"I once knew a man," said Mariano, "who had a most extraordinary laugh;
you could hear it a league away, it was so loud. His name was Aniceto,
but we called him El Burro on account of his laugh, which sounded like
the braying of an ass. Well, sirs, he one day burst out laughing, like
the Captain here, at nothing at all, and fell down dead. You see, the
poor man had aneurism of the heart."
At this I fairly yelled, then, feeling quite exhausted, I looked
apprehensively at Lechuza, for this important member of the quartet
had not yet spoken.
With his immense, unspeakably serious eyes fixed on me, he remarked
quietly, "And this, my friends, is the man who says it is wrong to
steal horses!"
But I was past shrieking now. Even this rich specimen of topsy-turvy
Banda Oriental morality only evoked a faint gurgling as I rolled about
on the grass, my sides aching, as if I had received a good bruising.
CHAPTER XX
Day had just dawned when I rose to join Mariano at the fire he had
already kindled to heat the water for his early _mate_. I did not
like the idea of lying there concealed amongst the trees like some
hunted animal for an indefinite time; moreover, I had been advised by
Santa Coloma to proceed directly to the Lomas de Rocha, on the south
coast, in the event of a defeat, and this now seemed to me the best
thing to do.
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