74 ALBACORA 



"She is very simpdtico" I answered. 



After a while Nieves came back with a steaming cup 

 of a black concoction which she placed in front of Jo. 



Jo cringed. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I'm not hav- 

 ing any today." 



''Para usted, nina, para usted/' Nieves said. 



I looked into the cup and saw a thick sticky mass 

 which turned my stomach. 



"Para usted, nina,'' Nieves insisted to Jo. 



Jo's humor was a little forced. "Goody," she said. 

 "Just what I wanted." 



In desperation, Nieves lapsed into English. "Medi- 

 cine," she said, "no ow." 



"No, no, no," cried Jo in mild panic. 



But Nieves simply would not accept Jo's "no." After 

 a long harrowing session of poor Spanish and poor 

 English, Nieves managed to inform us that within the 

 cup was an age-old Chilean remedy, made from sweet 

 potatoes which had been forced through a sieve and 

 then cooked with cornstarch and a little chocolate. Jo 

 is a plucky girl. She managed to eat the entire cupful, 

 under Nieves' relentless eye, without a single audible 

 whimper. Jo staunchly declares that the mixture cured 

 her. At any rate, it did not make her any sicker, and 

 Nieves was happy. 



As a matter of fact, all sorts of drugs have been dis- 

 covered and taken out of Amazonian jungles from the 

 trees and plant life which flourish there. I know that a 



