At the side of the merry-go-round rose a frame formed of two tripods
upon which rested a beam, whose hooks served as the support of swings.
The black ditch harboured three other hovels, all three constructed of
tins, rubbish, planks, ruins and other similar building materials. One
of the shacks, owing either to old age or deficient architecture,
threatened to collapse, and the owner, no doubt, had sought to prevent
its fall by sinking a row of stakes along one of the walls, against
which it leaned like a lame man upon his crutch; another house
flaunted like a flagstaff a long stick on its roof with a pot stuck on
the top....
After eating Manuel informed the old woman that Senor Custodio had
told him he might remain there.
"Tell me whether there's anything else for me to do," he concluded.
"All right. Stay here. Take care of the fire. If the pot boils, let
it; if it doesn't, throw a bit of coal into the flames. Reverte!
Reverte!" shouted the woman to the dog. "Let him remain here."
She went off and Manuel was left alone with the dog. The stew boiled
merrily. Manuel, followed by Reverte, made an inspection tour of the
house. It was divided into three compartments: a tiny kitchen and a
large room into which the light entered through two high, small
windows.
In this room or store-room, on all sides, from the walls and from the
ceiling, hung old wares of various hue, white clothes, red boinas and
Catalonian caps, strips of crape cloaks.
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