COURT-YARD OF THE POSADA.
"The lodgings of the posada were passable and endurable; they were excellent by comparison with the casuchas and open air of the mountains, but when contrasted with a good hotel, in a civilized land, they did not amount to much. Manuel found me a room which had a bed in it, and also a table and two rickety chairs. The bed was a rawhide stretched across a frame, when green, and then allowed to dry, so that it seemed quite as hard as a pine floor, if not harder. On the rawhide lay a thin mattress filled with straw; there was a pair of sheets on the bed, but no pillows, and I sent Manuel in search of some.
"He returned with the announcement that all the pillows in the house were engaged, but I could have some the next night if I spoke for them at once. As I was to leave in the morning I declined the engagement, and used my overcoat and one of my blankets on which to rest my head during the night.
"At dinner we said farewell to charqui, as the meal consisted of fresh beef stewed with onions and potatoes, with an abundance of Chili Colorado (red peppers), followed by one of those mysterious compounds known as a Spanish omelette. Bread was fresh from the oven, and, though dark and tough, it was not to be despised; during and after dinner the maté-pot was produced, and I drank freely of the refreshing beverage. I slept soundly in spite of dreams of home, Mendoza, the Andes, the pampas, the Amazon, Fred and the Doctor, and all sorts of things at once. It was a relief to wake and know exactly where I was.
"Before going to bed I settled with Federico, giving the balance of what was due him, and making a small present in addition. The train was to leave at eight o'clock; Manuel called me at six, in time for breakfast, and with plenty of leisure to reach the station before the advertised hour.
A PEDLER OF FORAGE.
"Truth compels me to add that I saw little of the country between Santa Rosa and Santiago, as I intrusted my ticket to Manuel and slept nearly all the way. I have an indistinct recollection of glimpses of fig and orange orchards, farm-houses and villages, vineyards and wheat-fields, level plains interspersed with rolling or hilly country, and above all the towering peaks of the Andes, and the lower summits of the Cordillera. I do not wonder that I slept, as I had a good deal of fatigue to make up for.