The Purple Land

k us a burden on her somewhat niggardly establishment; anyway, hearing that my preference was for a country life, she gave me a letter containing half a dozen lines of commendation

miles from Montevideo. It was a long journey, and I was advised not to attempt it without a tropilla, or troop of horses. But when a native tells you that you cannot travel two hundred miles without a dozen horses, he only means that you cannot do the distance in two days; for it is hard for him to believe that one may be satisfied with l

d my horse by the tail, dragging the poor beast about this way and that, so that he staggered and could scarcely keep his legs; another caught the bridle-reins in his mouth; while a third fixed his fangs in the heel of my boot. After eyeing me for some moments, the grizzled old herdsman, who wore a knife a yard long at his waist, advanced to the rescue. He shouted at the dogs, and finding that they would not obey, sprang forward and with a few dexterous blows, dealt with his heavy whip-handle, sent them away howling with rage and

caught a linterna. S

t back on the grass, for if you should hurt it, the spirits would be angry with

dsman must possess to show so much tenderness towards one of God's tiny creatures. I congrat

to these lonely places are not nearly so fond of being noticed and caressed as are those of more populous and civilised districts. On attempting to stroke one of these surly brutes on the head, he displayed his teeth and growled savag

overtook a man on a tired horse. Our officer, suspecting him to be a spy, ordered him to be killed, and, after cutting his throat, we left his body lying on the open ground at a distanc

the dog. He seemed to be half-famished with thirst, and came towards the stream to drink; but before he got half-way to it the vultures, by twos and threes, began to advance, when back he flew and chased them away, barking. After resting a few minutes beside the corpse, he came again towards the stream, till, seeing the hungry birds adva

ust have been the feelings you and your

ut the knife into that man's throat. For if a man did not grow accust

Then I asked him whether he had ever in

inding him so stubborn, our officer became enraged, and bade him step out, and then ordered us to lance him. We galloped forty yards off, then wheeled back. He stood silent, his arms folded on his breast, a smile on his lips. Without a cry, without a groan, with that smile still on his lips, he fell pierced through with our lances. For days afterwards his face was ever present to me. I could not eat, for my food choked me. When

ung man in this obscure corner of the world who folded his arms and smiled on his slayers when they were slaying him. Very early next mor

e eyes, he resumed his talk. After calling for rum and water, to be in the fashion, I sat down on a bench, and, lighting a cigarette, prepared to listen. He was dressed in shabby gaucho habiliments-cotton shirt, short jacket, wide cotton drawers, and chiripa, a shawl-like garment fastened at the waist with a sash, and reaching down half-way between the knees and ankles. In place of a hat he wore a cotton handkerchief tied carelessly about his head; his left foot was bare, while the right one was cased in a colt's-skin stocking, called bota-de-potro, and on this distinguished foot was buckled a huge iron spur, with spikes two inches long. One s

he fixed his keen e

aveller from Montevideo: may I ask

d story over again!" I continued. "They say there will be a revolution some day. Some of the people have already retired into their houses, after chalking in very big letters on their front doors, 'Please come into this house and cut the owner's throat for him, so that he may rest at peace, and

ping delighted applause on the

keen appreciation of my grotesque speech deserved

warms you in winter, and cools you

the storekeeper, "what I shall say when I return to Mon

men ceased talking, and looked at him as if anti

gs, while its tail, with nothing to catch hold of, wriggled about like a snake when its head is under foot. He came to a place where a number of oxen were grazing, and some horses, ostriches, deer, goats, and pigs. 'Friends all,' cried the monkey, grinning like a skull, and with staring eyes round as dollars, 'great news! great news! I come to tell you that there will shortly be a revolution.' 'Where?' said an ox. 'In the tree-where else?' said the

man picture to us with voice and gesture the chattering

to the conclusion that I have spoken anything offensive. Had I seen in you a Montevidean I should not have spoken of monk

," I said; "I

h we think was given by the Creator to us and not to the people of other lands-the ability to be one in heart with

rum I had treated him to, but it pleased me none the less, and to his other me

h, "and, unless you are a relation of the owl family, you cannot go much farther before to-morrow. My house is

t could be. Between horse and man a fierce struggle for mastery raged the whole time, the horse rearing, plunging, buck-jumping, and putting into practice every conceivable trick to rid itself of its burden; while Lucero plied whip and spur with tremendous energy and poured out torrents of strange adjectives. At one moment he would come into violent collision with my old sober beast, at another there would be fifty yards of ground between u

h dim-looking eyes. But then my host was old in years himself, only, like Ulysses, he still possessed the unquenched fir

put to me the question which a simple old countryman must ask of every traveller from Montevideo-What the news was? Then, assuming a dry, satirical to

it for all you have heard from your husband. I only gave him brute

expect, Juana?" cried the old ma

was a boy about twelve years old, one of Lucero's grandchildren, with a very beautiful face. His feet were bare and his clothes very poor, but his soft

her, addressing him, whereupon the boy rose and fet

so much that I made him repeat the words to me while I wrote them down in my notebook, which greatly gratified Lucero, who seemed proud of the boy's accomplishment. Here are

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