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?­o, 1872-1956

"The Quest"


Justa walked into the kitchen and after looking over the chairs, to
see whether there was anything on them that might soil her clothes,
she sat down upon one of them. She began to pour forth a flood of
unceasing chatter and roared at her own jokes.
Manuel listened without a word; to tell the truth she wasn't quite
so good-looking as he had imagined, but she didn't please him any
the less for that. She might be about eighteen, was brunette, rather
short, with very dark, flashing eyes, a tilted, pert nose, a sensual
mouth and thick lips. She was, too, a bit full behind and in the
breasts and the hips; she was neat, fresh, with a very high top-knot
and a pair of brand-new, polished slippers.
As Justa gabbled on, to the ecstasy of her parents, there came into
the kitchen a hump-backed fellow from one of the neighbouring
hovels; he was called El Conejo (the rabbit) and his face really
showed a great resemblance to the amiable rodent whose name he bore.
El Conejo was a member of Senor Custodio's fraternity and knew Justa
since she had been a child; Manuel used to see him every day, but
never paid any attention to him.
The Rabbit walked into Senor Custodio's and began to talk nonsense,
laughing in violent outbursts, but in so mechanical a manner that it
provoked his hearers, for it seemed that behind this continuous
laughter lay a very deep bitterness.


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