He answered
evasively that the horse I had lost in the neighbouring forest would
probably be recovered in the course of two or three days. I replied
that if he would let me have a horse, the one I had lost, together
with saddle, _poncho_, etc., could be claimed by him whenever
they turned up. He then said that he could not very well give me ahorse,
"with saddle and bridle also." It looked as if he wanted to
keep me in his house for some purpose of his own, and this made me all
the more determined to leave it immediately, in spite of the tender,
reproachful glances which Monica flashed on me from under her long,
drooping eyelashes. I told him that if I could not have a horse I would
leave his _estancia_ on foot. That rather put him in a corner;
for in this country, where horse-stealing and cheating at cards are
looked on as venial offenses, to let a man leave your _estancia_
on foot is considered a very dishonourable thing. He pondered over my
declaration for some minutes, then, after conferring with his friends,
he promised to provide me with all I required next day. I had heard
nothing more about the revolution, but after supper Alday suddenly
became very confidential, and said that the whole country would be up
in arms in the course of a very few days, and that it would be highly
dangerous for me to attempt travelling by myself to the capital.
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