It was enough
that he said white for her to cry black; this opposition infuriated
the machinist, who would throw the dishes about, belabour his wife,
and smash all the household furniture. Then Petra, satisfied that she
had sufficient cause for affliction, shut herself in her room to weep
and pray.
What with his alcohol, his fits of temper, and his hard work, the
machinist went about half dazed; on one terribly hot day in August he
fell from the train on to the roadbed and was found dead without a
wound.
Petra, disregarding the advice of her boarders, insisted upon changing
residence, as she disliked that section of the city. This she did,
taking in new lodgers--unreliable, indigent folk who ran up large
bills or never paid at all--and in a short time she found herself
compelled to sell her furniture and abandon her new house.
Then she hired out her daughters as servants, sent her two boys off to
a little town in the province of Soria, where her brother-in-law was
the superintendent of a small railway station, and herself entered as
a domestic in Dona Casiana's lodging-house. Thus she descended from
mistress to servant, without complaint. It was enough that the idea
had occurred to her; therefore it was best.
She had been there for two years, saving her pay. Her ambition was to
have her sons study in a seminary and graduate as priests.
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