There were among them effeminate, clean-shaven types with a woman's
face and a shrill voice.
At the entrance to the theatre Vidal and Manuel made the acquaintance
of a group of girls, from thirteen to eighteen years of age, who
wandered about Alcala Street approaching well-to-do pillars of the
middle class; they pretended to be news-vendors and always had a copy
of the _Heraldo_ with them.
Vidal cultivated the intimacy of the girls; they were almost all
homely, but this did not interfere with his plans, which consisted of
extending the radius of his activities and his knowledge.
"We must leave the suburbs and work our way toward the centre," said
Vidal.
Vidal wished Manuel to help him, but Manuel had no gift for it. Vidal
came to be the cadet for four girls who lived together in Cuatro
Caminos and were named, respectively, La Mella, La Goya, La Rabanitos
and Engracia; they had come to form, together with Vidal, El Bizco and
Manuel another Society, though this one was anonymous.
The poor girls needed protection; they were pursued more than the
other loose women by the police because they paid no graft to the
inspectors. They would be forever fleeing from the guards and agents,
who, whenever there was a round-up, would take them to the station and
thence to the Convento de las Trinitarias.
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