆSAR’S LABOURS

FIRST STEPS

“And what have you been doing all day? Tell me.”

“I think, my dear Alzugaray,” said Cæsar, “that I can say, like my namesake Julius: ‘Veni, vidi, vice.’”

“The devil! The first day?”

“Yes.”

“Show me. What happened?”

“I left the house and entered the café downstairs. There was no one there but a small boy, from whom I ordered a bottle of beer and asked if there was a newspaper published here. He told me yes, the Castro Mail, an independent weekly. I bade him fetch me a copy, even an old one, and he brought me these two. I gave them a glance, and then, as if it didn’t interest me much, I questioned the lad about Don Calixto.