“‘“And Dolores?”
“‘“Dolores was so horror-stricken at the dreadful sight, that she entirely lost her reason. Some good people have taken her quite away, far, far off, thinking she may get better in an entirely different scene. But all the time she was here, I used to stir gently through the room to fan her burning forehead when the air was sultry; and I often looked deep into her eyes when they stared so wildly, seeking for Pepito and her father, who she always thought were coming to see her, and I always saw there a look which told me she was not long for this world.”
“‘“God take her in His mercy!” I exclaimed. “And the parral and the cottage, what of them?”
“‘“All left desolate. The hares and the foxes have the grapes to themselves. No one will go to live in the house. No one will even pass by it if they can any how avoid going that way; and I hope you will keep away from it too, brother, for the sight would make you sad indeed.”
“‘Our ways parted here; and I was not sorry, for my heart was too full for more talk. I need hardly say that on the first opportunity I went to see how the old place looked. And sad enough it seemed; sadder even than now, because the memory of Pepito and Dolores was fresher upon it.
“‘I feel so sad whenever I am there, that I moan and sigh, and the simple people say it is Pepito and his father-in-law crying out against each other. Sometimes, wild with anger, I feel ready to crumble the whole place to atoms—and then I dash down beams and stones and branches of trees; and then, again, I fear to lose all the traces I have loved so well, and I blow sand and mould and seeds of creeping plants to bind the scattered portions together, and root them again to the spot.’
“That’s a dreadfully sad story, Lolita; it has made me feel shyer than ever of this dreary place.”
“The Wind’s stories are always melancholy, Ana dear; though you don’t know his language, you hear that his tone is always plaintive.”
“Then I don’t want any more of the Wind’s stories. I’ll tell you what I like. I like the sights I see in the Sunbeam.”
“Oh, tell me what you see in the Sunbeam!”