They circled around it, trying to
catch a glimpse of some corpse, but the windows were closed.
They continued along the banks of the Manzanares, amidst the twisted
pines of la Dehesa. The river ran very thin, consisting of a few
threads of murky water and pools above the mud.
At the end of the Dehesa de la Arganzuela, opposite a large, spacious
lot surrounded by a fence made of flattened oil cans nailed to posts,
the gang paused to inspect the place, whose wide area was taken up
with watering-carts, mechanical sweepers, ditch pumps, heaps of brooms
and other tools and appurtenances of municipal cleanliness.
In one corner of the lot arose a white edifice that, judging from its
two towers and the vacant belfries, had formerly been a church or a
convent.
The gang went nosing about the place and passed under an arch bearing
the inscription: "Stallion Stables." Behind the structure that looked
like a convent they came upon some shanties furnished with filthy,
grimy mats: African huts built upon a framework of rough sticks and
cane.
Bizco went into one of these hovels and returned with a piece of cod
in his hand.
Manuel was overcome by a horrible fear.
"I'm going," he said to Vidal.
"What do you mean!..." exclaimed one of the gang ironically. "Much
nerve you've got!"
All at once another of the urchins cried:
"Skip.
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