122 WILD SPAIN. 



had other work in hand : but, a day or two afterwards, 

 Pedro received a message from him, stating that, owing to 

 the vigilance of the authorities, no opportunity had offered 

 itself of meeting Diego and the white donkey at the 

 appointed tryst : and instructing him again to write to his 

 father, with fresh directions to forward half the stipulated 

 ransom to Grazalema, where means would be found of 

 receiving it — the other half to be borne by the white 

 donkey to a freshly-appointed spot among the hills. 

 Overjoyed at receiving this second assurance that his son 

 still lived, the father, though an old man, set off at once, 

 with six hundred pounds in cash, on the long ride to 

 Grazalema. Then for two days he hung about its precipi- 

 tous streets in an agony of suspense almost unendurable. 

 No one spoke to him till the third morning, when a man 

 leading a pony laden with the rough woollen cloth which 

 is made in Grazalema and forms the staple industry of the 

 little town, accosted him as he passed with the words — 

 " Follow me." The pony was stopped before a small shop 

 wherein some of the same woollen cloths were exposed for 

 sale : and passing through into the small back-room, the 

 old father found a man seated whose appearance was that 

 of a cloth-pedlar — men who with their sturdy ponies carry 

 on a trade or barter of these coarse woollens throughout 

 the sierras. 



After the customary Andalucian exchange of civilities, 

 the pedlar, looking the old man straight in the face, said, 

 " Have you the three thousand dollars ? You know this ? " 

 and he produced Pedro's pencil-case. The money was at 

 the posada, and soon the old man, ripping up the stuffing 

 of his saddle, returned to the pedlar's shop with that sum. 

 The money was counted out, and Yizco el Borje, springing 

 on top of that honest-looking freight of coarse cloth, was 

 soon clear of the streets of Grazalema and steering his 

 pony to some well-known mountain-lair. 



While these events were occurring in Grazalema poor 

 Diego was wearying of his long-delayed assignation. For 

 three days he and his white donkey hung about the remote 

 spot which had been indicated : and at last, on the third 



