Again and again during the evening he
started talking in English as if glad of the opportunity to speak his
native tongue once more; but after a sentence or two a word wanted
would not come, and it would have to be spoken in Spanish, and
gradually he would relapse into unadulterated Spanish again, then,
becoming conscious of the relapse, he would make a fresh start in
English.
As we sat talking after supper I expressed my intention of leaving
early in the morning so as to get over a few leagues while it was
fresh, as the weather was very hot and I had to consider my one horse.
He was sorry not to be able to provide me with another, but at one of
the large estancias I would come to next morning I would no doubt be
able to get one. He then mentioned that in about an hour and a half or
two hours I should arrive at an estancia named La Paja Brava, where
many riding-horses were kept.
This was good news indeed! La Paja Brava was the name of the estate my
ancient friend and neighbour, Don Evaristo, had bought so many years
before: no doubt I should find some of the family, and they would give
me a horse and anything I wanted.
The house, when I approached it next morning, strongly reminded me of
the old home of the family many leagues away, only it was if possible
more lonely and dreary in appearance, without even an old half-dead
acacia tree to make it less desolate.
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