"Come on."
The entire band of ragamuffins broke into a run in the direction of
the Retiro, with Manuel hard after them. The thick raindrops fell in
slanting, steel-hued lines; a stray sunbeam glittered from the sky
through the dark violet clouds which were so long that they looked
like huge, motionless fishes.
Ahead of the ragamuffins, at an appreciable distance, ran two women
and two men.
"They're Rubia and Chata with a couple of hayseeds," said one of the
gamins.
"They're running to the cave," added another.
The boys reached the top of the hill; before the entrance to the cave,
which was nothing but a hole dug out of the sand, sat a one-legged man
smoking a pipe.
"We're going in," announced one of the urchins to Cojo.
"You can't," he replied.
"And why not?"
"Because you can't."
"Man! Let's get in until the rain stops."
"Impossible."
"Why? Are Rubia and Chata inside?"
"What do you care if they are?"
"Shall we give those hayseeds a scare?" asked one of the ragamuffins,
whose ears were covered by long black locks.
"Just try it and see," growled Cojo, seizing a rock.
"Come on to the Observatory," said another. "We won't get wet there."
The gang turned back, hurdled a wall that stood in their path and took
refuge in the portico of the Observatory on the Atocha side.
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