The Bandit's Corpse 



arms and legs stretched out ; one hand grasped the barrel 

 of his musket, and the other a bunch of slender palmita 

 stems, whose fan-like heads, rustling to the almost imper- 

 ceptible breeze, seemed as if the dead hand stirred them. I 

 bent aside a bush of rosemary which shadowed the face. 

 One eyelid was propped up by a rosemary sprig, and the 

 eye beneath still glared upwards with a glazed and stupefied 

 look of fierceness and terror. In bending the bush back to 

 look into his £ice, I had stirred the sprig, and at first it 

 seemed that he was alive. However, letting go the twigs 

 in my horror, I saw how it was. 



He was a fine, broad-built young man, with marked and 

 striking features, denoting, however, more strength of 

 passion than intellect. The healthy sun-burnt browns of 

 his swarthy face were turned to ghastly yellows on the 

 bloodless and ashy skin. The bright-coloured facings and 

 glittering silver tags and brooches of his dress, too, added a 

 painful contrast of holiday splendour to the faded hues of 

 death. 



We mounted and rode away, following a bridle-road 

 which led us shortly into the olive-farms, which are crossed 

 in all directions by a great variety of sandy tracks. We 

 kept our direction as well as we could, and met nobody, 

 which we thought lucky. At length we came to a road 

 which seemed larger and more important. This soon split 

 into two at a picturesque, but apparently deserted hacienda 

 (homestead), and as we could not see our peak in the undu- 

 lating country in which we were, we tossed up a broad 

 ounce-piece of gold, whether we should take the right or left. 



The left one won, which looked sinister ; but we took it, 

 and rode along till we came to a great road, which must 

 evidently be a camino real. On this we had not gone far 

 before we came to a venta. Here we asked how far it was 



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