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?­o, 1872-1956

"The Quest"


"We'd better be going," advised Leandro. "To pull one of those big
coins out in a dive like this is dangerous."
The four left the tavern.
"Would you like to make the rounds of this quarter?" asked Leandro.
"Yes. Let's," said the lady.
Together they wound in and out of the narrow lanes of Las Injurias.
"Watch out, the drain runs in the middle of the street," cautioned
Manuel.
The rain kept falling; the quartet of slummers entered narrow patios
where their feet sank into the pestiferous slime. Along the entire
extension of the ravine black with mud, shone but a single oil lamp,
attached to the side of some half crumbled wall.
"Shall we go back?" asked Roberto.
"Yes," answered the lady.
They set out for Embajadores lane and walked up the Paseo de las
Acacias. The rain came down harder; here and there a faint light shone
in the distance; against the intense darkness of the sky loomed the
vague silhouette of a high chimney....
Leandro and Manuel accompanied Fanny and Roberto as far as the Plaza
del Rastro, and there they parted, exchanging handshakes.
"What a woman!" exclaimed Leandro.
"Nice, eh?" asked Manuel.
"You bet. I'd give anything to have a try at her."


CHAPTER VI
Roberto In Quest of a Woman--El Tabuenca and his Inventions--Don
Alonso or the Snake-Man.


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