I did not intend frightening you so much; and it is no great
matter if I have laughed a little at you now, for you have often made
me cry. I stopped you because I had something important to say. Go to
my mother and tell her you have seen and spoken with me; tell her to
pay for another mass for my soul's repose, for after that I shall be
out of purgatory. If she has no money lend her a few dollars for the
mass, and I will repay you, old man, in another world.'
"This it said and vanished. I lifted my whip, but needed not to strike
my horse, for not a bird that has wings could fly faster than he now
flew with me on his back. No path was before me, nor did I know where
we were going. Through rushes and through thickets, over burrows of
wild animals, stones, rivers, marshes, we flew as if all the devils
that are on the earth and under it were at our heels; and when the
horse stopped it was at my own door. I stayed not to unsaddle him,
but, cutting the surcingle with my knife, left him to shake the saddle
off; then with the bridle I hammered on the door, shouting to my wife
to open. I heard her fumbling for the tinder-box. 'For the love of
Heaven, woman, strike no light,' I cried. '_Santa Barbara bendita_!
have you seen a ghost?' she exclaimed, opening to me. 'Yes,' I replied,
rushing in and bolting the door, 'and had you struck a light you would
now have been a widow.
Pages:
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239