The sky, blue and green above, was
flushed with red nearer the earth; it darkened and assumed sinister
hues,--coppery reds, purplish reds.
Above the mudwalls jutted the turrets and the cypresses of San Isidro
cemetery; a round cupola stood out clearly in the atmosphere; at its
top rose an angel with wings outspread, as if about to take flight
against the flaming, blood-red background of evening.
Above the embanked clouds of the twilight shone a pale star in a green
border, and on the horizon, animated by the last breath of day, could
be discerned the hazy silhouettes of distant mountains.
CHAPTER II
The "Big Yard," or Uncle Rilo's House--Local Enmities.
When Salome finished her sewing and went off to Aguila Street to
sleep, Manuel definitively settled in the home of Uncle Rilo, of
Embajadores lane. Some called this La Corrala, others, El Corralon,
still others, La Piltra, and it boasted so many other names that it
seemed as if the neighbours spent hours and hours thinking up new
designations for it.
The Corralon (Big yard)--this was the best known name of Uncle Rilo's
lair,--fronted the Paseo de las Acacias, but it was not in the direct
line of this thoroughfare, as it set somewhat back. The facade of this
tenement, low, narrow, kalso-mined, indicated neither the depth nor
the size of the building; the front revealed a few ill-shaped windows
and holes unevenly arranged, while a doorless archway gave access to a
narrow passage paved with cobblestones; this, soon widening, formed a
patio surrounded by high, gloomy walls.
Pages:
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81