...
Manuel's first days in Senor Custodio's house seemed too burdened; but
as there is plenty of free roaming in the ragdealer's life, he soon
grew accustomed to it.
Senor Custodio arose when it was still night, woke Manuel, and they
both harnessed the two donkeys to the cart and took the direction to
Madrid, on their daily hunt for the old boot and the discarded tatter.
Sometimes they went by way of Melancolicos Avenue; others, by the
Rondas or through Segovia Street.
Winter was coming on; at the hour when they sallied forth Madrid was
in complete darkness. The ragdealer had his fixed itinerary and his
schedule of call stations. When he went by way of the Rondas and drove
up Toledo Street, which was his most frequent route, he would halt at
the Plaza de la Cebada and the Puerta de Moros, fill his hamper with
vegetables and continue toward the heart of the city.
On other days he travelled through Melancolicos Avenue to the Virgen
del Puerto, from here to La Florida, then to Rosales Street, where he
rummaged in the rubbish deposited by the tip-carts, continuing to the
Plaza de San Marcial and arriving at the Plaza de los Mostenses.
On the way Senor Custodio let nothing escape his eye; he would examine
it and keep it if it were worth the trouble. The leaves of vegetables
went into the hampers; rags, paper and bones went into the sacks; the
half-burned coke and coal found a place in a bucket and dung was
thrown into the back of the cart.
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