"I was hardly convalescent when we embarked for Huelra, and I found myself in the battle of Albuera against the division of Marshal Soult. I was soon after taken prisoner; made my escape, and joined the army of Granada, commanded by the Duke del Paryne, in which I remained, pursuing the enemy beyond the Pyrenees. Then I returned to Madrid, where I have been waiting until now for my dismissal."
"Goodness! Ventura," said Maria, in astonishment, "you have been further than the storks fly!"
"I--no," answered Ventura, "but I know one, and he indeed, he had been with General La Romana, far in the north, where the ground is covered with snow so deep that people are sometimes buried under it."
"Maria Santissima! said Maria, shuddering.
"But they are good people, they do not carry knives."
"God bless them!" exclaimed Maria.
"In that land there is no oil, and they eat black bread."
"A poor country for me," observed Anna, "for I must always eat the best bread, if I eat nothing else."
"What kind of gazpachos [Footnote 171] can they make with black bread, and without oil?" asked Maria, quite horrified.